Luke 4.15-30 – Straight to the Point

After years of silent preparation – prayer, thought, the study of scripture, baptism and testing – Jesus finally goes public.  But not in the way people were expecting; here, there is no talk of Israel’s political, military or theological liberation from her pagan enemies.  No, instead Jesus takes upon himself the description of the servant-Messiah from the prophet Isaiah (Isaiah 61.1-2) who will do the Lord’s will.  This is Jesus’ personal manifesto.  This is the surprising news of God’s amazing grace.

• Are you ‘amazed’ by the gracious words of Jesus?

• What would happen in your world if you had a similar manifesto to Jesus?

• Is there any reason why you can’t take vs.18 and 19 to heart, and make them your own personal manifesto? 

• Are your expectations of what God ought to be doing your own or his own?

Luke 4.1-14 - Temptation in the Wilderness

The ‘sonship’ of Jesus is tested.  The true enemy is revealed as the devil who lies and tempts; three times seeking to lure Jesus to act independently of his Father.  The temptations are plausible, attractive and logical; there are echoes of Israel’s forty-year wandering in the wilderness all the while grumbling for bread, flirting with idolatry, and putting God continually to the test.  But where Israel failed, Jesus will succeed; he remains true to God the Father by holding to his word.

• In what ways are you acting independently of God?

• What temptations are most common to you?

• What helps you to resist?

• Have you learnt to distinguish the attractive lies of the devil from the voice of God? 

Luke 3.21-38 - This is my Son

The public ministry of Jesus begins; Jesus comes to the Jordan to be baptised by John.  As John baptises him, Jesus receives the energising power of the Holy Spirit, and the Father in heaven affirms him as his son.  A fact that Luke then proves with a family tree; Jesus is not only a Jew and a descendent of David – and so part of the genuinely royal family – but ultimately the son of God.  Through him, the hopes of Israel and of creation will be realised.

• Can you hear the voice of God the Father affirming you today?

• Are you open to receiving the energising power of the Holy Spirit?

• What is it that Jesus is being prepared for?

• What is God preparing you for?

Luke 3.1-20 - The Warm Up Act

John the Baptist bursts onto the scene with one basic agenda – preparing the way for Jesus’ public ministry; calling people to ‘a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.’  John was doing what the prophet Isaiah had previously spoken of – making a pathway for the Lord to return to his people.  And this was now the time.  Salvation was at hand.  The people must return to God in word and deed.  Love and justice really do matter.

• What do you need to turn away from that’s currently hindering your obedience to God?

• How does the idea of Jesus being judge as well as saviour make you feel?

• Is your understanding of Jesus too tame?

• What situations of injustice, whether local or global, might you begin to confront?

Luke 2.1-52 - Jesus: In the House

He has come at last.  Jesus is here.  Salvation has arrived.  This child is the saviour, God’s anointed Messiah, whose arrival the people of Israel had long been waiting for.  He, not Caesar, is the true ruler of the world and his kingdom is open to all – both Jew and Gentile.  But this is not the sort of kingdom that God’s people were expecting.  There is no fanfare, or display of royal power and prestige; only a child – humanly weak, insignificant and vulnerable, but the divine king nonetheless.

• Of all the people reacting to the good news of Jesus’ arrival who do you identify with most – Mary, the shepherds, Simeon, Anna?

• Do you ‘treasure’ Jesus in your heart?

• Are you ‘amazed’ by Jesus?

• In what ways can you celebrate the advent of Jesus today?   

Luke 1.57-80 - Thanksgiving: Zechariah's Song of Praise

Another song, another celebration of God acting at last, finally doing what he had promised.  But this is not just about the gift of a son to Elisabeth and Zechariah.  No, something much bigger is going on.  And that something is the coming of ‘salvation’ – God’s mercy, deliverance from enemies, the forgiveness of sins, and rescue from death itself; all themes of Zechariah’s prophetic song, which at once affirm that things can be put right.  In fact, things will be put right.

• Look at the verbs in Zechariah’s song.  Can you name some of the ways in which God is at work in your world?

• What does God’s ‘salvation’ mean to you?

• What might God’s ‘salvation from our enemies’ look like for you or someone that you know, or a situation that you’re aware of?   

• God will put all things right.  In what ways does knowing this give you hope today?

Luke 1.39-56 – Anticipation: Mary’s Song of Praise

Mary and Elizabeth shared an ancient dream, the dream of Israel – that one day Israel’s God would come and rescue his people; that he would at last do what he had promised to their ancestors – to bless all the families of the earth through the family of Abraham.  And now excitement is building because the Holy Spirit is at work.  Something new is happening.  The dream is becoming a reality.  The world is about to be turned upside down.  And so Mary bursts into song – a song that simply celebrates God, who is Lord, Saviour, Mighty, Holy, Merciful, and Faithful.

• What has God done to change your life?

• How can you celebrate God today?

• What do you think God wants to turn upside down in your world?

• Can you imagine the bursting open of disappointment into bright hope?  What might that look like in your life at present?