Читать книгу Drawn to the Gospels - Jay Sidebotham - Страница 24

Second Sunday after Christmas

Matthew 2:13–15

or Luke 2:41–52 or Matthew 2:1–12

Notes on These Readings

It’s rare that there is a second Sunday in the season of Christmas, but thanks be to God, whenever that happens, the lectionary is prepared with a choice of three readings. There’s the story of Joseph receiving another message from an angel (that’s a little redundant since the word “angel” really means messenger). The angel tells Joseph to take his family to Egypt. There’s the story from Luke about Jesus going to the temple with his parents as a twelve year old and lecturing the religious scholars of the day. And then there’s the story of Epiphany and the magi coming from the east to worship the Christ child. These are various takes on Jesus’s early years. They set the stage for the beginning of his public ministry, described week after week in the upcoming season of Epiphany.

Questions

1 We read a lot about refugees in modern-day news. What does it mean to you that the holy family were also refugees escaping a cruel and capricious tyrant?

2 What does it mean to you that Luke tells us Jesus grew in wisdom and stature? How could he be God among us and at the same time grow and change?

3 What insights do you get from the story in Luke about Jesus as a young teenager, teaching those much older than he is?

4 When we read the story of wise men coming from the east, do you wonder what they were looking for? What made them move? In what ways have you ever searched for something or someone to worship? Have you ever followed a star?