“The Greatest Man in the World”


BIBLE READING: Luke 1; John 1. 1-14
DISCUSSION                                     
                AS we embark upon our journey into the life of Christ and the New Testament, I feel it fitting to mention just how important this portion of Scripture is to the believer.  God had made a promise to His people through the patriarch Abraham; within the story of Jesus and the New Testament we will begin to see the benefits of that Promise come to fruition.  God’s people have suffered a lot because of sin, but the Old Testament Prophets leave us with a great deal of hope for the future.  After four hundred years of silence in the time between the testaments, that Hope begins to be seen in the form of a Star.  In the first two readings for Scripture, God wants us to see that this Hope is no accident.  In fact, what John refers to as “The WORD” in John 1.1-14 clears up any confusion as to who and what Jesus is.
“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made.” (John 1:1-3) Later, in John 1.14 we find that the WORD, became flesh and lived with us, making Him the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy of Emmanuel (God with us) in Isaiah 7:14.  Luke, the physician, seeks to provide for us in his account an “orderly account” of the Life of Jesus.  His purpose was to clear up any confusion as to the Hope that Jesus brings to the world.  As we begin to read these gospel accounts, seek to read them with the mindset of a first century Jew who has been waiting for the coming of the Messiah; reading is as someone who has seen the affliction of their people and damage that sin has done to humanity, only to be introduced to Greatest Man in the History of the World.  Enjoy reading about Jesus.  
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