Sometimes it takes time to notice what’s going on in the Gospels and why it has meaning then, now, and always. Luke, an actual doctor – highly educated and understanding of the ways of learning, asking questions and writing. Luke’s Gospel reveals so much to us particularly in the first chapters. Scrolls – written on parchment – were expensive and writing needed an economy of words. Words, like the WORD, matter and getting in the details in that economy is of primary importance.
On a personal note, I do enjoy asking questions, ones that both rattle around in my mind & heart and ones that will open up the meaning for others. In preparation for Andy Blila’s classes I read the text, in this case Luke 1 (link above) and come up with a series of questions which Andy incorporates into the framework of the class. I sent Andy the following:
There are several gifts of the Holy Spirit outlined in this Gospel. What are they and why is it important to pay attention to them? Elizabeth is a prophet, preceding her son John, yes?
Luke 1:15 the Angel Gabriel speaks of John in this way “He will be filled with the holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb”
When Mary arrives and greets Elizabeth John leaped in his momma’s womb. Elizabeth at this moment is six months pregnant, there isn’t a whole lotta room left in there for him to leap. As John is filled with the Holy Spirit, so is Elizabeth. Mind blown. In one way I’m asking myself how on earth did I miss this incredible gift. Was I reading this as “just another fictional story” or as a really good magazine article? Mary is maybe a week or two pregnant herself. The only ones who know are Mary, Joseph, Mary’s parents, that’s it. Elizabeth has No way of knowing ahead of time. Remember there was no email. If Mary had had time to send a letter she would still arrive before it did. Elizabeth is clearly inebriated with the Holy Spirit, speaking both a prophetic word and wisdom that can only come from the Holy Spirit.
Permit me to say again, Elizabeth had no way of knowing that Mary is pregnant with Jesus.
God loves humanity in a way that in this part of life I will never fully comprehend. God’s generosity is mind blowing. And it is gutting how we reject, how I reject so frequently.
I’m blown away by Mary’s humility in both her yes to Gabriel and her response to Elizabeth’s greeting. She takes the lowest, humblest position, opting to magnify the Lord rather than “take credit” for what God is doing in and through her, for all of humanity.
In Advent we await the Return of the King, where we meet Jesus face to face. Jesus has already come in his birth, life, death and resurrection. Jesus comes to each of us through Baptism. Jesus is coming at the end of the age – whether that is the end of our own life or the end of time. These two, the end of our life and the end of time may coincide, or not. We do not know the day or the hour of our death or of Jesus’ return. Sometimes I think I’m ready for either one or both of these events, and sometimes I know I’m not. This is the already and not yet revealed in some ways in Luke 1, in all of the Gospels in the whole of the humanity. Christ has come, Christ is here, Christ will come again. Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus.
Happy New Year,
Teri
A Quilter's Heart 