A YEAR WITH LUKE THE EVANGELIST
The Gospel of Luke, Chapter 1
Read it here: [CEB] [NRSV]
If you want to know what’s up with us reading Luke and Acts throughout 2016, check out the introduction here.
Isn’t this a fascinating way to begin the story of Jesus? We are eager, primed as we have been the last month or so, to get to the Christmas story in chapter 2. That’s where we really get going, right? So what is with all this other mess?
Let’s start by recognizing that Luke introduces us to a bunch of nobodies on the edge of the desert in the backwater of a great Empire. “A long time ago, in a Galilee far far away,” someone slyly told it recently. Larger-than-life lives like Herod’s just create a backdrop upon which the great story of redemption and liberation is projected. An elderly couple and a very young lady turn out to be so valuable in God’s sight they form the prologue, twin tales of unexpected pregnancy, to the long-awaited Messiah.
Zechariah is first on stage, but doesn’t fare too well in the Q&A portion. Silenced, this allows Elizabeth to shine as hasn’t been possible her entire life. Honor for the dishonored through faithfulness is going to be on the family coat of arms now. But the main event begins as Mary takes stage. Instead of Zek’s impertinent demand for certainty, Mary poses a more humble response: How will this happen? This makes possible her ultimate answer to make room in her very body for the life of God.
The two stories are brought together as Mary visits Elizabeth, kicking off a song cycle based upon the psalms and hymns of Israel that are found in the Hebrew Scriptures continually referenced by our heroes, angelic and human alike. And here’s the part that is amazing for me: human faithfulness is grounded in God’s faithfulness. So often we think about faith as an accomplishment we make on our own, so much so it almost seems like a “work,” the result of solely human effort. But Luke is telling a story that, while focused on human and divine interactions, is enclosed and lifted up by God’s initiative, God’s creativity, & God’s fidelity exclusively. The drama of salvation is injected with action and life because God, not Mary or Liz or Herod or anyone else, desires it. Luke is alive with the possibilities that God opens up for those who have faith.
This week as you read—
What part of the Bible might you grab hold of to make sense of an amazing revelation from God?
What was it like when you were caught up in the mighty acts of God’s salvation?
Read, reflect, and respond in the comments below!
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