Bible Study for January 26, 2025

Hi everyone,

The Scripture readings for the upcoming Sunday give us images for our Sunday worship.  We gather as one, we hear the Scriptures read and interpreted, we turn to a meal of nourishment and joy, and we send food to those in need.  Most centrally, in the power of the Holy Spirit and in the name of God, Jesus stands among us as the fulfillment of what we read in the Word and as the gift of the Meal.

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Pastor Tim

"God has led you to the desert, and spoken to your Heart."

Mount of Olives Lutheran Church

3546 E. Thomas Rd

Phoenix, AZ 85018

602-956-1620 office

Bible Study for January 26, 2025

Opening Prayer:

Creator of all, we thank you for the opportunity to gather in study. Open our minds and hearts. By the power of the Holy Spirit, unite us in faith, hope, and love. Help us to be faithful to the gospel and to walk humbly with you. Grant us your peace as we grow in wisdom and understanding. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Luke 4:14-21 Jesus returned to his hometown synagogue and proclaimed that he was fulfilling God’s promises of deliverance. What might you think if someone you had grown up with made a similar claim?

Luke seems to have intentionally modified Isaiah (by combining 58:6 with 61:1-2). In doing so, he provides a succinct summary of Jesus’ ministry of deliverance. He moved among the poor and the outcast, pronouncing God’s blessing on them and criticizing the rich and the powerful. He healed the lame, cast out demons, and forgave sins—all forms of release from bondage. Significantly, Jesus did not quote Isaiah 61:2 about the day of God’s vengeance. (That was the day when God would vindicate the righteous who had suffered because of their loyalty to God.) Through this brief story, Luke proclaims that Jesus was the fulfillment of Jewish scripture; He was the hoped-for Messiah who would deliver them. But, as we will see in next week’s lection, what Jesus understood about deliverance and what His Jewish listeners understood were quite different. 

1 Corinthians 12:12-31a How does the body metaphor go beyond being a “nice thought” and instead become truly helpful in understanding the nature of the church?

Paul applied this familiar body metaphor theologically to the Corinthian’s own situation. With this image of a supportive, interdependent community, Paul departs from an ancient Greek and Roman ideal of dispassionate self-sufficiency. As believers they were baptized into the one “body of Christ” and drank of the one Spirit. Baptism provided them with a new shared identity in Christ, even as they retained their individuality. Later New Testament writings declared that Christ was “the head of the body, the church (see Colossians).” But for Paul, believers were not “under Christ” in the sense that the head has “power over” others. Rather, believers are “in Christ”—implying God’s loving, saving power. For Paul, that saving love was revealed in many things, but most ultimately in the cross.