Bible Study Reminder Session 18

[Michael Crayne]

Hello All!

I hope you've been enjoying today's sunny breaks from the downpour we've been having.

As proposed last week, we will be meeting at our regular time this coming Wednesday, as there will be no Holy Hour. 

As for what day we will have Bible study, we will continue to meet on Wednesdays for the time being. We'll be finishing up the timeline in mid-May and may potentially take a summer break, so we could revisit the question of which day to meet then.

This week we will at long last be entering the New Testament and studying the gospel to learn about the Messianic Fulfillment of God's promises, and the "new Adam" and "new Israel" - Jesus. The required reading is Luke 1:1 - 9:50. If you have time, read the entire gospel of Luke.

Messianic Fulfillment - Part 1

1. In Luke's gospel, we finally meet the "woman and her seed" announced in Genesis 3:15. Is there anything in the account of the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38) that makes you think that here, at last, is a "new Eve" - a woman who does what Eve failed to do so many years before?

2. Review the details of Jesus' early life given in Luke 1-2. What was His background? What kind of upbringing did He have? What was He like?

3. What do the following witnesses from Luke's gospel tell about who Jesus is and why He has come?

-God through the angel Gabriel (1:26-38) and with His own voice (3:21-22)

-Simeon (2:25-35)

-John the Baptist (3:15-17)

-Demons (4:33-34, 4:41, 8:26-31)

-The centurion (7:1-9)

4. What does Jesus say about himself? (Luke 4:16-21, 4:43, 5:24, 5:32, 6:5, 9:22, 9:44, and 9:48)

5. After His baptism, Jesus was tempted by the devil in the desert (Luke 4). Are there any similarities or contrasts between this and the time the serpent tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden (Genesis 3)?

6. Luke's "Sermon on the Plain" (6:16-45) parallels the "Sermon on the Mount" and the Beatitudes of Matthew 5-6. both show Jesus as a "new Moses" giving God's Law to His people. The original law taught freed slaves to live as the free children of God. In Christ, people are free not just externally from slavery, but internally from sin. How does Jesus' teaching illuminate the inner reality and meaning of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20)?

7. The question "who is Jesus" comes to the fore in Luke 8-9. In Luke 8:22-25 and 9:7-9, who asks the question and why? In Luke 9:18-22, Jesus poses the same question twice. Who answers and what do they say?

8. Read Luke 9:28-35. What more is revealed here about who Jesus is?

As always, pray before you read!