Salvation history is human history

One common phenomenon when reading the Bible is seeing its stories within the confinement of the biblical realm, as if they were disconnected and unrelated to the rest of our world. Luke wrote his gospel from a historical perspective – not a chronological history book with which we are familiar – but on the history of salvation. By aligning Jesus' birth (rf Lk 2:1-2) and the emergence of John the Baptist (rf Lk 3:1-2) with the facts of the contemporary world and secular history, Luke reminds his readers that salvation history is human history (rf Lk 1:5, 2:1-2, 3:1-2, Acts 4:6, 11:28, 18:2, 12).

The introduction of John the Baptist in today's Gospel Reading is superscribed against the backdrop of a critical time in the world history – the breaking in of God's kingdom on earth. The time was somewhere between 27 and 29 AD, the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar (14-37 AD). Herod the Great (the enemy of the infant Jesus) was dead and his kingdom was split among his three sons – Herod Antipas, Philip and Archelaus. Herod Antipas ruled Galilee in northern Palestine and his domain included Nazareth, Capharnaum, Cana, Naim; places where Jesus spent the greatest part of His life. Philip was given a section northeast of Galilee and Archelaus governed Judea, Samaria and Idumea. Archelaus was so detestable to the Jews that they had him removed and Pontius Pilate was then appointed to govern his inheritance. Pilate would never have dreamed that by such appointment, he would later encounter Jesus in His final destiny and he himself was then made known throughout history.

Luke also casts light on the religious situation and leadership of Palestine at that time. Annas, though deposed by the Romans of his high priesthood in 15 AD, nevertheless continued to exert his influence in the supreme religious jurisdiction of Israel. He was succeeded by various members of his family but it was his son-in-law Caiaphas (high priest 18-36 AD) who played the fateful role that instigated Jesus' death (rf Jn 11:49-50). He too, like Pontius Pilate, would not have expected himself prophesying the redemptive death of Jesus (rf Jn 11:51-52). These were the political and religious rulers of that critical period in which each of them was predestined to take part in God's salvation plan.

Hence stories in the Bible are not merely contained in the biblical world and certainly not from myths, legends or imaginations. They were stories lived out by people in the real world wherein all were born and died much the same as we are now. Life is like a thread in a tapestry; each thread is essential for building up the whole tapestry, adding designated shade and colour to it. Each thread is placed alongside with another thread which does the same. Each is interwoven with another and supported by many others. The problem is that we often look from the back of the tapestry and thus all we see are loose ends, tangled knots and meaningless patterns. We forget that God sees all that is. He is the weaver who silently, wondrously, and orderly guides every thread with His tender hand. According to His design in the making of His grand tapestry, God will complete His work in due time. With this in mind, let us widen our lens when reading the Bible and do not dissociate its stories with our present age and the world we are in now. We are part of each other and share the same history together. We are all in one tapestry and the threads that began in the past are still continuously being woven today.