December 14th Family Christmas Questions / Advent Study
Here are the next questions for your family Christmas Study or Advent Study. They are followed by a creative idea on keeping Christ in your family Christmas. The answers to the questions appear at the end of this blog. One great benefit of doing this with your family is that it will become a tradition which transcends the Advent Season whereby you do a short daily Bible study as a family at every meal throughout the year.
Answer each question True or False
According to the Bible… 23. _____ In contrast to Mary, nothing is said about Joseph’s righteousness before the birth of Christ.
24. _____ Mary believed the Angel of the Lord when he revealed to her that she would bear the Messiah.
25. _____ From beginning to end Mary’s faith and acceptance of Jesus’ deity as the Messiah was unwavering
Keeping Christ In Christmas - This is a good time to institute the tradition of reading and Bible discussion as a family. Read Dickens ever popular The Christmas Carol and the great short book, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever by Barbara Robinson after the evening meal. Read the Christmas Revelation and come up with the true chronological order of the events surrounding Christ’s birth. Discuss how these differ from Christmas cards and pageants. (For help with this reference our GCI website at http://gciweb.org/2011/07/holidays-resources/ and scroll down to “Christmas Time Line). You can also do the daily readings from the Advent Blog and discuss the questions. Once Christmas is over continue this tradition. I would read to the children each night. We would rotate 1. A book of the Bible B . A Christian Book or Christian Biography and C. A great piece of English literature with a Christian theme (such as Tale of Two Cities), then start over again. The general routine at dinner time was All seated Hold hands and pray Eat Scripture memory Bible discussion Children dismissed to clear table and do the dishes
The general routine at bedtime was Get clothes and items for morning set out, baths, brush teeth, PJs on etc. Hop in bed Read a chapter or portion of a book Sing a hymn Pray Good night hugs and kisses
Remember dads – being the spiritual leader of the family assumes that you are coming home at night and leading the family spiritually. Keeping Christ in Christmas is more than going to church, participating in a Christmas pageant and praying at Sunday School parities. Keeping Christ in Christmas begins with your family and your home. Now is a great time to institute spiritual traditions in our home which will transcend the Advent Season and become the norm of your family activities.
The Answers to today’s Advent Questions - 23. F – Matthew 1:18 & 19 (In contrast nothing is said about Joseph’s righteousness before the birth of Christ.) Much to the amazement of many, just the opposite is true. Joseph is presented in Matthew 1:18 & 19 as “being a righteous man”. This is in contrast to many church speculations, traditions and embellishments which have no basis in Scripture. Mary is often portrayed as being selected by God, because of her piety, while Joseph is portrayed as at best incidental in his lifestyle. Some even go so far as to assume Joseph abandoned Mary, since he disappears from the narrative later in Scripture. In contrast to these myths, the Bible speaks out boldly of Joseph’s righteous character which precedes this event and shapes his reactions to the appearance of the angel and the pregnancy of Mary.
If we are going to speculate about Joseph’s behavior, why harp on the negatives. The Bible clearly says that he was a righteous man, why not give a righteous explanation to his absence from the Biblical narratives? It is true that after the incident at the Temple Joseph ceases to be mentioned in the Holy Scriptures. This does not however necessitate our creating myths concerning Joseph’s abandonment of Mary or his rejection of Christ. It would be just as easy to say that Joseph was embarrassed by Mary’s harping on Jesus. Examples Mary’s behavior being... On there visit to Jerusalem “Son, why have You treated us this way? Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You.”(Luke 2:48); At the wedding feast in Cana “They have no wine.”(John 2:4); At the outset of His ministry “He has lost His mind” (Mark 3:21) Again at the outset of His ministry, “Come home” (Mark 3:32)
It would be just as easy to speculate in a positive manner about Joseph. One could just as easily speculate that Joseph, being a righteous man and desiring as a good father to not crowd Jesus, to instead stay in the back ground so as not to not give other’s an opportunity to confuse his earthly role as father with the role of God the Father. I can easily see Joseph receding into the shadows, giving Jesus plenty of space, plenty of room to shine on His own. Joseph’s absence during Mary’s embarrassing statements and actions can indeed reflect on Joseph’s character in a positive light. Why not give Joseph the benefit of the doubt. Better yet, why not just say, “the Bible is silent and so am I”.
24. T – Luke 1:45 (Mary believed the Angel of the Lord when he revealed to her that she would bear the Messiah.) Luke 1:45 states, “blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord.”
25. F – (From beginning to end Mary’s faith and acceptance of Jesus’ deity as the Messiah was unwavering.) Mary did submit to the revelation of Gabriel (Luke 1:38), she did believe the revelation of the Angel Gabriel (Luke 1:45), she did respond in faith and obedience (Luke 1:38) and her prayer in Luke 1:46-55 does reveal great faith.
This faith and obedience was not however a constant in her life. In Luke 2:41 – 50, the incident at the temple on the occasion of Jesus’ 12th birthday and Jesus’ referral to God as His Father, went right past Mary – “And they did not understand the statement which He had made to them.” Again in Mark 3:20 & 21, 31 – 35 we find Mary, with the family, coming to take Jesus away, whom they perceive to be demented – “And when His own people heard of this, they went out to take custody of Him; for they were saying, "He has lost His senses.... And His mother and His brothers arrived, and standing outside they sent word to Him, and called Him.” This is truly a low point in Mary’s spiritual life. It is at this time that Jesus disavows His earthly family and proclaims His spiritual family, His true family, to be made up of those who follow Him in faith. Luke 8:19-21 “And His mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd. And it was reported to Him, "Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You." But He answered and said to them, "My mother and My brothers are these who hear the word of God and do it."
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