What Happened Following Jesus’ Birth

GOSPEL MEDITATION

What Happened Following Jesus’ Birth

Luke 2:22-35

  1. Find a quiet place, alone and apart from distractions.
  2. Be comfortably alert, still and at peace.
  3. Say the Lord’s Prayer. Sing or cant the Jesus Prayer
  4. Pray for family, friends, neighbors, and yourself.
  5. Slowly and carefully read the passage of Scripture.
  6. Reread it. From memory, determine the central points.
  7. Mary and Joseph presented Jesus at the Temple

according to the Law of Moses. (See Ex. 13:2 & Lev.

12:8). They offered 2 pigeons meaning the family was

poor.

  1. The obedience of Mary and Joseph indicates also that

they were observant Jews and would be Jesus as he

grew up.

  1. Here now they meet Simeon, Holy Spirit inspired     prophet who is awaiting the arrival of the Messiah.
  2. The remarkable statement about Jesus being the cause of the “fall and rising of many,” among other things, is a preparation for Mary about what was to become of her baby. The Child would be loved and hated, both at once, and so it has remained to this day.
  3. This extreme reaction reveals both God’s holiness and our unholiness, and that Jesus has an enemy.
  4. The sword that will pierce Mary, the trauma that only a mother could experience, likely was meant to be comforting to Mary, in taking away any surprise or false expectation.
  5. Then Anna, another witness to Mary and Joseph, two witnesses thus meeting Biblical requirements (see Dt. 17:6). Mary and Joseph would be comforted by this.
  6. Some 33 years before the cross, God brings two people to the temple to announce that great event that was to come.

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