Tag Archives: Luke 1

Luke’s Narrative leading to the Nativity

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This coming Sunday is the 4th Sunday of Advent. In previous posts we explored the background of the first reading from the Prophet Micah: “But you, Bethlehem-Ephrathah too small to be among the clans of Judah, From you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel” But before delving into our gospel text, it is good to recall the flow of Luke’s narrative: an interweaving of the stories of births of the herald of the Messiah, John the Baptist, and the Messiah, Jesus to tell a single story of redemption. Continue reading →

Rebirth and Birth

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The gospel for yesterday and today combine to cover John 3:1-15, the encounter of Jesus and Nicodemus. In the passage, Jesus says to Nicodemus, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless one is born anothen, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.” As is characteristic of John’s gospel, it is in the subtly of words that people are offered a choice. Popularly, Bibles translate the passage as “unless one is born again.” And indeed that is an acceptable translation, but not the primary or best if being true to the text. The best translation is “unless one is born from above.” It not only takes the primary meaning of the word anothen, but also ties into the “direction” of the references in the passage: Continue reading →