City United Reformed Church
CHRISTMAS FOR ADULT CHRISTIANS
Session 4:
In this session we will be looking at how Luke’s version of the nativity fits in with the Gospel of Luke as a whole.
Think about the following…jot down your thoughts and perhaps share them with your reflection partner before completing the assignment.
1. What common themes do you find in Mary’s song of praise (Luke 1.47-55), the song of Zechariah (Luke 1.68-79), the song the angels sing (Luke 2.14) and the song of Simeon (Luke 2.29-32)?
2. In Luke, it is shepherds who visit the Christ child. What do the shepherds have in common with some of the other figures who feature in Luke’s gospel (but not in the other gospels), like the good Samaritan (Luke 10.25-37), the prodigal son (Luke 15.11-32), the tax collector (Luke 18.9-14), or Zacchaeus (Luke 19.1-10)? Could you see the shepherds, for instance, being warmly received at the court of King Herod as the Magi were?
3. How can you describe the common features of the story of the Emmaus Road at the end of the gospel (Luke 24.13-35), and some other stories unique to Luke like the parable of the lost coin (Luke 15.8-10), the lost son (Luke 15.11-32), and the stories of the birth narrative in Luke---the story of Mary’s visit to her cousin Elizabeth, for instance (Luke 1.39-45), or that of the shepherds in Chapter 2? Have you ever found something you thought lost forever? Have you ever discovered something unexpectedly? Have you ever been lost, and found? How would you describe the feeling of discovering something new and unexpected?
4.
How many times can you find words like “joy”, “rejoice”, “rejoices”,
“rejoiced”, or “blessed” appearing in the first two chapters of Luke? (Compare
to first two chapters of Matthew if you like.) Count them up!
Go to
http://bible.crosswalk.com for a "concordance" you can use to look these words up. Enter
the word you wish to search, at “in” select “The Gospels” from the pop-down
menu, and at “using” select New Revised Version” from the pop-down menu, so that
we are all singing from the same music sheet.
5. Notice that the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts are one continuous narrative (look at the way they both begin with “Dear Theophilus”). The infancy narrative may have been added after Luke-Acts was finished. Why would someone say this? How does Acts end (Acts 28.30)? How does Luke begin, if chapter 3 was the original beginning (Luke 3.1-3)? And notice that Luke gives the genealogy of Jesus in Chapter 3 (verses 23-38), while Matthew has his at the beginning of his first chapter (Matthew 1.1-17). In Luke, if this is the way the structure works, doesn’t the birth narrative become a kind of preface or introduction to the rest of the gospel (whether it was added later or not)?
6. Look briefly at some of the famous stories in Acts, like the story of Paul’s conversion (Acts 22.6-16), the story of Paul and Silas in prison (Acts 16.22-40), Peter and Cornelius (Acts 10.1-33), the baptism of the Ethiopian eunuch (Acts 8.26-40), and, of course, the famous story of Pentecost, Chapter 2 of Acts, which ends in a culturally diverse collection of people gathered in happy fellowship, eating together and sharing things in common. Again, do your perceive a common thread connecting an emerging theme with what we have seen in the birth story?
Luke tells the story of Jesus and the early Jesus movement in what he calls an “orderly account” (Luke 1.2). How would you describe, in your own words, the "figure in the carpet"—the thread of meaning or the overall pattern of Luke’s gospel? What is the overall theme, expressed in as few words as possible? What is the basic message Luke wants to get across? And how does the birth narrative in the first two chapters of Luke introduce us to this theme? How does the emphasis on “little people”, “outsiders”, “women” feature in this overall theme? How does the idea of “grace” (unmerited gift) relate to the theme? (In the Greek language of the gospels, the word "grace" ("charis") and the word "joy" ("chara") are close cousins.) You should aim to write between 250 – 300 words.
You might want to read the Christmas eve sermon I preached from the gospel of Luke. Click here.