Luke 2: The Temperature of Signs - Luke's Trap
Luke 2: The Temperature of Signs - Luke's Trap
11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.
12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.
34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against,
35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.”
49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”
Luke begins his letter to Theophilus with the birth of Jesus, a meeting of heaven and earth, emphasizing this encounter three times. Rolling the wheel thrice, Luke aims to captivate Theophilus, who is likely overwhelmed, by showing him both light and darkness simultaneously. The sign that the Savior, Christ, has been born is that the baby lies in a manger. This was the message delivered by an angel to the shepherds. Christ, lying in a manger, presents a stark contrast. This paradox might have overturned the conventional wisdom of Theophilus, who is presumed to be a high-ranking Roman official. The words poured out by Simeon, a reclusive sage, as he holds baby Jesus in his arms under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, are enough to stagger the listener. Jesus, born as a light for revelation to both Jews and Gentiles, was destined to be a sign that would be spoken against. The difference in the temperature of words is too great, like waves too strong that they could cause seasickness. Theophilus saw that Simeon's words had already become a sword piercing Mary's soul. Yet, his words are in the future tense. When will the sword pierce Mary's heart properly? Jesus, destined to become a sword piercing his own mother's heart, speaks directly for the first time, “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (v.49) It is uncertain if the Jews at the time called the Jerusalem temple "my Father’s house," but for Jesus, a remarkable 12-year-old, to call the house of God his Father’s house is extraordinary. Theophilus could not stop reading the letter. He was indeed caught in Luke's trap.