Advent Day 19
Luke 2:20 ESV
Connecting the dots to the first century Palestine culture has long been a fascinating puzzle for me. I’m not sure why but when I read scripture and think about what it was really like 2000+ years ago, it makes me want to do some digging.
When I was growing up I was fascinated with movies about the Bible for the same reason. At the time, the Ten Commandments made in 1956 was produced, directed, and narrated by Cecile B. DeMille. I’m not sure how old I was when I first saw it, but I was mesmerized by the grandeur of the film!
I was active in theater and speech in junior high and high school growing up. When I went to college I was really torn about which one I should major in. I didn’t want to double major so after deliberating about it at length I ended up majoring in Speech Communication. I think that decision just made me feel more down to earth about communicating accurately and more passionate about writing.
See, even when I was young I would read Exodus in my Bible and wonder what life was like for Moses on the mountain.
I would read about The Prophet Elijah and wonder about the Chariot.
I would read about Daniel and visualize him sitting in a cave with calm subdued lions.
My newest fascination with scripture and the story came about because of the series The Chosen. I’m a binge watcher by nature and watching The Chosen is right at the top of my list of shows that I watch over and over again. As I watch it I am amazed by how the film maker portrays different characters like Nicodemus.
It really makes me think about what Nicodemus went through when he watched and met Jesus of Nazareth,
Last week when I found (or God sent) an article about the shepherds abiding in the field, it made perfect sense to me that they were special shepherds who tended a flock of unblemished sheep for the Temple (https://steppesoffaith.medium.com/the-real-truth-about-the-shepherds-on-that-first-christmas-night-c32296181a27).
Since I’m a visual learner/thinker, I started making a movie in my head about the shepherds in the first century.
We know from scripture in Luke 2 that the shepherds were a big part of the story.
The shepherds are in the field and an Angel appears to give them the news of the baby Jesus.
Suddenly the sky is filled with Angels praising God.
After the Angels leave the shepherds are so pumped up about the announcement they decide to go see what’s happened in Bethlehem. Of course, something must be done with tending the sheep so they have to figure that out…do they take the sheep with them or do they have to decide who get to go and who has to stay?
Because the shepherds were trained to care for the unblemished sheep and they had to keep the small sheep wrapped in swaddling cloth they decided to carry the sheep with them. They couldn’t risk leaving them in danger.
Finally, they find the child and they tell Mary and Joseph about the wondrous thing that happened in the field.
When the shepherds found the child in the manger they were shocked to find the babe was also wrapped in swaddling cloth.
Then in Luke 2:20 we are told, “And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.”
The appearance of the Angels announcing the birth and seeing the Holy Child changed their lives forever.
When they left the manger that night they Praised God because God made it possible for them to hear the announcement from the Angels, and SEE the Holy Child.
In the years to come all of the shepherds told their children and their children’s children about that night.
As Jesus grew older and started appearing in public the shepherds who saw Him that night retold the story about the night the child was born.
Well…that’s at least the first part of the story I imagined.
Of course part of the story in my head fills in the gaps so the story of the shepherds has good flow. The swaddling cloth and the shepherds carrying the baby lambs with them when they go to see the baby Jesus isn’t written in scripture.
What we do know is that there is a baby, Mary and Joseph, shepherds in the field, swaddling cloth, Angels, lots of Angels, and a manger right there in Bethlehem!
As to my story, I realized that thinking about how it all really could have happened is important. See, when we read the same elements of the story year after year and we get to a point where we take it for granted we might have a tendency to think of it as a humdrum story.
It’s NOT a humdrum story.
The truth is that it really happened.
Even though it happened a long time ago, it is REAL.
That’s what we need to remember.
While there are elements to the story that we don’t know about, we know there are other elements to the story that we really understand.
The writer of the Gospel of Luke (who was Luke, a physician and a companion to Paul) would have written what he had been told. Oral traditions by the ancient Hebrew people were reliable and I would even say exacting. Before the time of Jesus and after, Hebrew boys were taught to orally memorize the Word of God. Yes, that’s correct…the entire Word of God.
Spiritual practice: Memorize
Memorize one verse of scripture. It can be Luke 2:20 or another verse, Test yourself to see how long you can remember it.
In God, Deborah
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