Queen's Road Cell

  3. Mary calls God 'my Saviour' (1:47). How does she portray God as Saviour in 1:46-56?   This verse was the reason why the great mediaval theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274) felt that Mary was not conceived sinless (the doctrine of the 'Immaculate Conception', officially expressed in 1854). God has exalted her for all generations even though she is humble. God is mighty God shows mercy God has overturned the standards of this world and exalted the humble and cast down the proud (cf. the song of Hannah in 1 Sa 2:1-10, Ps 103:1) God fills those who hunger physically, but who also hunger for righteousness. (cf. Mt 5:6) God has fulfilled His promises to the nation. 4. What does 1:39-56 Reveal aabout Jesus' identity and mission (see 1:43,  51-55)  Jesus is blessed (v.42), the "Lord" (v.43, an exalted title, used only of God in Lk 1-4) Jesus' coming will cause the "fall and rising of many" (Lk 2:34) 5. How do Mary and Elizabeth respond to th...

 1. What do you learn from 1:5-25 about John the Baptist's mission (1:15-17)  To live before God in the spirit and power of Elijah. To turn the Jews to God, turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and bring repentance. So as to prepare the way for Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. How people should respond (1:14-20) For fathers to turn their hearts to the children, and to cause the disobedient/sinners to desire godly wisdom, so that the way for Christ would be prepared. 'Turn' is the operative word (v.16a, 17b)  Verse 17 recalls Malachi 3:1 and 4:6 (the last verse of the OT).  a. What do you think 'to turn the hearts of the parents to their children' means?   He will restore unity to broken families, undoing the effects of sin across generations Alternatively, a reference to the turning of latter day Jews to the faithfulness of their forefathers (taking the parallelism in the passage), or of Gentiles to Jews b. Why do you think turning parents' h...