Bible Study for November 30, 2025

Hi everyone, As we enter our new Church year, the "A" Cycle in the Revised Common Lectionary (RCL), we also take a break from group Bible Studies on Wednesday evenings to prepare throughout Advent. Each Wednesday evening we will have a simple supper in community and then enter into the Holden Evening Prayer Service. We will continue to send out the weekly Bible Study and Reflections for your personal study. In this first Sunday in Advent, Isaiah tells us of God's promises to bring all people to the house of the temple to learn the ways of justice and paths of peace. In Matthew, we see Jesus waiting for this promise with us. Each Sunday, as we hear the Word and join in the Sacrament, we enter into the house of the Lord among us. 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 November 30, 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. Matthew 24:36-44 We are all charged with being ready for Christ’s return. Are you ready? Speaking to his followers, Jesus has foretold the destruction of the Temple; he has told them the signs of the coming of the end times (in terms used in contemporary literature.) In the suffering and trials which will precede the End, society will break down, “many will fall away” (v. 10, from the faith) but “one who endures to the end will be saved” (v. 13). After these events, the “Son of Man” (vv. 27, 30) will come “with power and great glory”. This will mark the beginning of a new era, a new way of being. Followers should discern signs of the second coming of Christ (vv. 32-35). But (v. 36), we do not know precisely when that coming will be, and neither does Jesus. The situation will be like that before the Flood: people were preoccupied with earthly matters (v. 38). When the Flood came, a small number “entered the ark” and were saved, but many drowned. The dawn of the new era will also be like this; Jesus gives two examples: of men (v. 40) and of women (v. 41). Some will be “taken” to be with Christ (because they are prepared) but others will be “left”. V. 43 is an other example. “Keep awake” (v. 42) to the will of God: be ready for Christ’s second coming! Romans 13:11-14 What does wakefulness mean to you in a spiritual sense? Paul has written in the preceding verses that the only obligation that Christians have toward other Christians and towards non-Christians is “love.” Love in the social sphere will take the form of moral conduct and ethical behavior. Now, Paul tells us another reason why ethical behavior is important for Christians. We know that we are living both in the present and in the age which is after the first coming of the Messiah and before the second: “salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers” (v. 11). Paul expresses it in terms of night and day: we should awake, pass from darkness to light, from evil to good. The image of armor is also found in contemporary Jewish writings about the end of the age; in 1 Thessalonians 5:8, Paul tells us that the “armor of light” (v. 12) is faith, hope, love for each other, fidelity, uprightness, etc. “Let us live” (v. 13), he says, as if the Day of the Lord is already here, “honorably”, not in ways that harm ourselves and our neighbors. Rather, let Christ be our armor, and let us not give in to the temptations of the flesh. (In baptism, we have already “put on”, v. 12, Christ, but life in Christ is something that grows with experience. As we grow in the faith, we are more and more able to resist sinful opportunities.) Isaiah 2:1-5 The season of Advent means “coming”, what does this mean for you? Isaiah wrote these verses about 740 BC, a time when spirits were low in Judah: Assyrian armies were bent on conquest, and many people doubted God's power to preserve the dynasty of David in accordance with his promise; others believed themselves to be invincible in the face of enemies. Because Chapter 1 begins with similar words, it appears that this and the next few chapters originally formed a separate document. The ideas in vv. 2-4 are also found in Micah 4. In the future (“in days to come”, v. 2) God will launch a new era in which he will dwell on earth (“house”), at Jerusalem. His presence above all others on earth symbolizes his sovereignty. (Jerusalem began on the eastern hill or “mountain”. By Isaiah’s time it had expanded on to part of the western hill. “Zion”, v. 3, was originally the name of the southern slope of the eastern hill, the site of the first settlement. The name was later used for the whole city.) The prophet foretells a time when all peoples will make pilgrimage to Jerusalem (“let us go up”, v. 3) to worship God – to learn the way of living revealed by God. The city will be the source of “instruction” in ethical living. In Chapter 30, Isaiah tells us that in his time Judah rejected God’s message, but in this future time all peoples will accept it. (The Hebrew word for “instruction” is torah which is also a name for the first five books of the Bible, the Law.) In this future time, God will settle disputes among nations (“judge”, v. 4) and between people (“arbitrate”). It will be an age of peace and plenty: warfare being a thing of the past, agriculture (“plowshares”, “pruning hooks”) will prosper. (Conquering armies lived off the land and farmers were needed for military service.) In v. 5, Isaiah exhorts the people to adopt God’s ways now. Closing Prayer Unexpected God, your advent alarms us. Wake us from drowsy worship, from the sleep that neglects love, and the sedative of misdirected frenzy. Awaken us now to your coming, and bend our angers into your peace. Amen.