Bible Study - Anna - Jan. 18th, 2014

Women of Courage –  Anna – Jan. 18^th, 2014

Shera brought us a large number of scripture to help us understand our first question: Who recognized Jesus’s birth and on what basis did each person or group recognize him?

We read Luke 1:1-45

Luke 1 King James Version (KJV)

1 Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us, ² Even as they delivered them unto us, which from the beginning were eyewitnesses, and ministers of the word; ³ It seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write unto thee in order, most excellent Theophilus, ⁴ That thou mightest know the certainty of those things, wherein thou hast been instructed.

⁵ There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. ⁶ And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. ⁷ And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.

⁸ And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, ⁹ According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. ¹⁰ And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. ¹¹ And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

¹³ But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John. ¹⁴ And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. ¹⁵ For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb. ¹⁶ And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.

¹⁷ And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. ¹⁸ And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years. ¹⁹ And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.

²⁰ And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season. ²¹ And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple. ²² And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.

²³ And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. ²⁴ And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, ²⁵ Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men. ²⁶ And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

²⁷ To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸ And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. ²⁹ And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. ³⁰ And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. ³¹ And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. ³² He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: ³³ And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

³⁴ Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? ³⁵ And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. ³⁶ And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

³⁷ For with God nothing shall be impossible. ³⁸ And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her. ³⁹ And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda; ⁴⁰ And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth. ⁴¹ And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

⁴² And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. ⁴³ And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. ⁴⁵ And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord.

Then we visited the whole recounting of Jesus’s birth and the events around him.  First was Zacharias- Luke 1:1-45

He was an old priest and was serving his required service.  He had married within his tribe and both he and his wife were righteous in God’s sight, believing His word.  He walked blamelessly in the law, doing things right.  So, why did he doubt? Perhaps he was still afraid, his humanness was still there.  It was 400 years since God had given a message to his people.  Gabriel was an angel that stood in the presence of GOD!!  But in Gabriel’s words the fact that Zacharias did not believe, trust, his own doubts caused his silence.  His questions were similar to those asked by Mary.  The sign of his silence was a proof of the revelation he had been given.   

We need to be careful not to only focus only on being righteous in our walk that we lose sight of the movement of God.

Elizabeth and baby John – vs. 39-45 She was in seclusion for 5 months until Mary came and she felt her baby leap within her as both were filled with the Holy Spirit.  Her reaction to seeing Mary was a filling of the Holy Spirit and she proclaimed a blessing on Mary.   She knew that the Lord had entered her house!

Zacharias’s Prophecy – Luke 1:67-80

John the Baptist- Luke 1:57-66

Word of the birth of John and the prophecy proclaimed spread throughout the countryside of Judea.  By the time that Jesus began his ministry, there were many that knew of the prophecy and the movement of God. They knew the stories their fathers had told and many generations had past.  God had been silent for so long and now they knew that God was certainly with him. What would this boy become!

Because we studied Mary in our last study, we won’t spend time going through her experience again.

Joseph – Matthew 1:18-25 Matthew got his knowledge from his firsthand accounts from Jesus and Jesus’s mother and possibly Joseph.  Joseph knew that Jesus was the Son of GOD.  But he was Jesus’s earthly father and so he trained him in the ways that he knew. Joseph trained him in carpentry.  Joseph relied on the Lord to direct him in keeping Jesus safe.  Joseph instructed him in the Torah. 

Because of Jesus’s humanity he has allowed us to know him on a human level. We know he was a friend, a son, a brother, cousin, etc. and because of that we identify with him.