The Lord is With You {Week 1}
A Study of Luke 1 & 2
The Lord is with you, and He will remove your disgrace
It is almost Christmastime!
As we set up our trees and hang our stockings, make our lists and check them twice, I invite you to make space for some quiet. In the stillness, ask God to meet you there, and He will be faithful to do just that. The Lord loves to spend time with His people.
I present you with a devotional to accompany my teaching of Luke 1 and 2 for our Ridgecrest Baptist Church ladies’ Bible study. You can read this all at once or divide it into 3 or so days during the week to ponder more fully what we have learned. I pray you are blessed.
Intro to Luke 1–2 and our author, Luke
I can think of no better author to convince me of the validity of these seemingly unbelievable birth stories than a doctor. Luke was a physician who was loved and trusted by many in his day. A physician claiming something so preposterous would risk people not trusting him professionally, so we can be quite sure that he did his own research and felt confident of his findings. As I have turned to the beloved physicians in my own life this year (oh hey, 2020) with questions about masks and marijuana, sheltering and medications, trusting their unique education and experience to help me choose what to believe and how to proceed, we have the chance to read a gospel written by such a person. Luke speaks more about the virgin birth and the miraculous elderly birth of Elizabeth than any other gospel-writer, which itself speaks to the veracity of the story.
To get started, take a minute and read our passages, Matthew 1:1–17 and Luke 1:1–25. Ask God to still your heart and your mind as you read these familiar passages and ask the Lord to show you new things about Himself today.
TRUTH #1: God will redeem our stories and make them beautiful {Matthew 1:1–17}
Let’s start with the Matthew passage. So often, it is easy to read genealogy so quickly we fly through, feeling nothing applies to us. I beg you not to do this today! Let’s open up our Bibles (or our apps!) to Matthew 1. As you read this genealogy, think about each woman you know was involved in these stories. For those not familiar with some or all of these stories, I will include the Bible passages so you can go read the stories for yourself.
Abraham was married to Sarai/Sarah… {Genesis 11–23; specifically chapters 17–18}
Isaac was married to Rebekah… {Genesis 24–27}
Jacob was married to Leah (in the lineage) and Rachel… {Genesis 29–31}
Specifically mentioned, we have Tamar… {Genesis 38}
Rahab… {Joshua 2, 6}
Ruth… {the book of Ruth}
Bathsheba… {2 Samuel 11–12}
and Mary {Matthew 1–2; Luke 1–2}
The Christmas story lineage begins with a miraculous pregnancy and birth. Sarai, later called Sarah, doubted God. She had dealt with infertility her entire life. She had even tried to make a baby happen by giving her handmaid to her husband, Abraham. When the angels came and told Abraham and Sarah that they would have a baby, Sarah literally laughed in disbelief. But God…
When Sarah’s baby, Isaac, grew up, Abraham’s servant traveled and found a relative named Rebekah who became Isaac’s wife. Rebekah had twins, Esau and Jacob, and then orchestrated the deception of her husband so that her favorite son, Jacob, would receive the birthright and inheritance. But God…
When that son, Jacob, grew up, he found a girl named Rachel that was beautiful to him and that he loved. Jacob worked for years to earn the privilege of marrying Rachel, only to have his new father in law trick him and give him Leah on his wedding night. Leah felt unloved and undesired and would have years of conflict with her own sister as they fought for the affections of their shared husband. But God…
Leah’s son, Judah, married an ungodly woman and had three sons who were evil. He found a girl named Tamar to marry his eldest son, Er. Tamar was unloved and abused. Er was so evil that God took his life. As per the custom and law, Judah gave his second son, Onan, to Tamar and Onan loved the pleasures of this relationship but refused the responsibilities required. He was so evil that God took Onan’s life as well. When Judah refused to give Tamar his third son to care for her, Tamar lived as a widow. She then deceptively went to Judah himself disguised as a harlot and he got her pregnant, thus bringing her into the lineage of Jesus as she bore Perez and Zerah, twins. Like her new mother in law, she joined the lineage of Jesus through deception. But God…
Just before the Israelites went to fight the famed battle of Jericho, two spies went to check out the city. A local prostitute named Rahab took them in. Despite her life of sin, she was drawn to this God and wanted to be counted as one of His people. Rahab deceived the king and his men and lived in danger until the Israelites took over the promised land and saved Rahab and her family. Rahab would go on to marry one of these spies, Salmon, and so a prostitute joined the lineage of Jesus. But God…
Rahab had a son named Boaz. Despite her own sinful past, she raised this son to love God and care for people. When a certain girl named Ruth was widowed, she, too, was drawn to this God of her first husband’s people and followed her widowed mother-in-law, Naomi, back to her people. Transplanted and widowed, Ruth faithfully served Naomi and met this man, Boaz, who would become her second husband and her kinsman redeemer. She would then have a child named Obed who would have a son named Jesse. Jesse was the father of King David. But God…
Bathsheba was just innocently taking her bath. She didn’t want this to happen. Her husband was off to battle and suddenly the king’s men were at her door, insisting that the king wanted to see her. Home alone, she had no defenses and went to the king, only to be left pregnant and abandoned. Instead of making things right and confessing, the king would then kill her husband purposefully on the battlefield and take her as his own. As penalty for King David’s sin, Bathsheba would grieve the loss of her child. She would later become the mother of King Solomon. But God…
And, Mary. We look at her story and know the full tale but Mary was found to be pregnant outside of marriage in a culture that could have stoned her for this offense. Her fiance, Joseph, almost put her away and left her to be a single mother in a time and place where she would have lived destitute. She lived her newlywed days and her new mom days running for her life as she escaped the earthly kings trying to kill her new baby. And let us not forget she had to birth her firstborn child in a barn, far away from the comforts of home and of those she loved. Despite her fears, Mary said “may it be to me” and lived out what God had planned for her. But God…
But God, rich in mercy, stepped into the midst of their shame, disgrace, sin, lies, widowhood, infertility, loss, deception, abuse, abandonment, and violation to redeem them and their stories. God loved the unlovable. God redeemed the seemingly unredeemable. God gave fertility to the infertile. God brought glory to the shamed. And He will do the same for us.
Before you go…
Today, take a moment to be still and to pray. Whatever you are going through, lay it before the Lord. Ask for His forgiveness for the sins you struggle with. Ask for His miraculous redemption in the areas you aren’t quite sure can be redeemed. Give your hard and difficult issues and spaces to Him and trust that, as He did for these women of old, He can redeem your story and make it beautiful.
But God, rich in mercy, stepped into the midst of their shame, disgrace, sin, lies, widowhood, infertility, loss, deception, abuse, abandonment, and violation to redeem them and their stories.
TRUTH #2: Fear often accompanies disbelief {Luke 1:5–23}
Take a moment to read the story of John the Baptist’s birth being foretold in Luke 1:5–23. For years and years, Zacharias and Elizabeth had prayed earnestly for one thing… a baby. Yet, when the time came that God gave them their request, Zacharias did not believe the angel. Now, don’t get me wrong, fear would grip me (v. 12), too, if an angel appeared before me while I was serving at our church, but Zacharias allowed this fear to drive him to disbelief.
Let’s break this down a little further…
- What was the long-standing request of Zacharias and Elizabeth? v. 7, 13 {Answer: a baby}
- Was God’s answer of silence or Elizabeth’s infertility any indication of sin in Elizabeth or Zacharias’ life or lack of favor with God? v. 6 {Answer: a resounding NO, in fact, we find that they have walked blamelessly before the Lord, so a better resulting thought of the spiritual situation would be that God chose this blameless woman to endure this trial for His glory, not as some consequence of an unnamed sin}
- What is Zacharias gripped by when he sees the angel of the Lord? v. 11–12 {Answer: fear}
- What does the angel promise to Zacharias (all the things)? v. 13–17 {Answer: a son named John, joy, gladness, rejoicing by many, a son who will be great in the sight of the Lord, a son who will drink no wine or liquor, a son filled with the Holy Spirit in his mother’s womb (we will talk about this next week!), a son who will turn the hearts of Israel back to the Lord, a son who will be a forerunner to Jesus, a son who will turn the hearts of fathers back to their children and disobedient to the attitude of the righteous, and a son who will make people ready for Jesus.}
- What does Zacharias’ respond to the angel? v. 18 {Answer: my wife and I are old. But, also, and maybe most importantly: “How will I know this?”}
OK stop right there. Zacharias was a godly man, we see that in verse 6. He loved God and followed him with his everything. He was even chosen by God through the system of casting lots to be in the temple at this day and time. Yet, Zacharias was gripped by fear. Understandable fear — he was standing in the presence of the angel of God. But his response to what the angel promised to him was “how will I know this?” Fear often accompanies disbelief. Fear invites us question God.
We fear in our relationships, and we question, “does God care?”
We fear about our health, and we question, “is God here?”
We fear in our finances, and we question, “does God know?”
We fear for our life plans, and we question, “is God good?”
Fear is a liar. Grounding our hearts in truth is an antidote for fear in our lives.
The Christmas lineage of Matthew 1 begins with another elderly woman suffering from infertility named Sarah. When the angel told Abraham that Sarah would have a child, Abraham believed God but Sarah laughed. Not laughing in joy and assurance that God holds our future firmly in His hands, as we see in the Proverbs 31 woman, but laughing in disbelief.
In response to his questioning, God gave Zacharias a sign. He was suddenly mute. Of course there was a different sign, Elizabeth’s very pregnant belly, that would be showing up in the coming days, but Zacharias spent Elizabeth’s entire pregnancy unable to say a word.
We will find in Luke 1:57–66 that Zacharias’ response to John’s birth and his mouth being opened is an overflow of praise to God. Fear may lie to us and feed us doubt but God is greater than our fear. When we are gripped by fear, sometimes silence before God is the greatest response we can have. As He removes the fear, He will give us a voice to bless Him in response.
Before you go…
What is the voice of fear trying to tell you today? Where is fear feeding lies into your heart and mind?
Take some time to sit quietly with the Lord. Give Him your fears. Take time to, in faith, sing and tell His praises in response to His goodness to you.
When we are gripped by fear, sometimes silence before God is the greatest response we can have. As He removes the fear, He will give us a voice to bless Him in response.
TRUTH #3: The Lord will take away our disgrace {Luke 1:24–25}
We have seen Sarah, the nonbeliever, Rebekah, the deceiver, Leah, the undesirable, Tamar, the violated, abused, rejected, and widow, Rahab, the sinner, the shamed, Ruth, the widowed and lonely, Bathsheba, the violated, widowed, grieving mother, Elizabeth, the infertile, and Mary, the single mom who spent her young married and young mom days fleeing for her very life.
I think each of us can identify with one or more of these women. We have felt the sting of disgrace upon us. We have felt the curse of sin — our sin, others’ sin, sin’s curse upon this world. But God…
God, in His love and kindness, wove each of these hard, difficult stories into the lineage of His Son, Jesus.
We have a God who removes disgrace. When we read the stories of these women we see a beautiful story. A story of redemption and love. A story of hope and joy. Elizabeth herself felt disgrace, being a woman who spent nearly her entire life wanting a baby, wanting to fit in with her peers, wanting to shower a little one with love. And the Lord looked with favor on her and removed all the disgrace she felt.
So, I ask you… Has the Lord removed your disgrace? Have you trusted in Him for the salvation that separates your sin as far as the east is from the west? Have you known the goodness of His salvation and forgiveness? Have you brought your disgrace openly before Him and trusted that He can, and will, remove it?
If you know yourself to be a Christian, yet still feel the pain of disgrace, you are not alone… remember the story of Elizabeth. She was righteous in God’s sight yet still felt the pain of her life situation. After repeatedly bringing her request before the Lord, “the Lord heard her request” and brought her a son whose life mission was to prepare the way for the Lord Jesus!
Before you go…
Pray and thank the Lord for how He removes our disgrace. Be open and honest before Him as you place your own disgrace into His hands.
We have a God who removes disgrace.
