Rev. Jean's Bible Study

We all like our children to be noticed and praised, but I wonder if the praise of Simeon and Anna was really welcomed by Mary.   Would you like the redemption of Jerusalem or the world to be laid on the shoulders of your child?   Read what they said in Luke 2:22-40   Mary and Elizabeth were prophets in their own way.   Anna is the third woman in this prologue to Luke’s gospel.   She is named as a prophet.   Our culture thinks of prophesy as predicting the future.   The biblical prophets’ future predictions were always based on current reality.   Somewhat like our scientists telling us that if we don’t continue to wear our masks and keep our distance more people will die.   If the prophets were around today, that is probably what they would be saying.   Anna saw in Jesus the redemption of Jerusalem and she wasn’t afraid to tell people about it.    Do you see in Jesus the redemption of our city, our world?   Do you belie...

  Midwives!!!   Luke 2:1-22   I refuse to believe that when Mary went into labour, no one called the midwife!   Why isn’t she in the story?   Translators can’t avoid bringing into their translations choices that reflect their own biases and prejudices.   As this is going to be an unusual Christmas for all of us with many of our personal traditions upset by a pandemic, perhaps it is a good year to upset our shared traditions around the story recorded in Luke. The birth of Jesus to Mary in a stable attended only by Joseph surrounded by animals after a long arduous journey on a donkey is etched into our shared memory by numerous pageants, carols and paintings.   That version of the story can only be supported by ignoring the details that are there and adding others.   The European medieval translators worked from their own prejudices. The assumption of a census that took Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem is unsupported by other historical data.  ...