Rev. David Holwick
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey Bible study
October 10, 1993
Robert Gundry
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I. The preparation.
A. John's prologue recalls the opening of Genesis. Jesus is God.
B. Genealogies in Matthew and Luke point to the significance of Jesus.
1) Matthew's genealogy.
a) Goes back to Abraham to emphasize Jesus' Jewishness.
b) Contrary to custom, he includes four women (each scandalous).
c) Matthew gives the descent of Jesus through his foster father Joseph.
d) Artistically the genealogy is divided into three sets of 14, but three kings
are omitted and David is counted twice.
2) Luke's genealogy.
a) Goes back to Adam to emphasize Jesus as Savior of whole world.
b) Luke may give Jesus' real descent through Mary, but substitutes Mary's
husband because women are not supposed to be in genealogies.
II. Nativity and Childhood.
A. Births are announced to Zacharias, Mary and Joseph.
1) Jewish engagement could only be broken by divorce or death.
2) Mary remained a virgin "until she gave birth to a son" (Matt 1:25) which
implies she did not remain a virgin forever.
B. The shepherds. (Luke)
1) The manger was probably in a cave, according to Justin Martyr.
2) Shepherds represent humble people, but also present Jesus as another shepherd
King like Jesus.
C. The magi. (Matthew)
1) May have been Persian (Iranian) astrologers.
2) The star may have been a comet, a conjunction of planets (the current
favorite) or a miraculous star for this special occasion.
3) The wise men visit Jesus in a house.
4) Subsequent episodes recall turmoil in Israel's history: the Exodus to and
from Egypt and the slaughter of the innocents.
D. The boyhood of Jesus.
1) Only Luke speaks of experience of Jesus in the temple at age 12.
III. The beginnings of Jesus' ministry.
A. John the Baptist preached repentance and the coming of God's Kingdom.
1) His baptism was a sign of repentance from sins.
2) His main message was the coming of the Messiah and the Kingdom.
B. The baptism of Jesus.
1) He needed to identify with sinful humanity.
2) He was dramatizing his coming death and resurrection.
C. The temptation.
1) Adam failed his test, Jesus passed his.
2) He overcomes by quoting Scripture (as does Satan).
3) Luke rearranges order to make Jerusalem climatic, as throughout Luke-Acts.
D. The first disciples.
1) Mark emphasizes each came "immediately" but others show a (short) gap in time.
E. The first miracle.
1) Wine represented the new life Jesus was inaugurating.
2) Miracles were not for drama alone, but had to fit into God's plan.
F. Cleansing of Temple.
G. Nicodemus and Samaritan woman.
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