For the student: Read along, fill in the blanks, and write your answers on the lines. Your parent has the answers.
Step 1 · Understand the Collect
Most collects follow a five-part pattern: the address (the One to whom we pray), the reason (what God has done or promised), the petition (what we ask), the purpose (what we hope will result), and the ending (the closing that names the Trinity).
Lord God, You made Your beloved Son, our Savior, subject to the Law and caused Him to shed His blood on our behalf. Grant us the true circumcision of the Spirit that our hearts may be made pure from all sins; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
1. Mark each part of the collect. Are any parts missing?
2. What does "the true circumcision of the Spirit" mean?
3. The collect says God "caused" His Son to shed His blood "on our behalf." Why does that wording matter?
Step 2 · Understand the Gospel
Read the Gospel on your own.
Luke 2:21
21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
Also read. "She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21)
1. Circumcision was the sign of God's covenant with Abraham (Genesis 17:10-12). Why did Jesus, who had no sin, receive it?
2. "Jesus" is the Greek form of "Joshua," which means "The LORD saves." Why did God, not Mary and Joseph, choose the name?
3. Luke says the name was given "before he was conceived." What does that show?
Step 3 · Find the Collect in the Gospel
1. Find at least two places where the collect's words appear in the Gospel. Explain each one.
2. Colossians 2:11-12 says, "In him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands... having been buried with him in baptism." How does this connect the collect to Baptism?
Step 4 · The Small Catechism
The Second Commandment. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.
Cross-reference. "Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:9-11)
1. Luther says we should "call upon it in every trouble." Why is the name Jesus good to call on in trouble?
2. Many people say "Jesus!" as an exclamation. Why does that break the Second Commandment?
3. Philippians 2:9 begins with "Therefore." Read verse 8. Why did God give Jesus the name above every name?
Think about it. Why don't Christians today have to be circumcised? Read Colossians 2:11-12 and be ready to talk about it.
Step 5 · Wrap It All Up
1. Write a short collect of your own for this day. Use all five parts.
Pray today's collect together. Then answer:
2. What does the name Jesus tell you He does for you?
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible. Small Catechism quotation from Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation, © Concordia Publishing House.