Luke is the one gospel writer who makes his narrative intentions clear from the beginning prologue:

 “Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, ² just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us, ³ I too have decided, after investigating everything accurately anew, to write it down in an orderly sequence for you, most excellent Theophilus, ⁴ so that you may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received.” (Luke 1:1-4)

Luke wants to capture the testimonies, the stories, and accounts – all from the earliest of days – and write it all down in “an orderly sequence” so that the good news can be handed on with accuracy and received with certainty.

Luke then begins with the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah and Elizabeth, a couple who were “were righteous in the eyes of God, observing all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blamelessly” (Luke 1:6) This is followed by Luke’s account of the Annunciation to Mary: “you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus” (vv. 25-38). Immediately we hear the narrative of the Visitation when Mary, pregnant with Jesus, and Elizaeth, pregnant with John, meet in the hill country surrounding Jerusalem (Luke 1:39-45). The focus of the story then shifts back to Mary as she proclaims the prayer now known as the Magnificat/Canticle of Mary (vv. 1:46-56). The focus then returns to Elizabeth and Zechariah upon the occasion of the birth of John the Baptist – upon which we hear the Canticle of Zechariah (Benedictus; vv. 57-80).

In the 2nd Chapter, Luke turns his attention and the focus of the narrative to Jesus in the familiar accounts of the Birth of Jesus (Luke 2:1-15), the arrival of the Shepherds (vv. 14- 21), and on the 8th day after the birth, the Circumcision and Naming of Jesus, told simply in a single verse (v. 21). It is at this point our gospel reading begins: “When the days were completed for their purification according to the law of Moses, they took him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord” (v. 22).

Image credit: Giotto di Bondone, Presentation of Christ in the Temple | Lower Church in the Basilica of San Francesco, Assisi | PD-US