'Surprised by Jesus' Devotions | Day 4: Inside-Out Community
Read Luke 1:5-38.
Luke 1 highlights the stories of God’s surprising encounter with two individuals and the surprising ways that they respond to him.
First we meet Zechariah. We learn that he is a priest and his wife also comes from the priestly line of Aaron. They were both righteous and blameless according to the law, but they were barren. Elizabeth had born no child. Then we meet Mary. She is a young woman betrothed to be married living in the backwater town of Nazareth. A woman of no consequence before the Lord’s visit. These two could not be more different: a man of prominence and high spiritual status and a woman of no consequence with no spiritual standing.
Then God speaks to each of them through an angel telling them a similar thing. They would each have a son. As Zechariah is a priest and knowledgeable in the ways of the Lord, we would expect him to respond in faith, but he responds in doubt: “how can I know this is true?” Whereas Mary, the young woman whose background in the ways of the Lord we know little about responds in faith: “how will this happen?” Zechariah, the priest, faces the consequence of his disbelief as he is sent away speechless. Mary, the virgin, sees the fruit of her faith as she is called blessed (1:42) and exclaims her praises in the magnificat (1:46-55).
This narrative of these two birth proclamations is the first of many instances in Luke in which Jesus’s community is counterintuitive. Those whom one would expect to be ‘in’ (like Zechariah) are excluded, and those whom one would expect to be ‘out’ (like Mary) are included. Several scholars appropriately suggest that Luke 19:10 should be seen as a one-verse summary of Luke’s Gospel: ‘For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.’ Here in Luke 1 and throughout this gospel, we see that the glad heart of God is drawn to those whom the world holds at arm’s length.
This picture of the surprising nature of Jesus’s community provides great hope to those who feel like outsiders. Jesus welcomes the sinners, the vile, the weak, the needy. He shows them kindness and love and bestows dignity upon them. It also provides a great challenge to those who feel like they are “in.” Truly all of us are the outsiders that God has welcomed into his family and to truly reflect his heart of radical grace, we also ought to be seeking to include others who might feel themselves outside of the inner circle. Because his grace is open to all — all — the gospel of grace provides the only resource for authentic community. Know that you shouldn’t be in. Look to Christ. Be at rest. You are in.
Reflection Questions:
In your Christian life, do you feel like an outsider or an insider? How does it help to know that in Christ you are always in?
How does your church treat “outsiders”? Upon reflecting on Jesus’s surprising community, how might you work to practice including others in your Christian community that might otherwise be excluded?
A Short Prayer:
Lord, thank you for inviting me, while I was still a sinner, an outsider, to join your family through the gift of your grace. Please help me to use the radical inclusivity of the gospel to introduce others to that wonderful gift found only in you. Enable your church to continue to grow in living out this surprising community in a way that displays your heart to the world. Amen.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), Copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. May not copy or download more than 500 consecutive verses of the ESV Bible or more than one half of any book of the ESV Bible.
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