THE MOST THANKFUL ANGEL
This episode has a subtle twist. It assumes seven appearances of unnamed angels dealing directly with Jesus shown in the Gospels are all by the same angel (not including Gabriel’s appearances). Using that twist, the backstory of the angel and its thankfulness are part of the story line. The seven appearances are:
To tell Joseph about Mary (Mat. 1:20-24).
Announce the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:9-15).
To tell Joseph to take Jesus to Egypt to avoid Herod’s wrath (Mat. 2:13-14).
To tell Joseph to move from Egypt back to Israel (Matthew 2:19-23).
To attend to Jesus after the wilderness temptations (Matthew 4:11).
To strengthen Jesus at Gethsemane (Luke 22:43).
To roll away the stone of Jesus’ tomb and inform the women (Matthew 28:2-5).
THE MOST THANKFUL ANGEL
A summary of the life of Jesus with emphasis on angel appearances
AN ANGEL
JAMES THE APOSTLE
JAMES SON OF ZEBEDEE
JAMES THE APOSTLE Luke builds his Gospel by showing how Jesus calls his twelve apostles and then trains them. This training takes the form of spending time with Jesus, watching him do miracles and healings, and listening to his teachings. By Luke 9, the basic training is over and advanced training has started. Jesus empowers the apostles and gives them authority to drive out demons and cure people, and to teach about the Kingdom of God.
MARY MAGDALENE IN LUKE
Mary Magdalene
MARY MAGDALENE Over the centuries, many people have observed that Jesus was one of the first world leaders concerned with women’s rights. When it came to women, Jesus wasn’t as concerned with the day-to-day societal norms as he was with their worth. In many ancient societies, including the time when Jesus was born, women were considered property, with worth far below that of men—the Roman Empire even codified this in their laws. It was only during the following decades that women started receiving more legal rights.
LUKE 11-13 THE PHARISEE
The Pharisees were a Jewish sect that started two hundred years before Jesus. At times their identity shifted between a political party, a social movement, or a school of thought. They believed in the authority of virtually all of the Hebrew Bible (what we call the Old Testament) and had built an oral tradition of a vast number of interpretations. After the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, their beliefs became foundational in Rabbinic Judaism.