#Luke2 - Unlikely Messengers

Click here to read Luke 2:

1. What stood out to me from this chapter?

Throughout the Bible, God uses some really unlikely people to deliver his messages and spread the news about his activity. From a worldly perspective, we would expect God to use important people of high class and high education. That's not who God chooses. God chooses shepherds. Shepherding was, for the most part, a blue-collar, dirty job for lower class citizens. The fact that shepherds were the first people to go out and tell about the birth of Jesus is astounding. Later in the story we see Simeon and Anna, a devout old man and a widow, to share some prophetic words about the baby Jesus. Finally, we see Jesus himself, as a twelve-year-old boy, sharing the message of God with the teachers. So God used the poor, widowed, and children to declare his message in this coming of the Messiah. That is very interesting.

2. How does this relate to any other Scripture I know?

It is an interesting connection, but Bethlehem is the City of David. David started out as a shepherd, tending his father's sheep (see 1 Samuel 16). Here in Luke 2, we see that God chooses to make his first public service announcement about the birth of his son to shepherds on the hillside. Jesus, who is the promised king in the line of David, will be the good shepherd over the people of Israel.

3. What does this mean for my life?

If God can use unlikely people like elderly, children, and poor, there is hope that he can even speak a word of truth through me. It also really challenges me to not rule people out, but to listen to all people as though God might be trying to say something to me through them.

4. What questions do I have about this passage?

Simeon was told by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before seeing the Messiah. How many people were aware of this? How many people did he tell? How many believed him? How many people were either present or heard of Simeon's encounter with Jesus? Wouldn't you think there would have been a group of followers from then on?

Those are my thoughts for this chapter. I'd love to hear yours. God's blessings to you and KEEP DIGGING IN!

In Christ,
Dan

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#Luke1 - A Careful Investigation...

Click here to read Luke 1:

1. What stood out to me from this chapter?

I really love how this chapter, and book, starts out. Luke is obviously an educated person, desiring to "set the record straight" on this Jesus thing. He wants to know facts. He wants to know details. He wants to write an orderly account so that others will have a logical, "objective" picture of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He sets out on a careful investigation of EVERYTHING. Later in Scripture we find out Luke was a doctor, a highly educated person, so it was likely from this introduction and the type of Greek language he wrote with that he was writing primarily to a highly educated upper-class Greek-cultured audience. Matthew was written for a Jewish audience, and Mark was written for the common person. It's neat to discover that there aren't just three of the same gospels, but rather they are written for different audiences.

2. How does this passage relate to any other Scripture I know?

I would have loved to hear Zechariah's song, whether it had melody or whether it was more like spoken poetry. But the words are recorded here, and they make it clear that Zechariah (like most Jewish men) were very familiar with the Scriptures (our Old Testament). Many of his "lyrics" are thoughts, stories, or prophecies straight from Scripture. Here are just a few. Verse 78 is taken right from Isaiah 9:2, and the last part reminds me of Psalm 118:105 (your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path). Other verses harken back to the Exodus speaking of God as redeemer, while still others speak of promises made to David and Abraham. It's really neat to see that he didn't have to use an online Bible search tool to find those verses. Rather those passages were right on his heart and quick to come out.

3. What does this mean for my life?

Mary's response to the promise and command of God astounds me. "I am the Lord's servant...May your word to me be fulfilled." What a powerful statement of trust, obedience, and submission to God's will and plan. She didn't know what was going to happen, and what she could imagine might happen was likely not positive. But she still said, "I am your servant." I know Jesus was too young at that point to understand her words, but it's like he learned that attitude from her when he prayed in the garden, "not my will but yours be done." It is an encouragement to me to know that when I don't know what else to pray, I can simply pray, "I am the Lord's servant...may your word to me be fulfilled."

4. What questions do I have about this chapter?

This is kind of a funny thought, but when the angel Gabriel told Mary that she would give birth to a Son, and that he would be the Son of the Most High, rule on the throne of David, reign over Jacob's descendants forever, and the his kingdom will never end, it was like she didn't question any of it but wondered physically how she would have a baby. It's kind of like someone saying to me, "Dan, you are going to purchase a candy bar that contains a ticket for a one-way ride to the moon, where you will meet Elvis Presley, and sing songs forever!" And then me responding, "But how can this be since I left my wallet at home?" Like I don't question at all what's going to happen, but just how I'm supposed to buy a candy bar when my wallet is at home. I guess it does just show her faith that with God all things are possible.

Those are my thoughts. I'd love to hear yours. God's blessings and KEEP DIGGING IN!

In Christ,
Dan

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#Matthew1 - What's in a Name?

Matthew 1: 

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1. What stood out to me from this chapter?

I decided that reading the four gospels would be an excellent way to start the year 2015 out. However, there is a strong temptation for me to just skip the genealogy of Jesus at the beginning of Matthew. After all, at least half the names in the list are completely unknown to me, and many of the others I only know a little about. But I decided that since it "made the cut" of what to include in the Bible, it was worth my reading. What stood out to me from the genealogy list was that even though it traced the lineage through the males, there were specifically five females that made the list. Each of them has their own interesting story, but I'll just list them briefly: Tamar (conceived through righteous trickery), Rahab (a prostitute turned believer), Ruth (a foreign woman), Bathsheba (who is mentioned as Uriah's wife, and was basically raped by King David), and Mary (who was most likely a teenage girl).

2. How does this passage relate to any other Scripture I know?

Here are the links to where you can read about the stories of these interesting women:

• Tamar - Genesis 38
• Rahab - Joshua 2 and 6
• Ruth - Ruth 1-4 (which also contains a section of the same genealogy)
• Bathsheba - 2 Samuel 11-12
• Mary - Luke 1-2 (and Matthew 1-2)

3. So what does this mean for my life?

Although the genealogy list doesn't explicitly offer much in the way of life application, the second half of the chapter offers a neat example of trusting God in Joseph. Despite the worldly perspective that Joseph should divorce Mary (even a righteous law-following worldly perspective), Joseph pays attention to the angel, and obeys God. Verse 24 says, "...he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife." There are many times when God's commands are clear, and I simply need to trust and obey even if it doesn't make much sense from a worldly point of view. Finances are a great example: "Give money away when I don't have much for myself?" It still works.

4. What questions do I have about this passage?

I know that there are different ways of doing genealogies, but I was just wondering if this is a complete genealogy from Abraham to Jesus, or if there are some names and generations that got skipped over. If so, why would Matthew claim that there were 14 generations between each section? Was 14 significant for some reason? 

That's it. I'm excited to go through each chapter of each gospel and become more familiar with the life and teaching of Jesus. 

In Christ,

Dan