Good Questions Have Groups Talking -- Luke
Heaven's Response--The Heavenly Host 2: Or email this page to a friend: Keep me logged in! The flesh cannot deal with the flesh. Let's work with the material that Luke gives us. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. According to Your word:
Sitting outside with the men rather than inside doing the work that needs to get done. I can't understand why she thinks she can be out there when there's so much to do to get ready for dinner. A woman's place isn't sitting around when there is work to be done. A woman's place is preparing for her guests. The word translated "distracted" is Greek perispao , "1. The verb is in the imperfect tense, indicating a continued action in the past.
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Her distraction has been going on for some time. Marshall indicates that, "The implication is that Martha wished to hear Jesus but was prevented from doing so by the pressure of providing hospitality.
The verb translated "care" is Greek melei , "to be a care or concern to someone. She comes to where Jesus is, and seems to interrupt the conversation he is having. She doesn't rebuke her sister in front of Jesus; she almost seems to be rebuking Jesus himself for not caring, for not having ordered Mary to go and help her sister an hour before. She doesn't ask Mary to help her. She commands Jesus, "Tell her to help me! Martha is out of line. She is rude to her honored guest. Immediately, Jesus seems to soothe Martha's anger.
The repeated name suggests as much. The next phrase, "only one thing is needed," is a bit obscure. This is one of the passages in the New Testament where there are a number of textual variants.
One of the variant readings is: What did Jesus mean by "one thing"? Is he referring to the one spiritual goal, or to a single dish rather than multiple dishes that Martha may have been preparing in order to show special honor to her guest? What we do know, however, is that Martha is gently corrected by Jesus, and Mary's choice to sit at Jesus' feet and listen to him teach is affirmed. When you think about it, that response is the one you wouldn't really expect Jesus to make. After all, Mary IS shirking her responsibilities to help her sister prepare the meal.
In Jesus' culture and most others , fixing meals is considered part of a woman's responsibility. And a woman being taught the Torah was frowned upon. I am sure that Jesus' disciples would have expected him to side with Martha here, and say something like: Why don't you get up and help her. It would mean a great deal to her" -- or something like that. This isn't the first time that Jesus has cut across his culture's expectations about familial responsibility in order to make a point that will be remembered:.
Why does Jesus say such off-the-wall things? Because he is teaching. He is seeking to make an indelible, memorable imprint upon the minds of his disciples. His followers had been raised to think of one's responsibilities to family as preeminent. Jesus puts a person's allegiance to following him higher than any other human responsibility. Even though it cuts across the grain of societal expectations, even though it means neglecting her regular duties, Mary has correctly discerned that listening to Jesus and learning his ways is more important than anything -- anything else she can choose.
And no one can rip this precious spiritual food away from her. The word translated "taken away" is Greek aphaireo , "passive 'be taken away, robbed Apparently, God has preferences on the way people respond to him and worship him. All forms of worship are NOT equal in God's eyes. In the case of Jesus, putting on a great dinner for the Master doesn't compare to listening to him and obeying him. I don't want to be too hard on Martha, Jesus certainly wasn't. But he tried very gently to explain how Mary's choice was better, and that she shouldn't be deprived of it by having to be marched off to the kitchen by her older sister.
What is it that you are trying to offer Jesus? Your talents and abilities? The open doors and opportunities afforded by your position in the community? Faithful service as a Sunday school teacher even though you might prefer to do something else? All these can be good. And I am sure that Jesus wants each of these from you in their own time.
But the one thing that Jesus seeks above all else is time that you spend time listening to him, "sitting at his feet," as it were. That needs to come first, before all these other things. That is where peace is found. That is the only place of spiritual rest. There's something very dear to my heart that I'd like to share with you -- you personally. Do you have some time right now? Father, when I look at my own life, I'm often too busy to just listen to you. I'm always wanting to be doing something. I have trouble sitting still before you.
Please forgive me for my restlessness. Forgive me for putting my agenda before yours. Help me to listen with unclogged ears and a focused and attentive mind to what you want to teach me today.
David Guzik :: Study Guide for Luke 2
In Jesus' name, I pray. A single copy of this article is free. Do not put this on a website. See legal, copyright, and reprint information. To be notified about future articles, stories, and Bible studies, why don't you subscribe to our free newsletter, The Joyful Heart , by placing your e-mail address in the box below. They realized he had seen a vision in the temple, for he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.
Exposition This week's lesson is included in Luke's Gospel to show how special and significant is the birth of John the Baptist -- announced in the temple to the boy-to-be's father, a priest. But it also has lessons for us as disciples. Zechariah certainly lives his life to follow the God he loved, but his faith falters. What can we learn from his faith that we can apply to our own? The story begins carefully placed in geography and time. Luke relates this not as a timeless legend, but as an historical event. We meet Zechariah and his wife Elizabeth, an elderly, childless couple. That they were "well along in years" Greek probaino, KJV "stricken" may indicate that they were over sixty, since sixty years was considered "the commencement of agedness.
They were "upright" NIV or "righteous" KJV, Greek dikaios , not meaning perfectly sinlessness here, but "pertaining to being in accordance with high standards of rectitude, upright, just, fair. According to Mosaic law, priests weren't required to marry a wife from the Tribe of Levi Leviticus They never blamed men for infertility in those days! Elizabeth has no prospect of getting pregnant, since she is well past her childbearing years.
It just isn't going to happen, and Elizabeth and Zechariah have resigned themselves to it. Moreover, they live in dark days during the bloody reign of Herod the Great 37 to 4 BC. Yet life goes on. For most of the year, Zechariah and Elizabeth live in a small village "in the hill country of Judea," south of Jerusalem Luke 1: Religious workers in Israel were divided into two groups, priests and Levites.
All were descended from the Tribe of Levi, but, additionally, the priests were descendants of Moses' brother Aaron. Priests were set apart for a special ministry in the Temple with regard to the worship of God that took place there. After introducing Zechariah and Elizabeth, Luke focuses on the particular event that forever changes their lives The priests were divided into 24 groups or divisions 1 Chronicles Priests and their families would live in Jerusalem or in various nearby villages, but when their division was called up for duty for a week, twice each year, the priests would come to Jerusalem to work in the Temple.
Each day about 50 priests would have been on duty, with perhaps on duty during a given week. This day, Zechariah is "chosen by lot" to go inside the temple and burn incense on the Altar of Incense in the Holy Place. It is considered a great honor. Since there were a large number of priests, no priest was allowed to serve as the officiating priest more than once in his lifetime. Sometimes the high priest himself officiated.
As the officiating priest, it was Zechariah's job to place incense on the heated altar and then prostrate himself in prayer.
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Outside, the people were reciting this prayer during the incense offering: What an incredible vision to Zechariah and what an amazing promise. Let's look briefly at each point of the angel's message:. If I were Zechariah, my head would be swimming and I would feel shell-shocked by now. What amazing words, what amazing promises about a son who is not yet born!
But instead of rising to faith, Zechariah sinks to doubt. What a contrast with Mary, who when the birth of Jesus is announced, doesn't respond with "How can this happen? May it be to me as you have said" 1: I find it amazing, but true to life, that upright, moral, church-going people -- even ministers -- can be so filled with unbelief, so immersed in a secular, scientific world-view, that they are unable bring themselves to believe that God can work a contemporary miracle. Some even construct elaborate theologies to explain why God can't, won't, or shouldn't perform a miracle today!
At Zechariah's statement, filled with unbelief, you can almost see the angel, who considers himself questioned by this mere mortal, draw himself up to his full height and say:. The week is over, and Zechariah returns from his awesome experience in the Holy Place to the small highland village he calls home.
You can help your group get the most out of these studies by presenting some Make sure that each study ends with one or two questions of application, even if that . In verse 10, the angel talks about “good news of great joy for all people. The Gospel of Luke is a fascinating account of Jesus and those who witnessed his life. You can help your group get the most out of these studies by presenting some guidelines for The questions in this guide are for your use in preparing and leading. You can set a good pace for your discussion by deciding how much.
Sure enough, he gets old Elizabeth pregnant. But he can't speak to her about it. For now, she does the speaking. No more does she feel disgraced and shamed among the women of the village because of her inability to bear a child. Now she is wonderfully pregnant and attributes it to God's favor.