MARCH 7 READING…Luke 2
Luke give us the events of the birth of Christ here in Luke 2. Because Luke is concerned with the humanity of Jesus this chapter is filled with the lives of common people being impacted by Jesus’ birth. Luke emphasizes the earthly family of Jesus being of the tribe of Judah and the line of David…and their responding to the decree of Caesar for the census. They had to go to Bethlehem, the city of David…actually a small town about five miles outside of Jerusalem where shepherds raised sheep to be purchased and used as sacrifices in the Temple. The angels shared the good news of Christ birth to the lowly and unclean shepherds. These same shepherds came to the manger and were actually part of the nativity…Luke does not record the visit of the Magi as Matthew did; they would have visited Jesus some time after His birth, some say as much as two years after. Jesus being a Jewish male was circumcised on the eighth day after His birth…again showing His humanity. Then when Mary had gone through the time of her purification she and Joseph toke Jesus to Jerusalem to offer the proper sacrifice to the Lord for Him. There God has two old people waiting for the promise of Messiah. God had promised Simeon that he would not see death until he had seen the Christ…Simeon blessed Jesus and prophesied over Him. Anna was also there serving the Lord in His Temple…this servant of the Lord also prophesied over Jesus as being the Redeemer.
After Joseph and Mary had done all that was required of an observant Jewish family with the birth of their first-born son they returned to Galilee. Again, Luke does not deal with the time of their return, but we know from Matthew’s account that they lived in Bethlehem for about two years before fleeing to Egypt to protect Jesus from Herod’s demonic attempt to kill Him…remember Herod slaughtered all the male children up to two years after the visit from the Magi. Jesus spends His first twelve years growing up in Nazareth. His parents take Him to Jerusalem for Passover and some say for His Bar-mitzvah. Remember that in that day people traveled in large groups for safety, and when it was time to return they left…but Jesus stayed in Jerusalem. Joseph and Mary realizing that Jesus was not with the traveling group returned to Jerusalem to find Jesus in the Temple where He was actually teaching the scholars who were astounding with His understanding of the Scriptures. Here we have Jesus declaring to His mother that it was time for Him to begin being about His Father’s business…here He states clearly who His Father is, and who He is. Luke closes out the second chapter again drawing us to the understanding of Jesus’ humanity…though He was the Son of God, He was also human…and He needed to grow and mature as any human in wisdom, in physical growth, and in relationships with God and others.
Please share your thoughts from today’s reading.
TOMORROW’S READING…Luke 3
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