God’s Will for the Shepherd
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
Who is “small among the clans of Judah” (verse 2)?
What will the one
who comes from there do for the Lord (verse 2)?
How long will Israel
“be abandoned” (verse 3)?
How will He “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, what
does this passage reveal about God’s will for His Son?
Luke 1:39-55 - 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!”
46 And Mary
said:
“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.”
Who did Mary hurry to greet (verses 39 and 40)?
What two
things happened “when Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting” (verse 41)?
Who did Elizabeth say was blessed (verse 42)?
What did Elizabeth call Mary (verse 43)?
What did Mary say her spirit “rejoices in” (verse 47)?
Who will call Mary “blessed” (verse 48)?
Who does God’s mercy extend to (verse 50)?
How does Mary describe those who God “has scattered” (verse 51)?
Who has God “lifted up” (verse 52)?
What has filled the hungry” (verse 53)?
Who has God remembered “to be merciful” to (verses 54 and 55)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage reveal about God’s will for His
Son?
In your opinion, what does Luke 1:39-55 help us understand about the
flock that the Son, the Shepherd, will stand up for in Micah 5:2-5a?
Luke 2:15-20 - New International
Version (NIV)
15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds
said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened,
which the Lord has told us about.”
16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who
was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had
been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to
them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her
heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all
the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.
Who left and went “into heaven”
(verse 15)?
Where did the shepherds “go to” (verse 15)?
What
were they going to see (verse 15)?
Who did they find (verse 16)?
What did they do “after they had seen him” (verse
17)?
How did “all who heard it” respond (verse 18)?
What did Mary do (verse 19)?
Who “returned, glorifying and praising God for all
the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told”
(verse 20)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this
passage?
In your opinion, what does this passage reveal about
God’s will for His Son?
In your opinion, how do the shepherds in Luke 2:15-20 provide
an example of how we should react to the good news of Micah 5:2-5a?
In your
opinion, what can we learn from the fact that Mary hurried to Elizabeth in Luke
1:39-55 and the shepherds hurried to “see this thing that has happened”
in Luke 2:15-20 but when they got where they were going the hurrying stopped?
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 say, “sacrifice and offering you did not desire”
(verse 5)?
What had God prepared for Christ (verse 5)?
What did not please God (verse 6)?
Who was written about in the scroll (verse 7)?
What had Crist come to do (verse 7)?
How were the “burnt offerings and sin offerings” that
God did not desire offered (verse 8)?
What did Christ set aside (verse 9)?
How have we “been made holy” (verse 10)?
In your opinion, what is the basic message of this passage?
In your opinion,
what does this passage reveal about God’s will for His Son?
In
your opinion, how is the magnitude of the “mercy” that Mary glorified
God for in Luke 1:39-55 revealed in Hebrews 10:5-10?
In your opinion, how
is Jesus’s willingness to do God’s will demonstrated in Luke 2:15-20 and in
Hebrews 10:5-10?
In your opinion, what do these passages from Micah, Luke, Luke
and Hebrews teach us about why it’s important that the Son becomes the Shepherd?
In your
opinion, how should we respond to our Shepherd today?
(sprucewhispers.blogspot.com)
