Reflections on Luke 2

 

Luke 02 (Contemporary English Version)

1. About that time Emperor Augustus gave orders for the names of all the people to be listed in record books.
   
2. These first records were made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
   
3. Everyone had to go to their own hometown to be listed.
   
4. So Joseph had to leave Nazareth in Galilee and go to Bethlehem in Judea. Long ago Bethlehem had been King David's hometown, and Joseph went there because he was from David's family.
   
5. Mary was engaged to Joseph and traveled with him to Bethlehem. She was soon going to have a baby,
   
6. and while they were there,
   
7. she gave birth to her first-born son. She dressed him in baby clothes and laid him on a bed of hay, because there was no room for them in the inn.
   
8. That night in the fields near Bethlehem some shepherds were guarding their sheep.
   
9. All at once an angel came down to them from the Lord, and the brightness of the Lord's glory flashed around them. The shepherds were frightened.
   
10. But the angel said, "Don't be afraid! I have good news for you, which will make everyone happy.
    
11. This very day in King David's hometown a Savior was born for you. He is Christ the Lord.
    
12. You will know who he is, because you will find him dressed in baby clothes and lying on a bed of hay."
    
13. Suddenly many other angels came down from heaven and joined in praising God. They said:
    
14. "Praise God in heaven! Peace on earth to everyone who pleases God."
    
15. After the angels had left and gone back to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see what the Lord has told us about."
    
16. They hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and they saw the baby lying on a bed of hay.
    
17. When the shepherds saw Jesus, they told his parents what the angel had said about him.
    
18. Everyone listened and was surprised.
    
19. But Mary kept thinking about all this and wondering what it meant.
    
20. As the shepherds returned to their sheep, they were praising God and saying wonderful things about him. Everything they had seen and heard was just as the angel had said.
    
21. Eight days later Jesus' parents did for him what the Law of Moses commands. And they named him Jesus, just as the angel had told Mary when he promised she would have a baby.
    
22. The time came for Mary and Joseph to do what the Law of Moses says a mother is supposed to do after her baby is born. They took Jesus to the temple in Jerusalem and presented him to the Lord,
    
23. just as the Law of the Lord says, "Each first-born baby boy belongs to the Lord."
    
24. The Law of the Lord also says that parents have to offer a sacrifice, giving at least a pair of doves or two young pigeons. So that is what Mary and Joseph did.
    
25. At this time a man named Simeon was living in Jerusalem. Simeon was a good man. He loved God and was waiting for God to save the people of Israel. God's Spirit came to him
    
26. and told him that he would not die until he had seen Christ the Lord.
    
27. When Mary and Joseph brought Jesus to the temple to do what the Law of Moses says should be done for a new baby, the Spirit told Simeon to go into the temple.
    
28. Simeon took the baby Jesus in his arms and praised God,
    
29. "Lord, I am your servant, and now I can die in peace, because you have kept your promise to me.
    
30. With my own eyes I have seen what you have done to save your people,
    
31. and foreign nations will also see this.
    
32. Your mighty power is a light for all nations, and it will bring honor to your people Israel."
    
33. Jesus' parents were surprised at what Simeon had said.
    
34. Then he blessed them and told Mary, "This child of yours will cause many people in Israel to fall and others to stand. The child will be like a warning sign. Many people will reject him,
    
35. and you, Mary, will suffer as though you had been stabbed by a dagger. But all this will show what people are really thinking."
    
36. The prophet Anna was also there in the temple. She was the daughter of Phanuel from the tribe of Asher, and she was very old. In her youth she had been married for seven years, but her husband died.
    
37. And now she was eighty-four years old. Night and day she served God in the temple by praying and often going without eating.
    
38. At that time Anna came in and praised God. She spoke about the child Jesus to everyone who hoped for Jerusalem to be set free.
    
39. After Joseph and Mary had done everything that the Law of the Lord commands, they returned home to Nazareth in Galilee.
    
40. The child Jesus grew. He became strong and wise, and God blessed him.
    
41. Every year Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem for Passover.
    
42. And when Jesus was twelve years old, they all went there as usual for the celebration.
    
43. After Passover his parents left, but they did not know that Jesus had stayed on in the city.
    
44. They thought he was traveling with some other people, and they went a whole day before they started looking for him.
    
45. When they could not find him with their relatives and friends, they went back to Jerusalem and started looking for him there.
    
46. Three days later they found Jesus sitting in the temple, listening to the teachers and asking them questions.
    
47. Everyone who heard him was surprised at how much he knew and at the answers he gave.
    
48. When his parents found him, they were amazed. His mother said, "Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been very worried, and we have been searching for you!"
    
49. Jesus answered, "Why did you have to look for me? Didn't you know that I would be in my Father's house?"
    
50. But they did not understand what he meant.
    
51. Jesus went back to Nazareth with his parents and obeyed them. His mother kept on thinking about all that had happened.
    
52. Jesus became wise, and he grew strong. God was pleased with him and so were the people.
    

    ---

    As God used people we might least suspect to be the parents of the Messiah, He also used those we would not suspect to announce His birth. A census, requiring Joseph and Mary to travel to Bethlehem, which became the birthplace of the Messiah, also placed them in proximity to Jerusalem. Thus, His birth took place just 5 miles outside the city of Jerusalem and the center of Jewish religious activity. The birth, however, was announced by angels, not to the religious leaders, but to shepherds who went immediately to Bethlehem to confirm the announcement. Then the shepherds spread the word.

    
    

    Eight days later Jesus was taken to the temple in Jerusalem to be presented to the Lord and a sacrifice offered as the first-born child of His earthly parents.  At the temple they were met by a prophet named Simeon who had been directed there by the Lord. He took the baby in his arms and pronounced , "For my eyes have seen Your salvation. You have prepared it in the presence of all peoples-- a light for revelation to the Gentiles and glory to Your people Israel." (2:30-32)  Next they were approached by a prophetess named Anna who served the Lord night and day at the temple fasting and praying. She had also been directed by the Lord concerning the baby Jesus and went to the couple and "began to thank God and to speak about Him to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem." (2:38) Though not mentioned, there would have been other people in the temple at the time who witnessed these things. No doubt those who witnessed them also spread the word as did the shepherds.

    
    

    By this time word of Jesus' birth had likely spread widely throughout Jersualem and the towns around, but obviously absent in all these events were the religious leaders. All of this was happening right "under their noses" and yet they were either ignorant of it or chose not to involve themselves. The shepherds investigated what the angels told them. If word came to the religious leaders, and it is difficult to believe it didn't, they did nothing to confirm the validity of the reports. One would think they would want to check out any report of the arrival of the Messiah. But it would seem they merely dismissed the reports as insignificant. Was it because of who gave the reports? Was it because they dismissed common people as insignificant?

    
    

    Had the religious leaders become involved in these events they might possibly have made the connection between this baby and the boy who amazed them twelve years later over his understanding and answers regarding scripture. Did they make any connection between the 12-year old boy and the man who appeared several years later and began stirring up people over his teachings and miracles? What a tragedy that such a momentous event as the appearance of the Messiah was not recognized or acknowledged by those appointed to be the spiritual leaders and shepherds of the people. May we never miss what God is doing due to our preconceived notions both of God and of ourselves.