Next up, I was excited to read through Luke. Confession: it took me longer than one week. BUT there were added layers to reading through this gospel, as I was simultaneously beginning a more in-depth study of Acts with a friend. As a result, some of the things that stood out to me had parallels in Acts (the second volume that offers follow-up to Luke).
In relation to Acts:
I was intrigued that casting lots (like throwing dice) comes up 3 times in the two books: 1) Zechariah is in the temple (where the angel appears and tells him he'll have a baby) because priestly duties were assigned by lot. Jesus' clothing was distributed by lot. 3) In the book of Acts, the disciples cast lots to replace dead traitor Judas with Matthias. I like the pattern of holy distribution (determined by none other than God) at key moments-- announcing the birth of John the Baptist, crucifying the Messiah, and anticipating the spread of the gospel through the apostles' witness.
It also struck me that the description of "awe in the neighborhood" with the prophecy about John in Luke 1:65 foreshadows the "awe" about the community of believers in Acts 2:43.
Amazement at John's calling:
The extent of the prophecy about John is expansive, more than I had remembered:
"He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is born. He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
New insight into Mary and Elizabeth:
I used to be pretty hard on Mary. As a snotty adolescent Protestant, I read the Magnificat and thought, "good grief, she thinks she's hot stuff." Come on, all generations will call you blessed? Who talks like that??? But God invited me deeper into the interrelated stories of the cousins Elizabeth and Mary. I had never before grasped the deep shame that would probably follow Mary for the rest of her life as a result of this "blessing" from God. I had not seen the layers of mercy that God extends to his servant Mary. God offers her a companion (and refuge) in visiting Elizabeth, perhaps the one person in the world who would rejoice with Mary. Mary also gets to share in the joy of Elizabeth, who has long waited for a child. There is incredible grace woven through this-- that the old woman, righteous and long-suffering, is joined by a young woman confused, unassuming, yet blessed by God's favor. There is no formula to God's promises-- here they fulfill what had been waited for AND what had hardly been imagined.
I really did read the rest of Luke... but the most applicable parts for the season were definitely these opening chapters dealing with waiting and expectation for the Messiah.
Lord, we read the promises about Jesus and John the Baptist and long for those very things. We yearn for hearts turned and people prepared, and we wonder why it's not all squared away. Would you show us your mercy, lift up the humble, and fill the hungry. Give us mercy for your people and your world and enable us, too, to sing out how our souls magnify the LORD.
Strange that you would dump on Mary (in your teen years). I always felt sorry for her because she endured the stigma of being an unwed mother in a time when it was very difficult. I never thought about God providing her a companion because he knew she would suffer some isolation.
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