Rosesam

Q4. Read Matthew 8:5-13; 21:33-44; 22:2-13; 24:14; and 28:19. What do they have in common? What relation does the visit of the wise men have to Matthew's theme of bringing the Gospel to the Gentiles? How should we be applying this mandate in our own lives? It all speaks of Jesus ministry not confined to the Jews, but extending beyond them to the Gentiles. Matthew was primarily written to the Jews to emphasize that Jesus is the King of the Jews. Of all the four gospels Matthew quotes or alludes to many Old Testament scriptures to prove that He is the seed of David who is to rule on the throne forever. But His rule is not limited to the Jews alone but includes all mankind. God wanted the Jews to be a light of the nations, but they made it to be exclusive not including gentiles because of their narrow mindedness. Now through his gospel, Matthew confirms God’s original plan that salvation is not limited to the Jews but is extended to all who would submit to God and His salvation. The wise men were gentiles who sought Jesus and found Him. Likewise all who seek Him will find Him. We have been given this gift of salvation and we too cannot hide it to ourselves. But we need to lead others to this gift who are seeking for it in their lives.

Q3. (Matthew 2:11b) Why was it appropriate for the Magi bring gifts to the Christ-child? How does the extravagance of their gifts reflect their heart attitude? What kinds of gifts are appropriate for us to bring? As a sign of obeisance and honor, it was customary for foreign dignitaries to bring gifts when they appear before a king. The Magi recognized Jesus to be the King of kings and it was appropriate that they bring gifts when they appeared before Him. The gifts that they brought – gold, frankincense and myrrh – were very expensive. Each had prophetic significance. Gold was fit for royalty and it proclaimed that He is the King. Frankincense was used in worship in the temple and it spoke of Jesus being the Priest. Myrrh was used in embalming and as an anointing oil. Bitter to taste, it spoke that Jesus is the Prophet and that He was born to die. Apart from its prophetic significance, the extravagance of their gifts reflected their heart attitude of offering the best to the one worthy to receive them. Moreover unknowingly their gifts were a provision for Joseph, Mary and Jesus at the time of their greatest financial need. When they fled to Egypt because of Herod, God provided in a foreign country through these gifts. Had they not had this provision, they may not have gone to Egypt. Because of that flight a prophecy concerning Jesus was also fulfilled - Out of Egypt I called My Son. We are to give ourselves completely to the Lord. Romans 12:1,2 says in J.B Philips version – With eyes wide open to the mercies of God, I beg you, my brothers, as an act of intelligent worship, to give him your bodies, as a living sacrifice, consecrated to him and acceptable by him. Don’t let the world around you squeeze you into its own mold, but let God re-mold your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity.

Q2. (Matthew 2:11a) What do we learn from seeing the Magi prostrating themselves before the child Jesus? What was the significance of this for them? How can we emulate this kind of worship? Worship was due to Jesus, whether as a baby or adult, because He was God in human form. Child Jesus had nothing to offer them, but their willingness to prostrate before Jesus shows the attitude of their heart and it was to submit to the King in humility, adoration and devotion. They were diligent in their searching for Him and they found Him. They endured the hardships of traveling such great distances to come and worship Him. What a contrast between them and the dwellers of Jerusalem. They knew from the scriptures that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, but they were not willing to undertake a six mile journey to Bethlehem to confirm the news that the Magi brought 750+ miles from the east. The Magi was so sure of His birth that they did not come empty handed but brought gifts worthy of the King. By humbly surrendering and submitting our lives in worship to the King, we too can emulate this kind of worship. We serve an awesome God and we are to be aware of that. It was because of His amazing grace over our lives that we can have audience with the King of kings.

Q1. (Matthew 2:1-2; Numbers 24:17) What is the significance of the Star of Bethlehem that the Magi saw? Why do you think the Magi came to find the Christ-child when they saw the star? In what way was does prophecy prefigure this event? The luminous body that they saw in the skies was unique and these Magi from the east could immediately connect it to the Messiah, for it was a sign. These Magi must have been expectantly looking to the skies for centuries, from the time of Daniel, to have recognized it as soon as they saw it and were willing to take a 750 + miles journey with gold, frankincense and myrrh, all expensive items. They must have had a big entourage with them for they needed protection of travel especially with these costly items in their possession to gift to the King of kings. Jesus was only a baby when they undertook this journey. They would have surely known that He would not be capable to do anything for them. So their journey was to simply worship Him. Their gifts symbolizes the offices of Jesus. Gold represented His deity, frankincense His priestly office and myrrh which is usually bitter spoke of His office of the prophet. Moreover myrrh was used for burial purpose. Again it spoke of His purpose that was to die for humanity. So their gifts prophetically spoke of His offices and the purpose of His birth.

Q5. (Luke 2:17-20) Great joy, praise, curiosity, amazement, telling others, thoughtful meditation. Which of these responses to the Good News are present in your life? In what manner do they show themselves? If some are missing, why? What can you do to recover these responses? Recently a song that was playing in my mind was “May I never lose the wonder, the wonder of Your….” Sadly I don’t know the remainder of the song. When I tell others, these responses of Good News is present. But the problem is in telling others. May be I need to be more tuned to the voice of the Holy Spirit when He leads me to others to tell of His wonders.

Q4. (Luke 2:11) What are the three titles of Jesus given by the angels? What does each mean? What does this tell us about Jesus' true identity? The angel says, “For to you is born this day in the town of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. So the three titles of Jesus given by the angel are Savior, Christ and Lord. Savior means one who rescues, delivers etc. In the Old Testament Yahweh Himself is called the Savior. Christ is anglicized form of Greek Christos. The Hebrew word is Meshiah and its English transliteration is Messiah. It means the anointed One. The Greek form of Lord is Kurios which means owner, Lord, Master etc and this was used for Yahweh in the Greek Septuagint version. These titles emphasizes that Jesus is God Himself for they speak of His deity.

Q3. (Luke 2:7-8) Why do you think the message of Jesus' birth comes to shepherds, of all people? Why is Jesus born in a stable with a manger for a bed? This has to be intentional. What point is God making? Even though we romanticize shepherds, first century shepherds were considered unclean. It is believed that Bethlehem was the place where the sacrificial sheep for the temple in Jerusalem were raised. The shepherds who raised these sheep were actually Levitical shepherds. But because they were raising sheep, they couldn’t participate in the temple rituals themselves. It was to these shepherds that the message of Jesus’ birth comes first. God sent the message to these Levitical shepherds who supplied the sacrificial sheep to the temple that the Lamb of God that was to take away the sin of the whole world was born!!! When Jesus was born He was covered with swaddling clothes and laid on a manger in the stable. Being covered in swaddling clothes is also symbolic of His death. For in death they cover the dead body with strips of linen. Stable is the place were animals are kept. One of the point that God is making is that He didn’t choose a palace for His Son but the lowliest place. More than that He wants the world to know the Lamb was born, to take away the sin of the whole world. Lambs are born not in houses but in manger. He was born in the perfect place for the world to comprehend who He was. For His birth in a manger was a pointer to who He was. In Isaiah 1:3 God says, “The ox knows his owner, and the donkey his master’s crib: but Israel does not know, my people do not consider”. And this prophecy came true on His birth. The animals in the stable knew their Master. But Israel did not know, they could not comprehend His humble beginnings.

Q2. Why do you think the journey to Bethlehem was difficult for Mary? Is pleasure an indication that we are in God's will or not? Any examples from your life? Extra Credit: Argue for or against this proposition: "Being a consistent Christian causes more hardships than just going with the flow." Mary was in her final stages of her pregnancy, about to deliver any time. At that time to travel and that too without any modern comforts would have been an arduous task for Mary. There was Biblical prophecy to be fulfilled by having the Messiah’s birthplace to be in Bethlehem, but if Mary would have had her way she wouldn’t have undertaken this journey. She would have had apprehensions regarding her delivery being her first pregnancy. Nazareth was in the north whereas Judea was in the south. But topographically, in terms of elevation Bethlehem was higher than Nazareth. So traveling up in elevation would have been even more difficult. Moreover, there would be fear of bandits on the way of that four day journey. So this journey to Bethlehem would have been extremely difficult for Mary. Pleasure is not an indication of being in God’s will. Jesus in His time of anguish prays Father if it be possible, let this cup be taken away from Me. But He knew that the will of the Father was for Him to drink that cup. And He went through that suffering, being in the perfect will of the Father. Paul when he traveled to Jerusalem, he knew that this would be a dangerous journey for him. But he was in the will of the Father. In the Old Testament we see Job suffering. But he was in the will of the Father. I remember in my beginning walk of born again life there were a lot of financial difficulties. Many asked when you follow Jesus shouldn’t trouble cease. Didn’t understand then, but God allowed us to go through those difficulties to build us up in the Lord. It was difficult back then, but God has brought us through it stronger in the process. To God be the glory. We do not belong in this world. We are only ambassadors here and our citizenship is in heaven. So we cannot go with the flow of the world. In fact we would be flowing contrary to how the world flows. Our walk is directed by the Holy Spirit and hence we go as the Holy Spirit leads us. And when we stand up for what is right in the sight of the Lord there could be hardships along the way.

Q1. (Luke 2:1-2) Why does Luke name the rulers in 2:1-2? What point is he making? Luke was not only a physician but an historian. Sir William Ramsey of the Victorian era was an archaeologist and an atheist. He wanted to refute the Bible by proving that it was flawed. For that he chose two books of the Bible, the gospel according to Luke and the Book of Acts, both written by Luke. He chose these two books because of the many geographical references in these books. But his archaeological digs later turned him to a born again believer because these books did not have any historical inaccuracy. He said, “Luke as an historian is first rate and should be classified with the great historians of the day.” Luke was very methodical and analytical in his presentation of the story of Jesus. Naming these rulers in 2:1-2 shows how precise Luke was in his writing and anyone who verified them could authenticate its accuracy. Through his writing we understand the reason why Joseph who lived in Galilee would take that long journey to Bethlehem with a heavily pregnant Mary. Unless there was a decree there was no way Joseph and Mary would have undertaken that journey to fulfill prophecy. By making reference to these rulers we get the time reference of when Jesus was born. Moreover for all the atheists out there, they can verify that Jesus is not a myth or a legend but a historical figure which is irrefutable. But his gospel in its entirety takes our eyes to not only the historical Jesus but also to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Q4. (Psalm 121). What does it mean that God is our Keeper. In what ways does he "keep" or "guard" us? Keeper has the idea of having a hedge around. That is, to watch, to guard, to hedge about, to protect, to preserve etc. Protection in this fallen world is so important and God promises to be a wall of protection around our individual lives. In order to navigate this dangerous world we need protection and His protection is the paramount protection that we have. In John 17 Jesus declares the same important truth in the spiritual realm which is the most important realm of all realms. He prays to keep us that we may be one as They are one. He says in John 6:37 “All that the Father gives me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out”. Once we are in Him, He doesn’t lose us. He keeps us till the day when we are safe in His arms. As a Shepherd, He does not allow the evil one to come in to steal us and kill us and destroy us. He is the ultimate protection that we have from every harm of the evil one. The Lord loves us so much that He chose to humble Himself to surround us with protection because we are precious to Him.

Q3. In what ways is God a Rock in the above verses. What functions does a rock perform in Palestine? The word of Rock in Hebrew are two words “tsûr” and “sela”. Whereas the former stands for boulders of stone which makes mountains and the latter stands form a cleft in the rock. Rock basically stands for refuge and security both for the nation corporately as well as for us individually. He is Rock that is constant, He cannot be moved nor shaken. We are secure in Him. If He is the Rock we are living stones, being built on Him the Sure Foundation. Palestine is made up of strong limestone bedrock. It is a place of mountains and valleys. The mountains had massive rocks as well as clefts. The caves in the rocks became the places of refuge. The massive rocks even functioned as a fortress and a stronghold to defend the city from the enemies. It was on the Mount Moriah that the temple was built. So the mountain was also the place of worship. When houses are built on the rock it becomes a strong foundation and strong winds cannot bring the house down. Jerusalem itself was a city that was built on a mountain.

Q2. (Psalm 3:3) In what ways is God a shield? In what ways is he our glory? In what ways is he "the lifter up of my head"? What does this teach us about God? About ourselves? A shield is a military armor used for defense while engaging an enemy. We are under constant attack of the enemy whether we know it or not. Paul in Ephesians when he speaks of the full armor of God that we need to put on, says, to take the shield of faith by which we will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the enemy. When God is our shield, we are protected from the enemy’s assault on us. It is a spiritual battle and we cannot fight with our natural perceptions. We need God who is a spirit to defend us. And satan is no match to the Omnipotent God. God will be always victorious. We are safe in His arms from all the power of the enemy. We may not be aware of the spiritual battle that we are engaged in, but the thought that He is our shield is very comforting. Bible says Jesus is the light of the world (John 8:12). It also says that we are the light of the world (Matthew 5:14). How are we the light of the world? The sun shines and we also see that the moon shines. But moon does not have light of its own. It’s only reflecting the light of the sun. Likewise we too reflect His glory through our lives here on earth. He is the greater light and we are the lesser light, reflecting His light. The moon does not reflect the light completely throughout its phases. And it is because the earth comes in between the sun and the moon. Likewise our light will be diminished to the extent the world comes in between the “Son” and us. Bible says they that looked unto Him were radiant. They are never put to shame. Because He is the glory and the lifter of our heads, we can be assured that no matter who is against us, our God will be for us. He will be right by our side. As parents, we can immediately recognize when our children look sad. Similarly, our heavenly Father knows us in and out. He knows when our countenance is down, but He lifts up His countenance on us and thus lifts up our countenance and our head. Our God is a God of love. He is right beside us and loves us to the extent that He has translated us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of the Son of His love. He gave us the spirit of adoption in us whereby we can cry out to Him “Abba Father”. He will never leave me nor forsake me, but will be with me in my ups and downs and strengthen me and comfort me. If He has not spared His own Son for us, He will not withhold anything from us. I cannot live this life without Him by my side, for I am weak and needing Him every moment of my life.

Q1. (Psalm 91) What is the protected one required to do in times of danger (verses 1-2, 9). What metaphors are used of God's protection in this psalm? In times of danger we are to dwell in the secret place of the Most High. We have to make Him our habitation. It is not only in times of danger, but in all times we need to dwell in His presence. His presence is the well spring of life. It is in His presence that we derive strength to face the challenges that come across our way. One of my prayer is that the leash on me would be so short that I will not wander away from His presence for long. The metaphors used in this psalm for God’s protection: Secret place, dwelling place, shadow, refuge, fortress, deliverer, wings and feathers of a bird, shield, buckler, defender, savior, protector, preserver.

Psalm 96 Sing to the Lord a brand new song; sing everyone to the Lord Eternal! Declare the goodness of His salvation every day to the ends of the earth. Proclaim to the nations His glorious deeds and His wonderful acts For the Lord is great and worthy of praise transcending the so called gods The gods of the world are mere idols but the Lord is the Creator of heavens The majesty of His splendor and the beauty of His glory fills His sanctuary O nations of the earth, recognize the give to the Lord glory, honor and strength Give unto the Lord the glory He deserves and bring gifts into His courts Worship the Lord who is adorned in holy splendor, tremble and worship before Him Tell the nations, “The Lord reigns”; He rules in righteousness and equity He makes the world to stand firm and so let the heavens rejoice Let the earth be glad, let the seas roar and everyone in it be joyful to the Lord Let the landscape rejoice and celebrate; let the trees and forests clap for joy When the Lord reigns, the people will enjoy His righteousness and faithfulness

Q4. (Psalm 24) How do verses 1-2 establish the Lord's right as King? What do verses 3-6 tell us about the requirements of the King? What do verses 7-10 tell us about the glory of the King? How does this psalm speak to you in your situation? Verses 1 and 2 speaks that the earth is the Lord’s as He has created it. The requirements of the King is to maintain moral and ethical purity both inwardly and outwardly. This constitutes loyalty to the King of kings. Glory in Hebrew is kabod which stands for weightiness or heaviness. God who is glorious is worthy of honor and respect, is coming in. He is the King of glory. Glory surrounds Him. So the gates of the City of God has to open wide for the glorious King. When the King comes in my situation will change. He is the Lord of Hosts, the warrior King who is always victorious.

Q3. (Psalm 126). In this psalm, the nation is going through some kind of crisis. How does memory of God's deliverance in verses 1-3 prepare them for the prayer of verse 4? How do you understand the two metaphors of deliverance: (1) a wadi or dry gully and (2) sowing and reaping? How do these metaphors help you in your situation? Because of their past deliverance which had resulted in exuberant praise, they are able to ask for deliverance in their current situation with confidence. A test always result in a testimony at His appointed time. So when we go through testing times, we need to reminisce on His past mercies which resulted in an eruption of praise and thanksgiving from us and continue to hope in the Lord, knowing that good will come into our lives because of the good thoughts that He thinks towards us. A wadi is dry most of the year. Israel being in the Middle East experience the dry, arid climate that is characteristic of the region. But Israel unlike other regions in Middle East is watered by rains from above. When there are heavy rains, a flash flood may occur and the dry wadis would overflow within minutes and thus irrigating the valley and bringing forth greenery and wild flowers overnight. So even though our situation may look bleak and hopeless to us, God can turn it around in a moment just like a dry, desert area is transformed into a lush green carpet suddenly. In an agrarian economy, they knew very well that between planting and harvesting there is always a period of time involved. So the psalmist is exhorting to continue to labor in doing good for in so doing the time of reaping the harvest will surely come to pass. He will turn every mourning into joy, every sadness into rejoicing. So even if the deliverance does not come immediately as the psalmist prayed, he’s encouraging them to continually do good and God will result it to be an occasion of celebration. In my situation, as the psalmist I hope that the Lord would suddenly turn around the situation for me for He is able and till the time we see that happening in our lives I need to continue to doing good and see His goodness manifested in my life at His appointed time.

Q2. (Psalm 96) What does it mean to "ascribe" to God attributes of glory and strength? What happens when we fail to ascribe such qualities to him? In what sense is praise to God "fitting" or "worthy"? To ascribe is to give or impute glory and strength. God is worthy of glory and strength and we willfully and joyously render it to Him to Whom it is due. When we fail to ascribe such qualities to Him, we are not recognizing who He is. He is not magnified in our eyes. When He is not magnified, then self is magnified which will result in pride and it will ultimately result in our fall. Only He is worthy to be praised. Worthy means to ascribe worth ship. There is no one who can truly have “worthship” other than God Himself. It is true, that we become like whom we worship. God is not a glory hog that He wants us to worship only Him. But He knows that as we worship Him, we take on more and more His characteristics and as a good Father, He wants His children to be in His likeness.

Q1. (Psalm 57) Why is praise difficult in the midst of trying circumstances? How does praise affect our faith? Our attitude? Our motivation? In the midst of our trying circumstances, we are too focused on those things rather than look at it from a heavenly perspective. We get caught up with our trials, difficulties that it clouds our perspective of looking beyond, lifting up our eyes to the hills, from where our help comes from. The sun is so huge, but we can block out the son with our thumb when we place the thumb in front of our eyes. The sun is still there, but our focus is on the thumb in front of us. Too often we gaze at our problems rather than glancing at it. What we need to do is to gaze at the Lord and glance at the problems. Then all those things that surround us will become shadows in the light of Him. When we praise the Lord, we magnify the Lord. The Lord indeed is big. But when we focus on the problems, the problems seem big in our eyes. But when we magnify the Lord in our eyes, the problems seem smaller. That’s what praise does. We see the problems before us in the correct perspective. And the correct perspective is to see it as God sees it. This lifts up our faith and it pleases God. When we praise Him, we are inviting His presence in our midst. Bible says He inhabits in the praises of His people. Also it says that at the presence of the Lord there is fullness of joy and at His right hand there are pleasures forevermore. At the presence of the Lord, the mountains melt like wax. So our attitude toward the situation also changes when we praise Him. Our goal is to be hidden in Him. When we praise Him, He surrounds us. We may think that we are surrounded and overwhelmed by our circumstances and trials. Whereas we are actually surrounded by Him. Praise allows us to see this perspective and this motivates us to praise Him more.

Q5. (1:24-25) What does Joseph accepting Mary as his wife say about his character? What is the significance for prophetic fulfillment of Jesus as a Son of David that Joseph "named" the child "Jesus"? Joseph was very obedient to the direction given by the Lord. Joseph would have had a good reputation among his community. But by marrying Mary, he is jeopardizing his reputation, because the community gossip would accuse Joseph to be morally corrupt to have impregnated Mary before their marriage. In spite of his reputation being at stake, he willfully submits and obeys the instruction of the Lord. He discerned the voice of God all the three times God spoke to him, that we read in the scriptures and obeyed it without any reservation. Joseph was the legal heir of David to whom God had promised an heir to sit on his throne forever. But during David’s descendant Jeconiah, God pronounces a curse that none of his descendants would sit on the throne ruling in Judah (Jeremiah 22:29-30). This corrupts the entire line below Jeconiah. So Joseph, even though legal heir to the throne had come under the corrupted line. So every son that he sired would be under the curse spoken by God Himself. But then God knew how to circumvent that problem. For Jesus was born through Mary, who also comes under the line of David through his son Nathan, but not corrupted by the curse. By naming Jesus, Joseph was adopting Him as his own Son and thus He became the legal heir to the throne but without the curse of Jeconiah. In A.D. 70 the temple was destroyed and with it all the genealogical records which were kept in the temple. So there is no individual now who can claim to be heir to the throne of David other than Jesus, because only His genealogical records were preserved in the gospel records.

Q4. (Matthew 1:23) How did the prophetic concept of the virgin conception and the name "Immanuel" find their fullness in the birth of Jesus to Mary? Biblical prophecy is all about patterns. The western mind influenced by the Greek thinking perceives prophecy as prediction and fulfillment. But the Hebrew perception of prophecy is a pattern summarized which is replayed in the future. Sacrifice of Isaac was a prophecy, a pattern re-enacted by the Father and the Son on Calvary. Examples of such abounds in the scriptures. In Isaiah 7:14, Isaiah asks king Ahaz of Judah to ask for a sign in his trying times. Even though he refused to ask for a sign, God gave him a sign saying a virgin would conceive and bear a son who would be called Immanuel. And that Judah’s enemies would be destroyed by the time the child grows. This sign was fulfilled in the days of Ahaz. The Hebrew word for virgin could be interpreted as a young maiden or a virgin. So in Ahaz’s time it was a young damsel who gave birth to a son and the enemies were destroyed when the child grew as prophesied. But this prophecy’s ultimate fulfillment was in the birth of Jesus Christ, born of a virgin, becoming Immanuel – God with us and giving us salvation, whereby our ultimate enemy, satan, was destroyed at the cross.

Q3. (Matthew 1:21) What is the significance of the name Jesus? Why do you think the angel gave the name to both Mary (Luke 1:31) and Joseph independently? Jesus means “Yahweh is salvation”. In the Hebrew it was Yeshua which is the same as Joshua. Even though the children of Israel came out of Egypt through Moses, it took Joshua to bring them into the Promised Land. Likewise our salvation is through his namesake Jesus, who saved us from the slavery of sin and brings us to abundant life. Both Mary and Joseph received instructions as to what the baby is to be named independently. This would have confirmed to them that He was indeed to be named Jesus. We see a few people given names even before they were born. Ishmael, Isaac, Josiah, Cyrus and Jesus. By giving the name before His birth was a testimony of what His destiny would be – to be the Savior of the world.

Q2. (Matthew 1:19) What were Mary's options being pregnant and carrying a baby not her husband's? What kind of character did Joseph exhibit by deciding to divorce Mary quietly and leniently? According to Jewish Law she would have been stoned to death for carrying an illegitimate child. Even if she was not stoned and had Joseph not married her, she would have lived a very destitute life as in those days a woman’s husband and sons was her social security. She would have been mocked by her society and she indeed would have been actually mocked and talked back as her Son was indeed accused of being an illegitimate Child, which we read in the gospel of John. Joseph would have been devastated in knowing that Mary was pregnant, and at this point he would have assumed that she was an adulterer. He was hurt but he was not motivated to hurt her back – an attitude that we need to learn. He didn’t want his hurt to dictate the course of action to be taken for their separation. Bible says that Joseph was a just man and he did not want her to be publicly ridiculed. So he wanted to quietly call off their engagement by going for a divorce. Even for divorce, as it would have required witnesses, Joseph would have been prudent in selecting the witnesses who would be discreet and would keep silence as to the reasons of their divorce. Then when God spoke to him to take her as his wife, he went ahead with obedience, even when his reputation was at stake and there was a probability of being ridiculed that he had been the reason for her pregnancy before their marriage. He was a just man and a man of good reputation. But he was willing to be obedient to God. God indeed, not only chose the right woman to be His Son’s mother, but also the right father figure for Jesus during His childhood days.

Q1. What would Jesus have learned as the son of a carpenter? What experiences would this have exposed him to? As the son of a carpenter Jesus would have learned foremost all carpentry work. In those days a carpenter was not exclusively focused on a particular carpentry work. There would have been all types of work related to carpentry. Then He would have learned to pick the proper wood, to work according to specifications that has been given by the customer, different kinds of design. He would have spent long hours and worked hard to get the finished product on time. He would have been exposed to different kinds of customers and how to interact with them. This would have developed His interpersonal skills very early. He would have learnt to negotiate with His customers and gain valuable insights from them too. As He lived His life on the earth emptying Himself of all divine attributes, He must have been very observant to have gained such wisdom and knowledge at a very early age. Yes He was conceived by the Holy Spirit and had the Holy Spirit in His fullness upon Jesus, but He still lived as a Man.

Q4. What is the significance of the confession "Jesus is Lord"? Why is this necessary for salvation, according to Romans 10:9? In Greek, the Hebrew word for Yahweh is translated as kurios. So when we confess Jesus is Lord, we are in effect conveying that Jesus who is Yahweh is my Lord. Romans 10:9 says that is we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus, and shall believe in our hearts that God hath raised Him from the dead, we shall be saved. In Greek it implies simultaneous action, ie confession with the mouth and believing with the heart. Without believing a person cannot confess. By believing and confessing we are acknowledging what He did on the cross submitting to His Lordship over our lives.

Q3. What are the implications for governments that Yahweh is the King of kings and Lord of lords? What are the implications of removing God" from a nation's currency and pledges, and ardently secularizing national life? Where does that put a nation with regard to God the King? It is God who has made every nation of mankind from one man to live on all the face of the earth and He has determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation (Acts 17:26). So our life on earth, whether believer or unbeliever should be by acknowledging that we are just stewards being entrusted with His creation and that we are accountable to Him. This is true for individuals as well as for governments. Bible says that blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord (Psalm 33:12). So it is imperative to acknowledge that God is the Lord of the nations. But nations who secularize national life are resisting the rule of God in their nations. It implies self-reliance and pride. When a nation rejects God as the King, they will be answerable to God on the judgement day and will suffer consequences.