“… His mother kept all these things in her heart.”
(Luke 2:51 NKJV)
St. Luke’s narrative of Jesus’ life is pretty amazing when considered. We should remember that Luke, the author, was a gentile not a Jew, most likely from Antioch in Turkey. How much he knew of all these events prior to his Call to write this Gospel is guess work, but the best guess is that he knew very little. Here he becomes the historian of the New Testament. He unlike Matthew or John (who both knew Christ intimately) had to dig and search and learn new things about Jesus, so that he could write about the events of our Lord’s life. And this he did in a very brilliant and very Greek historical biography.
Understanding this, the evidence strongly suggests that he personally interviewed Mary, the mother of our Lord. Step back in time and imagine Mary curiously looking at this gentile man visiting her; with a kind smile she asks him “sir, might I recite my poem?”. And direct from her mind (Jewish folks memorized things) she states:
“My soul magnifies the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, And holy is His name. And His mercy is on those who fear Him From generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, And exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, And the rich He has sent away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, In remembrance of His mercy, As He spoke to our fathers, To Abraham and to his seed forever.”
(Luke 1:46-56 NKJV)
We can best imagine Luke scrambling to write this down. Probably half amazed and probably with a tear of joy in his eye he recorded it for us.
Here is the point we want to get at: discipleship need not be a one way dialogue. Luke probably asked a ton of questions, which Mary probably delighted to answer. Had he not been interested in her, we would never know Mary’s Magnificat. Be interested in others and be interested in how God is working in the people around you. Who knows what you might uncover.
Merry Christmas,
Jason
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