July 6, 2008
Bible Study, Chapter 1
Chapter 1 is one of the longest chapters in the Bible and it’s the longest you’ll encounter in Luke. The author of this gospel, Luke, was the personal physician and traveling companion of Paul. Luke was probably the only non-Jewish author of a New Testament book and most likely never met Jesus personally. His close contact with Paul, however, gave Luke great access to the apostles and many other followers of Jesus who knew & lived with Jesus. There’s some evidence that Luke even interviewed Mary for this book. Although written to a man named Theophilus (means, ‘God-lover’), we have no idea who this man is.
Read through chapter 1 and then peruse the appropriate verses as you study each section.
Verses 1-4
Although most English bibles break these verses into several sentences, it’s really one long sentence in which Luke explains his reason for writing this book. Luke says there were other eyewitness accounts circulating about the life of Jesus.
What reason does Luke give for writing this book?
What does this tell you about the book you’re about to read?
Notice that Luke does not emphasize that the eyewitnesses merely observed the life of Jesus. Instead, he says they were eyewitnesses to what?
Do you think there’s any significance to this?
Verses 5-25
You’ll encounter four men with the family name, ‘Herod’ in the New Testament. This is the first and greatest of the Herods (appropriately, he was often called, ‘Herod the Great’). Herod received his title as ‘King of Judea’ from Marc Antony in 40 BC. He arrived in Jerusalem to begin his rule in 37 BC and he died in 4 BC. These events take place at the end of his reign in about 5 or 4 BC. Herod was a great builder and you can still see remnants of his building projects today. He was also a very cruel and jealous ruler.
Zechariah was a priest, an occupation that was only passed down the family line. At this time, there were probably 18,000 priests. Therefore, a priest served in the Temple only twice a year for a one-week period. This ‘incense burning’ is a privilege that came to a priest only once in a lifetime. It’s one of the two times of daily prayer (9 AM & 3 PM) at the Temple and coincides with the ‘perpetual offering’ described in Exodus 29:38-42 (an offering for the forgiveness of sins).
Do you think there are any reasons why God chose this time & place to announce the coming birth of John the Baptist?
The angel’s message to Zechariah is in 3 parts: The announcement of a son to be born; instructions for raising this son; and a brief outline of the important mission of this son.
Summarize the expectations for John (verses 16 & 17).
Can you put in your own words what it was John was expected to accomplish?
If, as Luke says (v. 2), this is the story of ‘God fulfilling his promises,’ it seems that God will go to great effort to get His people to pay attention! Are there times in your life you can identify when God worked to get your attention?
Zechariah has been identified as ‘righteous’ (v.6). He’s a good guy. Apparently, even good guys doubt. Read verse 20 carefully. Do you think there’s any significance to Zechariah’s inability to speak?
Verses 26-38
The announcement to Mary is very different than the one to Zechariah. Zechariah was visited in the most important city, at the most important place, on an important day, while doing an important task. Mary, on the other hand, is probably a very young girl (likely still a teenager) living in a tiny, unimportant village in the middle of nowhere, far from any important places or people.
What does this tell you about the way God operates?
Therefore, what can you anticipate about the activity of God in your life?
Verses 31-33 form an expected outline of the career of Jesus. The titles are, of course, surprising and unfamiliar, although Luke will spell them out in his book. If you were Mary, what would you expect from Jesus according to these verses?
Mary’s question (v. 34) isn’t an expression of doubt but a question about the mechanics of what is to happen. What do you make of the angel’s explanation and Mary’s response?
What does this tell you about Mary?
Verses 39-56
This is the section we studied on Sunday. This is an ironic meeting of 2 women: One old, wise, and experienced; one young, learning, and inexperienced. One from an important city; one from the country---we’d call Mary a ‘redneck.’ Yet clearly the ‘redneck’ is the focus.
Again, what does this tell you about the ways of God?
Verses 57-80
Remember that Zechariah had expressed doubt and was silenced for it. Apparently, he had learned his lesson and now was willing to stick with the angel’s instructions (v. 13). This is what a ‘righteous’ person does – he learns from his mistakes.
Can you identify some mistakes you’ve made?
What have you learned from them?
What are you doing differently?
The crowd knows something important is happening but is uncertain about what. Zechariah’s prophecy helps to satisfy the crowd’s uncertainty.
Summarize Zechariah’s prophecy. What are we told to anticipate?
Summary
What are some of the big ideas you’ve learned in chapter 1?
In light of what you’ve learned, is there any God-business you need to take care of in the immediate future?