Luke 1

v. 37 - "For nothing will be impossible with God"
So often we like to think God having the same power as
us, when we think something is not achievable by human
capability we think God the same. We are very often
putting God in the box within our own set of mind who
God is and how He works and how much He can do. But
nothing is impossible with God.
- Zacharias and Sarah though old in human biology and
limited by physical possibility in our understanding,
especially after studying human anatomy and
physiology, but God made it happened and give them
John in their old age.
- And Mary, how can a virgin bear a son? That was
not how things were created in the beginning. Yet,
being the creator, what limit does He has in His
creation? For He so loved us that He made things
happened to bless us - Jesus was born through a
virgin. Another off scale in human biology. If I am
a researcher in human anatomy and physiology I think
this will throw me off the ceiling! I don't know how
I can analyze my data with these great outlier data
points!

As nothing will be impossible with God, so when we
pray, let us believe that it will happen. James says,
"But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for
the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven
and tossed by the wind." (James 1:6) Though this
referring to asking for wisdom, but if we asked
according to the righteousness of God, know that He
will answer them. "Until now you have ask for nothing
in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy
may be made full." (John 16:24) - Assurance of
Answered Prayer. God heard Zacharias' petition (v.
13), though it was not mentioned when he made that
petition, maybe 10, 20, 30 or more years ago, but God
surely answered it, in His timing, to show His
majestic impossibility! :-)

Mary, a faithful servant of God, believe and obey what
she was told (v. 38 and 45). What an obedient heart!
This reminds me of many stories of missionaries, they
go simply with an obedient heart! What about us?
Where is our heart?

Notice also v. 13 and 30 and also in Lk 2:10 - "Do not
be afraid..." - that is how God speak to us before
revealing to us what He is about to do in our lives
because He knows exactly how to prepare our hearts.
He knows...

Questions - there are seemingly 2 types of questions
in this chapter, one asked by Zacharias (v. 18) and
the other by Mary (v. 34) and notice how they were
being answered. Doubts and true genuine is my
personal take. When Zacharias asked, he asked in
doubting manner, did he doubt himself or did he doubt
God? But Mary, asked in a sincere manner wanting to
know and she was given an answer. God did not say do
not question me of what I do, but ask with a heart
that wanting to learn and know. So check our heart
when we ask question.
Also let us hear and listen when someone ask us a
question, before we make our decision how to react
and to answer. Let us not misunderstood genuine
learning question from challenging/questioning of our
authority.

1. Dream big for God for nothing will be impossible
with God!
2. Ask according to His righteousness and believe it
will be answered, in His timing.
3. Believe and be obedient.

This is taking way much more to type this up than I
anticipated. Time out for now. - cy

Thy Kingdom Come (Luke 1)

The Gospel According to Luke opens w/ the purpose of the book, addressing its intended audience. I've previously written about it here on my personal blog:

http://wilsonleungsworld.blogspot.com/2007/04/according-to-luke.html

Reading Luke 1, I was struck by the incredible parallelism between Zechariah and Mary's separate encounters with the Archangel Gabriel.

Compare Zecharias and Mary’s Encounter w/ Gabriel

What	Zecharias	Mary	Comment Z. = Zecharias M. = Mary
Angel Appears	10And an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing to the right of the altar of incense.	28"Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you."	Gabriel doesn’t say anything to Z., but does to M. when he 1st appears.
Reaction	12Zacharias was troubled when he saw the angel, and fear gripped him.	29But she was very perplexed at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this was.	Likewise, Z. is troubled by the angel’s appearance, whereas M. is perplexed at what he said.
Angel says	13Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your petition has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will give him the name John. "You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth. 15"For he will be great in the sight of the Lord; and he will drink no wine or liquor, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother's womb. 16"And he will turn many of the sons of Israel back to the Lord their God. 17"It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah,TO TURN THE HEARTS OF THE FATHERS BACK TO THE CHILDREN, and the disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, so as to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."	30"Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God. 31"And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus. 32"He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; 33and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will have no end."	Z. and M. both get “Do not be afraid.” God hears and answers Z’s petition, whereas M. did not petition anything, yet God found favor in her. Gabriel proceeds to foretell the lives of John and Jesus.
Response	18"How will I know this for certain? For I am an old man and my wife is advanced in years."	34"How can this be, since I am a virgin?"	In v18, “for certain,” is not in the Greek, but added for clarity. Z. asks how he will know it will be true, whereas M. asks how it will happen. Fine distinction, but it is supported in Gabriel’s response…
Angel says	19"I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. 20"And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time."	The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; and for that reason the holy Child shall be called the Son of God. 36"And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. 37"For nothing will be impossible with God."	Let me try to paraphrase the Gabriel’s response to Z. and to M.: To Z.: You will know this for certain b/c I am archangel of God and have been sent by God. (He appeals to the authority of the master.) To M.: Gabriel answers by explaining how it will come to be since that is what Mary asked! Pretty simple!
Response	Elizabeth 25"This is the way the Lord has dealt with me in the days when He looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men."	38"Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word."	Interestingly, Z. doesn’t get to reflect on what has occurred; at least it is not recorded by Luke. So, as Z. was muted due to doubt, he’s also muted in the Scriptural record. Rather, Elizabeth reflects on God’s blessing, not Z. M.’s response is of such beautiful total submission to God. And, the final clause, “may it be done to me according to your word” – really shows that she never doubted Gabriel’s word!

In the Old Testament, Abraham/Sarah, Isaac/Rebekah, and Jacob/Rachel were not able to have children until the Lord allowed it. As Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were the beginning of the original covenant to form the Israelite nation - a physical kingdom, so John (the forerunner) and Jesus (the King) is the beginning of the new covenant to begin the spiritual kingdom of God. This "new beginning," so to speak, starts are off in similar yet different fashion. Zechariah and Elizabeth, who are advanced in age, are not able to have children until God allows it per the Holy Spirit; echoing the travails of the patriarchs.

Then the pattern changes! Before, God gave child(ren) to couples who were previously unable to have children. Now, He gives a child to a couple that is not even yet married, though betrothed, and the woman has not even "known" a man. Yet again, it is achieved by the Holy Spirit. Whereas the former O.T. couples and Zech./Elizabeth petitioned God to have children, Mary and Joseph in no way asked for a child before marriage. In fact much has been made of the fact that Joseph, and Mary too, were likely to be seen in disgrace by common folk in that she was pregnant before marriage! (Boy, what an age and society we live now. How far we strayed!)

And so, God ushers in His kingdom on Earth by breaking the pattern w/ the birth of His son.

Putting myself in that time, in that place, in their shoes... reflecting on what I knew about the patriarchs, I hope I would have surmised that the birth of this baby Jesus was something the Israelites, and the world, has never seen and will never seen again- The virgin birth- of the Messiah no less.

I'm amazed by Mary's attitude. Romans, Galatians, Philippians, Titus, Jude, James, 2 Peter, and Revelation open w/ the writer referring to himself as a bond-servant of Jesus Christ. But it was Mary, the mother of the Jesus, who is the 1st in the N.T. to choose to be eternally bonded as servant to her own son, the Son of God. Luke 1:38 is the key application verse: "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord; may it be done to me according to your word."


Update, July 7:
v66 poses the question, "What then will this child (John) turn out to be?" Who woulda thought he (v80) "lived in the deserts until the day of his public appearance to Israel?"

Again, there is parallel between John and Jesus. Nothing is written about John's childhood just as nothing is written about Jesus', save Luke 2.

Luke Chapters 1-3 (Second Delivery Attempt)

...acknowledgments to UPS. My first attempt at
posting did not go through because I sent these as a
word attachment. I thought Kayan was reviewing these
first and then posting. haha. Anyway, here are my
first entries.

Luke Chapter 1 –
• Main point of this chapter appears to be laid out in
1:1-4, that the reader (specifically, Theophilus) is
being given a pretty detailed account of Jesus'
background. It occurred to me that the amount of
detail is prodigious as supported by the author
describing Elizabeth's pregnancy in months (first 5,
then sixth, etc).

• I found interesting the comparison between the
pregnancies of Zacharias/Elizabeth and Joseph/Mary.

• Similarities: God sent His angel Gabriel to speak
to one party of each of the couples. Both Zach and
Mary were initially afraid as Gabriel remarked to
each, "Do not be afraid…" Both Zach and Mary appeared
to exhibit initial apprehension to what Gabriel said.

• Differences: Gabriel spoke to Zachariah (man) and
Mary (woman). It appears that Zach/Elizabeth asked
God for a child, whereas Mary/Joseph did not.
Gabriel's response to the apprehension conveyed by
Zach and Mary is very different. In Zach's case, he
is slightly rebuked for his doubt, but Mary is only
encouraged by Gabriel and by no means rebuked.

• The multiple use of the word "favor" concerning Mary
in 1:28-30 is interesting. Perhaps the implication is
that finding favor with God can result in miraculous
things. In fact, seven verses later in 1:37, it
states, "For nothing will be impossible with God."

• A question arises as to why God uses angels
(Gabriel) to communicate at times, particularly given
the paramount importance of this event. Why would He
not communicate directly?

• What is the purpose of the clearly different
structure of The Magnificat 1:46-55?

Key Takeaways – It appears from this chapter that God
works in at least two different ways. He answers the
petitions of those that call to Him (Zachariah), and
He also works without being asked (Mary). Clay. 7/3/07

Luke Chapter 2 -
• Again, when the angel of the Lord appeared before
the shepherds, the angel said, "Do not be afraid…"
This was the exact same response by Gabriel to both
Zachariah and Mary. Why the need and purpose to
constantly reiterate this point? Perhaps it is just
human nature to be afraid of something one has never
seen or experienced before. However, the exact
phrasing and repetition of the statement makes me
think that there is some other reason for the
statement, "Do not be afraid…"

• Use of the word "Spirit" or "Holy Spirit" in
reference to Simeon is pronounced (mentioned 3 times)
in Luke 2:25-27. I went back to chapter 1 and found
seven occurrences of the word "Spirit". Makes me
wonder why God communicates through the Holy Spirit at
times, directly, through prophets, or through angels.

• How did Simeon and Anna, the prophetess know that
they were in the presence of the Christ?

• I found it interesting in that it appears that God
gave continuous affirmation to Mary and Joseph that
they were indeed in the presence of the Christ
throughout chapter 2. Clay. 7/3/07

Luke Chapter 3 –
• Definition of Tetrarch - Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Latin tetrarcha, from
Greek tetrarchEs, from tetra- + -archEs –arch
1 : a governor of the fourth part of a province
2 : a subordinate prince

I wanted to look this word up since it has not been a
highly utilized component of my vocabulary.

• It seems that there is a pattern through chapters 1
through 3 that what God says will be done, will in
fact occur. This is supported by the birth of Jesus,
the birth of John as told by Isaiah the prophet in
Luke 3:4-6.

• Did not fully understand the whole wheat and chaff
metaphor by John, and it seemed particularly
important.

• Completely missed the meaning of the Genealogy of
Jesus verses. I know that these are important but
nonetheless was unable to understand it. Clay. 7/3/07

Luke 1 (originally posted July 2nd)

vv1-4: Praise God for the faithful men who were obedient to the leading of the Holy Spirit to keep careful and orderly account of what happened so that we may know that our faith is based on solid ground and so that we can live according to His will with confidence.

vv23-25: Elizabeth was quick to acknowlege God's faithfulness and grace in her life. Her intimate relationship with Christ was reflected by her response to God's gift for her (her pregnancy) - she spent five months in seclusion with Him. Takeaway: Time alone with God will deepen my relationship with Him.

v38: Mary's obedience and humility (servant heart) were probably the qualities that gained her favor in the Lord's eyes. May He culcultivate in my heart and make it ever more atune to the leading of the Holy Spirit so that I can see His work in my life with increasing clarity.

vv46-55: Mary's song once again reflects her intimacy with God. She was confident of God's will for her and embraced it with joy. She knew her Lord and understood His character. May God continue to mold me to be like Mary - obedient, humble, joyful and full of praise!

- Su

Luke 1: the beginning

I wasn't sure what new information I might uncover on this reading once
through. the phrase "rising sun" in verse 78 stood as I found something
unique about this phrase. I don't recall Jesus ever being referred to as
the rising sun. A search through the NIV using biblegateway.org does not
reveal any other instances of this phrase. The NASB version uses the proper
noun Sunrise. Using biblegateway again reveals no other instance of
sunrise to refer to Jesus.

I think of one parallel-- the rising sun marks the beginning of the day.

The Bible contains many phrases, such as "light of the world" that describe
Jesus. Now we have "rising sun" as another Biblical phrase that describes
Jesus. phil out

Luke Chapter 1

Musings and Life Lessons from the book of Luke:
Chapter 1-NAS

v.1-4: There were those who were eyewitnesses to the things (miracles, healings perhaps) accomplished among them (disciples and followers of Christ I believe).
-People say seeing is believing, but faith is believing the truth that has been taught us and revealed to us in the Word and through the Holy Spirit. Thoughts?

But then there are "servants of the word (gospel)". When I think of the word servant, I usually think about the servant of a king, or master, or a human being.
-What does it mean to be a servant of the word?

Or when Mary calls herself "the bondslave of the Lord (or the Lord's servant [NIV]) in v.38, 48. And when she says that "He (God) has given help to Israel His servant" in v.54.
-Who or what are we a slave to?

I also observed the theme of fear throughout Ch.1...

v.12: Fear gripped Zacharias when he saw the angel of the Lord.
v.65: Fear came on all those living around Zacharias and Elizabeth, after Zacharias began speaking again, after having been kept silent.
-Fear is very real.

But then there is reassurance from the Lord...

v.13: "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, (why?) for his petition (prayer) has been heard".
v.30: "Do not be afraid, Mary; (why?), for you have found favor with God."
-God answers prayer and he is with us and wants to bless us.

-Interesting to note too that Elizabeth earlier in v.25 says that the Lord also looked with favor upon her, by allowing her to become pregnant, and taking away her disgrace among men. Interesting statement that she made, considering her circumstance and how both she and Zacharias were righteous and blameless in the sight of God (v.6).

Continuing on the thought of fear...

v.50: Mary states that "His mercy is upon generation after generation toward those who fear Him".
v.74-75: Zacharias says that we might serve Him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him all our days.
-So fear Him (because God is holy) and then serve Him without fear.

Now on to the Holy Spirit...

v.15: The angel tells Zacharias that his son John will be filled with the Holy Spirit and tells Zacharias all the things that John will do.
v.35: The angel tells Mary that the Holy Spirit will come upon her and the power that will come.
v.41: Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and blesses Mary.
v.67: Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied.
-The indwelling of the Holy Spirit and His power to do and say things that bring glory to God.

Last thoughts:
The NAS uses the word "behold" 6 times in Ch.1:
v.20,31,36,38,44,48
-Each time a significant announcement is made.

I looked up the definition online:
to perceive through sight or apprehension; or to gaze upon.

-What do we consider significant enough that we can say "Behold!"
-I know this is a Luke study, but remember what John said in John 1:29:
"Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!"

Thanks for reading...Good night and God bless.

-Ying