OPENING
- When you have exciting, good news, how do you share it with family and friends?
- Would you ever have really good news but not want to tell anyone?
Today’s lesson focuses on how God handled the birth announcement of His Son.
Joseph and Mary were making the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, because it was time for the census under the Roman ruler Caesar Augustus.
Read Luke 2:4-7
- What are some of the simple details Luke used to describe such a world-changing event as the birth of God’s Son?
Bethlehem was called the city of David because it was King David’s hometown.
- How do the promises of 2 Samuel 7:12 relate to Jesus?
- How does the promise of Micah 5:2 help to confirm Luke’s details of Jesus’ birth?
- How does knowing some details about a person—family, job, hometown, hobbies—help us better understand who a person is?
- How do the details of Jesus’ birth in Luke 2:5-7 help us understand His identity?
These details help us connect the Old Testament prophecies to the New Testament events—continued evidence that God keeps His promises.
Read Luke 2:8-14
Imagine the sounds that might have filled the air as thees events unfolded.
—shepherds keeping watch at night over their flock
—angel of the Lord, glory of the Lord shone around them.
—baby born, wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.
- How does the praise of the heavenly host compare to the message of the angel?
- How do they complement each other?
- When companies advertise their products, they often us a short, catchy slogan that sticks in our minds and encourages us to remember that product. How would you summarize in one sentence the message shared by the angel?
- How does that message compare to what a person might share about Jesus today?
The angels announced the glorious news that this baby was the Messiah who would bring salvation.
Read Luke 2:15-19
How do you account for the differences between the way the shepherds reacted and how Mary reacted to the birth of Jesus?
What is the value of both responses?
The word “amazed” is used 13 times in Luke and five times in Acts— it is a favorite word of Dr. Luke. The Greek word could mean“extraordinarily impressed” or “disturbed by something.” Some embraced the message, others were curious about it, and still others were probably disturbed but he news. People still respond in various ways to the gospel today.
- How does the word “amazed” help us understand some of the different ways people might have responded to the shepherds’ news?
- What are some of the different ways we see people respond to the news of a Savior today?
Note that after all that Mary have experienced—an encounter with an angel, the birth of a Baby, visiting shepherds—she “was treasuring up all these things”(v. 19).
- What are practical ways we can treasure up the things of God in our own hearts?
Challenge
1. The circumstances ofJesus’ birth fulfilled prophecy about the Messiah.
2. Jesus alone is Savior.
3. Jesus is available to all who seek Him. Of the three lesson summary statements above, what specific verses from today’s text in Luke 2:4-19 support each statement?