Old-lady Prophet and a Lost Boy

This is the Bible study page for the Thursday Night Bible Study Group meeting July 30 to study Luke 2:36-52. This too can be considered familiar if you attended Sunday School as a kid. As adults, we don't tend to spend much time on Jesus' childhood. Seems he's always going to the Temple; which sets us up nicely for his adult life.

Read through the remainder of chapter 2 a few times. Jot down notes and questions that come to mind. Try to imagine you're there watching these events. Imagine it like 'reality tv' or something. What do you see, hear, and think. Then go to commentaries, and see what questions and answes you find.

After this, go back through with these questions:

# What role do you think Anna served in the Temple as a prophetess?
# Considering the religious 'machine' of the busy temple system, what do you think of Simeon and Anna, clearly two anomalies in an otherwise cynacal religious system? If there's room for them, who else might you find there?
# Simeon takes (or receives) the Child, but Anna simply talks about Him around Him. How do you imagine this looked?
# Who are these ones looking for the redemption of Jerusalem? Why not the redemption of all Israel?
# They return to Nazareth. That does not coincide well with Matthew's account, since the Wise guys haven't shown up yet. What are possible explanations?
# Jesus is raised in a devout family. Why do think Luke makes such a clear point of that?
# They go to Jerusalem for the Passover yearly. But year 12, He is 'lost'. What do you think is going on with Jesus?
# They travel a whole day, then take three more to find Him in the Temple. Where did He 'live' for four days?
# Pretend you're Joseph. How does it feel to hear Jesus ask why they didn't know He had to be in His Father's house?
# Jesus returns and submits to them. How do you feel about the paradox here? Jesus, God incarnate, submits to human parents. Why is this even necessary?
# How do you parent God?
# How does God grow in favor with God?

Sorry for the lame formatting. Blogger doesn't have many text format options. But these questions should keep us busy for a few minutes.