Sunday 28 December 2008

Background

In churches today, the Gospel reading is Luke 2:22-40. Here,it is Luke 2:15-21. We firstly read 2:15-20 as theending to 2:1-20.

In Luke 2:1-20, Luke is telling his story of the birth of the'Saviour' Jesus. He gives an alternative explanation to the onethat Matthew gives as to how Jesus came to be born in Bethlehem. Healso tells of the visitation of shepherds (where the Gospel writerMatthew tells of 'wise men' - Matthew2:1-12).

Oscar Wilde's play, The Importance of Being Earnest, links, for me,in a literary way with Luke's story of Jesus' birth. Mr Worthingexplains to Lady Bracknell how he came by his name and where it wasthat he was found as a baby. She responds dramatically, "In ahandbag?"!

In Luke's story, the baby Jesus was to be found in a food trough!It was a "sign" of the Saviour's presence. And he was laid in it,says Luke, "because there was no place for them" (literally) "inthe inn", or as some translations say "in the guest room" (verse7).

Interestingly, all the synoptists (Matthew, Mark and Luke) speak of"a guest room" ("an upper room") as the setting for the Last Supperwhere Jesus was to identify his own body and blood with bread andwine. This may suggest that there is something more to Luke'sreference to "a guest room" here. Jesus, in a "food trough", isheavenly food? (See also Isaiah1:3 which, in some translations, speaks of a "foodtrough". Luke may have been thinking of this as he waswriting.)

Whatever the case, Christians supremely celebrate the love of theSon of God that drove him from his cradle to his Cross.

Now, perhaps, we can read verse 21 as the opening part of Luke2:21-40. This passage tells of the fulfilling of what the angel andthe Jewish Law required and foretells of a mother's suffering. Theliteral, Greek translation of verse 21 is:

"And when were completed eight days he was circumcised and wascalled the name of him Jesus, the one called by the angel before hewas conceived in the womb."

To complete this section of his Gospel, Luke adds 2:41-52. He tellsof a Passover visit to Jerusalem when Jesus is 12 years old. Itends like the section's first story, 2:1-20 - "His mother treasuredall these things in her heart" (verse 51, which echoes verse19).

To Ponder

To what extent might the miraculous elements ofthe Christmas stories (the angels, heavenly choirs and movingstars) put people off, rather than attract them to the Christianfaith?

How far could some of these hang-ups be allayedif it were explained that the meaning (rather than the details) isthe part that really counts?