week of 3/29

Unit 19  Session 3

THE TEMPLE

LUKE 2:40-52

 

Key Concept:

Jesus, Who is fully human and fully God, is the source of wisdom and knowledge.

The first few weeks of Jesus' life evidenced that He was not an ordinary child like the rest of us. Through announcements from angels, words spoken by strangers, and prophecies made over Jesus, He was identified as the Savior the world had been waiting for. That same Savior would grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man, always keeping His focus on His mission from the Father.

As you examine Luke 2:40-52:

 

✞   Note that Mary and Joseph were obedient and faithful

    to God's ways.

✞   Meditate on the fact that Jesus longed to be in His

    Father's house.

week of 3/22

Unit 19  Session 2

THE VISIT

MATTHEW 2:1-12

 

Key Concept:

Jesus is the true King and worthy to be worshiped.

Mary and Joseph experienced much in the years surrounding Jesus' birth. An angel gave each of them a message concerning God's Son being conceived by the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:26-38 ; Matthew 1:18-25). A Roman census sent them traveling to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born and visited by shepherds. And at the temple in Jerusalem, they were amazed at Simeon's and Anna's reactions to their infant Son (Luke 2:25-28). Some time later, still in Bethlehem, they received yet more visitors - this time wise men from a pagan land looking for the promised King.

As you examine Matthew 2:1-12:

 

✞   Consider that knowing Jesus is King can cause us to

    worship or cause us disturbance.

✞   Recognize that true worship must be directed toward

    the One worthy of worship.

week of 3/15

Unit 19  Session 2

THE DEDICATION

LUKE 2:25-38

 

Key Concept:

Jesus is the only hope of salvation, for the whole world.

According to Mosaic law, every firstborn son was to be consecrated to the Lord and redeemed with a sacrifice (Exodus 13:1-2, 11-15), and every woman was to present a sacrifice in the temple a certain number of days after childbirth (Leviticus 12:1-8). So Joseph and Mary brought the infant Jesus to the temple, so that even as a baby, He fulfilled every requirement of the law. At the temple, two faithful, elderly people had been waiting for the Messiah, and now they would wait no more.

As you examine Luke 2:25-38:

 

✞   Contemplate Simeon's identification of Jesus as God's

    salvation and a light for revelation to the Gentiles.

✞   Recognize that Anna's devotion to the Lord led her to

    the moment when she saw and worshiped the infant

    Jesus.

week of 3/8

Unit 19  Session 1

THE BIRTH

LUKE 2:4-20

 

Key Concept:

The good news is meant to be shared.

After more than four hundred years of silence from God, an angel of the Lord appeared to the priest Zechariah, foretelling the miraculous birth of his son, John the Baptist, who would be forerunner for the Lord's Messiah. Later, the angel appeared again to Mary, foretelling the virgin birth of her Son, Jesus, Who would be the promised Messiah. A Roman census forced Mary and her husband, Joseph, to travel to Bethlehem late into Mary's pregnancy. To fulfill Scripture the Lord had arranged all these things - for His Son to be born in flesh as promised King and Savior of the world.

As you examine Luke 2:4-20:

 

✞   Identify ways Luke made the connection between Jesus

    and the line of David.

✞   Recognize that the shepherds spread the news of Jesus'

    birth, and all who heard it were amazed.