I have been reading Luke's gospel with my friend Jules
for the last couple of months. Though I have read it many times in my
life, it still held some surprises for me.
One surprise is just how many women are in Luke's
gospel!
In Luke, the story of Jesus' birth is told from his
mother Mary's perspective. And Luke tells it entwined with the story of another
special birth to another mother, Elizabeth - the mother of John the Baptist.
After he is born, when Mary and Joseph take Jesus to
the temple, it is not only Simeon but also the prophetess Anna who recognises
Jesus to be the promised and long-awaited Saviour.
There are women who come to Jesus, sick, weak,
demon-possessed, scorned and weighed down by their sins. Women who follow
Jesus on his journey and financially support His ministry. Women who stood by
and watched him die, watched him be buried and then became the first witnesses
to the empty tomb.
A second related surprise is in the details. The
way Luke records what happens highlights Jesus tenderness towards these women.
When Jesus meets a widow at the funeral of her only
son, Luke pauses the story to tell us that "Jesus had compassion on her".
And when Jesus raises her son, Luke notes with just six words -"Jesus
gave him to his mother" - the out working of Jesus' compassion
for her.
And it's not just to the women that Jesus displays
such tenderness. In Luke, we meet our King who humbles himself to seek and save
the lost.
No comments:
Post a Comment