I always like to know all the details, and we can't always do that now that we are removed from the Bible authors by so many years. You are a good example for me, Amy, accepting the Word for what it can say to us today, even if we don't know all of the background. (I surely do like it, though, when Chris teaches our Women's Bible Study and can fill us in on many of the details! I know you appreciate that, too!)
There is so much detail in the story of Anna - her father, her tribe, her age, even her marital history. I can imagine that the readers of the Gospel writer's day recognized all the unspoken meaning. But, for me, her praise and testimony says it all.
It seems as if nothing about Jesus’s story started in the usual way. From the angel announcing conception to Elizabeth’s proclamation to Joseph’s dreams, it was obvious someone special was on the way. When Jesus did arrive, the shepherds and angels came, followed by more dreams, a run for safety, and wise men. Do you think Mary and Joseph were asking, “What next?!”
I wonder if they were surprised or took it in stride as “just one more” miraculous thing when the prophetess, Anna, started praising God because of Jesus being at the temple. We don’t have her exact words, but she spoke “about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.” We know the Israelites were looking for a savior, but many were thinking of a strong political or military leader who would take over the country to rule it.
We don’t have a lot of information about Jesus’s formative years. Did his parents develop extraordinary expectations for him, based on all these miraculous occurrences mixed in with a culture expecting a savior? Or, did they try to be realistic from a worldly perspective, choosing to wait and see how things came to pass as Jesus grew?
I always like to know all the details, and we can't always do that now that we are removed from the Bible authors by so many years. You are a good example for me, Amy, accepting the Word for what it can say to us today, even if we don't know all of the background. (I surely do like it, though, when Chris teaches our Women's Bible Study and can fill us in on many of the details! I know you appreciate that, too!)
There is so much detail in the story of Anna - her father, her tribe, her age, even her marital history. I can imagine that the readers of the Gospel writer's day recognized all the unspoken meaning. But, for me, her praise and testimony says it all.
It seems as if nothing about Jesus’s story started in the usual way. From the angel announcing conception to Elizabeth’s proclamation to Joseph’s dreams, it was obvious someone special was on the way. When Jesus did arrive, the shepherds and angels came, followed by more dreams, a run for safety, and wise men. Do you think Mary and Joseph were asking, “What next?!”
I wonder if they were surprised or took it in stride as “just one more” miraculous thing when the prophetess, Anna, started praising God because of Jesus being at the temple. We don’t have her exact words, but she spoke “about the child to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.” We know the Israelites were looking for a savior, but many were thinking of a strong political or military leader who would take over the country to rule it.
We don’t have a lot of information about Jesus’s formative years. Did his parents develop extraordinary expectations for him, based on all these miraculous occurrences mixed in with a culture expecting a savior? Or, did they try to be realistic from a worldly perspective, choosing to wait and see how things came to pass as Jesus grew?