December 26, 2021 - Mercy and Joy

Mercy and Joy

Hebrews 10:5-10 - New International Version (NIV)

⁵ Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
    but a body you prepared for me;
⁶ with burnt offerings and sin offerings
    you were not pleased.
⁷ Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—
    I have come to do your will, my God.’”

⁸ First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. ⁹ Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. ¹⁰ And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

When did Christ speak (verse 5)?

What did the Father not desire (verse 5)?

What was prepared for Jesus (verse 5)?

In your opinion, why did “burnt offerings and sin offerings” not please God (verse 6)?

Who said “here I am” (verse 7)?

What had Jesus come to do (verse 7)?

How were the “sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings” that God did not desire offered (verse 8)?

Who said “I have come to do your will” (verse 9)?

In your opinion, what is the “first” that is set aside (verse 9)?

In your opinion, what is the “second” that is being established (verse 9)?

How have we been made holy (verse 10)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

Micah 5:2-5a - New International Version (NIV)

² “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    though you are small among the clans of Judah,
out of you will come for me
    one who will be ruler over Israel,
whose origins are from of old,
    from ancient times.”

³ Therefore Israel will be abandoned
    until the time when she who is in labor bears a son,
and the rest of his brothers return
    to join the Israelites.

⁴ He will stand and shepherd his flock
    in the strength of the Lord,
    in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely, for then his greatness
    will reach to the ends of the earth.

⁵ And he will be our peace

How is Bethlehem described (verse 2)?

Who is coming out of Bethlehem (verse 2)?

Where is the one coming out of Bethlehem from (verse 2)?

What two things will happen at the end of Israel’s abandonment (verse 3)?

How will the One who is coming “stand and shepherd his flock” (verse 4)?

Why will His flock “live securely” (verse 4)?

What will He be (verse 5)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is the prophecy of Jesus coming as a ruler and shepherd in Micah 5:2-5a expanded in the prophecy that Paul quotes from the Psalms in Hebrews 10:5-10?    

Luke 1:39-45 – New International Version (NIV)

³⁹ At that time Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, ⁴⁰ where she entered Zechariah’s home and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹ When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. ⁴² In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear! ⁴³ But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴ As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵ Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord would fulfill his promises to her!”

What had happened before Luke 1:39-45?

Where did Mary hurry to (verse 39)?

Who did Mary greet when “she entered Zechariah’s home” (verse 40)?

What happened when Mary’s greeting was heard (verse 41)?

Who was “filled with the Holy Spirit” (verse 41)?

In your opinion, why were Mary and her child blessed (verse 42)?

How was Elizabeth favored (verse 43)?

Who “leaped for joy” (verse 44)?

Who is blessed (verse 45)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how does Luke 1:39-45 establish that the prophecy from Psalms quoted in Hebrews 10:5-10 was being fulfilled?

In your opinion, what does the prophecy in Micah 5:2-5a indicate will happen after the baby that Elizabeth blessed in Luke 1:39-45 is born?

Luke 1:46b-55 – New International Version (NIV)

“My soul glorifies the Lord
⁴⁷     and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
⁴⁸ for he has been mindful
    of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
⁴⁹     for the Mighty One has done great things for me—
    holy is his name.
⁵⁰ His mercy extends to those who fear him,
    from generation to generation.
⁵¹ He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
    he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
⁵² He has brought down rulers from their thrones
    but has lifted up the humble.
⁵³ He has filled the hungry with good things
    but has sent the rich away empty.
⁵⁴ He has helped his servant Israel,
    remembering to be merciful
⁵⁵ to Abraham and his descendants forever,
    just as he promised our ancestors.”

What does Mary say “glorifies the Lord” (verse 46b)?

How does her spirit rejoice (verse 47)?

What has the Lord been mindful of (verse 48)?

Who has “done great things for me” (verse 49)?

What “extends to those who fear him” (verse 50)?

Who has been scattered (verse 51)?

Who has been lifted up (verse 52)?

How have the hungry been treated (verse 53)?

What has He remembered (verse 54)?

Who had these things been promised to (verse 55)?

In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?

In your opinion, how is the mercy that Mary mentions twice in her song in Luke 1:46b-55 important to understanding what Hebrews 10:5-10 says Jesus came to do as He did God’s will? 

In your opinion, what does Luke 1:46b-55 help us begin to understand about the flock that Micah 5:2-5a says the One born in Bethlehem will shepherd?

In your opinion, how does Luke 1:46b-55 help us understand the blessing that Elizabeth says will be Mary’s in Luke 1:39-45?  How is that blessing different from what you might expect for the mother of a king?

In your opinion, what do these passages from Hebrews, Micah and Luke help us understand about what Jesus came into the world to accomplish?

In your opinion, how is Mary an example of how we, who believe that the Lord fulfills promises, should respond after being “made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ”?

 

(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)