TGBC Sunday Feb 11, Luke 1:1-56
The Good Book Club
WELCOME!! This is the Text of our first Lent 2018 reading from Luke for The Good Book Club. You will receive a reading for each day. Following each day’s Text I'll posed some thoughts, and you no doubt will have your own thoughts as well.
Not that I ask or expect this, but anyone who wants to communicate with me about the Text during Lent is invited and welcome to email me at twellerpc@gmail.com. If I receive any emails, I will try to answer them all, but any from Holy Nativity folks for sure. (This my blog is never offered as a discussion forum, and as your views are as valid as mine, I'll not argue or exchange unpleasantries! but we'll see how it goes).
Father Tom+
Not that I ask or expect this, but anyone who wants to communicate with me about the Text during Lent is invited and welcome to email me at twellerpc@gmail.com. If I receive any emails, I will try to answer them all, but any from Holy Nativity folks for sure. (This my blog is never offered as a discussion forum, and as your views are as valid as mine, I'll not argue or exchange unpleasantries! but we'll see how it goes).
Father Tom+
SUNDAY, February 11, Luke 1:1-56
Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the truth concerning the things about which you have been instructed.
In the days of King Herod of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah. His wife was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth. Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years.
Once when he was serving as priest before God and his section was on duty, he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to enter the sanctuary of the Lord and offer incense. Now at the time of the incense-offering, the whole assembly of the people was praying outside. Then there appeared to him an angel of the Lord, standing at the right side of the altar of incense.
When Zechariah saw him, he was terrified; and fear overwhelmed him. But the angel said to him, ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John. You will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He must never drink wine or strong drink; even before his birth he will be filled with the Holy Spirit. He will turn many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. With the spirit and power of Elijah he will go before him, to turn the hearts of parents to their children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.’ Zechariah said to the angel, ‘How will I know that this is so? For I am an old man, and my wife is getting on in years.’ The angel replied, ‘I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. But now, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their time, you will become mute, unable to speak, until the day these things occur.’
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah, and wondered at his delay in the sanctuary. When he did come out, he could not speak to them, and they realized that he had seen a vision in the sanctuary. He kept motioning to them and remained unable to speak. When his time of service was ended, he went to his home.
After those days his wife Elizabeth conceived, and for five months she remained in seclusion. She said, ‘This is what the Lord has done for me when he looked favourably on me and took away the disgrace I have endured among my people.’
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And he came to her and said, ‘Greetings, favoured one! The Lord is with you.’ But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.
The angel said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.’ Mary said to the angel, ‘How can this be, since I am a virgin?’ The angel said to her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.’ Then Mary said, ‘Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.’ Then the angel departed from her.
In those days Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leapt in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, ‘Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me?
For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leapt for joy. And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her by the Lord.’
And Mary said,
My soul doth magnify the Lord, *
and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.
For he hath regarded *
the lowliness of his handmaiden.
For behold from henceforth *
all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath magnified me, *
and holy is his Name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him *
throughout all generations.
He hath showed strength with his arm; *
he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat, *
and hath exalted the humble and meek.
He hath filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel, *
as he promised to our forefathers,
Abraham and his seed for ever.
and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.
For he hath regarded *
the lowliness of his handmaiden.
For behold from henceforth *
all generations shall call me blessed.
For he that is mighty hath magnified me, *
and holy is his Name.
And his mercy is on them that fear him *
throughout all generations.
He hath showed strength with his arm; *
he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat, *
and hath exalted the humble and meek.
He hath filled the hungry with good things, *
and the rich he hath sent empty away.
He remembering his mercy hath holpen his servant Israel, *
as he promised to our forefathers,
Abraham and his seed for ever.
And Mary remained with her for about three months and then returned to her home.
Sunday for Thought. Annunciation stories here, two stories, maybe our longest reading!
Don't let it bother you if I prefer the Bible translation used in my church when we sang the "Magnificat" to Anglican Chant throughout my growing up years!.
Put yourself in the story, you are not just a reader two-thousand years later, you are there, in the Bible, part of the story. As we read Luke, you are standing there seeing and experiencing what is going on. Visualize yourself as a bystander, or as one of the characters. Do this each day as you open and read, differently each day if you wish. Here you might be Zechariah, struck dumb for not believing. Or you might be Mary, wondering how you will get pregnant. Or maybe you are the angel Gabriel: you struck Zechariah dumb for his skepticism; but Mary was identically skeptical, why didn’t you also strike Mary dumb?
Don't let it bother you if I prefer the Bible translation used in my church when we sang the "Magnificat" to Anglican Chant throughout my growing up years!.
Put yourself in the story, you are not just a reader two-thousand years later, you are there, in the Bible, part of the story. As we read Luke, you are standing there seeing and experiencing what is going on. Visualize yourself as a bystander, or as one of the characters. Do this each day as you open and read, differently each day if you wish. Here you might be Zechariah, struck dumb for not believing. Or you might be Mary, wondering how you will get pregnant. Or maybe you are the angel Gabriel: you struck Zechariah dumb for his skepticism; but Mary was identically skeptical, why didn’t you also strike Mary dumb?
For many reasons, each gospel writer is different. Unlike Mark, Matthew & John, Luke begins and ends his story in the Temple (we are meant to understand that “the sanctuary of the Lord” where Zechariah is serving is at the Temple in Jerusalem), which at age 12, in Luke only, Jesus will call “my Father’s house.”
+ Only in Luke are John and Jesus said to be related, through their mothers, so we often call them “cousins.” Luke isn’t specific, so you may visualize their relationship any way you wish.
+ Only in Luke are John and Jesus said to be related, through their mothers, so we often call them “cousins.” Luke isn’t specific, so you may visualize their relationship any way you wish.
+ We see that, from their very beginning, even in the womb, John is “lesser than” Jesus, even their mothers acknowledge this, can you imagine why Luke makes this so clear?
+ In those days, travel took a long time, and visitors didn’t just pop in for the day or an overnight or the weekend, people visited for a long time. If, in your imagination, you are Zechariah, how do you feel coming home from work one day and finding that Elizabeth’s cousin Mary has arrived for a three-month visit? + Mary and Elizabeth probably will have the κατάλυμά, the room where Zech and Liz usually sleep, so the girls can visit and gossip, Zechariah sleeping with the animals for three months. How does this sit with you, Zech? + If you are Mary, how far along is your pregnancy when you leave? How do you suppose Mary traveled? Not likely that she traveled alone.
TW+
PS all clipart I pinched online.
+ In those days, travel took a long time, and visitors didn’t just pop in for the day or an overnight or the weekend, people visited for a long time. If, in your imagination, you are Zechariah, how do you feel coming home from work one day and finding that Elizabeth’s cousin Mary has arrived for a three-month visit? + Mary and Elizabeth probably will have the κατάλυμά, the room where Zech and Liz usually sleep, so the girls can visit and gossip, Zechariah sleeping with the animals for three months. How does this sit with you, Zech? + If you are Mary, how far along is your pregnancy when you leave? How do you suppose Mary traveled? Not likely that she traveled alone.
TW+
PS all clipart I pinched online.