Monday 14 January 2008

Just another piece of inspired writing...

Preached on Luke 7:1-17 last night - we're doing a series on people's encounters with Jesus, from Luke, this month, and was struck again by how often the Bible contains some little gem that doesn't call attention to itself, instead waiting to be discovered and treasured.

In this case, it's the identity of the two characters that drive the two pericopes. There's a soldier, and a widow...kind of like the examples that happened to come to Jesus' mind in chapter 4, as he predicted his rejection by his hometown. That's how things always go with the prophets, after all.

Which makes it just lovely that in 7:16-17, Jesus is hailed as what? A prophet! And the news spreads through Judea... and beyond!

You just gotta love Jesus - he always exceeds expectations, and in this case, he's lined up pretty good help in Luke, to make sure we get it.

'A light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel' (Luke 2:32) - Simeon got it right.