Day 17: The "Orderly Account" of Luke, beginning with Birth Announcements

Unlike Mark, but like Matthew, Luke begins well before the beginning of Jesus' ministry.  He begins by telling us that he too is going to write about Jesus, and that his account is going to be an orderly one.  He writes to tell someone called "Theophilos" about Jesus (by the way, Theophilos means "Lover of God".)

There's a combination of well-known and less-well-known stories in these first two chapters of Luke.  I know I had the first few verses of Luke 2, the Christmas story, almost known by heart.  But what about the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist?  Unlike Mary, Elizabeth and her husband were not young, but an older couple who had long ago given up hope that they would have a child.  Like Mary, Zechariah meets an angel who tells him the good news, but he responds, "How will I know?  After all, my wife and I are getting on in years...."  To me, this is a nice way of saying, "Give me a break.  How am I supposed to believe that?" 

So the angel strikes him dumb until his son, John is born, (by the way, at the end of Luke 1.)  Then, Zechariah goes on to praise God in words of prophecy and poetry.  The church has made Zechariah's words into a song, called the "Benedictus." 

Zechariah and Elizabeth's story forms the beginning and end of Luke 1.  In the middle is Mary's story (I can't help saying -- there's the meat in the middle of the sandwich again.)  Mary's response, "My soul magnifies the Lord..." I find striking in many ways, not the least because she speaks as if everything God has promised has already happened.  "God has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty."  She is bringing the future into the present. 

Then there is Luke 2, the story so familiar that maybe we don't pay attention to the details, the ones that are there, and the ones that are not there (for example, did you notice that there is no mention of Mary riding a donkey, and that Luke never mentions a star?)

In Luke 2, the angels proclaim, and then Anna and Simeon proclaim.  Then, in the end, twelve-year-old Jesus loses his parents and ends up in the temple.

One thing to notice -- Luke is often careful to balance out men and women in stories about encounters with Jesus.  So we see both the wisdom of Simeon and Anna.  Pay attention to that as you read along.

Did you notice any different details in these familiar stories as you read them today?  If so, what were they?

Why do you suppose Luke tells stories from before John the Baptist and Jesus were even born?