Introduction // 5 minutes
The Word Game
Start your group off with a little friendly completion. Divide up in two teams however you like. Each team will be given 60 seconds to write down (pen and papers needed!) as many antonyms (opposites) as they can to the following two words.
Winners are proclaimed the vocabulary champions and must read the passage!
Afraid: (Sample Answers) Brave, calm, unworried, composed, cool, courageous, fearless, intrepid
Faith: (Sample Answers) Disbelief, doubt, denial, distrust, uncertainty, skepticism
Observation // 25 minutes
Leader Note: We will be contrasting Zechariah and Mary this week. Re-read last week’s passage about Zechariah in Luke 1:5-22 before reading on about Mary.
After reading review the following things discussed last week about Zechariah.
About Zechariah…
- He was a priest (v5)
- His wife Elisabeth also came from a priestly line (v5)
- Both were righteous and blameless in God’s sight (v6)
- They were both very old, Elisabeth was barren (v7)
- He was selected out of a great number of priests to perform a once in life time duty in the temple (v9)
- Zechariah had prayed continuously for his wife’s barrenness (v13)
- Zechariah still doubted despite all the signs given to him, i.e. being selected to perform this task in the temple, an Angel appearing before him and announcing that Elizabeth would give birth to a son (v18)
- Zechariah was fixated on what he could see and knew to be true, mainly that they were past the age child bearing (v18)
- There is a cost to unbelief (v20) Note: The cost was silence. He would not be able to exit the temple and proclaim not only the good news of the coming birth of his son but also the good news of what his son was prophesied to do, that is prepare the way for Jesus, the Messiah.
- God’s plan was accomplished despite Zechariah’s doubt (v20)
Read Luke 1:26-38
What similarities do you see in Zechariah and Mary? What differences?
Leader Note: Prompt your group to think in terms of their circumstance or status and in their reaction to what Gabriel spoke to them.
Sample Answers May Include…
Similarities
- Gabriel the Angel appears to both of them
- Both have favor with God. Mary is called highly favored, Zechariah is called righteous and blames
- Both are told not to fear
- Both are promised to receive children through miraculous circumstance for God’s purposes and glory
Differences
- One is old one is young
- One is male one is female
- Zechariah would have been highly respected in the community as a priest
- As a young (12-15) year old woman Mary would have been seen as powerless and without rights
- Mary is from an insignificant town, Nazareth. Zechariah is in Jerusalem the cultural and religious hub of the day
- Zechariah has a position and reputation to protect, May has nothing
- Zechariah demands prof, Mary ask for help in understanding
- Zechariah wants to know with certainty that this is really going to happen while Mary ask how will this happen
- Zechariah would have been well acquainted with the all the stories in the bible where God intervened to give an old or barren couple children (Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah ect…) yet he still doubted
- Mary was promised something that had never happened (virgin birth) yet she believed
- Mary shows humble surrender and willingness while Zechariah shows skepticism and doubt
Leader Note: Lead your group to see the contrast between Zechariah who seemingly had it all together and every reason to believe God’s word and Mary, the powerless teenager from a “nowhere” town. One has great influence the other had none. One could be said to be an in-sider and the other an out-sider. Zechariah demands an explanation while Mary surrenders without knowing all the details.
Understanding // 10 minutes
Where have you seen healthy doubt?
Where have you seen unhealthy doubt?
What’s the difference?
Commentary: Healthy doubt comes from genuine place of needing help to understand something. Healthy doubt asks questions but does not demand the answers before acting. Unhealthy doubt is often rooted in defiance, cynicism or entitlement. Unhealthy doubt says I will trust you if you show me everything that will happen so that I can ensure that I will be safe and “blessed.”
Application // 20 minutes
What is something God has said to you?
Leader Note: Think in terms of a promise or perhaps a purpose that God is calling to.
How are you responding like Zechariah?
How are you responding like Mary?
Live It Out // 5 minutes
How would those around you be impacted if you lived out Mary like faith?
Prayer: Pray at the end of your time for an increased trust and faith to follow God’s leading and respond to His voice when he calls. Pray that whatever currently hinders that (self righteousness, entitlement, cynicism) to be removed by God’s spirit.