Thoughts for the Day

Luke 2:21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he was conceived.

This Lent series picks up Luke’s gospel narrative after the birth of Jesus – the incarnation – an event that was miraculous, unique, foretold by prophets, heralded by angels, marked in the heavens, witnessed by lowly shepherds and celebrated by wealthy foreigners (the Magi). A momentous event but by no means the end of the story. Jesus was born for a purpose – as Gabriel expressed it “to save us from our sins” – necessarily fully man and fully God, a duality that strains our language, let alone our understanding. At this stage, there is no evidence of deity; he is a helpless baby, as utterly dependent on his earthly parents as any other new-born. So, I wonder, how did his life unfold? How and when did Jesus become aware of who he was, his nature, his mission, his destiny? From where did the confidence come to make such outrageous claims about himself, to challenge authorities and to embrace the unique path of his suffering? This series will aim to touch on these things as we flit back and forth through further passages in Luke (mainly). For now, though, I note that Joseph and Mary were careful to do as the law required, in terms of both circumcision and purification rituals, eight and forty days respectively after the birth. It fits with our expectations of them, and confirms – no surprise here either – that they were relatively poor, for the law accepted the offer of “a pair of doves or two pigeons” (v24) only for those who could not afford a lamb (Leviticus 12:8).