besquared.org Blog

Today’s Text
This is an amazing story. The heart of the story is radical enough, but the frame is so unsettling that I find myself still a little stunned by it.

I’ll start by summarizing the center of the text, and then we will look at the frame and then we will come back to the heart of the text.

The center of the text is Jesus’ teaching in the synagogue. As the famous visiting Rabbi it was natural for him to be invited to teach. He chooses a beloved text. This should have been an easy sermon, and it is. Go back and read Is 61. Really, I mean it. Okay, here are the first few verses since I worry that you won’t go read it.

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me,
because the LORD has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
to proclaim freedom for the captives
and release from darkness for the prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor
and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,

and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of his splendor.

They will rebuild the ancient ruins
and restore the places long devastated;
they will renew the ruined cities
that have been devastated for generations.

Now you see what I mean. They would have all loved this text and when he pulled it out they would have all settled in for a great happy day at the synagogue. Of course Jesus stopped before the part about “provide for those who grieve in Zion” (not to mention the part bout vengeance) but that would not have mattered, they would have known the whole text.

And then he rolls up the scroll and every eye is fastened on him, the teenage boys are hushed and you could have heard a mustard seed drop. And he tells them exactly what they have been longing to hear. This miracle-working, authoritative-preaching, local-boy-done-good preaches the very midrash on Isaiah 61 that all of them were longing to hear.

They had heard too many sermons on this texts that began, “Someday, this text ….” but this was brand new. Jesus – who spoke with a new authority – said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

Can you imagine the joy in that room. We don’t have to guess at their reaction. They loved what they were hearing. (As a side note the word in NIV “gracious” sound very bland because we use the word to mean polite. they did not mean that his words were polite, they meant they were grace filled – and in a big way. ) They couldn’t have been more excited. I need you to pause for a second and contemplate what this oppressed Jewish community would have thought if their hometown hero had arrived and told them that he was about to bring the great restoration that they had always wanted. [I remember when Bill Frist became senate majority leader (thanks Alex for the correction), everyone in Tenn. was excited about all the good things that would come to us because he was in that position of power.] Certainly among other things, when they remind each other that this was Joseph’s son they are anticipating all the wonderful things that are coming for Israel and for them especially.

And then things get crazy. But wait let’s see the frame before we move on.

The frame is very simple, He arrives a home town hero and leaves a rejected and despised prophet. This town that had “brought him up” now tries to “throw him down.” In Luke’s understated artistry he closes the frame by telling us that Jesus is now going his own way.

What could have happened? Let’s go back to the center. Just when he has them in the palm of his hand he suggests to them, “I suppose that you want all this to start here.” And then he tells them a few stories. Stories they did not want to hear. Stories that tell them all the same thing. Jesus is telling them, “Don’t think that this good news is just for God’s special people.” In fact he leaves them wondering if it is even for them at all.

When Jesus comes to the people who most expected to hear good news, instead they hear bad news. They hear that his decision to focus on the poor and oppressed and the imprisoned means that he will not focus on everyones needs. Liberation theologians call this Christ’s preferential option for the poor.

We often marvel at how few of the Jewish people accepted Jesus. We sometimes even mock them. How could they miss it? I think we can only do that if we have not studied the gospels very carefully and have not studied ourselves very well. This sermon which lifts up their hopes so high, then crashes them on the ground. I suppose thier desire to do the same to Jesus is only natural.

I am not entirely sure what to make of this story. Two things are clear to me, one is less so.

1. It is clear that this story is pivotal to the narrative of Luke. It is explains Jesus transition to a homeless, anti-establishment, fringe figure who worked on the edges of established institutions. He is naming himself as not the man they expected. It also explains Jesus priorities for the rest of the gospel. Jesus is the man to fulfill the song of his mother.

2. It is clear that the church needs to always check it priorities against the priorities of this sermon. Are we still partners with Jesus in this ministry? I must confess that the priorities of my life line up with much that Jesus has taught but do little to reflect this passage.

3.Here is what is fuzzy to me.  In my life, I know that I have more in common with the people of Nazareth then with the demoniac by the sea.  If Jesus has a preferential option for those who are poor and far from knowing God, then as a middle class boy who grew up in the church, I wonder what that means.  Now I know that theologically I am plenty sinful and lost and am certainly evil enough but so were those in the synagogue of Nazareth. When Jesus effectively tells them, “I didn’t some for you,” what good news is left?  I certainly don’t believe for a minute that Jesus ministry is only good news for some.  I have some ideas, but I want to withhold judgment and see if Luke gives us any more insight.  What good news is their for these people like me, the people of Nazareth, who are so sure that they will get the first prize?

-Ethan

Today’s Text
Greetings Today we have another “guest blogger.” This is from Barcley’s (Thanks for the correction Alex!) wonderful and classic series The Daily Study Bible. If your parents or grandparents had a commentary series, this was it.

No sooner had Jesus left the wilderness but He was faced with another decision. He knew that for Him the hour had struck; He had settled once and for all the method which He was going to take. Now He had to decide, Where would He start?

(i) He began in Galilee. Galilee was an area in the north of Palestine about fifty miles from north to south and twentyfive miles from east to west. The name itself means a circle and comes from the Hebrew word Galil. It was so called because it was encircled by non-Jewish nations. Just because of that new influences had always played upon Galilee and it was the most forward-looking and the least conservative part of Palestine. It was an extraordinarily densely populated part of Palestine. Josephus, who was himself at one time governor of the area, says that it had 204 villages or towns, none with a population less than 15,000.

It seems incredible that there could be about 3,000,000 people congregated in Galilee. It was a land of extraordinary fertility. There was a proverb which said that, ” It is easier to raise a legion of olive trees in Galilee than to bring up one child in Judea.” The wonderful climate and the superb water supply made it the garden of Palestine. The very list of trees which grew there shows how amazingly fertile it was-the vine, the olive, the fig, the oak, the walnut, the terebinth, the palm, the cedar, the cypress, the balsam, the fir tree, the pine, the sycamore, the bay tree, the myrtle, the almond, the pomegranate, the citron and the oleander.

The Galileans themselves were the Highlanders of Palestine. Josephus says of them, ” They were ever fond of innovations and by nature disposed to changes, and delighted in seditions. They were ever ready to follow a leader who would begin an insurrection. They were quick in temper and given to quarreling.” ” The Galileans,” it was said, ” have never been destitute of courage.” ” They were ever more anxious for honor than for gain.” So that is the land in which Jesus began. It was His own land; and it would give Him, at least at the beginning, an audience who would listen and kindle at His message.

(ii) He began in the Synagogue. The Synagogue was the real center of religious life in Palestine. There was only one Temple; but the law said that wherever there were ten Jewish families there must be a Synagogue; and so in every town and village it was in the Synagogue that the people met to worship. There were no sacrifices in the Synagogue. The Temple was designed for sacrifice; the Synagogue for teaching. But how could Jesus gain an entry into the Synagogue and how could he, a layman, the carpenter from Nazareth, deliver His message there?

In the Synagogue service there were three parts. (a) The worship part in prayer was offered. (b) The reading of the scriptures. Seven people from the congregation read. As they read the ancient Hebrew, which was no longer widely understood, was translated by the Targumist into Aramaic or Greek, in the case of the Law, one verse at a time, in the case of the prophets three verses at a time. (c) The teaching part of the service. In the Synagogue there was no professional ministry; there was no one person to give the address; the president would invite any distinguished person present to speak and then discussion and talk would follow. That is how Jesus got His chance. The Synagogue and its platform at this stage were open to Him.

(iii) The passage ends by saying that He was held in high
reputation by all. This period of Jesus’ ministry has been called the Galilean springtime. He had come like a breath of the very wind of God. The opposition had not yet crystallised. Men’s hearts were hungry for the word of life, and they had not yet realized what a blow He was to strike at the orthodoxy of His time. A man with a message will always command an audience.

Today’s Text
There is much to be said about the temptation story. For the sake of time, I will say less than much but more than a little. And I will start at the end.

It ends significantly, the devil leaves to wait for an opportune time. What wonderful literary and ethical drama. From a literary perspective we find ourselves wondering, when will that time be. (Forget for a second that you may know when that time will be.) In fact this reminds me to encourage you to look back at the first few chapters to see just how much foreshadowing has been crammed into the first few chapters.

Ethically, I find my self reflecting on how temptation works in my life. I am pretty proud of my ethics. I have been well schooled and feel like I know right from wrong. But my morals (that is my actual choices rather than my theoretical ones) are less impressive. In fact they are downright shameful. I think that is largely because Satan knows how to wait for an opportune time in my life. I remember some sermon, where Ben talked about the times we are vulnerable to temptation: When we are Hungry, Angry, Sad, Tired, and In a bar. I remember them because they spelled “HASTY” except cooler because it was with an I. Anyway, I remembered that sermon when I read this text because (all kidding aside) this is exactly how temptation works in my life. When I am in the right setting, and get plenty off exercise, and good sleep and fill my life with good people and God-honoring stuff to do, I feel invulnerable to temptation. But as soon as I am in the wrong place, or I am bored, or I am around the wrong people, or I am tired, Satan sees an opportune moment and I fall (or really -jump) off the wagon.

So that is my little reflection on the end, but what about the temptations themselves.

These have been analyzed in lots of ways but what I notice as I read them today is that in every case, Jesus is tempted to maintain the status quo. We have talked about the world changing ministry that every one in Luke seems to be anticipating. In light of that, I find myself noticing how non-changing these temptations are.

First he is tempted to eat when hungry. There is certainly nothing wrong with eating when hungry. It would be a perfectly normal use of is power. But Jesus power is not for normal use, and it certainly is not for selfish use. He will make bread of course, but it will be to feed the masses.

Second he is tempted to rule the world. He will of course rule the world someday. But his conquest will not come through his power but his weakness. He could make a deal with the devil and gain power now. Think of the good he would do if he ruled the world. Jesus could stop world hunger and fix public education. He has the power. Would he even really need to worship Satan? Jesus had the strength why wouldn’t he rule. His might could really make right. But of course he came to do exactly the opposite. He came to undo power and coercion itself, and establish love and sacrifice as the foundation for his kingdom.

Third he is tempted to prove that he is God’s beloved by staging a dramatic rescue. Again, isn’t that how the over-simplified Christian theology works. God saves, rescues, enriches, etc. those that God loves. He is tempted to prove the status quo. I can do whatever stupid thing I want because God will bail me out. Ironically, (as with each of these temptations) Jesus will one day find himself at the temple and he will be headed toward death, and no angels will come his rescue. He proves that he is the son of the Father not because he is saved, but because he shares God’s love for the world his Father made.

So there is nothing unusual about these temptations. What is unusual is that Jesus says no to each one. As he does so he proves himself to be just the one that Mary and Zechariah anticipated. He is bringing a whole new way of life. He rejects self interest in preparation for the day that he will serve others. He rejects Lordship through power in preparation for the day that he will rule through self-sacrifice, and he rejects special treatment from God and instead and lives and dies to see that God’s blessing will come to all people.

Born to Be Wild
Or perhaps reborn to be wild.

Yesterday we began a series at church about how we are (re)born to be wild. We talked about our wild God. Certainly the opening of Luke is consistent with a wild God. As I look at these temptation I realize that just as it would have been sin for Jesus to give in to these temptations, when I settle for a status quo life and forsake my call to a renewed life, I am sinning. When I let my comfort get in the way of dedication to God that is sin. When I expect God to rescue me from all suffering, that is sin. When I am willing to use the tools of power and dominion to accomplish my goals (or even what I think are God’s goals), that is sin. Instead we are called to live unconventional lives.

There is a lot more to say, but I will leave it at that for today.

-Ethan

Today’s Text

Luke introduces us to the adult Jesus with understated simplicity. When everybody else was coming, Jesus came too. He came for the baptism of repentance. Of course he was not repenting from his sins, but this baptism certainly represents a turning point. He turns from quiet carpentry to bold ministry.

And while praying something utterly different happens. We have just learned that John is the final in a long line of great prophets, but now we see that Jesus is something the world has never seen. He is the very son of God. I wonder to what degree we should connect this event with the temple scene. In that scene, Jesus calls the temple, “My Father’s house.” so he clearly knew something about his unusual birth. But then Luke says he grew in wisdom, so he clearly did not know everything. So in this scene when he hears the voice from heaven, is it news, or just confirmation? Is the voice for Jesus or for John?

What is clear is what Luke wants the reader to learn. Luke wants us to notice that this Jesus is not the Christ anyone expected. He is not merely the Jewish Messiah. He is the Son of God. Even Luke’s genealogy focus’s on Jesus descent form Adam and God not from Abraham. Luke wants us to see that Jesus os connected to the whole human race and is here for all people. We have already noticed this a strong theme in the songs of chapter one. Modern readers often miss this difference because we are focused on the more recent genealogy. Because this can be distracting – even though I don’t think that it is Luke’s main point – I will comment on it briefly.

If you compare the line from Solomon to Joseph in Matthew you will see that they are completely different. This can be pretty confusing. It is almost certain that Luke is giving Mary’s genealogy and Matthew is giving Joseph’s. Bizarrely enough is was common then to give a womens genealogy by naming their husband. So if we were giving this list we would start by saying, “the son-in-law of Heli.” We can’t be certain of this but I think that it is a pretty reasonable conclusion. If you are interested in reading more about this you can check this out. [I will warn you that much of the rest of this site is wacky so don't browse it and trust what you are reading. But on this one issue they present a pretty reasonable perspective - even if I don't agree with every detail.]

But Luke’s concern is not Mary’s genealogy vs. Joseph’s. [Although it is in keeping with his concern for women and historical accuracy that he would trace her line instead of his.] His focus is Jesus as one with the whole human race because he is a son of Adam, but also someone very different because he is the son of God is a new and unique way.

One thing to ponder. Read the words that God’s says to Jesus at his baptism. It is cool to me that at my baptism, those words became true of me as well.

-Ethan

We get to meet Satan next. Cool Huh!

Today’s Text
The world needs to get ready because Jesus is coming. We have had foreshadowing, and baby pictures, but now the fun is just about to begin. The arrival of the new king and the new kingdom is almost upon us. There is just one more thing. We need to build a highway. There are some mountains that need to be moved to make ready the way of the Lord.

But before we talk about that let’s talk about a few other cool things.

The political setting.

Luke begins chapter three by giving a a political update. About thirty years have passed since the last one so we need to be caught up. Luke tells us,

In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene— during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the desert.

There is so much that we can learn from this introduction. But we will just focus on what we can no about the situation in Palestine. Thirty years ago, Augustus was the Emporer. Rome taxed Palestine but mostly let King Herod the Great do what he wanted. King Herod was personally very evil, but for political reasons he mostly gave the Jewish people what they wanted. Times have changed.

Late in Augustus reign (and through all of Tiberius’) Rome had a colony in Palestine called Ceasarea Phillipi. From this colony Rome directly ruled southern Israel, including Jerusalem. Even Herod and Phillip had little power and were little more than Roman puppets. Herod may have been hated and evil but at least he represented local strength. Those days are long gone.

(The naming of two high preists has some cool implications too but I’m not telling unless you ask.)

In the context of this oppressive political situation Palestine had become a region of rebellion and violence. Popular uprisings based upon Messianic hopes (hopes that God had sent an anointed redeemer of Israel) were …(what’s the word)… popular.

The scriptural setting.

I hope that you are in the habit of looking up OT scripture quotations when they occur in the NT. Occasionally our NT authors prooftext (Use an OT quote out of context), but usually the context of the quote is very enlightening to understanding its present use. This is certainly the case for the text today.

Luke uses the words of Isaiah to describe the ministry of John. Luke has already established that John is a prophet like the prophets of old.  When he says that the “word of God came to John” this is a conscious echo of the prophetic books of the Old Testament.  Luke wants us to know that John is the last great prophet of the anticipation.

More specifically, Luke wants us to that John was coming with the words of comfort from Isaiah 40.  Isaiah 40 was a message of hope to the people in exile in Babylon. Isaiah was able to proclaim that the time of their suffering was at an end, that God was coming and that God’s word of hope to them would endure and prove faithful. So there are some obvious theological parallels between Isaiah’s proclamation that God is coming and John’s proclamation (Although those parallels imply some pretty powerful things about who Jesus is). The real shock to me comes when I look back to find that Is. 40 begins this way,

Comfort, comfort my people,
says your God.

Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the LORD’s hand
double for all her sins.

A voice of one calling:
“In the desert prepare
the way for the LORD;
make straight in the wilderness
a highway for our God.

Isaiah’s words are to be words of comfort. But can we say that same about John. Is he really making a straight highway or is he just throwing up roadblocks? My instinct would not be to call John’s teaching a word of comfort, but when I pause to take a look at Isaiah I need to consider that possibility. In fact, in verse 18, Luke describes John’s message as good news, so if his words don’t sound like good news to me on first read, perhaps I need to take a second look.

Finally to John

So having examined the setting both politically and scripturally, lets take a look at John’s ministry. Luke summarizes it early on with the phrase, “preaching a baptism of repentance for forgiveness of sins.” Among other things I see John doing these three things:

1. He identified the crisis.

These people have come out to be baptized. These are the people who have heard his message. These are not random crowds, they are precisely the people that are taking their first steps in faith, and John winsomely calls to them, “You brood of vipers,Who told you to flee from the coming wrath?” Every other political and religious movement of the day started by saying, Rome is the problem, or Herod is the problem, or the corrupt priesthood is the problem. Not John; he starts by saying, “You are the problem, who gave you the impression that you could escape the trouble that is coming?”

If he gave them a chance to reply I suppose they would say, “You told us to flee form the coming wrath. You gave us the impression.” But of course the get no chance to reply as he moves on to his main point. He wants them to know that it is not not enough to be a child of Abraham. It is not enough to be submerged in the waters of the Jordan (There is a lot of cool stuff to say about the baptism of John reminding us of the Israelites crossing into Israel. I’ll get into that the next time I blog through a gospel) The crisis they face is so great that neither their race nor religious ritual will help them.

So John starts by showing them that the crisis is both of a different kind than they thought and it is worse than they thought. So they respond with good sense, “What should we do then?”
2. He got specific with a response.

John’s response is straightforward. Live the same but still completely differently. Live, just as you do but live right. Get dressed and eat, but share your extra clothes and your extra food. Like Jesus whose opening call was “Follow Me,” John focuses on a redirected lifestyle. I mind myself noticing that I very often teach a baptism for the forgiveness of sins but I may sometimes forget to emphasize what John does which is a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
3. He articulated his hope.

Finally he directs them beyond himself. He has warned them of this crisis and called them to repentance for one reason: So that when Jesus comes and calls them to follow them will be ready. He baptizes with water now so that when Jesus comes to baptize with the spirit, they will be ready.

And it worked!

We often forget just how effective the ministry of John was. Many were convicted, many were baptized.  John’s ministry began an international movement.  (Paul meets followers of John in the middle of Asia Minor [Turkey].)  John ministry was important enough to upset the king.  In no small part John’s ministry laid the foundation for the ministry of Jesus.

Even today an important part of accepting the gospel of Jesus to come to grips with the magnitude of the crisis.  It is greater than a crisis of political, or religious corruption, it is a crisis of personal and moral corruption.  This crisis cannot be effectively met by appeal to special status or ritual.  A crisis this big needs life change, forgiveness and something new that is about some that is unlike anything ever seen before.

The gospel of John is not the whole gospel but it remains an essential prelude to the gospel of Jesus.

-Ethan

Today’s Text

This is an odd little story. It has no parallel in the other gospels. It is so personal and intimate and it highlights some of the great things about Luke’s gospel. We have already noted but it is worth noting again that Luke is perfectly content to mix up the grand with the intimate. Matthew will us about angels and kings form the east, but it is from Luke that we hear about babies leading in wombs. In this same way, we have just seen how Luke mixes the intimacy of a babies blessing with the profound theological teaching about Christ’s role as the fulfillment of Israel’s hope and God’s purposes.

And then we come to today’s text.

It certainly is a nice story. We get a glimpse into the family life of Jesus. This story carries all the kinds of intimate details that we love to find in Luke’s gospel. But does it carry the same theological weight? I think that the answer is no. And I think that is okay.

There are certainly some important theological gems hidden in here, but I think that this story is especially important because of what we learn about the people.

• We learn that Jesus’ family is particularly devoted to the worship of God. Luke tells us that that they went up to Jerusalem every year for the Passover. This was an unusual lever of devotion. Especially for a family that was not professionally religious – he was a carpenter not a levite – to travel every year for the festivals was rare in that period.
• We learn that Jesus has lousy parents. Just kidding. Really we are reminded that Jesus grew up a in a sociological world of extended families and interconnected communities. As a group they would have traveled to Jerusalem.
• We learn that Jesus was hungry for the things of God.
• We learn that Jesus was obedient.
• We learn that Jesus grew.

I think that perhaps this last one, is the one that we are least likely to believe. We may sing songs about Jesus as a baby, but we sort of assume that he always knew everything that was going on in the back of his head. But Luke could not be clearer. Jesus grew in wisdom.

I have been thinking about discipleship (ie. following Jesus) a lot lately. As I think about that I am comforted that the one I follow grew. So apparently if I follow him, I should expect that I will be growing. That is good news, because I need to grow in wisdom.

In fact, as I look through the list above of the things we can learn from this simple story, I realize that I want all of these truths to be truth of me and my family.

• I want my family to be devoted to patterns of worship that will shape my life and that of my family.
• I want my kids to grow up in web of interconnected relationships. Two parents aren’t enough, they need dozens of adults who are committed to their care and spiritual growth.
• I want to be hungry for the things of God.
• I want to be obedient.
• I want to grow in wisdom.

The value of this story is not in its theological weight but precisely in its intimacy and its apparent normalcy. It is when these traits are no longer special events but part of the fabric of our lives that we are transformed.

By giving us a glimpse into the rhythm of their everyday lives, we learn more than we ever expected.

-Ethan

Today’s Text

We have talked a lot about the portents of discontinuity so far in this text. (I haven’t used that language so if you are thinking, “No we haven’t.” then you are right.) We have seen that in the context of the first chapter, Luke prepares us for a radically new thing that is happening. We are warned that the politcal and social world is being turned upside down. In my post this morning, NT Wright opened the Christmas story in a new light that reminded us that it is a politcally subversive text. So far, Luke’s story is one of stark and in some ways even threatening discontinuity with the status quo.

In light of this , it is good to pause on this beautiful scene of Jesus’ naming and blessing. Here we see that although Jesus may represent a threat to the politcal establishment and that his ministry is radically discontinuous with the status quo, it stands in remarkable continuity with one thing: The purposes of God.

Verse 21 serves as a transition verse. It wraps up the story of the birth with the naming and introduces the stories of the childhood and then three times in the next two verese we are reminded that Jesus is being blessed and sacrifices are being made in accordance with God’s law.

Simeon and Anna come forward and represent all the fathful of Israel hoping for the fulfillment of God’s promises. They both see in Jesus that God’s promises have now been fulfilled. Look back again at the details that Luke shares. The are old and have been waiting for a long time. They are people of hope who now can rest because the hope has been completed. The hope is not just their hope but the hope of the nation. It is an ancient hope. Luke intentionally provides narrative details to demonstrate that Jesus (”YHWH saves”) is precisely the salvation that God’s people have always been waiting for.

Luke tells us that they leave, when they have done “everything required by the law of the Lord.” On a narrative level this just means that they killed the right number of pigeons. (See Lev. 12 for more infor on the pigeons.) But more importantly the wraps up the biggger point that Luke wants us to see. This thing that will happen, that will overturn oppresion,(mary’s song) that will complete the work fo the prophets and the temple (Zechariah’s song), that will defy the empires of the world, will also fulfill that hope of Israel and the Law of Moses.

Joy to the World, the Lord is Come.

-Ethan

Ps. I hope that you have noticed all the times that is has been made clear that this Israelite Messiah is for all nations. We take that for granted of course, but that was still a debated question in Luke’s day.

Today’s Text

Luke begins the tale of Jesus birth just like any good Hellenist historian. He tells us who the emperor is. He places these events in their context, historically, geographically and politically. Bu tfrom their on out things get crazy.

Look at the characters as the are introduced: Caesar Augustus, Quirinius, Jospeh, Mary, the baby, the shepherds. With each step we leap down the social ladder. The heralds of the new king are shepherds.

I want to share a bit from NT Wrights new sommentary on Luke. This section is longer than i should share in a blog, but it is so good I can hardly help myself.

Here is what NT Wright says about this text:

If you try to point out something to a dog, the dog will often look at your finger instead of at the object you’re trying to point to. This is frustrating, but it illustrates a natural mistake we all make from time to time.

It’s the mistake many people make when reading the Christmas story in Luke’s gospel. What do people know about Jesus’ birth? The manger – the Christmas crib. The most famous animal feeding-trough in all history. You see it on Christmas cards. Churches make elaborate ‘cribs: and sometimes encourage people to say their prayers in front of them. We know about the animals, too, not that Luke even mentions any; the ox and the ass feature prominently in Christmas cards and carols, though there is no indication here either that the shepherds brought their own animals with them, or that there were any in the place where Mary and Joseph were staying.

Let’s be clear about where they were lodging. Tradition has them knocking at an inn door, being told there was no room, and then being offered the stable along with the animals. But the word for ‘inn’ in the traditional translations has several meanings, and it’s likely that they were, in fact, on the ground floor of a house where people normally stayed upstairs. The ground floor would often be used for animals – hence the manger or feeding-trough, which came in handy for the baby – but there is nothing to say that there were actually animals there at the time.

To concentrate on the manger and to forget why it was mentioned in the first place is like the dog looking at the finger rather than the object. Why has Luke mentioned it three times in this story?

The answer is: because it was the feeding-trough, appropriately enough, which was the sign to the shepherds. It told them which baby they were looking for. And it showed them that the angel knew what he was talking about. To be sure, it’s another wonderful human touch in the story, to think of the young mother finding an animal’s feeding-trough ready to hand as a cot for her newborn son. No doubt there are many sermons waiting to be preached here about God coming down into the mess and muddle of real life. But the reason Luke has mentioned it is because it’s important in giving the shepherds their news and their instructions.

Why is that significant? Because it was the shepherds who were told who this child was. This child is the savior, the Messiah, the Lord. The manger isn’t important in itself. It’s a signpost, a pointing finger, to the identity and task of the baby boy who’s lying in it. The shepherds, summoned in from the fields (like David, the shepherd boy, brought in from the fields to be anointed as king), are made privy to the news, so that Mary and Joseph, hearing it from this unexpected source, will have extra confirmation of what up until now has been their own secret.

We have to assume that the shepherds, like other Palestinian Jews at the time, including old Zechariah in the previous chapter, would have known what a savior, a Messiah, a Lord was to do. In case we need reminding, Luke has introduced the story by telling us about Augustus Caesar, way off in Rome, at the height of his power.

Augustus was the adopted son of Julius Caesar. He became sole ruler of the Roman world after a bloody civil war in which he overpowered all rival claimants. The last to be destroyed was the famous Mark Antony, who committed suicide not long after his defeat at the battle of Actium in 31 Be. Augustus turned the great Roman republic into an empire, with himself at the head; he proclaimed that he had brought justice and peace to the whole world; and, declaring his dead adoptive father to be divine, styled himself as ’son of god’. Poets wrote songs about the new era that had begun; historians told the long story of Rome’s rise to greatness, reaching its climax (obviously) with Augustus himself. Augustus, people said, was the ’savior’ of the world. He was its king, its ‘lord’. Increasingly, in the eastern part of his empire, people worshipped him, too, as a god.

Meanwhile, far away, on that same eastern frontier, a boy was born who would within a generation be hailed as ’son of God’; whose followers would speak of him as ’savior’ and ‘lord’; whose arrival, they thought, had brought true justice and peace to the world. Jesus never stood before a Roman emperor, but at the climax of Luke’s gospel he stood before his representative, the governor Pontius Pilate. Luke certainly has that scene in mind as he tells his tale: how the emperor in Rome decides to take a census of his whole wide domain, and how this census brings Jesus to be born in the town which was linked to king David himself.

Historians have puzzled about the census. The one taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria was considerably later than Jesus’ birth (and, interestingly, caused riots because the Jews resented being taxed by Rome). One way of translating the Greek here is to see this census as an earlier one, before the famous one under Quirinius. There are many puzzles the historians may never work out, and this may be one of them.

But the point Luke is making is clear. The birth of this little boy is the beginning of a confrontation between the kingdom of God – in all its apparent weakness, insignificance and vulnerability – and the kingdoms of the world. Augustus never heard of Jesus of Nazareth. But within a century or so his successors in Rome had not only heard of him; they were taking steps to obliterate his followers. Within just over three centuries the Emperor himself became a Christian. When you see the manger on a card or in a church, don’t stop at the crib. See what it’s pointing to. It is pointing to the explosive truth that the baby lying there is already being spoken of as the true king of the world. The rest of Luke’s story, both in the gospel and, later on, in Acts, will tell how he comes into his kingdom.

I highly reccomend the wonderful new commentary Luke for EVeryone. If you buy it, you will find these words on pages 21-24.

-Ethan

We’re about to embark on the “Christmas Story.” I’ll write about it this weekend. But first I thought I might invite a little sharing. I am wondering how this story has been used in your life.

My central memory of this story is from my Mom’s family. My mom is a PK (Preacher’s kid) and has four siblings. They are all loud, witty and sarcastic. Consequently Christmas is a wonderful occasion. It is loud and raucous. Filled with old memories and new ones. One of the few quiet memories, is the time when my Grandfather would insist that every one get quiet to hear the Christmas story. It often took longer to gather the family and get everyone quiet than it did to read, but either way, my Grandfather would insist.

I remember as a kid that I could tell this was important because it was the only time that my aunts would stop talking all at once. It became a tradition to complain about the reading, (especially if it was almost time to open presents) but eventually everyone would settle down. I don’t have many scriptures that are connected to events, but this text I think I will always hear in my Grandfather’s voice.

Anybody else have a Luke 2 story to share?

Today’s Text

The first chapter of Luke’s gospel is a study in contrast. He consciously works both ends of the spectrum. Like a good Greek historian, he starts with a word to his patron and a dscription of the geopolitical setting. Like a good Hebrew historian, he then focuses on God and a few individuals, and he relates intimate details and emotions. But this stylistic blend is just the first of many contrasting pairs.
Two visions, One to a priest in the temple in Jerusalem, the other to a girl in a village in Nazareth.

Two responses, one skeptical, one awefilled.

Two miraculous births, one old school (Aged barren couple is given a child to dedicate to the Lord, this plot line is almost overused in scritpure.) and one totally new and completely unexpected (No one was expecting a virgin to conceive and bear a son, no matter what Handel’s Messiah may say.)

Two sons, one a life-changing prophet (14-17) and one an eternal king (32-34).

Two names, John a name that had never been in the family, Jesus named for his dad. (ie. his heavenly father).

But the contrast that most intrigues me is that contrast between regime change and life change. Mary’s song is all about regime change. (Notice how her song connects with the Angels description in 33-34) In contrast, Zechariah’s song includes some regime change elements but they all have a more personal flavor. (Again this is in keeping with the personal tone of the Angels announcement in 14-17) His song seems to be anticipating the personal impact that his great upheaval will have. And he ends by anticipating a very personal transformation that is coming.

And you child, will be called the Prophet of the most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of ssalvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins,
through the tender mercy of our God,
when the day shall dawn upon us from on high

to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.

As Christians, we are used to talking about personal salvation and not used to talking about transforming the sturctures of the world so that they are brought under the reign of God. So to us it is the Magnificat (mary’s song) that sounds strange. But in some ways it is Zechariah’s songs, which explores the personal dimensions of the coming gospel that is really new. The Hebrew usually anticipated God’s great work in national terms. This personal picture of redemption would have been strange to their ears.
So we need to notice that both the narrative structure and the content call us to pay attention to both the global and personal implications of the Gospel. The good news is that God is establishing a kingdom that will overturn and subvert the kingdoms of the world. The good news is also that God offers forgiveness and salvation that can overturn the darkness in our lives. And if we ever forget we can just return to the songs of Mary and Zechariah.

-Ethan