Vol III: #56 Luke 2, Part I
I began reading Luke this week. It’s my favorite Gospel because it the most complete Gospel. Most historians believe it to be the latest arrival of the so-called synoptic Gospels, which is why is seems to be more full of descriptions and explanations than Mark or Matthew. (Luke is also the longest book in the new testament by number of verses and words.)
Today I read Luke 2, the story of Jesus’ birth, the shepherd visit, and his 12 year-old visit to Jerusalem for Passover. I paused over the sections of the shepherds’ encounter with an angel. With my eyes closed I pictured a cool night on a hillside and then a burst of light, an angel, then many angels, and instruction on where to find “a Savior.” And then, the angels leave and the shepherds are left to act or stay with their flock, the night sky hung back in the same place it always was. Of course, we know they chose to leave their sheep- presumably in the care of a trusted friend or two- in search of the newborn. They found Mary and Joseph, postpartum in a barn, their son wrapped in rags and laying a trough. I wondered if Joseph and Mary thought of leaving Jesus in that barn. Who would know? It wasn’t Joseph’s son after all. All the world probably weighed on them, to question their dreams and visitations, everything they’d been told and believed. And then, as if the Lord where saying to Mary and Joseph “you aren’t crazy or foolish” a gang of smelly shepherds appeared outside the door. And they confirmed every damn thing Mary was told and knew to be true.
Sometimes I stumble into a dangerous line of thinking when I read stories like that of Mary and Joseph and the shepherds. It goes like this: Of course Mary and Joseph obeyed the Lord. They saw angels, saw miracles (in the form of Elizabeth’s pregnancy), and were visited by the mostly lowly of men (the shepherds) and the upper crust (the Magi.) The first Christian power couple didn’t have a choice given all the supernatural events that happened in their lives. It’s harder for me. I haven’t seen an angel or had random stranger turn up to confirm my calling.
These thoughts are, of course, a shitty load of hot garbage. I have seen and experienced miracles, had multiple supernatural dreams, had way more than a few. strangers confirm my identity and calling of my life. It’s bullshit to believe otherwise, regardless of what the world says. What I want to expose is the enemy and how he works. That asshole figured out how to lie so effectively, he’s able to get us to deny God supernatural hand in our lives. Which is why the power of our testimony is powerful beyond words. The more we repeat what we’ve seen and know, the more faith grows in us.
I will never be step-dad to the Messiah, but I am a son of the King. And He’s blessed my life through redemption and grace, miracles and signs, love and kindness. And I will never let go of these Truths.
Part 2 tomorrow.
