Dear Friends in Christ,
I am now back from my pilgrimage to Israel and am grateful to all of you for your prayers for safe travel. We made it back without delay on a very snowy day, when delays were common across the counatry. Mitchell Field was clear and we all made it home safely. I look forward to sharing my insights and learning from the trip in this venue and others over the next few months.
For me, the most moving of sites was the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth which according to tradition is built above the site where Mary heard and received the message from Gabriel that she would bear God’s Son. It is truly a holy place and I spent time in prayer for all of you, especially those who are dealing with sickness and disease.
Now that we have an overview of the entire Gospel of Luke and more specifically of the birth narratives of Jesus and John the Baptist we are ready to look at specific passages, what biblical scholars call pericopes. The Revised Common Lectionary (RCL) which we share with many members of our Anglican Communion and other churches appoints Luke 3:7-18 for our Gospel reading this week. It is the continuation of the Gospel lesson for last week. So since we have not spent specific time with either passage lets look at both to them together.
Read Luke 3:1-18.
What do you notice about the beginning of this passage?
How is it similar to the beginning of Luke’s Gospel?
Why does Luke include the names of emperors, governors, and the like?
Read Isaiah 40:3-5
How is it the same as Luke 3:4-6? How is it different?
Re-read Luke 3:7-10.
In a few words, sum up John’s message.
Re-read Luke 3:11-18
What is John saying to his first hearers? Write a brief summary.
What do you think is the Good News for them?
What is the Good News for you in this passage?
I look forward to hearing from you over the next week and hearing your learnings and insights.
Yours in Christ,
+Steven
1 comment:
It seems to me as I re-read the beginning of Luke that it is so messianic. Yet, the list of names at the beginning of this week's reading seem to run counter to the messianic theme. I'm assuming that any Jew reading Luke would have known that those names meant he was setting his story in the years shortly preceding Masada. Hopes for a messiah who would lead my people to victory over the foreign oppressor would have been so horribly smashed by the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. that any tales of a pre-70 AD messiah would be painful to read. "So," I would wonder, "is he being ironic? Or is he trying to comfort me?" I'm not sure I would have continued to read his book. However, if I got as far as John's message, I'd begin wondering if Luke was trying to say something against us. "Is he a closet Jew-hater?" I'd wonder. I think I would find the beginning of Luke's book disturbing. Sheryl
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