#5kMay2018 Day 16
I joined the Wooster running group tonight for a nice group run. It is always fun to hang out with fellow runners and go for a little jaunt around town.
Tonight I ran with fellow #5kMay2018 participant, Mark Rowe. Mark is preparing to run his first marathon this weekend. We ended up running 8 miles at an 8:15 pace for a total run time of 1 hour, 6 minutes, and 23 seconds. It was a nice run!
Sometimes when I tend to notice odd things. Occasionally, when I am reading scripture, the most random things will stand out to me. That happened to me today while reading Luke 2-4. This is the passage that stood out to me:
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” (Luke 2:13–14, ESV)
That doesn’t seem too odd, right? Well, it wasn’t exactly the full passage that stood out. It was actually the word “suddenly”.
Imagine it! Imagine that you are a shepherd, and you have just been faithfully tending your flock for the larger part of your entire life. Your parents were probably shepherds. In fact, your parents’ parents’ parents’ were probably shepherds. You have probably grown quite used to the way things are, and then suddenly everything is different!
One moment you are on a lonely hillside… just you and your co-shepherds and your flock. Now, suddenly, you are surrounded by a multitude of angels!
Can you see it?!
It is amazing how everything can change in the blink of an eye. And yet, at the very same time, nothing changed.
God was still God. Yes, the angels appeared suddenly, but their existence is a constant reality.
This truth runs parallel with the very birth that the angels appeared to proclaim. In a sense, everything suddenly changed with the birth of Christ! In another sense, nothing changed. God’s plan to redeem mankind was put forth from before the foundation of the earth.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him… (Ephesians 1:3–4, ESV)
Probably the best way to understand what happened to the shepherds on that amazing night is that they suddenly became aware of the reality that always existed. That is what I want, too. I want to become more and more aware of the work of God in my life and in the world. I want to give Him glory and praise today, just as the heavenly hosts are doing right this moment -whether I am able to suddenly see them or not.
*5k Every Day in the Month of May 2018 is brought to you by Jeff Polen Music and Vertical Runner of Wooster. If you are joining the fun, don’t forget about the Facebook group, the Strava group, and the printable PDF.
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This is what caught my eye this morning. In Mathew and Mark it read Jesus was Baptised by John the Baptist. In Luke John was in prison when Jesus was baptized and it doesn’t say John performed it.
That is an interesting observation, Dave!
I don’t think Luke is necessarily telling the story of Jesus in a completely chronological order.
Orderly, yes! Chronological, not necessarily.
Luke handles John the Baptist in such a way that he tells about John’s ministry and immediately tells what happened to John as a result all in one section. The description of Jesus’ baptism in Luke certainly lines up with Matthew and Mark, with the exception that you pointed out -that it does not expressly say that John baptized Jesus. Still, I think it is safe to understand from the other gospels that John DID baptize Jesus, and Luke’s gospel does not expressly say otherwise.
I think it is probably best to understand Luke 3:18-20 as a sort of parenthesis to the ministry of John, to wrap up the thought, and not necessarily see it as a strictly chronological account.
Matthew 10:4 would be another example of this kind of writing. While listing the twelve Apostles that Jesus chose, Matthew mentions:
Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him. – Matthew 10:4
The betrayal of Judas was not immediately following the choosing. It is additional, clarifying information from the future. I think the same is true regarding John in Luke 3:18-20.
I hope that helps!
We had a great run tonight in beautiful weather and also did our reading for today!
Good job! We had a beautiful night for a run here in Ohio, as well!
It was great to have you join me on my run tonight. It was nice to have a person to pace me and give me a push.
Getting into the 3rd gospel it’s neat to see the stories. How there’s maybe something different and how the writer must have seen it. One thing that stuck out is how the crowds came to Jesus. I think that’s really cool to see. Then there was times of him going in to the towns and people telling him to leave. It reminds me of today in someways. There’s people that have heard it and are excited and want to hear more. There’s other that don’t want to hear and chase him off.
I found this challenging.
“And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, and then as a widow until she was eighty-four. She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.”
Luke 2:36-38 ESV
I love to see how Anna was worshiping and fasting and praying all night and all day. Just found it cool to see how she was worshiping God and made me reflect on my life.
Anna is a bit of an unsung hero of the faith! Very challenging.
Thanks Jeff, I just read Thursdays (it is Thursday morning chronological), noticed Luke had a couple of the twelve with different names than Mathew and Mark had. But I know people that go by more than one name also.
Good observation, Dave! It looks like you have answered your own question. The one that always throws me off is the Sea of Galilee / Lake Tiberias / Lake of Gennesaret / Kinneret. Those are all the same body of water, but it depends on who is talking as to which name will be used.