Luke 2:1-20 BibleGateway.com
Luke 2:1-20 is replete with sights, sounds, smells, scenery, and sensations–a governor’s decree, a long journey, pregnant Mary bumping along on a dusty donkey, no room in the inn, stunned shepherds, a heavenly host proclaiming Good News and peace, a crescendo of divine light andWord piercing the darkness, the Messiah has arrived!
Verse 19 haunts me: “But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.” What, precisely, didMary “ponder in her heart?” Surely she wondered what to make of all this, and what would one day become of Jesus. She must have wondered: “Why me?”
A baby brings both peace and upheaval – it turns our world upside down. Holding our newborn children, I was upside down with wonder, awe, joy, and trepidation. You ponder what will become of your children. Who will they become? Where will life take them? Mary could not envision the degree to which Jesus would turn the world upside down.
I often pondered why our Savior came as an infant–until I had children, that is—now I think I understand. The greatest paradox of our Christian faith is this: 2000 years ago Holy God, Emmanuel, took on human flesh in the form of a baby to pierce the darkness and turn our world upside down. And when we make room for Him in the inn of our hearts he does it again … and again.
O Lord, pierce our darkness with your light and turn our worlds upside down with prophetic peace. Amen
Luke 2:1-20 is replete with sights, sounds, smells, scenery, and sensations–a governor’s decree, a long journey, pregnant Mary bumping along on a dusty donkey, no room in the inn, stunned shepherds, a heavenly host proclaiming Good News and peace, a crescendo of divine light andWord piercing the darkness, the Messiah has arrived!
Verse 19 haunts me: “But Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart.” What, precisely, didMary “ponder in her heart?” Surely she wondered what to make of all this, and what would one day become of Jesus. She must have wondered: “Why me?”
A baby brings both peace and upheaval – it turns our world upside down. Holding our newborn children, I was upside down with wonder, awe, joy, and trepidation. You ponder what will become of your children. Who will they become? Where will life take them? Mary could not envision the degree to which Jesus would turn the world upside down.
I often pondered why our Savior came as an infant–until I had children, that is—now I think I understand. The greatest paradox of our Christian faith is this: 2000 years ago Holy God, Emmanuel, took on human flesh in the form of a baby to pierce the darkness and turn our world upside down. And when we make room for Him in the inn of our hearts he does it again … and again.
O Lord, pierce our darkness with your light and turn our worlds upside down with prophetic peace. Amen
David Lee Jones, Director of Doctor of Ministry Program
Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary
For the glory of God and to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary is a seminary in the Presbyterian-Reformed tradition whose mission is to educate and equip individuals for the ordained Christian ministry and other forms of Christian service and leadership; to employ its resources in the service of the church; to promote and engage in critical theological thought and research; and to be a winsome and exemplary community of God's people.CLICK HERE to learn how you can support the mission of Austin Seminary
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