Our Lukan text for today...
Illustration
Our Lukan text for today is a marvelous passage. It could well be a page out of USA
Today. We usually skip over these first few verses in Luke 3. Just names. Boring
names of people who were really bit players in the drama. But, this is pure history. In his
first chapter, Luke mentions King Herod of Judea, a priest named Zechariah, and his
wife, who was a descendant of Aaron. In Luke 2, he pinpoints the historicity of Jesus'
birth by mentioning Emperor Augustus, and Quirinius, governor of Syria, and how all the
citizens had to register in their own towns. Luke must have wanted to make sure his
audience realized this was no pie-in-the-sky, by-and-by occasion, but deeply rooted in
their own world. So, chapter 3 begins by saying that if they had not already gotten the
message, that Jesus came into the world somewhere around the fifteenth year of the reign
of Emperor Tiberius, when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea and Herod was ruler of
Galilee and his brother, Philip, ruled surrounding territories. To make sure they
understood when all this took place, he mentions all this happened during the time when
Annas and Caiaphas were high priests. And if that were not enough, Luke would end the
third chapter with the genealogy of Jesus. He just didn't come down on the clouds, but
was part of a very rich heritage. Name after boring name reminded them and us that this
one who comes at Christmas came into history and became part of our history. "The
Word really did become flesh and dwelt among us."
Luke underlines the point with these wonderful worlds from Isaiah during another terrible time in their history. Here, in your own time, valleys will be filled, mountains and hills would be made low, the crooked would become straight, and the rough places would be made smooth. Surely, those who first heard those words must have thought the writer, Dr. Luke, was gilding the lily just a bit. In our history, all these things are going to happen? In our town, down under these little dirt roads where we live? So, the old story has come down from then until now. We ponder its meaning anew. "Unto us is born and unto us is given." If we could ever really get our minds wrapped around this wonderful truth, it would change us and ours forever. So, maybe this long list of seemingly inconsequential names of rulers and tetrarchs and governors and high priests is necessary to remind us all once again how worldly this gospel surely is and how relevant it is in a world of wars and heartbreak and uncertainty everywhere.
Luke underlines the point with these wonderful worlds from Isaiah during another terrible time in their history. Here, in your own time, valleys will be filled, mountains and hills would be made low, the crooked would become straight, and the rough places would be made smooth. Surely, those who first heard those words must have thought the writer, Dr. Luke, was gilding the lily just a bit. In our history, all these things are going to happen? In our town, down under these little dirt roads where we live? So, the old story has come down from then until now. We ponder its meaning anew. "Unto us is born and unto us is given." If we could ever really get our minds wrapped around this wonderful truth, it would change us and ours forever. So, maybe this long list of seemingly inconsequential names of rulers and tetrarchs and governors and high priests is necessary to remind us all once again how worldly this gospel surely is and how relevant it is in a world of wars and heartbreak and uncertainty everywhere.
