{"id":766661,"date":"2014-12-28T18:26:54","date_gmt":"2014-12-28T23:26:54","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2026-06-23T17:54:31","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T21:54:31","slug":"bible-study-christmas-1-2014","status":"publish","type":"bible_study","link":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/bible_study\/bible-study-christmas-1-2014\/","title":{"rendered":"Bible Study: Christmas 1 &#8211; 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><hr>\n<h4><strong>Isaiah 61:10-62:3<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p>The reading from the Hebrew Bible today comes from the final section of Isaiah, generally referred to as Third Isaiah (Chapters 56-66), and is marked by Israel\u2019s return to Palestine after a long time in exile. Salvation, hope and transformation are key themes in this passage.<\/p>\n\n<p>The metaphors move from what more concretely describes the human domain, the splendid garments for a wedding (v. 10) to nature \u201cas the earth brings forth its shoots\u201d (v. 11), but there seems to be no division between the two, as the images flow one into another.<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n\t<li>What is the writer saying about the future of God\u2019s people?<\/li>\n\t<li>How is salvation described in this passage from Isaiah?<\/li>\n\t<li>What does \u201cyou shall be called by a new name\u201d (v. 2b) signify to you? And how does it relate to transformation?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h4><strong>Psalm 147&nbsp;Laudate Dominum<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p>Psalm 147 makes up part of a quintet of praise psalms (Laudate Dominum, Book of Common Prayer, p. 804), starting with Psalm 146 and ending with Psalm 150. The praise psalms are typically read during Christmastide.<\/p>\n\n<p>The Hebrew&nbsp;Hallelujah&nbsp;is translated as \u201cPraise the Lord.\u201d In the Book of Common Prayer it is subtitled&nbsp;Laudate Dominum, Latin for \u201cPraise God,\u201d and is often sung in many congregations today as a Taiz\u00e9 chant. (The Taiz\u00e9 Community is an ecumenical monastic order in France.)<\/p>\n\n<p>God\u2019s promises have been fulfilled (vv. 1-6):&nbsp;Yahweh&nbsp;rebuilds (v. 2), heals those traumatized by years in exile (v. 2), counts the stars (v. 4), \u201clifts up the lowly\u201d (v. 6), brings rain (v. 8) and provides food for all creatures (v. 10).<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n\t<li>What is the purpose of praise?<\/li>\n\t<li>If you were rewrite this psalm today, what metaphors would you change?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h4><strong>Galatians 3:23-25; 4:4-7<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p>In the epistle lesson for today Paul addresses a conflict between gentiles and Judaizers in Southern Galatia (modern-day Turkey). The debate was about whether gentiles be part of the faith community without adhering to the rituals (e.g., circumcision) of Mosaic Law.<\/p>\n\n<p>Paul forcefully says that, yes, they could, because Christ\u2019s coming made the rituals of the Law unnecessary for salvation. With that, Paul flings open the door to salvation to the gentile community.<\/p>\n\n<p>The Greek word&nbsp;paidagogos, translated in the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible as \u201cdisciplinarian\u201d and in other translations as \u201ccustodian\u201d or \u201ctutor,\u201d appears two times in the passage. William Barclay points out that in the Greco-Roman world, it was customary to leave the ethical upbringing of a child up to the most trusted and oldest slave\/servant of the household.&nbsp;(\u201cThe Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians,\u201d Westminster Press, 2002):<\/p>\n\n<p>\u201cIt was the function of the law to bring a man to Christ by showing him that by himself he was utterly unable to keep the law. \u2026 But once a man had come to Christ he no longer needed the law, for now he was dependent not on law by on grace\u201d (p. 33).<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n\t<li>Where does the Law leave off and grace pick up in your own life?<\/li>\n\t<li>Are there Christian religious practices that sometimes get in the way of grace?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<h4><strong>John 1:1-18<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n<p>John begins the prologue to his gospel with the Word,&nbsp;logos, from the Greek&nbsp;leg\u00f3,&nbsp;which means&nbsp;\u201ca word as embodying an idea, a speech, a statement.\u201d&nbsp; The English word \u201clogo\u201d also derives from the Greek word, and is defined by&nbsp;Dictionary.com&nbsp;as \u201ca graphic representation or symbol of a company name, a trademark abbreviation, etc., often uniquely designed for ready recognition, also called logotype.\u201d But the Word becomes much more than a representation of an idea. The Word is Christ: \u201cthe Word became flesh and lived among us\u201d (v. 13).<\/p>\n\n<p>The reading from John\u2019s prologue serves as a bridge between the human birth of Jesus at Christmas to the mystery of God made flesh in Jesus Christ and dwelling among us, and leads the reader closer to the incarnation of Christ celebrated during the season of Epiphany.<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n\t<li>How is the Word embodied and revealed in communities of faith today?<\/li>\n\t<li>How does your answer relate (if at all) to verse 18: \u201cIt is God the only Son, who is close to the Father\u2019s heart, who has made him known.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Isaiah 61:10-62:3 The reading from the Hebrew Bible today comes from the final section of Isaiah, generally referred to as Third Isaiah (Chapters 56-66), and is marked by Israel\u2019s return to Palestine after a long time in exile. Salvation, hope and transformation are key themes in this passage. The metaphors move from what more concretely&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":201221,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_tec_requires_first_save":true,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_EventAllDay":false,"_EventTimezone":"","_EventStartDate":"","_EventEndDate":"","_EventStartDateUTC":"","_EventEndDateUTC":"","_EventShowMap":false,"_EventShowMapLink":false,"_EventURL":"","_EventCost":"","_EventCostDescription":"","_EventCurrencySymbol":"","_EventCurrencyCode":"","_EventCurrencyPosition":"","_EventDateTimeSeparator":"","_EventTimeRangeSeparator":"","_EventOrganizerID":[],"_EventVenueID":[],"_OrganizerEmail":"","_OrganizerPhone":"","_OrganizerWebsite":"","_VenueAddress":"","_VenueCity":"","_VenueCountry":"","_VenueProvince":"","_VenueState":"","_VenueZip":"","_VenuePhone":"","_VenueURL":"","_VenueStateProvince":"","_VenueLat":"","_VenueLng":"","_VenueShowMap":false,"_VenueShowMapLink":false,"_tribe_blocks_recurrence_rules":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_description":"","_tribe_blocks_recurrence_exclusions":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","ep_exclude_from_search":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23,16,52,3],"tags":[158],"class_list":["post-766661","bible_study","type-bible_study","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bible-studies","category-christmas","category-sermons-that-work","category-worship-and-prayer-menu","tag-christmas-1"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":23,"label":"Bible Studies"},{"value":16,"label":"Christmas"},{"value":52,"label":"Sermons That Work"},{"value":3,"label":"worship_and_prayer_menu"}],"post_tag":[{"value":158,"label":"Christmas 1"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":[],"comment_info":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766661","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bible_study"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766661\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":951689,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bible_study\/766661\/revisions\/951689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=766661"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=766661"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/staging.episcopalchurch.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=766661"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}