the heart of jesus - nph4404463 workbook.indd 704463 workbook.indd 7 55/27/09 8:43:45 am/27/09...

The Heart of JesusWomen in the Gospel of Luke

Participant Workbook

By Jane L. Fryar

404463 Workbook.indd 1404463 Workbook.indd 1 5/27/09 8:43:42 AM5/27/09 8:43:42 AM

Copyright © 2009 Concordia Publishing House 3558 S. Jefferson Ave., St. Louis, MO 63118-39681-800-325-3040 · www.cph.org

All rights reserved. Unless specifi cally noted, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechani-cal, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Concordia Publishing House.

The purchaser of this publication is allowed to reproduce the marked portions contained herein for use with this curriculum. These resources may not be transferred or copied to another user.

Written by Jane L. Fryar

Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers, Wheaton, Illinois. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Hymn texts with the abbreviation LSB are from Lutheran Service Book, copyright © 2006 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.

The quotations from Martin Luther in Session 3 are from Lu-ther’s Small Catechism with Explanation, copyright © 1986, 1991 Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.

The quotation from Luther’s Works in Session 5 is from vol. 26, American Edition, copyright © 1963, by Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Manufactured in the United States of America


Art © Sally Wern Comport


Introduction

The Heart of Jesus: Women in the Gospel of Luke is designed to help you connect your personal experiences with Scripture—particularly Luke’s Gospel—to deepen your understanding of how God works in all aspects your life. While it’s unlikely that any of us has the specifi cs of everyday routines or details in common with the women Luke writes about, we do share common themes and emotions. We feel the same anxieties and the same joys. And we have the same Savior, the same blessings, the same assurances of forgiveness and promises of hope through Him. As you read the book and study the Bible stories it dis-cusses, consider Jesus’ interaction with women—and indeed with all of us—from the closer perspective this study allows.

The Heart of Jesus provides you and your small group with twelve weeks of Bible study material. Each chapter in the book focuses on a woman (or women) who encountered Jesus, and it encourages you to understand how that encounter shows Jesus’ love and compassion for all people, then and now. Each Bible study session in this companion workbook provides questions that are written to inspire your personal refl ection and bring forth meaningful and fruitful conversation within your group. The greatest benefi t to you will come as you read the Bible passage and the chapter in the book, The Heart of Jesus, then refl ect as you work through the questions in this workbook. Answer the questions as best fi ts your situation, but consider how your responses can further group discussion.

Our hope is that you will respond to this study of Christ in your life in the same way the women you will read about in Luke did—you will reach out to Him for healing, you will serve Him as you are able, you will share His Good News with others, and you will rejoice in the gift of faith that His death and resurrection are real and true, for Him and for us. This is the heart of Jesus’ Gospel.

—The Author


6 The Heart of Jesus: Women in the Gospel of Luke—Participant Workbook

Session ONE

Elizabeth—Surprised by God’s Timing

Luke 1:5–7, 39–45, 56–66

GoalsBy the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Word, we will:

• recognize that God values each woman, regardless of age or circumstance;

• trust that God’s will for us in Christ is always good and that His timing is always perfect;

• reach out to others who need our care, especially those experiencing life’s disappointments; and

• rejoice in Jesus’ gracious and forgiving presence in Word and Sacrament.


Session ONE 7

Getting Into the TextFor most of the fi rst half of the twentieth century, many Christian

families displayed encouraging mottoes on the walls of their homes. Some were cross-stitched, some were done in needlepoint, some were embossed in wood, and some, molded in plaster of paris. Short and to the point, they reminded everyone in the family about the promises God makes to us in Scripture. Some quoted a Bible verse. Others paraphrased the main ideas from a verse or several verses. Often the paraphrases rhymed. For example:

He knows, He loves, He cares. This truth can nothing dim. He always does the best for those Who leave the choice with Him.

Or, somewhat along the same lines:I will trust while I wait,

For my God is never late.

St. Elizabeth displayed neither of these maxims on the walls of her home. Even if she had, it might not have helped that much. True enough, God is never late. But He is seldom early, either. And therein lay the diffi -culty—for Elizabeth, as well as for her husband, Zechariah.

Their lives weren’t easy. We have the blessing of 20/20 hindsight. We know the surprise that the Lord had in mind for this couple—a “birth day” surprise, as a matter of fact. But Zechariah had no clue. And neither did Elizabeth.

Society, Satan, and the sin in Elizabeth’s very own heart must have tempted her with a special ferocity. She was barren—at a time and place in history that saw childlessness as a sign of God’s displeasure, perhaps even a curse. Scripture never said that, of course. But the neighbors all did, or so it must have seemed. Who knows how many sleepless nights Elizabeth may have lain awake, scrutinizing her conscience for some secret sin?

The social stigma stung.

What’s more, Elizabeth probably couldn’t help but fi nd herself tempt-ed to chronic worry about the future. No government pension plan would support her in her old age—and old age was fast approaching! What if the Lord took Zechariah home and left Elizabeth behind? She’d be a childless widow in a dusty village tucked far off the beaten path in the hill country of Judah. The word vulnerable doesn’t begin to capture the chill that thought would have sparked.

Bitterness? Anger at God? Yes, Satan must have whispered lies in-tended to stir up thoughts like these in Elizabeth’s heart too. Why had God withheld His blessing? How could He do so!? Especially when heaven’s own record testifi ed that Elizabeth and Zechariah “were both righteous be-fore God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and statutes of the Lord” (Luke 1:6)? Ever so craftily, the enemy must have tried to plant such self-righteous thoughts in Elizabeth’s mind and heart.

We know what God was up to in Elizabeth’s life. She did not. And,



while Scripture gives no hint of it, we can reasonably guess that, given her age, she may have begun to consider her life pretty much a waste.

That would have been a mistake. In reality, Elizabeth is only one of a handful of saints whose names have echoed down the corridors of time in Christ’s Church for more than 2,000 years. Until Christ comes again in glory, God’s people will continue to remember Elizabeth and the ways God wove her life story into the fabric of our salvation! Elizabeth brought the Messiah’s forerunner into the world. Elizabeth comforted and encouraged Christ’s own mother, at a time when her words would have been exceed-ingly welcome. Elizabeth confi rmed the prophetic words the angel Ga-briel had spoken to Mary, announcing the Savior’s impending birth (Luke 1:42–45)!

Like Elizabeth, all of us have experienced disappointment. We have struggled at times with worry and perhaps with the shame of not quite fi tting into society’s norms. Perhaps we have overheard friends or co-workers gossiping about us over coffee. Perhaps we have lain awake at night, recounting our sins or adding and subtracting retirement dollars in our heads until the fi gures swirled around and around like dirty dishwater circling the drain. Perhaps we have wondered “what if . . .” or questioned our purpose in life.

But for us, as for Elizabeth, God is never late. The fi rst forty or fi fty or sixty years of her life were only the prologue, the preamble, a time of prepa-ration the Holy Spirit used as He nurtured Elizabeth for the key role she would play in the history of God’s love poured out on humankind. Her son John’s name means “given by God” or “God is gracious.” Yes, He was!

And yes, He is! So what do we do when God asks us to wait for Him? How do we endure the taunts of a godless society, Satan, and our own sin-ful natures?

I will trust while I wait, for my God is never late. The pious words of our grandparents’ generation come fl oating back to us from across the decades. The Lord is never late. He graced Elizabeth’s life with pardon, peace, and purpose at just the right time in history—human history and Elizabeth’s personal history. God acted. The promised Savior came. Although we may doubt God’s wisdom, and even His goodness at times, even when we worry over the details of our lives, as though we hold our destiny in our own hands . . . even when we grow angry at our circumstances and perhaps even at God Himself . . . even then, our Lord is wonderfully at work on our behalf.

We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

We know. God’s Word tells us so! What’s more, our Savior’s bloody cross and empty tomb prove it! As your grandmother used to say:

He knows, He loves, He cares.This truth can nothing dim.He always does the best for thoseWho leave the choice with Him.


Session ONE 9

Going Deeper1. Read Luke 1:1–4, keeping in mind that Luke was not one of the

twelve apostles whom Jesus mentored as His inner circle during His earthly ministry.

• Where, then, did Luke get his facts?

• “Theophilus” may have been a real person, a recent Gentile convert to the faith. On the other hand, since this name means “lover of God” in Greek, Luke may be addressing his book to all believers. How does Luke describe his purpose for writing (v. 4)?

• Luke includes many surprising accents in his biography of the Savior. He shows Jesus welcoming prostitutes, inviting Gentiles and tax collectors to full partnership in salvation, and making women feel comfortable and accepted in an era in which respectable rabbis would have seen teaching women as being far beneath their dignity. How does Luke establish the credibility of his account before he begins his narrative (vv. 1–4)?

2. List all the facts you can fi nd about Elizabeth from Luke 1:5–7 and from chapter 1 of The Heart of Jesus.

3. Read Luke 1:24–25. Why do you suppose Elizabeth went into hid-ing for fi ve months?

• What possible reasons does the author of chapter 1 in The Heart of Jesus suggest?



• What hint of joy do you read in these verses?

4. Elizabeth’s joy comes gushing forth when her cousin Mary shows up on her front doorstep. Read about that from Luke 1:39–45.

• What details in the text strike you as interesting or uplifting? What suggestions from chapter 1 in The Heart of Jesus seem especially intriguing or give you new insights?

• If you were Mary, what about this encounter with Elizabeth would you have found encouraging?

• Tell about a time a sister in Christ encouraged you. How did that happen?

5. Nine months have passed since Zechariah’s encounter with Gabriel in the temple. Luke 1:57–66 details the events the day Elizabeth gave birth.• Where in this account do you see Elizabeth’s faith shining through?

• Verse 58 describes the message all the neighbors and relatives shared: “The Lord has shown great mercy to her.” In what ways had He done so? Work together to list as many as you can.


Session ONE 11

6. Read Proverbs 13:12. • How was this true for Elizabeth?

• When has it been true for you?

7. Skim through the “Getting Into the Text” material with which you began today’s conversation. • What insights have you gained today about hope, God’s timing, God’s promises, and your life’s purposes?

• In what situations will these insights help you “trust while you wait”?

• How might these insights help as you seek to comfort your sisters in the faith who await the fulfi llment of God’s promises?

As You CloseAs you close today, pray together Mary’s words of praise, spoken in

Elizabeth’s presence, from Luke 1:46–55. If all or most group members have the same version of the Bible, read the prayer in unison. If not, choose one person to read it aloud while the rest pray along.

you?

Into the Text”t” materiaiall wiwitth wwhihichch youu n.ained toodaday ababouout t hohopepe, GoGodd’s s timingg, r life’s puurprposes?

esse e ininsisighghtsts helelp p yoyouu “t“trurustst w whihille y youou

help p asas y youou s seeek to comomfort y youour r sisissters innulfi llment ofof God’s pprorommiseses?s?

ether Mary’s wordsds o of f prraaise,, sspokkeen iin1:46–55. If all or most grououp memembbeers s hhaveve d the prayer in unison. Iff n notot, chchoooose oonenerest pray along.


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