Day 214 - Setting The Stage
📖Daily Reading
Luke 1
🎥 Video
Join me on my morning walk as we rise and shine together by walking through the Bible daily and learn a practical applicable coaching nugget from the ultimate life coach - our creator (whatever that means to you). No judgement zone here, all are welcome, we are all on a spiritual journey because we are after all spiritual beings having a human experience.
📝 Reflection
Luke: 1-4
Many people have set out to write accounts about the events that have been fulfilled among us. They used the eyewitness reports circulating among us from the early disciples. Having carefully investigate everything from the beginning, I also have decided to write careful account for you, most honorable Theophilus, so you can be certain of the truth of everything you were taught.
Right away Luke sets the stage for how he is approaching his accounting of events. The analogy of a play, a director, casting, auditions and roles all came to mind as I was meditating on this first chapter or scene of Luke. Matthew and Mark started off pretty much with John and Jesus being older and focused on their ministry. Luke goes back to the beginning, even before the beginning with John’s parents; Zachariah and Elizabeth. Have you ever wondered why there is such a long time between the Old Testament and the New Testament? I think it might have something to do with free will. I think God has a plan, but he literally has to wait for the ‘stars’ (of the show) to align, which partly depends on his ‘actor’s’ free will.
Luke true to being a physician wants to understand the full scope of what is going on down to details of the encounters with the angel Gabriel, pregnancies, timing and he even recounts ‘soliloquies’ from both Mary and Zachariah. For my catholic friends especially I hope that referring to The Magnificat as a soliloquy is not offensive.🙏 What are the chances of finding an older childless couple, who are righteous in God’s eyes and who also have a biological relationship to a young woman who also happens to be engaged to a descendent of David.
Scene 1: Elizabeth and Zachariah are at the temple and Zachariah is on duty to burn the incense in the temple. Gabriel appears and tells him they will have a child. Zachariah says, thanks but impossible we are too old. Gabriel disciplines him for not having faith and demonstrates that this is truly going to happen and he was sent by God and he made Zachariah mute until the birth of his son. Oh, Gabriel tells him to name his son John and not allow him to drink any alcohol because he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even before his birth. Lots of details that would be important to a physician. Elizabeth becomes pregnant and going into seclusion for five months and is happy and grateful.
Scene 2: Gabriel visits Mary in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy. Grabriel informs Mary that she will become pregnant and will name the boy Jesus and that he will be the “Son of the most high, and will reign over Israel and his Kingdom will never end”. Mary takes all this in and asks how this is possible since she is a virgin. Gabriel reply’s that “the Holy Spirt will come upon you and the baby will be born holy and he will be called the Son of God.” Mary responds saying “ I am the Lord’s Servant, May everything you have said come true.”
Scene 3: Mary visits her relative Elizabeth and - wait for it - Elizabeth’s baby jumps in her womb at the sound of Mary’s voice and Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit. Elizabeth seems to know immediately that Mary is not only pregnant but pregnant with ‘my Lord’. She exclaims that she is blessed because she believed what the Lord said he would do - unlike her husband Zachariah. Then Mary’s sings her song of praise or The Magnificat.
Scene 4: John is born and Elizabeth names him John. Her friends and relatives protest that it isn’t a family name. They go to Zachariah and he asks for a writing tablet and confirms the name John. His speech is restored and they proceed with the circumcision ceremony. With his speech restored we began praising God and was also filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke a monologue in the form of a prophecy. The predicts that the Savior will soon be born and that his sweet son, John will be called the most high prophet because he will prepare the way for the Lord. Then this scene closes and lets us know that John grows up and become strong in spirit and lived in the wilderness.
Quite a stage has been set with lots of important back story and detail that we didn’t get from Mark and Matthew. It seems as though Elizabeth, Zachariah, Mary and Joseph all lived as if they knew their lives were an audition and they were ready when the casting director called with the roles of a lifetime.
As I thought about this concept personally I wonder if I would have made different choices if I understood there was an important role I was auditioning for unbeknownst to me. I am trying to live from a more international place now and this concept will be a good one to keep in mind on days when I might want to ‘blow off’ the rehearsals. I want to be ready when I get the called for the big role. I need to get busy setting my stage up for success! I really appreciate Luke wanting to give us all the detail and back story too, I think it really adds texture and depth. How it illustrates how important of a role we all play and how we are interwoven into the fabric of each other’s lives and how God will work it all out - he is so good and so gracious!
✍🏼Daily Journal Prompt
What role have you been called to?
📖Tomorrows Reading
Luke 2
Coaching Opportunity
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