LENTEN READINGS AND REFLECTIONS

DAY 10

Reading: Luke 1:1-5:16

You may notice this morning that Luke pays far more attention to the birth of Jesus and the events leading up to it than any of the other Gospel writers.

Luke was a doctor and a disciple of Saint Paul . He was not an eye-witness to these events but his work was approved by those who were. He tells us that when he decided to put together a gospel he took care to investigate all of the events carefully and set them out in an orderly fashion. Moreover, as we know, he did all of this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit who guaranteed that what he wrote is true.

As a part of his investigation it is safe to assume that he spoke with Jesus' mother Mary who lived for quite a while with the disciples in Jerusalem and then, according to tradition, with John in Ephesus until her passing. From Mary, Luke would have learned the story of the annunciation

and the fascinating details of Jesus birth and early boyhood.

One good sign that these first two chapters of Luke are built on the testimony of Mary is the still gripping parental trauma of Luke 2:41-49, the story of the 12 year old Jesus, unbeknownst to the adults, staying behind in the temple arguing with the teachers of the law while his parents and family start off toward home. This is almost certainly an account told from a parent's point of view. 2000 years later Mary's anxiety still jumps off the page

Moving back even further, no doubt Mary, as would any young mother, treasured the words of the prophetess Anna and those of the devout Simeon to whom God had made the promise that he would not die until he had seen the Messiah. Seeing the baby Jesus, only 8 days old he said:

“Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace for my eyes have seen your salvation.” (Luke 2:29-30)

No doubt those words of promise echoed in Mary's heart as she watched Jesus grow into manhood. They must have provided hope and comfort during the confusing years of Jesus' ministry when he did not seem to be doing what the messiah was supposed to do and through the bleak despairing days between his death and that first Easter morning.

Mary was given an impossibly difficult task: to raise the Son of God. It was at once a joyful and heartbreaking mission: joyful to live day and night with the Lord, to know him like no one else will ever know him, as a mother to a Son; heartbreaking to see him lonely, rejected, persecuted and then killed. And though he rose from the dead and appeared to his mother again before ascending into heaven, it must have been a bittersweet appearing. He was alive but she would not see him again until she joined him.

At the same time, even with the pain, what a rich life...the richest, infused with the glory and grace of God.

Sometimes when we are most weary and worn down by our Christian labors it is tempting to wish for the simple and easy life. Following Christ, truly following him, will give you peace but no ease.

But as you look back on a life given wholly to Christ you will see richness in the whole of it, a richness impossible otherwise, because you bear in your body and in your heart the very Son of God.

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