Infusion Bible eStudies are downloadable small group studies that can be read online, printed, or emailed. Each study includes a leader guide and a study guide and is suitable for a one-hour group Bible study.
Listen...to the words of the Scripture, and in them discover God's message for you today.
Look...at a brief verbal snapshot from the scrapbook of contemporary life and discover its connection both to you and to the Scripture passage.
Live...inside the Scripture to discover its context and message; then allow the Scripture to come alive in you and cause you to live out your faith in new and more-effective ways.
Read an excerpt from this study below.
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Although the Scriptures were clear that all the families of the earth were destined to be blessed by God through Abram and Sarai (Genesis 12:1-3), in first-century Judea the people found it easy to believe that the Jews were most special to God. Moreover, the people believed that God regarded males more highly than females. The architecture of the Temple in Jerusalem supported this racial and gender preference.
The Holy of Holies was the most sacred space. Only the high priest could enter it, and he could do so but once a year. Just out from the Holy of Holies were a series of courtyards. The priests could enter the courtyard of the priests. A courtyard closed to all but Jewish men was next. Outside the Temple building proper was the courtyard of the women. Finally, on the far outside was the court of the Gentiles. A Gentile could not pass into one of the inner courts without fear of being killed.
The architecture of the Temple sent a message. Access to God was based first on race, then on gender, and finally on priestly status.
Jesus’ parents brought him into this Temple as an infant to fulfill their religious duties. In the Temple a very holy man and a very holy woman greeted Jesus. About this child the old man Simeon made a prophecy: The grace of God is available for all humanity. God’s salvation had been “prepared in the presence of all peoples” (Luke 2:31); it would be a
light for revelation to the
Gentiles
and for glory to your
people Israel.
(Luke 2:31-32)
Then the old woman began to preach “to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem” (2:38).
