Saturday, January 21, 2012

Luke 2:1-20

    Having just celebrated the Christmas season, these words will almost inevitably have been heard by those attending worship on Sunday mornings or at the Christmas Eve candlelight service.  Some facts/reminders in looking at these verse. 
     Luke dated the birth of Jesus from rulers (Augustus & Quirinius) that were known to the gentile world.  Luke is believed to have been a gentile himself, and was writing as much or more to the gentile population as to the Israelite one.  He addressed his book to "Theophilus." (Luke 1:3)  Theophilus, in Greek, means 'one who loves God.'  Some scholars have seen Theolphilus as being a symbolic title, which means Luke was addressing anyone who loved God and wanted to know more of the story.  Other scholars (such as in the Interpreter's Bible) believe Luke was writing his book for an individual whose name was Theophilus.  It does occur frequently in ancient literature as a proper name.   The reference to Theophilus as "most excellent" indicates that it could have been a government official.  That title also is found in Greco-Roman literature to high government officials.  Was the book of Luke written as a defense of Christianity?  Was Theophilus one who was exploring the faith?  Or could he have been instructed and Luke wrote to confirm him in his faith journey? 
      While the answer to the questions we have about motive is unknown, the book of Luke quickly became one of four gospels to be regarded by the early church as authoritative.  Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were often circulated as a collection, with the books in that order.   The traditional order of the gospels was preserved when the New Testament was formed.  This explains why Acts in the New Testament does not immediately follow Luke, although it was, in a sense, a two-part story. 
      By what we call the second chapter of Luke, he has already told the story of John the Baptist and his parents; also told of the annunciation to Mary who would become the mother of Jesus.  Luke doesn't tell much about Joseph, Mary's betrothed.  It was Matthew who would relate Joseph's embarassment over his fiance's pregnancy and his plan to divorce her quietly to spare Mary embarrassment.  When Luke tells the story, we see only Joseph's faithfulness to Mary and the child--in fact, he is referred to as the father of the infant.  (Note that both Matthew and Luke trace the ancestry of Jesus through Joseph, who would have been seen as the legal father). 
     When Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem, they are betrothed, which was an arrangement as binding as marriage.  Swaddling cloths were wide pieces of fabric wrapped around infants in the idea that it made them feel safe and secure.  The weather was probably warm, for the sheep wouldn't have been on the hillside in cold weather (despite our northern hemisphere's winter traditions.)  The date and time of year when Christ was born is unknown.  Several dates were observed in the early years of the church; one of them was December 25.  This was eventually chosen as the "official" date in the hopes it would take the place of the Saturnalia which the pagan population celebrated for the winter solstice. 
     Matthew tells of kings; Luke speaks of humble shepherds.  He also gives a curious detail.  The shepherds told of what they'd seen and everyone was "amazed."  But, as Luke tells us, Mary treasured these words and pondered them in her heart. This is a gentle and personal detail.  It is not impossible to imagine that a young physician cherished the opportunity to sit with an elderly Mary and hear her tell some of the events of her life and her life-long pondering of what it all meant. 

If you had the opportunity to sit with Mary, what questions would you most like to ask?
What do you think amazed the shepherds most?
Shepherds often had a poor and rough reputation - what effect doo you think this experience had upon them?
    

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