Leader's page and student's page best viewed left/right side together
Lesson 3 Leader’s page:
Luke - Jesus the Son of Man, the perfect Saviour
Perhaps write the five references from the first two paragraphs of the lesson on a sheet of paper.
Get the ladies to find out about Luke – either in twos, or small groups, or as a whole group.
You may want to get the ladies to talk about:
1. the issues of barrenness, 1:7
2. being an older mum, 1:36
3. going God’s way and being misunderstood 1:38
4. needing to stand against tradition as Elizabeth had to speak up with the name John
1:59-64
5. thinking about the way God is working in your life even when you don’t understand and
just want to say “What’s happening to me?” “What’s all this about?” 1:24-25, 1:34,38,45.
Student's page:
Lesson 3 Luke and John begin the true story
Luke - Jesus the Son of Man, the perfect Saviour
What do you learn about Luke the person from Colossians 4:14, 2 Timothy 4:11 (Paul was probably in a prison in Rome when he wrote this letter), and Philemon 23?
Luke was almost certainly a Gentile and an educated man, a medical doctor and a travelling companion of Paul. Acts 1:1-2 link Acts with a former book the author had written. Ever since the second century A.D. the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts have been attributed to
Dr Luke as author.
In Luke 1:1-4 Luke tells us that he had researched the material for the gospel, and had decided to write an ‘orderly’ account of the life of Jesus’, so Theophilus can be sure the things he has been told are true. An ‘orderly’ account may mean chronological but it may also mean grouping events together to help understanding.
Luke 1:5-2:52 has events around the young Jesus not in the other gospels.
1:5-25 Zechariah has a visit from the angel Gabriel - where? - why? Priests would probably only do this particular temple service once in their lifetime. Elizabeth became pregnant and thanked God for taking away her disgrace among the people - her barrenness. In my culture there is no shame in barrenness - sadness perhaps. In many cultures barrenness is a state of shame, but God uses someone known as a barren woman to become part of His plan for the climax of the history of salvation. God changed her circumstances.
1:26-45 When Elizabeth is six months pregnant, the angel Gabriel visits Mary in Nazareth, a virgin engaged to Joseph. The angel’s appearance and greeting startle her - wouldn’t it startle you? 1:26-38. Would you have the faith of Mary in verse 38? The engaged but not married virgin hurries off to visit her relative, Elizabeth. Think yourself into the position of Mary and Elizabeth and then read verses 39-45. Two ordinary women – one older, one younger - but obviously ‘God-minded’ - realising God was using them to fulfil His ancient promises. Elizabeth still had to go through a dangerous pregnancy as an older woman, and Mary had to live through being pregnant in an inexplicable way and the whispered rumours spread about her.
1:46-56 Mary speaks a song, which is very similar to Hannah’s in 1 Samuel 2:1-10.
1:57-66 Elizabeth and Zechariah’s baby son, John, arrives. A Jewish baby was named at birth or at circumcision, on his or her eighth day.
2:1-7, 8-20 Shepherds are told about the birth of Jesus by angels. They visit Him.
2:21 Jesus was circumcised on the eighth day and named Jesus, compare Matthew 1:21.
2:22-24 Forty days after the birth, Joseph and Mary took Jesus to Jerusalem to
present Him to the Lord and to make a purification sacrifice.
2:25-40 Simeon and Anna, recognised Jesus as the child of promise.
2:41-52 When He was 12 the family made their annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
2:33, 49-50, 51. Mary treasured all these things and thought deeply on them.
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Leader's page:
To discuss-
If we put the birth of Jesus accounts from Matthew and Luke together with the first chapter of John’s gospel we have a complete and rounded presentation of the physical, emotional, and spiritual aspects of the coming of Christ.
Do you find it easy to imagine the baby in the manger and think of God’s purpose from before time to bring new life through Jesus?
Do you think about John’s theology of the coming of Christ and find it hard to understand a tiny baby in a borrowed cradle, escaping to Egypt and working as a carpenter? How can He be the One?
We need to push ourselves to hold all these truths together and stretch our minds.
Our salvation has been on God’s heart for a long……………time!
Student's page:
Luke 3 John the Baptist and Jesus’ baptism. Luke’s genealogy of Jesus.
Luke 4 Testing of Jesus. Beginning of His ministry.
Luke 5 First disciples. Preaching, healing ministry in Galilee, with large crowds.
Luke’s genealogy starts with Jesus, acknowledges Joseph the legal father, but then traces back through Mary - the blood relative. Both Mary and Joseph’s family histories go back to King David. Luke then goes back to Abraham with the same names as Matthew, but he carries right back to Adam, emphasising that Jesus came for the Jews and the Gentiles, picking up two thoughts from 2:31-32. That’s us!!
Everything is in place for the ministry of Jesus, confirmed by God the Father, revealed by Luke as the Son of Man.
John - Jesus the Son of God, a personal Saviour
John and James were sons of Zebedee, who had a fishing business on the Sea of Galilee. John is also the author of the three letters of John and the book of Revelation in our Bible. According to tradition and some early writings, John spent the later years of his long life in Ephesus, teaching the church there. For a while he was exiled on Patmos, an island penal colony off the coast near Ephesus. His crime? Gospel preaching!
John 20:30-31 John tells us that he did not use all the stories of Jesus in what he wrote. He then says he wrote to show that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God. John wrote to encourage us to believe and have real life in Him.
So no birth stories or genealogies - they were already written elsewhere.
Fewer ministry miracles - only those John was using to prove Who Jesus was.
He records signs and “I am” sayings as pointing to Who Jesus really was (and is).
1:1-18 John starts his writing with a theological statement: Jesus is God the Word - God the Father’s communication with us - with God from eternity, from before time - He had made the world but it did not recognise Him - He came to His own but they did not recognise Him - to all who received Him He gave the right to become children of God, John 1:1-5, 10-14, 18.
1:19-28 John the Baptist’s testimony about Jesus.
1:29-35 John the Baptist calls Jesus the Lamb of God - evoking thoughts of Abraham, of sacrifice, of Moses and the institution of Passover.
Everything is in place for the ministry of Jesus, announced by John the Baptist, revealed by John as the Son of God Who takes away the sin of the world 1:29.
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