No barriers Mal 3, 1-4; Ps 23:7, 8, 9, 10; Heb 2, 14-18; Lk 2, 22-40 The Incarnation is a very important theme for Luke’s Gospel, and we can see this through the Gospel’s incarnational theology. Incarnational theology is a theological perspective that focuses on the goodness present in all of humanity. An incarnational theology looks to the created world and life to learn about God. It sees God as present in the day-to-day dealings of the world, from the miraculous to the tragic to the mundane. This theology has its roots in the Old Testament. We see it especially in Wisdom literature, a form of literature that had great influence on the Gospel of Luke. It is also an important aspect of Third Isaiah, the text from which Jesus read in last Sunday’s Gospel. This emphasis on the Incarnation manifests itself in three important ways in Luke’s Gospel: a greater concern for the poor, a greater focus on women and the importance of table fellowship. The focus on the poor and on women is demonstrated straight off the bat in the Gospel of Luke. We see these themes take the forefront in his infancy narrative. To help us understand this better, we can compare Luke’s infancy narrative with Matthew’s. In Matthew’s narrative, the hero is a man: Joseph. He listens to and follows the instructions he receives in his dreams to protect Jesus. In Matthew’s Gospel, those who come to pay homage to Jesus are wealthy kings: the Magi. In contrast, Mary is the hero in Luke’s infancy narrative, along with Elizabeth, who is presented as more faithful than her husband, Zechariah. When it comes time for someone to pay homage to baby Jesus, it is not a caravan of impressive wealthy men who traveled from afar, but poor shepherds. Lastly, it is the widow Anna and the man Simeon who prophesy about Jesus’ role as savior and his life in today’s Gospel (Lk 2:34, 38). The author of Luke also makes efforts to include parallel references to women and men. For example, at Chapter 15:4-6, Jesus tells a parable of a man looking for his lost sheep. The next parable (15:8-10) is a parable about a woman looking for a lost coin. Jesus’ interactions with women are often seen as radical for the time, but they are not. First-century women in Judea had businesses, owned property and had their own money. They also could interact with men who were not their husbands or immediate family. Even so, just as in our patriarchal society, the work and accomplishments of women were often neglected or dismissed. The author of Luke’s Gospel sought not to do this, reminding readers that all humans are made in God’s image. Another profound way we see Jesus interact with marginalized groups of his time is through the theme of table fellowship. It has been noted that Jesus spends the entire Gospel of Luke either at a meal, leaving a meal or heading to another meal. At these meals Jesus eats with those who would be looked down upon by the greater society. While at table with them, he often offers a lesson or makes a gesture to encourage people to break down the boundaries that keep the marginalized of society away from the table. Jesus is very clear: table fellowship must be open to all. Whenever he sees that people are being excluded from the table, he pushes back against it. He reorients the idea of what is sacred. He challenges all to invite “the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind” (14:11). In Luke’s Gospel we can see that conversion comes after acceptance and table fellowship. The Gospel of Luke teaches us that any act of table fellowship can become a sacred occasion when we can encounter Christ. These lessons from the Gospel of Luke are rooted in the Old Testament. They link Jesus’ message to a positive vision of humanity that encourage all to break down the barriers of society. Only through this can the world find the restoration promised in Isaiah.
About the Author Kate Oxsen is an assistant professor of Old Testament studies at Catholic Theological Union.