RBWords

     The evangelists Luke and Matthew are our sources for information about the human origins of Jesus.  As the gospel began to be preached widely, people were naturally curious about where Jesus came from and who his parents were, etc. etc..  Since Luke and Matthew wrote forty to fifty years after the death and resurrection of Jesus, they had to rely on oral traditions that were being passed around informally.  The Gospel According to Mark, on which they based much of their own composition, did not have an "infancy narrative," so other sources had to be found.  So, for example,  our manger scenes contain elements of both Matthew and Luke, and each of the two gospels has its own "annunciation" story - an angel visits Joseph in Matthew and an angel visits Mary in Luke.  Luke provides shepherds and Matthew provides Magi!  (And other traditions provide the number of Magi!)

     Another important element of the "infancy narratives" is that they were written in the light of what would happen later, so there is an outline of the whole gospel story within each of the "infancy narratives."  Jesus is the fulfillment of God's promise of salvation, foretold by the prophets.  He is the Messiah.  

     The gospel scripture for today is the one that captures the most attention - the annunciation to Mary, but the story of Advent is really a tapestry of traditions which tell us of God's mercy and love in the form of the birth of Jesus while also telling us that there is much more to come.  AMEN