Anticipating His Advent #19

We have been slowing walking through this core passage on the Incarnation of Christ found in Luke 2. We saw  yesterday that the shepherds had planned their response to the message of the angel and decided to go see for themselves:

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. 

Luke is very specific and detailed, as he often is, showing us that he has relied heavily upon eyewitnesses for his historical record.  Older translators were not always as detailed, making verse 16 sound like all three persons: Mary, Joseph and Jesus, were all lying in the manger together. Thus, when our family memorized this passage together years ago, our then youngest son would interrupt our recitation and ask in all seriousness: "All three of them?"  More importantly, notice the process: after they saw they child, they made knowing the saying, and all wondered. We have this repeated pattern in the incarnation account: Revelation, Evangelization, Preoccupation. God sent messengers, they told the good news to others, and those who heard it wondered, pondered, kept thinking about what God was saying and doing.  With so many things calling for our time and attention these busy days, may we be pre-occupied with Christ's coming.