September 26 Week 4

Testimony - Chrystal shared her testimony.

Prayer - for families, for the closeness of God, for wisdom

Matthew 1:18 - 25 and Matthew 2

The reading for this week covered the visit of the angel to Mary, the dream and commitment of Joseph, birth of Jesus, the visit of the Magi, the escape to Egypt and the return to Nazareth. A story we have read many, many times.  Searching for a 'new' twist or some hidden theme to this story is not gonna happen ;-)  But it is an incredibly beautiful story - and a gift of relationship and eternity I am not wanting to take for granted.

In discussion, I shared the info that Michelle had looked up about the name for Jesus - 'Son of David.' That name came about from 2 Samuel 7:12: "When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you and I will establish his kingdom."

Also, Jesus is the Greek form of the Jewish name Joshua.  Jesus actually means Yahweh is Salvation" -- God is salvation.  He was born in a grotto (cave) in Bethlehem, which was six miles south of Jerusalem. A suburb.  The word Bethlehem means 'house of bread' and was the place where Jacob's Rachel was buried, the place where Ruth lived when married to Boaz, and also the place David wanted to drink from the well when he was in hiding.  Now there is a church built over the grotto where Jesus was born.  It is called the Church of the Nativity.

In the protestant tradition, Mary the Mother of Christ is seen as someone we adore, a blessed woman and mother.  We respect her and honor her, but we do not consider her as a deity. We don't pray to Mary as Catholics do.

Joseph was a carpenter by trade, and was sensitive and wise as a husband to Mary.  His trusted in the dreams that God sent to him. He and Mary had seven other sons and daughters after Jesus' birth, and Joseph had probably died when Jesus was on the cross since Jesus asked John to care for his mother.

The Magi came to worship the newborn king.  It might be easy at first to think of 'worshipping the newborn king' as a spiritual thing, but in history and in other countries where royals rule, kings and queens are worshipped.  In our 21st century Christian culture, we associate the word 'worship' with God and praise and church, but in another place and time, subjects worshipped their ruler.  So did the Magi know that they were worshipping God, the Messiah?  They had not worshipped Herod when they met with him, but they were searching for the King of the Jews.  If indeed they did not know that Jesus was Messiah, they must have sensed that there was something very intense and special about this baby king.  They also responded to the dreams that God sent to them and avoided King Herod when they left.

Their gifts were symbolic for the life of Christ: gold for a king, frankincense for a priest, and myrrh for one who dies.  These gifts may also have been what financed the young family's flight to Egypt and back.

The Herod that the Magi visited is also the Herod that was so jealous and suspicious that he ordered all of the baby boys under two years of age killed in Bethlehem because the Magi had not returned to tell him where the baby king was.  This Herod the Great was the one who made certain the Jewish temple was completed, but he is also the one who had his wife, mother in law, oldest son and two other sons killed so that he could remove the threat of being overthrown. He died at 70, and had Jerusalem dignitaries imprisoned who were executed as soon as Herod died so that there would be tears shed at the time of his death.

The Holy Spirit was mentioned specifically in 1:20 as "..what is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit may have been the likely visitor to the Magi  -- leading them to search for and worship Jesus.  The Holy Spirit's role as a member of the Trinity and as a deity noted in the Bible is evident long before Pentecost.  And we can also consider the role of the Holy Spirit in the choices of the prodigal son.

Throughout all of the events of these verses, we see Jesus and we we the reactions of others to him.  Some responded with hatred and hostility.  They wanted to destroy Jesus.  Some responded with no response -- with indifference.  The Pharisees and Sadducees were initially indifferent to the entry of Jesus  into the world, but would later join the group who reacted to Christ with hatred and hostility.  And fear.  

The last group reacted to Jesus in adoring worship.  They knew he was the Messiah and the answer to their dreams of a Messiah for Israel.

And maybe it is still the same today, in the 21st century.  We have one of those reactions to Christ.  I know Christians adore Christ, but the ones that concern me are the ones who are indifferent.  I worry that we live in such a time of tolerance that we don't think twice about those who don't this Jesus is bad and they don't think he is good -- they just don't even think about Him.  Maybe they just consider themselves as good people and don't really see the need for salvation.

Robert Frost's poem, Fire and Ice illustrates the intensity of love and hate -- that does show passion of one kind or another.  Indifference is really worse than love or hate -- if you love or hate it does show that you care about the person or the issue.  If you are indifferent, then there is no passion - there is no concern.

Fire and Ice

Some say the world will end in fire,
some say in ice.
from what i've tasted of desire
i hold those who favor fire.
but if it had to perish twice
I think I know enough of hate to say
that for destruction, ice
is also great and would suffice.
-----by Robert Frost

And as we react to Jesus with adoration, how do we react to those who are indifferent or who are blatantly hateful toward Jesus or his ways?   That is the question....

September 19 Week 3

Testimony - Michelle shared her testimony. We talked and we prayed.

We re-scheduled the last half of Matthew 1 and all of Matthew 2 for next week.

September 12, Week 2

Testimony - What do you think a Bible study should look like?  (At both the group level and the individual level.)

Matthew 1:1-18

• A little bit more about Matthew
• Read around
• Discuss/share highlights
• Importance of genealogy
• The three stages of the genealogy
• The dream of the Jews
• The women mentioned

Homework question(3) for Week 3:

1. Why did it matter that Jesus was the 'Son of David?'
2. The Jews dreamt of a Messiah.  What are 21st century Christians dreaming of? Dreaming for?
3. Read Matthew 1:18-25 and Chapter 2

September 5, 2012 Week 1

Introduction to Matthew - 

Our Bible study may have its own flavor and characteristics.  We are going to read the Bible, a little bit at a time, talk about what we read, answer a few questions and pray.  And we'll pray before we begin as well -- for the Lord to prepare our hearts and minds as we consider the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew was written for Jews by a Jew.  He depicts Jesus as one who has high expectations for followers but that people are free to reject Him.  This first gospel of the New Testament also shows Jesus teaching his followers about forgiveness and serving.

Other topics include:

• Faith - little faith & great faith
• Hypocrites & Hypocrisy
• Lifestyle
• Miracles
• Parables - truth
• Priorities
• Tradition or Practice
• Two greatest commandments
• Women

Ideas and preferences:
Cookies
Accountability Partners
Study notes or questions
Testimony introductions
Prayer
Support each other
Simple

Prayer for this week:
Terre Webber - friend of Phyllis Hadley and SNU softball coach has been diagnosed with breast cancer
Friends of Cris Eskew  - last ditch effort to save their marrage
New mommies - patience and strength as they await the arrival of their new little ones
Bible study - God to prepare our hearts and minds as we study together

Testimony next week: Marsha
Scripture next week: Ch 1:1-18