Week 2 December 18, 2011 "Mary's Response"

Luke Series - 02 - Mary's Response from Beaverton Foursquare on Vimeo.
Introduction: "Faith Beyond Reason"
Mary is a wonderful example of someone who believed even though she didn't understand. Even as a young woman she was immersed in God's Word and had made His word the language of her heart. We can see evidence of this in her spontaneous song of praise (in response to the angel's announcement of God's plan for her life) which we call, "The Magnificat" which scholars say is a veritable collage of phrases from the psalms and the prophets! Imagine, God's word so ingrained in your heart that it became your preferred method of expression...that was Mary.

Text for this week: Luke 1:26-56

Other Passages to Read:

• Genesis 3:14-15
• Isaiah 7:14-15;
• Psalm 35:9; 138:6; 71:19 (look for the cross references in your Bible for v. 46-56)

Other Resources:

Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes (Cultural Studies in the Gospels), by Kenneth E. Bailey, IVP, 2008. This is an amazing book filled with cultural insight into the Gospel of Luke from a scholar who has spent his whole life in the Middle East. For this week's study, we recommend pages 25-37 on the birth of Christ.

Sermon Notes: Mary a Model of Exemplary Faith      

1. Believe: Instantly believing but seeking to understand "How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?" (Luke 1:34)

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. 37 For nothing is impossible with God.” (Luke 1:35-37)

2. Surrender: Obediently surrendering and withholding nothing"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." (Luke 1:38)

3. Worship: Worshipping in the face of uncertainty

Points to Ponder:

So much wonder and awe can be found in the Christmas story. We rejoice it its miraculous nature. Yet much of our traditional understanding of the Christmas story seems to be based not upon the Biblical account, but upon an imaginative work of Christian fiction written about A.D. 200 called the Protoevangelium of James that Kenneth Bailey says was obviously written by a non-Jew and who didn't understand Jewish tradition or the geography of Israel. From Bailey's work, based on the middle eastern culture and the biblical text, there are five flaws in our traditional understanding of the nativity story:

1. Joseph was returning to the village of his origin...and most homes in town would have been open to him.
2. As a descendant of David, Joseph would have been welcome anywhere in town.
3. In every culture a woman about to give birth is given special attention...Surely the community would have sensed its responsibility to help Joseph find adequate shelter for Mary and provide the care she needed. To not do so would have been an unspeakable shame on the entire village.
4. Mary had relatives nearby (in Elizabeth & Zechariah) to which Joseph would have turned if rejected in Bethlehem.
5. Joseph had time to make adequate arrangements. The text is clear that the time for her to give birth was accomplished "while they were there" v.4 not on the road as they were arriving. (Bailey, p.25-26)

To these points Bailey adds a wonderful study on the floor-plan of the typical village house and the placement of the manger in the floor of the main living area. Due to the crowds responding to the census, there was no room for them in the inn (the special guest room added to larger houses) so the a family received them into their own living space and then Jesus was placed in the manger carved into the floor. This family area would have been open to the stable area on the low end of the house. Animals standing in this area would have been able to eat without stooping from the manger in the elevated floor of the family area.

Questions to ask:

• Are we willing to be inconvenienced to participate in the plan of God?
• Are we willing to believe God even when it doesn't seem to make sense?
• What does God want to birth in my life this Christmas season?

Devotional Journal:
See http://b4lukejournal.blogspot.com/ for SOAP style journaling from the Gospel of Luke.