“Vocational discernment is not carried out in a specific act…; It is a long process, which develops over time, during which it is necessary to maintain attention to the indications with which the Lord specifies and specifies a vocation that is exclusively personal and unrepeatable… Mary herself progresses in the awareness of her vocation to through meditation on the words he hears and the events that happen to him, including those he does not understand (cf. Luke 2:50-51 ).” 63
Luke has left us a portrait of the mother of Jesus that details, in a paradigmatic way, that it is not possible to maintain faith in God and fidelity to his project without remaining attentive to what happens, in continuous discernment. Before being called to become the mother of the son of God (Luke 1:26-38), just as when she gave birth to him in Bethlehem (Luke 2:1-20), she presented him to God after forty days in the temple (Luke 2,22-40) or was lost, as a teenager, in Jerusalem (Luke 2,41-52), Mary remained attentive to what God was asking of her, without overlooking it just because she did not understand it (cf. Luke 1,29; 2,19.33.48.50-51).
And having put herself at the service of God’s saving project forced her to follow a path of faith in which, as she progressed, God’s decisions became less obvious and immediate and much more demanding and painful. She became his mother after wondering what what she heard meant (Luke 1:29) and accepting it (Luke 1:38). She had to become a contemplative in order to continue being a servant and mother (Luke 2,19.33.51).
To carry out his salvation project, God needs believers who welcome his Word and welcome his Son. This is what he revealed to Mary, when, communicating to her his desire to give a savior to his people, he proposed to make her a mother even though she was a virgin. What Mary did not yet know – and she had to learn throughout her life – was that, once she became a servant of God and the child was conceived in her womb, she would never be free of both. Not when she gives birth to the son of God in Bethlehem ( Luke 2,19), nor when her firstborn becomes a man ( Luke 2,40.52). Having accepted God’s project forced Mary to live in continuous discernment, “keeping all this in her heart“ (Luke 2:51).
“In her ‘littleness’, the Virgin bride promised to Joseph, experiences weakness and difficulty in understanding the mysterious will of God (cf. Luke 1:34). She is also called to live the exodus of herself and her projects, learning to surrender and trust… Aware that God is with her, Mary opens her heart to ‘Here I am’ and thus inaugurates the path of the Gospel (cf. Luke 1,38)” 64
It is an error – quite common, by the way – to consider divine motherhood as the culmination of Mary’s experience of God. Nazareth was not the goal of the Marian journey of faith (cf. Acts 1:14) but rather its starting point (Luke 1.26). When Gabriel, God’s personal emissary, entrusted Mary with his plan of salvation, the Virgin of Nazareth was immersed in the daily life of a humble rural village (cf. Jn 1:46),65 already engaged in another project, “ betrothed to a man named Joseph » (Luke 1.26; cf. 2.5; Matthew 1.23 ; Dt 22,23) 66. She knew that God was thinking about saving his people at the same moment she knew that God was counting on her to make her the mother of his Son.
The announcement of the birth of Jesus coincided, then, with the invitation to be the mother of God. The salvation of the people, projected by God, coincided with the vocation of Mary, chosen by God. That God did not care about the obstacle of her current virginity or her marriage commitment already made, deprived her of excuses on which to support her resistance. And ignorance about how this announced motherhood would be possible made blind her obedience in divine omnipotence (Luke 1,34-37). Mary’s blessedness was not in being the mother of her God, but in having trusted him (cf. Luke 1.45; 11,27-28) 67. He who totally believes in God, creates him, generating him, in an endearing way (Luke 1.38).
The annunciation story presents a clear formal structure. The presentation of the characters (Luke 1,26-27) is followed by the appearance of the angel and his greeting (Luke 1,28-29); Mary reacts, wondering, and the angel makes her know the divine project (Luke 1:30-34); A new question from Mary motivates the angel’s clarification and this, Mary’s assent (Luke 1,35-38a). The entry of the angel on the scene (Luke 1,26a) and his departure (Luke 1,38b) close an episode where the one sent by God has always had the initiative and Mary has reacted in continuous progression, reflecting in silence (Luke 1,29), openly inquiring (Luke 1,34) and ending with the most complete assent (Luke 1,38).
26 «In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary.
28 And he came to her and said, “Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is with you!”
29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.
30 And the angel said to her,
“Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”
34 And Mary said to the angel,
“How will this be, since I am a virgin?”
35 And the angel answered her,
“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. 36 And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For nothing will be impossible with God.”
38 And Mary said,
“Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”
And the angel departed from her.»
Three times the envoy reveals the divine plan to Mary (Luke 1,26.30-33.35-38) and three times she reacts, wondering, asking and accepting (Luke 1,29.34.38) 68. Mary responds to Gabriel’s subsequent explanation of the proposal (Luke 1,35-37) with a more complete acceptance of the demand (Luke 1,39).
«But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might be.» ( Luke 1:29).
Gabriel (cf. Luke 1,19) 69 opens the vocational dialogue with Mary with a “rejoice“ (Luke 1,28), which more than a greeting (cf. Matthew 26,49; 27,29; 28,9) is an invitation to be joyful (cf. Luke 1,14; 2,10) 70, for a salvation that is announced (cf. Is 12,6; Zeph 3,14-15; Zech 3,14-17; 9,9). Before a son and salvation to the people are announced to her, happiness is imposed on her. The reason, having found grace before God. « Full of grace » is the most surprising and promising part of the angelic greeting. The joy of the blessed one is the appropriate feeling of one who is going to know that she has been chosen by a God who is with her before – and so that – he is in her. « The Lord is with you », which can be a simple greeting (Ruth 2,4), here expresses God’s active assistance to people who are going to act in his name and are thus supported in the effort; Divine protection is assured to him, because he will be assigned a mission (cf. Ex 3:12; Judg 6:12.15-17) 71.
The angel’s greeting is as unusual as the mission he is going to introduce. Before revealing to Mary what God wants from her, he has expressed to her how much he loves her: before giving her the charge, he has revealed to her the choice. Gabriel speaks of the grace of God that fills her, not of Mary’s merits 72; He thus discovers a surprising, even paradoxical, behavior of a God, whose benevolence clashes with the expectations of his faithful.
The words, not the vision, of the angel (cf. Luke 1:12), disturb Mary (Luke 1:29); He does not understand the reason for such praise. His reaction is complex, emotional (“he was greatly disturbed“) and rational (“he wondered“) at the same time; He becomes uneasy but ponders. Unexpected divine benevolence gives him pause. Such a gratifying God misses her: by sensing what is going to be asked of her – and that is the grace that God has given her – Mary has begun to worry (cf. Gen 15:1; 26:24; 28:30; Jer 1,8) 73.
His reaction, unparalleled in the annunciation stories (cf. Judges 6:13), shows the maturity of his faith. He begins to search for the meaning of what he heard, faces the new situation with greater reflection, considers the circumstances in search of a conclusion (cf. Luke 3:15). There is no anguish, uneasiness or disbelief. He does not understand well what has been said to him; he takes it seriously. Mute stupor and desire to understand mark the beginning of vocational discernment.
«And Mary said to the angel, “How will this be, since I am a virgin?”» (Luke 1,34 ).
The angel responds to her deliberation by revealing to her what God expects of her (Luke 1:30-33). God is about to start a dialogue with Mary that she had not asked for; He couldn’t even have imagined it. Before knowing what God has, Mary knows that he has his benevolence: “ you have found favor with God “ (Luke 1:30; cf. Gen 6:8; 19:16; Ex 33:12). She can, therefore, count on God, without even knowing why God counts on her. The grace given precedes the task to be carried out: conceiving, giving birth and imposing the name on the son of God.
The angelic message focuses on Mary’s unborn child. God had it in mind before the virgin could conceive; but he does not “demand from her anything that goes against her conscience 74. ” María reacts soberly, without enthusiasm or doubts. He does not ask for proof or investigate the possibility (cf. Luke 1:18); He wonders about the way in which conception will take place in his current state: “How will that be, since I don’t know a man?” » (Luke 1,34; cf. Gen 4,1.25) 75. Remaining a virgin, she does not believe the proposal of becoming a mother is viable. If it is realized, it will be a pure gift. Take the ad seriously, enough to question the way it was made.
With her question, therefore, Mary does not question the message received, nor does she reject the assigned task; because he assumes it, he questions himself. He thinks, and expresses it by asking, that he cannot carry it out. Her confessed helplessness makes her “capable” of welcoming God. Motherhood will, therefore, be pure grace: the Spirit, God’s creative power, will be in charge of making it a reality: “the son of Mary is begotten by God himself… Jesus remains, of course, the son of Mary, that is, a human being” 76.
«“Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.”» (Luke 1:38)
But keep asking to better discern; and asking, makes a further explanation necessary. Even in the midst of the revelation, Mary continues to discern, since she cannot understand the angelic message, which has focused on defining the personality of the child (Luke 1:32) and describing his future mission (Luke 1:33).
Gabriel, going beyond what was required, clarifies the mode of conception of the son promised to Mary, declaring him the son of the Most High (Luke 1:35). It also confirms the extraordinary nature of the birth, providing as confirmation the motherhood of Elizabeth (Luke 1:36), which exemplifies the all-embracing power of God (Luke 1:37; 18:27; cf. Gen 18:14; Jer 32, 27; Zech 8,6). Mary’s question, which had not asked for any sign, did not demand support to believe in the message. God does not ask you for blind faith. And the angel grants a sign that ratifies the message: he proclaims Elizabeth’s state of good hope.
Also related by their inability to procreate 77, Isabel’s motherhood proves, now that it is visible, the possibility of virginal conception, but nothing more. For it to be realized, God’s omnipotence is not enough. The consent of his servant is required; The last word belongs to her. If believed, the word of God becomes creative.
The formula with which Mary assents (“behold, the handmaid of the Lord“, cf. Gen 30:34; Jos 2:21; Judges 11:10; Dan 14:9) reveals her total acceptance. She goes from depending on the man in her life to being at the service of her God, who becomes man in her. His “let it be“ is an optional, which expresses an intense desire. The virgin assents to what she has heard and lets God, doing his will, be her Lord. The divine project is verified the moment it obtains the consent of its chosen one. In fact, within a few days she will be publicly proclaimed “ the mother of my Lord “ (Luke 1:43).
However, and it must be noted, the story does not close by mentioning the conception of the son. It ends by declaring the availability of a virgin to be a mother. It is what the omnipotent God did not yet count on. When he obtained her consent, he began his plan. Jesus was not, like any other man, the fruit of an encounter of human love, but of God’s trust in a virgin (Luke 1,30-31) and the obedience of a servant to her God (Luke 1,38).
In the chronicle of Mary’s vocation, God reveals to us what it is like. He remembers not so much what Mary had done 78 when God called her to his service. Rather, it shows what he would be willing to do for us, if he found us as willing as Mary. God has left it within the power of his servants to conceive it. And he invites as many as he wants to take a risk and try. Reviewing Mary’s vocation, we could feel invited by that same God to lend her a hand, facilitating her entry into the world again. Or does our world not need God? Mary achieved this by listening to God without fully understanding him, but without stopping trying to understand him.
The announcement of the birth of Jesus coincided with the invitation to be the mother of God. The story thus reveals essential features of every Christian vocation. It reveals that God, when he proposes a special mission to someone, is actually planning to save his people. Because he has a salvation project, he entrusts it to whoever he wants. Like Mary’s, every vocation is, basically, a dialogue in which God reveals himself, declaring his project and making known the call that counts on him. What the angel says to Mary, more than wonderful statements about her person, which they are, manifests the decision that God has made to save his people .
Mary’s, like any authentic vocation, began and was realized through dialogue 79. And it culminates when – and if – one ends up obeying. Maria did not initiate the conversation; but he didn’t shy away from it either. Always reacting to Gabriel’s words, first, she asked herself in confusion (Luke 1:29); Later, he confessed that he was incapable of accepting the proposal (Luke 1:34); to finish, declaring himself at the service of a God who can do everything (Luke 1:37-38). At the very heart of her vocational dialogue, Mary has walked from wordless astonishment to unreserved acceptance, passing through the recognition of her own ineptitude. Without attentive listening and continuous discernment, the virgin would not have become a mother…, nor would God have had the planned son.
Before knowing she was called by God, Mary knew she was graced. Before she chose God, she had to accept that God had chosen her. Does God call because he loves us or does he call us to love us? If grace precedes the task, is it not true that every authentic vocation recognizes that divine will precedes its demands? Is fear then legitimate? (Luke 1,30) Where do our fears arise and are fed in our vocational experience? Why can’t we be excited that God has counted on us and that we count so much for him? He who knows himself to be called, knows himself to be graced; Like Mary, finding one’s vocation is to have found the grace of God (cf. Luke 1:30).
God does not call for nothing. He called Mary to do the impossible: to be a mother while remaining a virgin and to give birth to her firstborn who was, in reality, the only begotten of God. What should be admired more: God’s need to find a person who trusts him, or Mary’s immediate acceptance of God’s plan?
God proposed to Mary a motherhood, which neither fit with her intentions, since she was already engaged (Luke 1,27), nor was it among her possibilities, since she was still a virgin (Luke 1,34). The son that was announced to her was not, in reality, going to be hers (“son of the Most High God” : Luke 1,32.35.76) nor for her (“messiah of Israel” : Luke 1,32-33). The first to be missed by God’s plans is the one who hears them first. Can a called person live his vocation without God missing him, without drawing even the slightest attention to him? A God who does not miss is a God who has not made his saving plan known.
Once his plan has been accepted and God is now present in Mary’s womb, the messenger of God leaves her presence (Luke 1:28). When God finds servants, he has plenty of those sent. When the divine project finds acceptance, the impossible is realized: the virgin servant begins to be the mother of her Lord 80. The reason for Marian beatitude (Luke 1:45) is not, therefore, in divine motherhood, but in her capacity to welcome God: it was not her feat to give birth to him, but to assume his incomprehensible will. Although a sign was given to her (Luke 1:36-37), Mary was “a believer for whom the word of God is sufficient 81. ” To get hold of God we must accept him : faith, which is a servant’s obedience, is the way to make our own the vocation to which we have been called. And happiness lies in this (cf. Luke 1:45).
As in the days of Mary, God continues looking for those who lend him faith and courage. The God of Mary has no other way to save the world than by becoming incarnate. Yesterday like today. The believer, like Mary, needs nothing more than faith to conceive his God. To give him flesh and a home, to make him human, give him birth and give him to the world, no miracle greater than the obedience of servants is necessary. Only by putting ourselves totally at his service will we make him our familiar: with the God of Mary, the servant is the master; the servant, the lord; the slave, the mother.
“Each young person can discover in the life of Mary the style of listening, the courage of faith, the depth of discernment and dedication to service (cf. Luke 1:39-45) […]. In his eyes each young person can rediscover the beauty of discernment, in his heart he can experience the tenderness of intimacy and the courage of testimony and mission82.
The presence and protagonism of Mary are more evident in Luke 2 than in Luke 1. The events that are remembered, focused on the childhood and adolescence of Jesus, completely silence John the Baptist and his parents, focused as they are on the family of Jesus. And they are less prodigious; Now it is noted with precision, and repeatedly, that the life of the family of the son of God is subject to the law, whether of men (Luke 2,1-5), or of God (Luke 2,22-24.39. 41-42). God’s salvation enters fully into world history. The birth, childhood and adolescence of Jesus mark the milestones of a path of discernment that Mary had to follow to remain a believer. God will tell her what he expects from her in an ever more subtle and indirect way, but increasingly more demanding.
Mary’s relationship with God, begun after accepting her vocation, would not end, as would have been expected, with her giving birth to the son of God. Given her consent – and her own body – only once, the servant of God will never again be able to be free from her Lord. Mary, who had declared herself willing only to bear the son of God, will gradually discover, and without much insight, new tasks and greater sorrows.
She had barely given birth to the Son of God (Luke 2:1-20)
Luke narrates the birth of Jesus with “a concision, simplicity and sobriety, which stands in sensitive contrast to the significance of the fact” 83 (Luke 2:4-7). The contrast thus becomes more evident: in Bethlehem (cf. Matthew 2,1-6) there are no neighbors or relatives who rejoice with the mother (cf. Luke 1,58) and in the city of David (Mic 5,1 ) there is no place for a newborn, despite being proclaimed as “ the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:11). More than on the event itself, the narrator focuses on the circumstances that surrounded it, be it the imperial census that motivated the trip to Bethlehem (Luke 2:1-3)84, or the presence of the shepherds who were watching that night (Luke 2 ,8-20). The disparity between the triumphant announcement of the angels (Luke 2:9-14) and the circumstances of the birth (Luke 2:6-7) could not be clearer . For the narrator, it is decisive that “Mary has had a true pregnancy and Jesus, a true birth 85.”
The structure of the story is simple. The birth in Bethlehem (Luke 2:1-7; cf. Matthew 2:1) is followed by the angelic proclamation to the shepherds (Luke 2:8-14), who confirm what happened and testify to its extent (Luke 2:15-20 ). ). The sign given to them links the three scenes (Luke 2,7.12.16: a newborn, “ wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger”). At the center of the story is the angelic message addressed to the shepherds ( Luke 2:10-12), the third within the Lucan story of Jesus’ childhood (cf. Luke 1:11-20.28-37). That the newborn, lying in a manger, is identified as “ the Savior, the Messiah, the Lord” (Luke 2:11) surpasses everything imaginable 86.
2 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be registered, each to his own town. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. 6 And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. 8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 15 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. 17 And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.
The chronicler hardly spends any time narrating the birth of Jesus. He notes the details with surprising neutrality (Luke 2,6-7), after having justified more fully the transfer of Mary in state to Bethlehem (Luke 2,1-5) and notably lengthening his story with the announcement of her birth to some shepherds (Luke 2,8-20). The fact of a birth is narrated (Luke 2:6-7), which, as a sign that will give meaning to human history (Luke 2:11-12), is verified by simple people, shepherds. Narratively, the angelic manifestation serves to fulfill the divine promise made to Mary (cf. Luke 2:11-13) 87. The messenger of God announces it, the shepherds see it and proclaim it. But the mother was the direct recipient of the evangelical announcement. Mary has to hear “ the good news, which will be of great joy to all the people” (Luke 2:10) from the mouths of strangers who, because of their work, spent the night awake and were, therefore, not well regarded 88.
Having just given birth, Mary’s son has not found shelter, not even in an inn (Luke 2:7). He is welcomed, but not as the announced king (Luke 1:32-33), nor as a well-born child (Luke 2:7). When, and with reason, she could have boasted of having accomplished the mission, Mary does not hear voices of angels, she receives information from shepherds, people considered in their time not very worthy of trust ( Bill 2,113-114). They are shepherds who have been evangelized by angels, who, in turn, will ‘evangelize’ the parents of Jesus. Is it any wonder that you have to keep in your heart, to scrutinize it there, everything that happens before your eyes? (cf. Luke 8:4-15) 89.
«But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.» ( Luke 2:19)
It is not the mother of Jesus, it is curious!, the protagonist in the chronicle of the birth. Mary appears only at the beginning (Luke 2,5-7) and at the end (Luke 2,16-19). By framing the birth within the obligatory trip to Bethlehem 90, Mary has to give birth in the most complete solitude, far from her loved ones and alien to the usual joy that a new life causes (cf. Luke 1:57-58). Furthermore, if before the angelic announcements had been addressed to those who received the divine mission (Zechariah: Luke 1,11-20; Mary: Luke 1,28-33), now the recipients of the message from an envoy of the Lord are unknown. nameless (Luke 2:10; cf. 1:11.26).
Evangelized, shepherds do not look for something unknown, they follow a precise indication, a sign: a baby in a manger (Luke 2:12) 91. They stop being simple listeners and, without delay and through their prompt obedience, they become eyewitnesses: only simple people can identify a child wrapped in a stable as the Savior (Luke 2:11; cf. 2:30; Acts 5:31 ; 13,23). Once their veracity is proven, they become evangelizers, the first (Luke 2,17.10), of Jesus’ parents.
After giving birth, María has not received any announcement from Gabriel. Nor will he understand what the shepherds transmit to him, who represent those poor who will be priority recipients of Jesus’ evangelizing mission (cf. Luke 4:18). But, unlike everyone, who marvels (Luke 2:18), she maintains an attitude of permanent search for meaning (Luke 2:19). More than meditating or treasuring what happens, he investigates and interprets it. He does not reject what he does not understand. Support what you cannot understand. Instead of simply being surprised by her God, she seeks to enter the mystery, activating the intelligence of the heart 92.
Before she conceived the son of God, God had sent her an envoy. After the birth, with the mission accomplished, some men are sent to him. The one evangelized by Gabriel to be a mother, is evangelized by some shepherds now, after being one. The greater your familiarity with God, the less closeness you experience to Him . The mother of Jesus will have to carefully keep the facts, what she has seen and heard, and evaluate them carefully: “Mary does not interpret with her understanding (noūs), but with her will and affection: in her heart 93. ”
It seems as if, giving birth to God, Mary had to act as a mother without many lights: giving light to God has darkened her life . It is one more step in his personal process of discernment: in Luke 1:29 he asked himself; in Luke 1:34 he questioned; Now here, in Luke 2:19, it penetrates, turning it over in your head; 94 Finally, in Luke 2:51 he will keep it in memory.
When presenting his firstborn to God (Luke 2:22-40)
From the childhood of Jesus, properly speaking, Luke chooses only three significant events: his circumcision and imposition of the name (Luke 2,21; cf. 1,59 95; Gen 17,10-13) 96, his presentation (Luke 2,22- 40) and its loss and discovery, both in the temple (Luke 2,41-50). Her chronicle ends with a summary that once again insists on Mary’s contemplative attitude, as she accompanied the growth of Jesus (Luke 2:51-52).
The presentation of the child in the temple after eight days was not mandatory (Lev 12:3), nor was the annual Passover visit before coming of age. But Luke will insist that, following the legal regulations (Luke 2,22.23.24.27), Mary has to discern the will of the God of whom she has declared herself a slave. Mary must learn to see and touch, like Simeon (cf. Luke 2:30.28), God’s salvation through faithful fulfillment of the law. Luke, furthermore, is interested in it being in Jerusalem (cf. Luke 9,51.53; 13,22.23; 17,11; 18,31; 19,11; 24,47.49.52; Acts 1,8), where it is recognized to the infant the “ Savior “ , light of the nations and glory of Israel (Luke 2,30) and that, as an adolescent, Jesus proclaims himself son of God (Luke 2,49).
The presentation of Jesus in the temple has three scenes, framed by an introduction (Luke 2:21) and a narrative conclusion (Luke 2:39-40). Both extremes refer to the child’s life and present it as completely normal. What is narrated between them reveals God’s plan, which only the eyes of those who hope to see God’s salvation and the hearts of those who have his Spirit capture.
The first scene (Luke 2:22-24) places the action in the temple and justifies the presence of Jesus’ family there, preparing the meeting with the two elders. The narrator gives more emphasis to the imposition of the name than to circumcision; The parents give him the name chosen by the angel. The second (Luke 2:25-35) presents Simeon and his prophetic prayer, actually a hymn to God (Luke 2:29-32) and a prophecy for Mary (Luke 2:34-35). In the third (Luke 2:36-38), the elderly Anna, who lives before God and for him, appears as praising God and proclaiming Jesus as the expected liberator.
21 And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. 22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.” 25
Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,29
“Lord, now you are letting your servant[e] depart in peace, according to your word;30 for my eyes have seen your salvation 31 that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”
33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34
And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”
36 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, 37 and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.[f] She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. 38 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. 39 And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. 40 And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.
Fulfilling the law of Moses takes Mary to Jerusalem, twice. The first, Jesus being an infant of days (Luke 2,22.39). The second, shortly before inaugurating his coming of age (Luke 2:41-42). Those two ascents to Jerusalem mark Jesus’ childhood and adolescence, time to mature as a man under the rule of God’s law. Her son grows as a son of God (Luke 2,40.52), while his mother lives subject to God’s law (Luke 2,22.23.24.39.41.42; cf. Lev 12,6-8; Ex 13,1.13; Num 18, 15-16). Obedience to God’s will does not exempt Mary from punctually following his written will. Mother, because she is a servant, Mary educates her son in obedience to the law of God with her actions (Luke 2:39) 97.
«And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him.» ( Luke 2:33)
Forty days after giving birth, the mother had to be purified, her impurity not being moral but ritual (Lev 12:8) and the child was to be consecrated to God, in compliance with the law, and fully integrated into the people of God (Luke 2 ,22-24; Num 18,15). In the temple of Jerusalem, the good God was waiting for them again… and not very good news.
A righteous believer, who has grown old without losing hope of seeing the “Messiah of the Lord“ (Luke 2:26), is now God’s spokesperson. His Spirit is in him (Luke 2,25.26.27). The story takes a while to describe him: he lives waiting for the consolation of his people (Luke 2:38; cf. 23:50-51); He has the Spirit of God, who leads him to the temple on the same day that obedience to the law had brought Jesus’ parents there. There is, therefore, no fortune or chance, but divine government of human history (cf. Luke 4:1.14-18), although in a differentiated way: Simeon goes to the temple and sees the “Savior“ (Luke 2:30) ; their parents, on the other hand, to comply with God, “according to the law of Moses“ (Luke 2:22).
Having the child Jesus in his arms, it is not difficult for the elderly Simeon, “just and pious man“ (Luke 2:25; cf. Acts 2:5; 8:2; 22:12), to praise a God who has given him given him more consolation than he had promised. More than “seeing the promised Messiah“ (Luke 2:26), he touches, holding him “in his arms“ (Luke 2:28) , the long-awaited Savior, a child. The palpated salvation is greater than the only glimpsed; the one offered, better than the expected. But salvation, now seen in the temple (Luke 2, 29-32), It has little to do – if anything – with that announced by the angel in Nazareth (Luke 1,30-33), or by the shepherds in Bethlehem (Luke 2,10-14) .
And the forecasts for the child are getting noticeably worse. After the praise of God that so amazed Jesus’ parents (Luke 2:33), comes the dark prophecy about the son and the mother. « This has been appointed so that many in Israel will fall and rise; and it will be like a sign of contradiction » (Luke 2:34) . Jesus is going to divide his people, questioning their safety; before him it will not be possible to remain impartial. Without a break in continuity, Simeon adds what this implies to his mother. « And a sword will pierce your soul » (Luke 2:35; cf. Ezek 14:17). The son›s fate affects the mother. Mary›s heart will be divided, given the rejection that her son will suffer: to the division produced in the world, great pain is added in her heart 98.
Simeon announces that Jesus will become a stumbling block and contradiction in Israel (cf. Acts 28:26-28); Neutrality or indifference will not be possible in front of him. This is not what Israel expected, nor what was previously indicated to Mary (cf. Luke 1:31-33). The mother is not freed from the son or from his dark future, being a contradiction and scandal for the people (cf. Isa 8:14-15). As, and with her son, Mary will be at the center of the rejection or reception that Israel will give to Jesus.
The image of the sword that divides the soul (cf. Job 26:25) alludes to constant pain, an internal tear. The rejection that his son will suffer will break his soul. The mother of Jesus will live her existence deeply wounded. Your familiarity with God will not save you a torn life. A sword in the heart is the salary of service to God well fulfilled! Mary loses herself as a woman, for not losing, as a mother, her son, nor, as a believer, God. A well-served God imposes greater servitudes with less support. Or could it be any other way?
Once the law has been completely satisfied, Jesus’ family returns to Galilee (Luke 2:40; cf. Matthew 2:23), “thus putting an end to the story of Jesus’ childhood, in the strict sense 99”. Like the Baptist (cf. Luke 1:80), Jesus does not stop growing in Nazareth as a man in the family and before God as a son. Twelve years of Jesus’ childhood are summarized with as much brevity as they are accurate. Human maturity and totality of grace become compatible in the home, in daily life. And no matter how much he grows, the son becomes more like his mother (Luke 1,28.30) in the possession of God’s grace (Luke 2,40).
As an adolescent, Jesus is lost as a son to Mary, who finds him again as the Son of God (Luke 2:41-52)
A pilgrimage to the temple, when Jesus is about to come of legal age, logically concludes the story of his childhood (Luke 2:41-50; cf. Ex 23:14-17; Dt 16:16). But the episode, framed within two summaries (Luke 2,40.52), does not focus on the journey to Jerusalem or on the celebration of Easter, but on what happens next: the loss of Jesus in the temple (Luke 2,41-52). Luke, the only evangelist who remembers this incident, brings to its surprising end a story that began with an infant in Mary’s arms (Luke 2,12.16): the newborn (Luke 2,17.27-40), son of Mary (Luke 2 ,43), ends up declaring himself the son of God (Luke 2,49)!
As in the previous episode (Luke 2:21-39), the temple is the central place for the manifestation of the personal mystery of Jesus. And it is presented structured following the same model: ascent to Jerusalem (Luke 2,42; cf. 2,22), revelation of Jesus (Luke 2,46-47; cf. 2,30-31), commentary on the mother (Luke 2,48; cf. 2,39), return to Nazareth (Luke 2,51; cf. 2,39). The center of the story is in Jesus’ double question to his mother (Luke 2:48), who cannot understand the reason for what is happening (Luke 2:50), of the imperative need for it to happen (Luke 2:49).
41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. 43 And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.
52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
Publicly, in the temple of Jerusalem, Jesus stops being the son of Mary and Joseph and declares himself the son of God. It is the first word – it will also be the last, cf. Luke 24:49 – which Jesus, barely coming of age, pronounces in the temple, during Easter. As with his last statement he declares himself a son of God, with full awareness of his mission: not only does he claim an intimate relationship with God, he also proclaims his personal commitment to the Father’s project; and he does it as soon as his mother had mentioned to him the anguish of Joseph, his father (Luke 2:48). What the angel announced (Luke 2:1-20) and Simeon saw (Luke 2:21-22) is now confirmed by Jesus himself, still a teenager (Luke 2:41-51). His human wisdom may still be growing (Luke 2:52), but he already knows the fundamental thing, that God is his Father (Luke 2:49).
«And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.» (Luke 2:50-52) .
As pious Jews, Jesus’ parents used to go to Jerusalem for Passover. That they took their son indicates their personal piety and a certain educational concern 100. The absence of Jesus during the return goes, at first, unnoticed (Luke 2:44). The reason for Jesus’ stay in the temple is not given now, although it can later be deduced from his response (Luke 2:49b: “Should I be in my Father’s affairs?” ). The first day does not pass without his parents noticing his absence. Three days of anguished search (Luke 2:48) manage to find him. Finding him in the temple, among teachers, “ astonished by his talent “ (Luke 2:47 ), leaves his parents astonished, and even more confused.
But the teenage son was not lost, he chose to stay in his Father’s house (cf. Jn 2:17), better, he had to do it, even if it caused pain to his parents. Jesus’ response was even less understandable than his behavior. Emphatically, with two questions, he questions the mother’s position; He makes it understood by asking, he does not oppose it by affirming. Neither the search nor the anguish are justified, because it had not been lost… nor did it belong to them anymore! It was not chance but duty that separated them. Jesus did not do what he wanted, but what was wanted of him. It is due to God the Father. And he doesn’t get lost when he takes care of his things. Observing the Father and his interests frees Jesus from the parental authority of his family; he has priority over the most sacred relationships (Luke 2:49). His parents would have to understand that his divine filiation has required him to separate himself from them and their expectations (cf. Matthew 16,23; Jn 8,29; 9,4; 14,31).
It is nothing extraordinary, then, that the anguished parents were disconcerted when they found him in the temple, “ sitting among the teachers “ (Luke 2:48), and did not understand a word of what their son told them (Luke 2:50); they could have felt disappointed, if not deceived (cf. Gen. 12.8; 20.9; 29.25; Ex 14:11; Judges 15,11). Neither virginal motherhood nor close daily coexistence made the person and destiny of her son more accessible to Mary. Like any believer, Mary went through the anecdote, no less painful, of losing Jesus. After three days of agonizing searching, he believed he had recovered it…, only to immediately have to accept that he had lost it, this time, definitively (Luke 2:48-49).
Still an adolescent, he proclaimed God Father (Luke 2:49), as he will do again before dying (Luke 23:46). And it was not the worst thing for Mary that she had to see the son of God in her son, but that, from then on, she would have to live with a son who was known, and so loved, to be from God (Luke 2:49). . Without telling it, Luke gives us to understand Mary lived this situation for years, from Jesus’ adolescence until the beginning of his public ministry (cf. Luke 3:23). The mother, to continue being so (cf. Luke 8:19-21; 11:27-28), had to become more of a believer 101, treasuring “ in her heart all those things “ (Luke 2:51) that she did not understand with her mind. . Is it a coincidence that this is Mary’s last reaction in the story of Jesus’ childhood?
The divine filiation, claimed so early by Jesus, did not exempt him from living under his parents for most of his life (cf. Luke 4:22; Mark 6:3; Matthew 13:55). He returns with his parents to Nazareth and lives under his parental authority. Such a return, after such a resounding declaration of his identity, makes the ordinary more extraordinary: submission to parents who are not, when it comes down to it, his Father. What happens does not go unnoticed by Mary: her son matures as a man and a son of God, simultaneously. And although he doesn’t understand it, he doesn’t forget it either. He keeps what happened in his heart: what happens to him does not pass him by, without incidents, without leaving traces (Luke 2:51b) 102.
The son grows before her, as a man. Together with him, she must grow as a believer. Living with God without understanding him is the Marian way of not losing him (Luke 2:19; cf. 8:19-21; 11:27-28). Meanwhile, Jesus continues to progress in wisdom (Luke 2:52), maturity and grace before God and men. Mary accompanies, mother always, the growth of her son with the growth of her faith. In the long silence of Nazareth, God becomes a man and within a family he learns to be a man. Both processes take place under the quiet and contemplative gaze of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
Mary may have felt somewhat surprised, if not uncomfortable with her God. He had only been proposed to beget the son of God; He only nodded to it. Therefore, she could well hope to return to her old life plan (Luke 1:28: “ virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph”) once God’s plan had been fulfilled (Luke 1:31: “you will conceive in your womb and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus”). It was not so. You will have to begin an adventure with God where you thought you had concluded it. God does not let go of his best servants easily. Whoever promises obedience is “lost.”
A new stage of faith, open and sustained by continuous discernment, opens when Mary, newly born in Bethlehem, has to hear from the mouths of strangers the meaning that God gives to the birth of her son. Pastors, simple and marginalized people, are those chosen by God to receive the gospel first… and then evangelize the mother of Jesus; They are “the personification of an attitude of spontaneous credulity in the face of the message that has just been transmitted to them 103. ”Only the simple can identify a true God in the child resting in a manger without losing faith”.
In order not to be scandalized by such an insignificant God, they become evangelizers of Mary . And the mother of God reacts by allowing herself to be evangelized by those whom God chose and those who sent her (Luke 1,12.15-16). Unlike the shepherds, who march in praise of God, and the people, who remain amazed at what they told, Mary tries to reach the deepest meaning of what she has experienced and what they have told her. And without ceasing to personally investigate what God is telling him in what is happening, he insists on seeing things with his heart. He guards what happens to him and does not understand there, where no one can enter but only God (cf. Matthew 6,6). It was not by understanding with the mind but by containing in the heart how Mary discerned, contemplating , that is, “she understands and experiences in her flesh what she believes 104”.
The God that is not understood can turn out to be insignificant and useless, as long as one does not have the courage to keep him as an object of contemplation. Looking at everything with affection and keeping it with attention is the Marian method of staying with the God that, because it seems something small or too normal to us, we cannot understand. We will not be able, perhaps, like Mary to give body to God. But, at least, we could dare to look at him and worship him with our hearts: that is where a God as endearing as he is incomprehensible fits.
Once the days of purification were completed, Jesus’ parents presented their firstborn to God in the temple in obedience to the law (Luke 2:22). By doing so, Mary was able to consider accomplished the mission she had accepted, giving a son to God (Luke 1:31.35). He had to learn that it is difficult to escape from God who once gave him credit. In the temple, those who, in the name of God, would reveal to him the future of his son and his own were waiting for him. It causes surprise, if not incomprehension, that God once again makes his future known to Mary through two unknown people. An angel announced to him that he would give life to the son of God (Luke 1:31-32). That his life would be filled with pain was told to him by strangers (Luke 2:34-35).
In Jerusalem, and during a pilgrimage for Easter (Luke 2:41-42), Mary lost her teenage son. Coexistence with Jesus was becoming more and more difficult, less peaceful… Who said that familiarity with God had to be pleasant and smooth? It is consoling that Mary went through that experience, so common to us, of losing God 105. Wouldn’t a God who can lead us astray deserve greater care? A God that we can lose, and in the Temple, will not force us to serve him better? Going through the experience of her loss should not be a negative experience, much less a traumatic one, if we realize that it was a Marian experience. Or isn’t it comforting to know that one is a companion of the Mother of God in those moments when we know where God has ended up?
But if it comforts us to know that Mary also lost Jesus one day, her feverish search to find him should inspire us even more. He was not content to miss him and regret his absence. Nor did she apologize when she knew that she was not responsible. He immediately started looking for him among family and friends and found him – could it be any other way? – in the temple, talking about God. Are we that industrious when we lose God? Do we put up with his absence from our lives, just because it seems to us that he shouldn’t have abandoned us or that he isn’t being too fair by hiding from us? Where do we look for it?
Finding Jesus was not a happy ending for Mary 106. Jesus’ response to his mother’s complaint (Luke 2:48: “Why have you treated us like this?“ ) was, to say the least, inconsiderate (Luke 2:49: “Why were you looking for me?“). María did not see her pain respected, nor her anguish valued. And he did not understand the son, because he did not fully recover him when he found him; He began to lose it while he wanted to be a son of God. But he accepted him as he wanted to be, above all and in front of everyone, the son of God. It was his inexcusable duty, his destiny now assumed (Luke 2:49: deī). He had to accompany his son’s growth and his divine self-awareness with the growth of his personal faith107. Is there another method of accompanying God in life? Can you live with God at home without total faith in your heart?
Mary reminds us that God can always ask us for more than we have already given him. The duty fulfilled does not free one from the obedience to come. Being a mother of God did not make her happier than she was before, but it did keep her closer to her son. He will be a cause of stumbling and she will be a painful mother. God does not leave anyone who has allowed Him to enter into one’s life. And what’s worse, he never says everything he wants about you at once; He manifests it step by step and through less imposing mediations. He presents his new demands, after the previous ones have been met: “each discovery is followed by a new enigma108. ” Having passed the test of obedience (Luke 1,38.45), Mary began a learning process, marked by incomprehension (Luke 2,19.51), not exempt from pain (Luke 2,35) nor immune to loneliness (Luke 8, 20-21).
Thus, pedagogically, without overwhelming with accumulated tasks, God favors the believer to remain in a state of continuous obedience. It is true that not all of us can tolerate that pedagogy, nor the rhythm, of God. And therein lies the difference. Mary, although a mother, always remained a servant of her God. Will we be willing to learn from Mary?
63 Synod of Bishops, XV Ordinary General Assembly, Young people, faith and vocational discernment. Preparatory document (=DP), no. 3.
64 DP, III, 5.
65 “Small town of about 500 inhabitants, located in the lower Galilee…, in a very fertile environment. Its inhabitants were surely farmers, employed by others… Those who were not dedicated to agriculture were modest artisans” (Isabel Gómez Acebo , Lucas, Estella, Verbo Divino, 2010, 39).
66 Evangelical tradition always mentions Joseph in relation to the origin of Jesus ( Luke 1,27; 2,4.16; 3,23; 4,22; Matthew 1,16-24; 2,13.19; Jn 1,45; 6, 42). The Davidic lineage of Mary’s husband ( Luke 2,5; cf. 2 Sam 7,1-17), legitimizes, in advance, the Davidic filiation of Jesus ( Matthew 9,27; 12,23; 15,22; 20,30.31 ; 21,9.15; Mc 10,47-48/ Luke 18,38-39). No NT author states that Mary was of the lineage of David.
67 God calls Mary “as an instrument of his plan and takes her through a process for which she has had no prior training or preparation. God simply promises to be with her throughout the experience and she responds with his good disposition” ( Darrell L. Bock , Lucas. From the biblical text to a contemporary application, Miami, Editorial Vida, 2011, 57).
68 “The normal response to the angel’s greeting is an uneasy silence (v. 29), and “ do not be afraid ,” the expected encouragement (v. 30). Doubts (or, as here, the question, v. 34) are a common reaction to a divine message, which necessarily catches one by surprise. According to the rules, the angel promises a sign (v. 34), which is at the same time the answer to the question” (François Bovon , The Gospel according to Saint Luke. I. Luke 1-9, Salamanca, Follow me, 1995, 105 ).
69 Gabriel appears to Zechariah to tell him, without having greeted him, that his prayer has been heard and he will have a son ( Luke 1:11-13); Instead, he is sent to Mary and, after greeting her, he comes to tell her that, without asking for it, he has found grace before God ( Luke 1:26-28). The difference is notable.
70 Cf. Juan J. Bartolomé , “ ‘Rejoice, blessed one’ (Luke 1:28). The joy of being called”, Ephemerides Mariologicae 60 (2010) 217-229.
71 “Both as a woman and a young person, Mary had virtually no social status. Neither the title (‘favored’ or ‘graced one’) nor the promise (‘the Lord is with you’) was traditional in greetings, even had she been a person of status” (Craig S. Keener , The IVP Bible Background Commentary . New Testament , IVP Academic , Downers Grove, Ill ., 2 2004, 181).
72 The word “ grace ” “places the emphasis on the source of goodness rather than its effects. With regard to Mary, specifically, he points out that she is the object of God’s grace and favor” (Carroll Stuhlmueller , “Gospel according to Saint Luke”, Raymond E. Brown – Joseph A. Fitzmyer – Roland E. Murphy , eds., San Jerónimo Biblical Commentary III, New Testament 1, Madrid, Cristiandad, 1971, 314).
73 Such a reaction could also indicate that María intuited, at least initially, what such words implied. And the thing is that, otherwise, his confusion would not be well understood (cf. Matthew 2:2-3).
74 Joseph Schmidt , The Gospel According to Saint Luke, Barcelona, Herder, 1968, 63.
75 Mary does not publish her intention to remain a virgin. The formula does not express a purpose for the future, rather it records the current state (cf. Gen. 4.1). Neither was virginity an ideal of life for a Jewish woman, nor is it logical to suppose that Mary, who was already betrothed ( Luke 1:28), would have adopted it. Even more implausible, due to not having any support in the biblical data available, would be to assume that the couple had come to an agreement before the announcement (cf. Matthew 1,18.20).
76 Bovon , Lucas . I, 115.
77 Luke 1,7.36: Elizabeth was barren and is old; Luke 1,34: Mary is a virgin. Both, and as long as they are, are incapable of procreating, that is, of carrying out for themselves what the angel had promised them.
78 “Joseph is a son of David, but Mary has not yet joined his household and thus has no claim on his inherited status… She is not introduced in any way that would recommend her to us as particularly noteworthy or deserving of divine favor… Nothing has prepared her (or the reader) for this visit from an archangel or for such exalted words denoting God’s favor” (Joel B. Green , The Gospel of Luke, Grand Rapids – Cambridge, WE Eerdmans, 1997, 86).
79 All biblical stories of vocation are presented – with greater or lesser clarity – as a dialogue that God opens with those who choose and entrust a mission. It is he who commits to the call and even provides him with the response that he requests from him. Responding to this dialogue makes it possible to access God the Father, to have God as a son and to possess God as a Spirit who facilitates the impossible. No more neither less .
80 “In describing herself as the Lord’s servant (cf. 1:48), she acknowledges her submission to God’s purpose, but also her role in assisting the purpose” ( Green , Luke, 92).
81 Raymond E. Brown – Karl P. Donfried – Joseph A. Fitzmyer – John Reumann , Mary in the New Testament. A joint evaluation of Catholic and Protestant scholars, Salamanca, Sígueme, 2 1986 127.
82 DP, III.5.
83 Schmidt , Lucas , 92.
84 The connection between the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem and the census of Cirinus, which would have taken place around 6 AD, is uncertain. C. ( Acts 5.37; Josephus , Ant . 17,13,5; 18,1.1). There is – yet – no evidence of a universal census under Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD) nor of the obligation of taxpayers to register in the place of their ancestors; It was usual for them to register in the place where they had possessions or their home. Cf. Joseph A. Fitzmyer , The Gospel According to Luke. II. Madrid, Cristiandad, 1986, 208-218. According to Keener , “pottery samples suggest a recent migration of people from the Bethlehem area to Nazareth around the period, so Joseph and many other settlers in Galilee may have hailed from Judea. Joseph’s legal residences are apparently still Bethlehem, where he had been raised” ( Commentary, 185).
85 Bovon , Lucas . I, 176.
86 “At the birth of Jesus, loneliness reigns. The shadow of the cross is already projected over these first days of his life” (Luis F. García-Viana , “Gospel according to Saint Luke”, in Santiago Guijarro – Miguel Salvador (eds.), Commentary on the New Testament, Madrid, Casa of the Bible, 1995, 196).
87 The parallel motifs are evident: angelic appearance ( Luke 1,26; 2,10), do not be afraid ( Luke 1,30; 2,10), giving birth ( Luke 1,31; 2,11), Savior ( Luke 1,31; 2,11), Son of the Most High, Messiah ( Luke 1,32; 2,11), throne/city of David ( Luke 1,32; 2,11), sign ( Luke 1,36; 2 ,12), angelic disappearance ( Luke 1,38; 2,15).
88 Unlike Matthew, who has some pagan wise men look for the king of the Jews with the intention of worshiping him ( Matthew 2,1-2), Luke, more sensitive to the declassed, prefers that some shepherds, marginal people in Israel, listen to him. an angel the good news ( Luke 2:10).
89 “Nothing very glorious is suggested by the circumstances of the Messiah’s birth. But that is Luke’s manner, to show how God’s fidelity is worked out in human events even when appearances seem to deny his presence or power” (Luke T. Johnson , The Gospel of Luke, Liturgical Press, Collegeville, 1991, 52).
90 Luke 2:1-5 places the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem within universal history and, unlike Matthew 2:5-6, in fulfillment of a political decision, not the prophetic announcement ( Mic 5:1-3).
91 “Through signs, the transcendence of God and the independence of his action are respected; but the sign presents at the same time… that God certainly acts in the midst of this world” ( Bovon , Luke . I, 184 ). The difference with the wise men in Matthew ‘s story is evident: the shepherds in Luke have no need to ask ( Matthew 2:1-2) , because it has been revealed to them ( Luke 2:11); They do not waLuke, uncertain, following stars in the sky ( Matthew 2,9-10) , because they knew that they would find him “ wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger “ ( Luke 2,12).
92 “‘Amazement’ is not such an amount to faith… This is the response of the undifferentiated crowds at 2:18, but not of Mary. For her, more reflection is needed in order to fully appreciate the meaning of this concurrence of events” ( Green , Luke, 138).
93 Bovon , Lucas . I, 191 . Mary “heard the word in the way that God wanted” (Alois Stöger , The Gospel according to Saint Luke. I, Barcelona, Herder, 1979, 87).
94 “This last expression has sometimes been interpreted as coming to a right understanding of its significance. More likely, however, is Luke’s narrative it retains the idea of puzzlement. Here and in the episode in the temple, Mary has not yet come to a complete understanding of the significance of Jesus” (E. Franklin , “Luke”, John Barton – John Muddiman , eds., The Oxford Bible Commentary , Oxford, University Press, 2001, 929).
95 Unlike John, who was named after Zechariah, his father, once he was born ( Luke 1:63), Jesus’ parents gave him the name that the angel had given them before he was conceived ( Luke 2:21). . Luke, furthermore, silences the ritual of the rescue of Jesus as the firstborn (cf. Ex 13,2.12-13).
96 In addition to his parents ( Luke 2:21), in Luke Jesus is called by his own name only by the demon-possessed man of Gerasa ( Luke 8:28), the ten lepers ( Luke 17:13), the blind man of Jericho ( Luke 18,38) and the good thief ( Luke 23,42); all of them people he saved.
97 “This closing remark reminds us that Jesus will be reared in a home headed by parents who stand on the side of God’s purpose” ( Green , Luke, 152).
98 Some suggest that the division and controversy that Jesus will stir up during his public ministry is shared by Mary: “as part of Israel, she must be judged by her ultimate reaction to the child set for the fall and rise of many” ( Brown – Donfried – Fitzmyer – Reuman , María, 155). She too, “the model believer, will have to decide for or against the revelation of God in Jesus; family ties do not raise faith” (Robert J. Karris , “Gospel according to Luke”, in Raymond E. Brown – Joseph A. Fitzmyer – Roland E. Murphy , eds., New St. Jerome Biblical Commentary . New Testament and thematic articles , Estella, Verbo Divino, 2004, 146). But it does not seem justified to see here some “kind of Christological doubt in the heart of Mary ”; rather, it is predicted that “the public work of Jesus will have personal consequences” ( Bovon , Luke . I, 214 ).
99 Schmidt , Luke, 114.
100 There was no unanimity regarding the duty of women and children to participate in the pilgrimage (cf. Bill 2,141-142).
101 In Luke 2:19 syntērein , preserve, keep, describes Mary’s reaction, in Luke 2:51 diatērein is used , a synonym that points more to duration; its use in Gen 37:11; Dn 4.28 would point out “the internal perplexity of a person who tries to understand the deep meaning of what he has been told” ( Fitzmyer , Luke. II, 233).
102 “Mary did not immediately grasp everything she heard, but she listened willingly, letting the events sink into her memory, and trying to extract meaning from them… The idea of her growth as a believer would also fit 2.51, where she keeps in her heart difficult words from Jesus, which contain a rebuke for her” ( Brown – Donfried – Fitzmyer – Reuman , María, 150).
103 Fitzmyer , Lucas. II, 205. “They were peasants, located toward the bottom of the scale of power and privilege… Good news comes to peasants, not rulers; the lowly are lifted up” ( Green , Luke, 130-131) .
104 Bovon , Lucas . I, 192 .
105 “What readers cannot identify with the shock, anguish, and confusion of the parents, or the tension felt by the adolescent between pity owed parents and the pull of a higher vocation?” ( Johnson , Luke , 60).
106 Even more so for Joseph, who, from this moment on, disappears from the story, and from the life of Jesus.
107 “Mary will experience in her own flesh the meaning of that family division that the fulfillment of her son’s mission will bring as a consequence; His relationship with Jesus will not be limited to the purely maternal sphere, but will imply a transcendent bond, superior to the ties of flesh and blood, that is, the fidelity of the disciple” ( Fitzmyer , Luke. II, 248 ).
108 Stöger , Lucas . I, 106.
