Continuing Luke's Story 5
Continuing Luke’s Story 5 (2:1-20)
There are three statements in this Story that address the child in the manger:
The first in the sS: And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger…
The second in the fW: This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.
And, the third in the sAW: The shepherds wanting to see this thing …went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.
Using what was developed on yesterday's post, the wW was expressed in this way: ‘on earth peace among those whom he favors,’ becomes, ‘on earth peace to the flock filled with the Spirit because Jesus has been glorified, and they have welcomed Jesus’ words and put them into practice.
Since this is a post-resurrection Story, I’m going to propose that the Mary represents the yearning of the Hebrew Scriptures to give birth to the Messiah, the risen Jesus. (In fact, I propose that all of the first seven Stories that we call the Infancy Narrative in Luke’s gospel are the yearning of the Hebrew Scriptures for the Messiah.)
I propose that the second statement addressing the child in the manger needs to be understood in relation to the word sign. For the shepherds are told that it will be a sign for them. I understand a sign in the gospels to mean that which Jesus says and or does led by the Spirit. So this then would be the shepherds/disciples remembering of the life, passion and death of Jesus.
I propose that the third statement is about believing in the risen Jesus, for that’s how I understand the writers use the word see in the gospels. Therefore the disciples return from their ‘terrifying’ experience of coming to believe in the risen Jesus by praising and glorifying God for all that they’ve seen and heard as they focus themselves on tending to their flocks, proclaiming Jesus’ words, baptizing with Jesus’ baptism, teaching the flocks to be the bread in the manger to others… and, the flock celebrates the Father’s peace as they understand the roots of their belief as the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures that yearned for the Messiah.
There are three statements in this Story that address the child in the manger:
The first in the sS: And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger…
The second in the fW: This will be a sign for you: you will find a child wrapped in bands of cloth and lying in a manger.
And, the third in the sAW: The shepherds wanting to see this thing …went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the child lying in the manger.
Using what was developed on yesterday's post, the wW was expressed in this way: ‘on earth peace among those whom he favors,’ becomes, ‘on earth peace to the flock filled with the Spirit because Jesus has been glorified, and they have welcomed Jesus’ words and put them into practice.
Since this is a post-resurrection Story, I’m going to propose that the Mary represents the yearning of the Hebrew Scriptures to give birth to the Messiah, the risen Jesus. (In fact, I propose that all of the first seven Stories that we call the Infancy Narrative in Luke’s gospel are the yearning of the Hebrew Scriptures for the Messiah.)
I propose that the second statement addressing the child in the manger needs to be understood in relation to the word sign. For the shepherds are told that it will be a sign for them. I understand a sign in the gospels to mean that which Jesus says and or does led by the Spirit. So this then would be the shepherds/disciples remembering of the life, passion and death of Jesus.
I propose that the third statement is about believing in the risen Jesus, for that’s how I understand the writers use the word see in the gospels. Therefore the disciples return from their ‘terrifying’ experience of coming to believe in the risen Jesus by praising and glorifying God for all that they’ve seen and heard as they focus themselves on tending to their flocks, proclaiming Jesus’ words, baptizing with Jesus’ baptism, teaching the flocks to be the bread in the manger to others… and, the flock celebrates the Father’s peace as they understand the roots of their belief as the fulfillment of the Hebrew Scriptures that yearned for the Messiah.
posted by Anne and Mike at 12:56 AM
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