Gentiles

Today we read the story of Simeon and Anna in the Temple. We reviewed the expectations of the Jews at that time regarding the Messiah. Most people expected a mighty king who would deliver them from the Romans. Simeon and Anna had the right expectations, which were based on all the Scriptures and not only on a few passages.

We also talked about Jesus' humiliation in His earthly life, and how suffering precedes glory. According to the dictionary, humiliation means to "reduce to a lower position in one's eyes". Everything in this earthly life was pretty humiliating for the King of Kings!

Finally, we noticed Simeon's prophecy about the Gentiles. Jesus was going to be a light to the Gentiles and a glory to Israel. I decided to see where the word Gentiles comes from. It comes from the Latin gentes, which means peoples or nations (the Greek word is ethnos, from which we get our words "ethnic" or "ethnicity"). So Simeon was saying that Jesus came to be a light to the nations in general. The Jews used this word to mean the nations which were not Israel. The majority of us in our Sunday School class are not of Jewish descent, so thank God that His light went out to the Gentiles!

Since one of you thought that Gentiles meant "white Christians", I am enclosing a picture of a painting done in Egypt around the time of Jesus.

What We Are Studying Now

We have gone through the stories of Zechariah and Elizabeth, and of Joseph and Mary. We have followed on the map Mary's trip from Nazareth to Judea and back, and Joseph and Mary's trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem. We have learned that Bethlehem, Nazareth, and Jerusalem are cities, and Galilee and Judea are regions. Part of Mary's trips was probably through dry and sandy areas like you see in this picture.

We have stopped after the shepherds had just spread the news of the angels' proclamation and the birth of Jesus. We read that "Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart". The word translated "treasured up" also means "collect, put together". Mary put all these things together in her mind, thinking about the glory of her newborn son, God's Son. We learned how the word "pondering" means "thinking deeply". We decided to ponder about all this too.

Next week, we will read Luke 2:22-36 and maybe start Matthew 2 (the wise men), depending on the time.

All those who have memorized Questions 1, 2, and 21 from the Heidelberg Catechism should memorize Question 60.

Have a great week and write some comments if you like!