LUKE 2:15-21

Laterally Luke…Naming & Circumcision of Jesus…New Posting for 2017

(for The Epiphany see MT2:1-12 @ matthewinthemargins.blogspot.com)

The opening sentences of Ch.2 leave unresolved questions concerning the census, as does the report of the birth of Jesus. The caravanserai is overcrowded & has no proper space for Mary & Joseph, let alone the new child. So Jesus is born out in life’s margins, out with travellers’ animals; bound in cloths, & placed in a manger. Angels (of some form) visit shepherds out doing what shepherds do. These are people as low on the rungs of life as you could get in that society. Jesus begins life as He goes on to continue, among outcasts! All of this is territory beloved of Christmas pageants & cribs; most usually far removed from reality. 

A good starting point for today might be: ‘Who are the ‘everyone’ the shepherds tell about their experiences? The context leaves open the possibility they tell those out & about round the inn. Start with those nearest you. Then they return home & tell others further afield. Other shepherds in all likelihood. Respectable people didn’t mix with shepherds! Though God’s not above doing so!  Who do we tell,  close at hand, or further afield - about our experiences of God? Ours don’t need to be as unique or way-out as those of the shepherds. As long as they’re real!

Themes worth picking up on & developing are: a) people being astonished by what the shepherds tell them; b) Mary taking all this in & pondering it deeply; c) shepherds going back to their flocks glorifying & praising God for what they’ve been privileged to share. There’s a sermon in each of these, & we may be able to reflect at least something of this in our approach to Christ’s Naming & Circumcision. 

Such as: How long is it since anything concerning God or Christ astonished us? Really astonished us? Or, when did we last astonish anyone by the way we’ve presented Christ to them? Does the Church astonish people these days (other than for the wrong reasons)?! Do we often enough ponder deeply the things of God? As Orthodox Christians & others gaze deeply into icons & beyond them to the truth they seek to reveal, perhaps it’s time for us to gaze deeply into the things of God rather than just reading about them, or talking about them? They’re not surface stuff! Do we go about our daily work, whatever it is, if we’re fortunate enough to have any, glorifying & praising God? Or is that best left to religious enthusiasts & cranks? Maybe there’s a way of glorifying & praising that’s more seriously religious & enthusiastic, & less cranky? A contrast to today’s self-glorification & praising! 

Everything in this whole passage is in accordance with God’s eternal promises to His people via the Scriptures. Sometimes, too, God will make or fulfil promises outside the accepted ways we interpret them. The Christ child isn’t just suddenly ‘dropped on us’; His coming has been part of God’s plan for us from the beginning (as John the Evangelist tells us in his great Prologue). As an integral part of this plan, Our Lord’s Circumcision & Naming take place in accordance with the dream Joseph has [MT1:21]. His Circumcision implants Jesus firmly within God’s Covenant, & His Naming plants Him firmly within Joseph’s family line & its connection with messiahship. 

These solemnities mark & celebrate that in accordance with God’s will Jesus has come among us as our Saviour. One who saves us from our sins by restoring us to that state of grace which has always been God’s will for us. We may be slow learners, but being astonished by all this, ponder-ing it all deeply, & glorifying & praising God as a natural part of life will surely help us catch up!