Our readings for this week are Luke 1 and 2. Everybody knows Luke 2 close to by heart, particularly if they're fans of "A Charlie Brown Christmas
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I haven't really taken the time to reflect on the reading yet, but on the issue of Zechariah's questioning vs. Mary's I do have some thoughts.
Zechariah is asking "how do I know what you're saying is true?", while Mary is saying "how can that happen?" Zechariah's question is skeptical, while Mary's is just curious, she doesn't automatically disbelieve, she just doesn't understand. She doesn't ask for a sign, just an explanation -- the sign is offered gratuitously. I don't know that she goes to Elizabeth to check out the sign, to see if it's true or not, I think she goes just to visit and congratulate and maybe help out while her older cousin is pregnant.
I'm thinking that maybe went to visit Elizabeth more as a learning thing - more like - ok, I'm pregnant, what do I do now. Since she wasn't married I don't think she wanted to run out and start asking people.
I have to agree that Luke really does seem to have done some research and seems to be a student of things in Jesus' early life, something I would love to know more about. I also wanted to mention that although Jesus didn't hae a biological human father, he did have a human father in Joseph, one that was hand-picked by God. When I taught Confirmation and we were trying to get the kids to understand that Jesus grew up like any kid does, I asked them if they could imagine Him asking Joseph if he could borrow the donkey to go visit the red-haired girl at the local well.
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Zechariah is asking "how do I know what you're saying is true?", while Mary is saying "how can that happen?" Zechariah's question is skeptical, while Mary's is just curious, she doesn't automatically disbelieve, she just doesn't understand. She doesn't ask for a sign, just an explanation -- the sign is offered gratuitously. I don't know that she goes to Elizabeth to check out the sign, to see if it's true or not, I think she goes just to visit and congratulate and maybe help out while her older cousin is pregnant.
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I have to agree that Luke really does seem to have done some research and seems to be a student of things in Jesus' early life, something I would love to know more about. I also wanted to mention that although Jesus didn't hae a biological human father, he did have a human father in Joseph, one that was hand-picked by God. When I taught Confirmation and we were trying to get the kids to understand that Jesus grew up like any kid does, I asked them if they could imagine Him asking Joseph if he could borrow the donkey to go visit the red-haired girl at the local well.
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