LESSON 1

The Messiah is Born! (Luke 1:5-2:52)

After having read the study notes from the last lesson, answer the following questions:

1. Why is it significant to note that Jesus is not the “star” of the Lukan account of His life? Who is the one around whom the story is told?

2. What is the implication of this to us and how we relate to the Lukan account?

3. What was Luke’s appeal to and desire for Theophilus? How does this relate to us?

Read: Luke 1:5-56

1. Describe Zechariah. What do we know of Mary?

2. Are you surprised at those chosen to be major characters in the birth narrative?

3. Compare and contrast the difference between Zechariah’s response to the angel and that of Mary.

4. What can we learn from these characters about God’s purpose for our lives?

Read: 1:57-80

1. In what way does Zechariah’s prophecy demonstrate Luke’s main concern is to focus on the eternal purposes of God?

2. What does Zechariah prophesy concerning the life work of his new born son?

3. How does the prophetic description of the coming of the Lord in 1:78-79 impact your life? In what way has the dawning tender mercy of God enlightened your life?

Read: 2:1-38

1. What is unusual about the events surrounding the birth of Jesus?

2. Who in the temple community of Jerusalem was aware of Jesus’ birth? Why?

3. The Holy Spirit is mentioned for the fifth time in 2:25 (the sixth in v. 26). What does He reveal in this passage?

4. The Holy Spirit is clearly a central figure in Luke/Acts. Why do you think Luke mentions Him so often (recall the theme of Luke/Acts)? What might this tell us of the purpose of the Holy Spirit in our lives?

Read: 2:39-52

1. What do we know of the childhood of Jesus?

2. What was Jesus doing when He was found at the temple? What does this tell us of His interests?

3. Though we have limited information, Luke wants us to know Jesus grew up like most young boys - though He had a deep interest in knowing God’s word. What might we do to effectively raise our children to seek wisdom from God rather than our world?

STUDY NOTES

To call the birth of the Messiah the most anticipated moment in world history (or at least from the perspective of the Jews) might actually be an understatement! There is some discussion as to the amount of “Messianic fever” present during the time of Jesus’ birth, but clearly the Jewish people were chaffing under the restraints imposed by the oppressive rule of the Roman empire. When John the Baptist began his ministry, the cities of Judea emptied to hear the voice of the prophet in the wilderness. Yes, people indeed were waiting, and waiting with great anticipation - for they were very familiar with the messianic promises of the prophets. From the house of David, a great king would be born, and He would be known as Prince of Peace, Mighty God, Wonderful Counselor, Immanuel - God with us – and He would rule a kingdom without end!

How would this event occur? Well, we already know. We know the story of the birth of Jesus so well that we no difficulty associating the wonderful words of Isaiah’s prophecies to that beautiful scene in Bethlehem. You can describe it, can’t you? The quintessential picture on a Christmas card? The clear, dark, night sky with the bright star shining over a small shack or barn (maybe a cave?), with a little baby wrapped in beautifully bright cloths, laying on clean hay in a manger. A young, nicely dressed woman prays over the manger accompanied by her bearded husband. Over their shoulders are the shepherds, smiling sweetly as they hold their tall staffs, perhaps holding a fluffy clean lamb in their arms. Cows lay quietly to the side (smiling?), angels hover over it all, and wise men extend their arms bearing precious gifts. I can’t speak for you, but that picture brings a lot of comfort and joy to me. It brings to mind that special time of year, when family gathers and gifts are given, carols are sung, and great food is prepared and joyfully eaten!

We can close our eyes and picture the beautiful serenity of that night of nights - and MISS THE POINT! I believe we need to construct a new image for that night! Think about it - the King of kings, Lord of lords - born in a barn? How many of you have ever seen a clean sheep in real life? Were the cloths wrapped around the little baby white and clean? Was the hay soft and clean? And when we say “manger”, do we picture a feeding trough for animals? Nicely dressed shepherds, wise men (who actually don’t arrive for another two years - Luke doesn’t even mention them), quiet, peaceful, neatly groomed animals? Don’t you think Gabriel could’ve cleared out the executive suit in the Bethlehem Inn for such a noble event? From the very beginning of the story of Jesus, even in the events over which He personally had no control (as an infant, truly human), we see the shocking magnificence of God’s deeply troubling message - life in God’s kingdom has nothing to do with what we think is important!

Jesus was born into a poor family who belonged to an oppressed, insignificant people (at least from the world’s point of view). If we were writing the story, surely we would have Him be born into a ruling family of a mighty nation. But the Almighty God intentionally had His Son open his eyes for the first time in a barn surrounded by dirty, smelly animals. We would have chosen a palace, surrounded by the best physicians of His time - and everything would be sterile clean! Jesus’ birth was attested by shepherds - men who were unclean in terms of the law (constantly around dying and birthing animals). The irony is that they could not even testify in a court of law because they were regarded as the lowest of the social class and even greater liars than fishermen (those of you who fish know what I’m talking about). Yet, God chose them to witness the birth of The Child. We would gather that great and noble leaders of the world to witness such a birth.

What should we learn from all of this? First, we must acknowledge that nothing happened by chance. God had carefully planned this scene from before the beginning of time. Jesus being born in a barn had nothing to do with Joseph’s poor organizational skills. There is even the possibility that Joseph chose to take Mary with him simply because of the suspicious events surrounding this child to be born. Nazareth was a small village of likely less than 400 inhabitants - word would have quickly gotten around that Joseph wasn’t the father of the child. It might be that Joseph did not want to leave Mary alone in Nazareth for the birth of this child, and so she came with him for the Roman census (only the mothers among us can imagine the discomfort of such a journey for Mary!). Whatever the reason, we have to see the wonderful humor and profound teaching of a God who breaks down all our ideas of “importance” with the incredibly unusual story of the birth of Immanuel - God with us! The carefully planned out birth of Jesus demonstrates that the kingdom of God has nothing to do with wealth and privilege. Jesus was born with nothing and would die with nothing - at least from this world’s point of view.

Secondly, we need to take note of the heroes of the birth narrative. Zechariah? Elizabeth? Mary? Joseph? The shepherds? Simeon? Anna? Where are the notables - the spiritual leaders - the world leaders for that matter? Of the thousands in the temple community, only two knew Jesus was coming - Simeon and Anna. Both very old and likely disregarded by the “important” people around them. But they knew the Messiah had been born. Most of these characters are described as devout and faithful, with hearts yearning to serve God. Even the shepherds responded in faith to the angel’s message. Maybe that’s why they were invited to the party. There is much joy and much praise in Luke’s account of the birth and growth of Jesus. Mary sings a song of praise in anticipation of Jesus’ birth, Zechariah gives us a beautiful prophetic song at the birth of John. The angels praise God at Jesus’ birth, and the shepherds glorified and praised God. Simeon prayed a beautiful prayer of praise and Anna praised God as she told of a great redemption to come. But the great majority of the people didn’t even know anything had happened - they were just so busy with important things (don’t miss the sarcasm here).

As we study Luke, look for the heroes - the ones who understood the nature of faith and who trusted God. Look at the ones who had no clue of what God was doing, yet really should have (religious leaders and experts). The message is clear - God reaches out with His mighty arms to those who are seeking Him. They are the ones invited to His table for the feast (look for the table theme throughout Luke/Acts).

At the end of this week’s daily reading is a well known story. Jesus, as a young boy - twelve years old - could not be found. His mother and father had anxiously looked everywhere among those on their return journey from Jerusalem to Nazareth. In desperation, they finally returned to the temple. There He was – quietly learning at the feet of teachers. You can imagine both the relief and the anger they must have felt. Mary, with no little tension, asks “Why have you treated us like this?” Jesus’ answer sets the tone for His life – “I must be in my Father’s house.” Where must you be? Even as a young man, Jesus knew what was most important - seeking a deeper understanding of His Father, seeking to know His will, choosing to be “in His house” - i.e. in His presence.

The first step of authentic discipleship begins with a desire to truly know God and willingly submit to His rule - to try to be constantly in His presence. In Luke, those with open minds and hearts who seek the will of God see and experience marvelous things. Others will hear and experience the same things yet see nothing. I wonder where we would be in Jesus’ birth narrative? I wonder where we would be in Luke’s gospel? Would we be of the ones who understood the nature of faith? Where do we see ourselves in the context of Luke’s story? Are we looking for the activity of God in our world? Or, are we so wrapped up in our secular lives that we miss out on all the praising and glorifying of God happening in His kingdom right now?