Elizabeth and Mary were both in tough situations: one was older and never been pregnant and the other was a virgin pledged to be married
God allowed them both to conceive
They were already women who were trusting in God and had a relationship with God, so when the angel showed up they were ready to obey and listen to God
Mary’s prayer after being blessed by God is very similar to Hannah’s prayer after she conceived. Mary must have been familiar with Hannah’s story and was able to model her obedience when the angel showed up.
These three mothers were in touch with God. Imagine how encouraging it would be if we were all raised by a mother who had a relationship with God?
The disciples were expressing disappointment that Jesus was not the one that they had hoped him to be. They had just spent three years following him but he was killed which likely devastated them. They were so discouraged that they did not recognize Jesus as he was walking and talking with them.
The women alerted them that Jesus’s body was missing from the tomb but they still did not realize that meant Jesus had risen from the dead, which is what he told them would happen.
Cleopas expressed that Jesus was from Nazareth, he was a prophet and did miracles, but he did not believe he was the Messiah they had hoped for that would free them from Rome.
They were hoping for political freedom not spiritual redemption.
Jesus reminded them that they were foolish and slow to believe in the scriptures that he told them.
Jesus spent the time explaining to them everything about the Messiah from the old testament. He reminded them that everything God had promised would happen was fulfilled in Jesus.
Here are some passages that Jesus could have used to remind them of the prophecies from the old testament:
Isaiah 7:14- the virgin will give birth to a child and his name will be Immanuel
Micah 5:2- Jesus would come from Bethlehem and the tribe of Judah
Genesis 22:13-18- God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son and when he obeyed, God showed up with a replacement sacrifice, the Ram. God promised he would provide the sacrifice. God sacrificed his own son for us.
Numbers 21:4-9- The Israelites were sinning against God, but he sent the Bronze snake to save them, a foreshadowing of Jesus on the cross to save us.
Isaiah 53:1-12- this is the story of Jesus’s life here on earth
David not only asks God for help but recalls all the time God has saved him from birth and is waiting expectantly for deliverance
Despite being mocked for turning to God for help, David is persistent in going to God for deliverance from his troubles
David was willing to humble himself before God and described to God in a very vulnerable and specific way about how he was feeling from his head to his toe, in pain
David did not hide his struggles from God and was very expressive and deliberate in asking for help. He kept reminding himself that God would deliver him just as God did before
David vows he would declare praises to God after he delivered him and that those who seek the Lord, the poor and every family and every nation and everyone in the future would join in praising God for his deliverance and saving acts.
Jesus cried out to God for help in the same way David cried out to God for help
Several lines in Psalm 22 are repeated in Matthew 27: Several of the events around Jesus’s death were prophesied here: the casting of lots, the mockery of crying out to God, crying out to God for example.
In Matthew 28:5-6 Everything happened just as Jesus said.
Jesus died for all humans. Those who recognize this fact and want to follow Jesus, they will no longer live for themselves but for Jesus.
When we follow Jesus, we should no longer see each other from a worldly point of view.
We need to realize that Jesus lived and died as a human and as the Son of God. But God raised him from the dead. My life should be different when I decide to accept this reconciliation.
Jesus paid for the debts our sins created. Our accounts have been made whole because of Jesus’s decision to sacrifice himself for us. We have been made into new creations as a result of this deal.
The word RECONCILE in Greek language was used to refer to financial transactions.
What is the transaction taking place in this passage? Jesus’s death in exchange for Human forgiveness of Sins- this is huge!
We have become ambassadors of Christ when we decide to accept the gift of his forgiveness.
In a worldly sense, ambassadors are representatives of a government. The ambassador makes deals and decisions on behalf of a country’s leader.
As Christ’s ambassadors we can offer the truth about who Christ is and what he has done to each human so that they may have an opportunity to accept this gift of forgiveness of sins.
The gospel of Jesus is that he died, was raised from death by God and entered into God’s kingdom in heaven in order to reconcile us to God and send us his Holy Spirit.
We have the Holy Spirit living inside each of us. Although we may be fragile like jars of clay, God’s Holy Spirit inside of us will keep us living for Christ and surviving the struggles of this world.
We carry around the reminder of what Jesus did for us inside our bodies. By remembering Jesus’s sacrifice we will have the motivation to be like him.
The Love Christ has for us seen by his willingness to sacrifice himself for us should compel us to live according to his teachings.
What teachings of Jesus are you living out right now? What teachings of Jesus are you planning to add to your life? Are there things in your life right now that you are doing that do not align with Jesus’s teachings?
Both Zechariah and Elizabeth were priestly descendants
They were in their old age, alive in the time of the Roman Empire and under the rule of King Herod of Judea, but still faithful to God and keeping the Laws
Zechariah was performing his priestly duties when an Angel of the Lord appeared to him. Zechariah became afraid but the Angel consoled him and told him that his prayer was heard
GOD DOES HEAR OUR PRAYERS!!
The Angel told Zechariah he would have a son and the son’s name would be JOHN- meaning THE LORD IS GRACIOUS
John would be great and filled with the Holy Spirit even in his mother’s womb
John would turn the hearts of the people back to God. He was coming in the Spirit and Power of Elijah to make a people prepared for the Lord
Zechariah was a priest in the temple, yet doubted that God was able to make his wife pregnant. He was having memory troubles about the story of Abraham and Sarah, who was advised by the Lord that they would have a son named Isaac in their old age. He was not able to speak until John was born as a sign that this was a message from the Lord.
Gabriel was a powerful angel who stood in the presence of God to deliver the message from the Lord. He delivered the message that nothing was impossible with God. Elizabeth went home and became pregnant with John in her old age.
Elizabeth gave the credit to God and acknowledged God’s favor was on her.
Gabriel also showed up to Mary and gave her a message that she would become pregnant with Jesus. The prophecy of Jesus would come true--he would be on the throne in the line of David. He would be called the Son of the Most High God.
John would prepare the way for Jesus, the Messiah and Son of God.
Gabriel helped her faith by answering her question how this would happen. Gabriel also told her that her cousin Elizabeth was going to have a child. She went and visited Elizabeth for a time of encouragement later on.
What was Paul’s Custom whenever he visited a new location?
He would always go to the synagaogue or the meeting location where Jews gathered
He taught them from the scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah they had been waiting for
What were some of the responses of the people that heard Paul's message?
Some believed and joined the Christian movement
Some denied what he was saying
Some stirred up trouble and made exaggerated accusations against Paul
What types of people were responding to Paul’s message in these towns?
Some Jews
Some Greeks
Some God fearing non-Jews
Some prominent women
Some men
In other words, social, ethnic and economically diverse people were responding positively to Paul's message and joining the Christian movement.
What kinds of persecution did Paul experience?
Jail
Being thrown out of the town or having to flee
Previous flogging
How was Paul able to reason with the people?
He read scriptures, in context and persuaded them that Jesus was the Messiah from the scriptures
He did not have to manipulate the scriptures to prove his points
Why was Paul’s message so controversial?
He was preaching that Jesus is the Messiah- which means Jesus is the King and not Caesar.
He was preaching that Jesus should be their Lord--Jesus’s commands and teachings have the final authority on how they live their lives.
What was so special about what happened in Athens?
Paul did not initially plan to go there, he was sent there to escape the trouble some Jealous Jews from Thessalonica were stirring up in Berea. Paul had to leave Timothy and Silas behind to continue teaching about Jesus.
When Paul went to Athens, he did not go to the synagogue, instead he went to the meeting place where the philosophers of the day would meet to talk about the new ideas of the age
The Athenians invited him to speak to them at the Areopagus because Paul’s message was new to them
Paul was following the Holy Spirit’s lead to bring the message to Athens and God opened the opportunity for him to talk in a prominent location.
What are some takeaways you can use in your personal mission to spread the message about Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection to bring salvation to all people?
Have a plan, be consistent
Know the scriptures and use them to prove that Jesus is the Messiah and should be Lord of our lives
God put the people on notice because of their sins and unfaithfulness to him
The prophets were lying and leading people astray
God promised to make a new covenant with the people where he would put his law in their minds and hearts and the Levite priests would no longer be needed.
They no longer needed stone tablets with the law because they will have a personal relationship with God with his law written on their hearts
God’s plan was to unify all his people from all nations, forgive their sins and place his law in their minds and hearts
The last supper is a demonstration of Jesus’s sacrifice. Remember the Passover from Egypt when they spread the blood of a lamb on their door post and ate unleavened bread? The last supper is the culmination of what occurred during the first passover, except this time Jesus was the lamb to be sacrificed. His body and blood represented by the bread and the wine was sacrificed for us so that we could receive forgiveness of our sins. The invitation to share in this relationship with Jesus is open to all people.
Jesus showed up at the Festival of Tabernacles and started to teach the people.
This was surprising to some of the Jews because they knew that Jesus had not studied to be a teacher under any Rabbi, yet he was teaching with authority. Jesus advised his teachings were from his Father, who is God.
Jesus advised the listeners that they would know if his teachings are from God if they would obey the scriptures. Everyone had access to the Scriptures, which was called the Torah.
Jesus also advised his listeners that he was not speaking to gain his own personal glory but to bring Honor to God.
How do you know if you are really following the teachings of Jesus?
Read your bible personally and do what it says.
Do not simply follow along with traditions and regulations of a church because these items may not always come from the scriptures, really research the origins of the traditions and regulations of a church body for yourself
Know that many good intentioned churches will put their rules and regulations and traditions above obeying Jesus’s true teachings.
Can you think of some examples of this happening in your experiences at church?
Were the religious leaders of the Jews obeying the scriptures in this passage?
Jesus pointed out that they were trying to commit murder, breaking one of the ten commandments in the Torah
They were having a hard time knowing who Jesus really was because they were not obeying the scriptures they should have known from childhood in the Torah.
Jesus reminded the Jewish leaders that he healed the man at the pool on the Sabbath and demonstrated a special relationship with his Father and that is why they were trying to kill him.
Jesus healed the lame man at the pool. He was lame for 38 years. Jesus healed him physically, spiritually and socially on the Sabbath. However, the religious leaders were more concerned about their traditions and said Jesus was breaking the Sabbath rules.
Jesus reminded them that God is always working and so was he. He is always working to take care of his people.
In Genesis 2- God rested from creating, not from working and taking care of his creation.
When we obey God’s word in our own lives, it will help us to make good judgements.
The Jewish leaders were coming up with wrong conclusions about who Jesus was because they were not obeying the Torah (sins of murder and lying)
Questions for Personal Reflection
When we teach others about Jesus, are we teaching the scriptures or our own thoughts and ideas?
Do we teach others about Jesus and do good works for personal glory or to bring honor to God?
Can you imitate the way Jesus taught the Jewish leaders? What are the steps Jesus took?
He entered quietly, not for show or attention
He asked questions and gave responses to questions
He pointed out the sin of the people he was teaching and referred them to obey the scriptures
He summarized in one sentence the main idea of his teaching- obey the scriptures so that you may make correct judgements in your life and recognize who Jesus really is
Is it possible to think you know someone and not really know them?
READ Leviticus Chapter 23:33-36 and 39-44
The Israelites were instructed to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles or Booths in remembrance of when God brought them out of Egypt, where they were living in slavery. God brought them out of Egypt and into the desert, where they lived in tents. God took care of all their needs while they were living in the desert. God wanted them to remember this time and created a yearly Festival for them to celebrate.
They were instructed to celebrate this Festival every year and pass the knowledge of what happened to them to their offspring so they would not forget God was their true God and would always take care of their needs.
READ John Chapter 7: 1-13
Jesus’s brothers were on their way to Judea to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacales but Jesus did not go at that time with them to Judea because the religious leaders were plotting to kill him and he knew it was not his time to die.
In John Chapter 5: 16-18, the religious leaders of the Jews were more concerned about their rules than about God’s law. Here Jesus was healing and showing compassion to a disabled person, yet the religious leaders were not concerned about someone being healed. They were also concerned that Jesus was calling God his father and not their father. Perhaps, they should have wondered why he was not considering God as their father too?
The Israelites were known to not want a close and personal relationship with God as their Father. In Exodus, God wanted them to come to the mountain to talk with them and they refused. They sent Moses by himself to talk on their behalf.
Jesus reminded his brothers that the world did not hate them because they were not speaking out against the evil of the world and therefore representing God’s true character. This gentle rebuke pays off dividends in the future. In the future we see James and Jude writing letters to the believers and encouraging them, and now we can read these two books in the bible written by Jesus’s brothers.
Jesus spoke of his right time, what was he referring to?
Jesus lived and acted in accordance to the will of God, his Father. He lived according to God’s timing for everything in his life.
Jesus was not trying to become a famous public figure. He knew his mission was to become the sacrificial lamb for the whole world to be saved.
Jesus went to the Festival in secret and did no miracles but did end up teaching about who he is and who his Father is.
Jesus’s brothers missed the whole meaning behind the Festival- they did not realize God was still providing for them by sending Jesus because they denied who Jesus really was, the son of God.
Some of the crowd said Jesus was good and others said he was a deceiver.
Who do you say Jesus is? Do You Know Jesus? Do you follow your own timing for events in your life or do you seek out God’s timing? Do you live to seek glory for yourself or to bring Honor to God’s name?
