LUKE 2
Luke 2 does not give us much in the area of politics. The shepherds were told by the angel that Jesus was born in the City of David, implying that a king in the line of King David was born. But as much as his birth city and the excitement of the angels implied that a great king was born the shepherds were told that they could find the child in a manger, and a manger was not the expected birthplace of a king. Be that as it may, being born into poverty did offer the commmon and poorer clases an audience and an intimate connection with the messiah. These Shepherds were invited to share in the celbration of the messiah.
Shepherding, by the way, was not considered a noble profession by Jesus' day, so the fact that angels chose to share their joy with shepherds and not with priests or those who devoted themselves to full time ministry is very telling.
Days after Jesus' birth, in the temple, Simeon reflected on the Covenant that God made with Abraham in Genesis 12 when he prophesied that Jesus would be a light to the Gentiles and the glory of Israel. He also predicted that Jesus would be the cause for the fall and rising of many in Israel. He ended his prophecy with a cryptic message about the suffering Mary would go through so that the hearts of people would be opened up. Politically speaking this passage does not offer us much. However, we do see that Simeon may have seen more than a political and warrior messiah... but this is not clear.
Anna was an old lady who happened to be in the temple when Simeon prophesied about Jesus. Luke tells us that after hearing Simeon and seeing Jesus she spread the news to people who were looking for the redemption of Israel.
The word "redemption" originally meant buying slaves out of slavery, but by the end of the NT it meant deliverence from sin or captivity. Before Jesus' death and resurrection I would guess that dominant opinion focused more on captivity and less on sin, more on deliverance from Rome and less about deliverance from sin.
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