Working Notes
by
Sylvia Dooling
Ecclesiastes 3:2a; Mark 6:2-3; Luke 1:1-2; 38
In the introduction to this lesson, the author makes the particularly
important point that ‘sorting out sentimentality from biblical truth is one
of the many challenges of the Christmas season While sentimentality is not a
bad thing it is no replacement for the stunning miracle of the incarnation.
Within the worship community, Christmas reclaims the miracle of Emmanuel,
God-with-us.”
With that in mind, it’s important to spend time in this lesson reading the
Scripture and ‘listening” to the Word of God.
Spend circle time together emphasizing the author’s Scripture Focus found on
Page 23. There is more scripture to read in this section than the scripture
highlighted at the top of the lesson. The passages for this section include
the gospel accounts surrounding the birth of Jesus that are found both in
Matthew and in Luke.
Random notes on the scripture passages taken from the lesson:
Matthew 1:1-17
1. Jesus’ genealogy’the son of David, the son of Abraham” begins
with the great Patriarch, Abraham, and emphasizes his royal descent.
2. Please note that the genealogy includes Jews and Gentiles, women
and men and interestingly, both saints and sinners.
Note from the New Geneva Study Bible:
‘Women are not usually named in Near Eastern Genealogies, but
they are intrinsic to God’s purpose in sending Christ. The five
women named in Jesus’ genealogy all remind us that God often
does the unexpected and chooses the unlikely. Tamar (v. 3)
reminds us of Judah’s failures (Gen. 38:6-30); Rahab (v. 5) was
a harlot (Josh. 2); Ruth was a Moabite (Ruth 1:4) and thus
subject to a special curse (Deut. 23:3-5); Uriah’s wife
Bathsheba (v. 6) was David’s downfall (2 Sam. 11). Mary fulfills
Is. 7:14 (v. 23), and even more important promise of Gen. 3:15
(Gal. 4:4).
Matthew 1:18-24
It is important to note that Jesus’ conception by a virgin is
miraculous. It is also important to emphasize that another purpose
for including the words of the prophet that refer to the ‘virgin”
Mary is to state that Jesus was born a ‘human being.” He entered
our world the way in which every one of us enters it, through the
birth canal of a woman. In the words of the creed, he is fully
human, and fully divine a mystery.
The Luke passages is quite longyou might want to choose a few verses
to read while following the lesson’s summary of the rest. If you
choose to focus on Mary’s song of praise and Zechariah’s song, this
would be a good time to insert the questions listed under the
Suggestions for Leaders on Page 27. You could either use them as
questions in circle timeor use the questions yourself as a guide to
help you summarize the songs and their messages. For example: What
common themes are present in these two songs? These are prophetic
utterances that declare the mighty acts of God in redeeming his
people. The long awaited promise of a Messiah has come. Mary has
been chosen to bear the Messiah. John will be the forerunner of the
Lord.
As a way of following the theme for this lesson ‘A Time to be Born, and a
Time to Die,” it’s important to include the scripture Luke 2:22-38 about
Joseph and Mary presenting their son at the Temple. Simeon’s blessing
‘reminds us why the Messiah has comethe child’s life leads unmistakably to
the cross.” Jesus was born to die!
*Question*: After reading and listening to these gospel accounts is there
anything that you learned that you didn’t know before?
*Question*: Is there some part of the gospel accounts that particularly
speaks to you today?
You will notice that the last part of the lesson ‘The Season of Life: A Time
to Be Born, and a Time to Die,” (Page 24-25) has been left out of these
supplemental notes. That is because if I were teaching this lesson I would
stay focused on God’s redemptive acts.
The incarnation is about God’s love for the world. The spotlight should be
on God and his mighty acts revealed through historical events. This is not
an occasion for us to be turned in on ourselves. This is a lesson that
should result in our worship. It would be appropriate to break forth in
singing the Doxology at the close of your time together.
In conclusion, for those of you who do not meet for a lesson in December,
and only meet in circles 8 times rather than 9Lesson 4 and Lesson 5 could be
combined. It would mean being selective of the Scriptures you choose to read
and relying a little more on summarizing in your own words.