Luke 1 has the feeling of a great page being turned in a story. It reads for the most part like so many Old Testament stories we’ve read together over the last four months. The characters feel like Old Testament characters. The voices are Old Testament voices.
Mary singing,
He has performed mighty deeds with his arm;
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.
He has brought down rulers from their thrones
but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things
but has sent the rich away empty.
Zechariah prophesying,
Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David.
because he has come to his people and redeemed them.
He has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David.
But there is something dramatically different going on here, very un-Old Testament-like talk about eyewitnesses and events being carefully investigated in order to give an orderly account so we can know with certainty what has happened.
What has happened, or is about to happen, is incarnation – God becoming one of us. It is an event that happens in time and space. Like any other event – Lincoln delivering the Gettysburg address, Caesar invading Gaul – it can be measured, investigated. It is cold, hard, factual. There are eyewitnesses.
In this, Christianity is unlike any other religion in the world.
Our faith is built, not on a religious philosophy or a theological concept, but on events in time and space: birth, death, resurrection. Either they did happen or they did not. There is no middle ground. But if they happened – and there is every reason to believe they did happen – then Christianity is inescapably true.
Again – in this, Christianity is unlike any other religion in the world.
– Paul Abbott
I find it amazing that Luke recorded the response of the six month old fetus. That the Holy Spirit was with already with the fetus is, to me, quite a compelling thought given our societal views of conception and the viability of the fetus.
ReplyDeleteIndeed!How powerful to know that the miracle of life happens at conception! Perhaps the reason our babies kick and squirm in our womb is related to the breath of heaven, straight from the mouth of God, given to them as they are formed! Yet, to those who did not know what they were doing when lured into "freedom of choice" lies, we extend forgiveness...
ReplyDeleteThe same story brings the voice of Zechariah, reflecting the skepticism that permeates today's world view of Christianity: 18 "Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this?"
If only the ones who doubt would read on and find freedom in the words uttered by the same Zechariah:
67 ..."Filled with the Holy Spirit, Zachariah prophesied:
68 “Praise be to the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has come to his people and redeemed them...74He has come to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days... to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
79 to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.”