{"id":850,"date":"2026-03-03T18:13:42","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T09:13:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/?p=850"},"modified":"2026-03-03T18:33:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T09:33:09","slug":"first-luke-%e2%91%ac-welcome-gathering","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/?p=850","title":{"rendered":"First Luke \u246c Welcome Gathering"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u21d2\u65e5\u672c\u8a9e\u30da\u30fc\u30b8\u306f\u3053\u3061\u3089\u3092\u30af\u30ea\u30c3\u30af\u3057\u3066\u306d\uff01<\/a><\/p>\n

During the summer, the farmers of Nazareth were so busy with the harvest that their heads seemed to spin. Just when the grape harvest began to settle down, it was already time to gather the summer fruits and olives.<\/p>\n

Dinah, too, was busy. Though her vineyard and olive trees were small, they still needed careful hands. From morning until evening, she worked quietly around the house.<\/p>\n

Luke enjoyed learning the blacksmith\u2019s trade, but his whole body ached. The hard labor was nothing like the days he had spent studying at the skola<\/em> in Troas. His muscles were not yet used to such work.<\/p>\n

Each night, sleep rushed over him like a heavy blanket, and he slept deeply until morning.<\/p>\n

People in Nazareth began to talk about the hardworking boy. At the well, women whispered kindly about him. Luke\u2019s Greek features seemed handsome to them. When he struggled to speak Hebrew while drawing water, they hurried to help, each one eager to teach him the right words.<\/p>\n

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Three weeks after Dinah and Luke had returned, the people of Nazareth held a small welcome gathering on the Sabbath.<\/p>\n

After the Law was read in the synagogue, everyone brought food and gathered in the courtyard. The elders spoke words of welcome. Harps and flutes began to play.<\/p>\n

The women enjoyed dancing most of all. They formed a circle and stepped lightly together. When the playful men tried to join, the women laughed and scattered. The men seemed content enough with their cups of wine.<\/p>\n

Joseph the carpenter\u2019s family stood together to sing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis song was written by my son, Jesus,\u201d Joseph announced cheerfully. \u201cIt is based on Jehovah\u2019s promise in the book of Isaiah. If I sing, I may spoil it, so my wife and children will sing for you. Please listen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary stood beside Jesus. Between them were two younger brothers and two sisters\u2014six voices in all. Together, they began to sing.<\/p>\n

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Eyes once dark shall see the light,<\/em>
Silent ears shall hear,<\/em>
Tangled tongues shall sing aloud,<\/em>
Weak feet dance with cheer.<\/em><\/p>\n

Bent backs shall stand tall and strong,<\/em>
No more parting by death,<\/em>
We shall live to see that day\u2014<\/em>
Forget not His faithful promise.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Water springs from rocky ground,<\/em>
Flowers bloom in sand,<\/em>
Joyful cries fill all the earth,<\/em>
Children leap hand in hand.<\/em><\/p>\n

Rich the harvest of the land,<\/em>
Golden fields we reap,<\/em>
We shall rise and see it all\u2014<\/em>
Forget not His faithful promise.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Lamb and lion side by side,<\/em>
Calf and wolf at play,<\/em>
A little child shall lead them all<\/em>
On sunlit hills one day.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sorrow gone and fear no more,<\/em>
Tears wiped from each face,<\/em>
We shall see God\u2019s kingdom come\u2014<\/em>
Forget not His faithful promise.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Mary\u2019s voice and Jesus\u2019 voice rose one after the other, and the children\u2019s harmonies wove around them. The people listened in wonder at the beauty of the song.<\/p>\n

Then Dinah and Luke shyly offered to sing a reply they had practiced in secret. Dinah had written it herself.<\/p>\n

Their voices floated gently into the sky above Nazareth.<\/p>\n

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Naomi said, \u201cGo home, my child,<\/em>
Return to your mother\u2019s house.\u201d<\/em>
But Ruth replied, \u201cDo not ask me to leave.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Where you go, I will go,<\/em>
Where you stay, I will stay.<\/em><\/p>\n

Your people shall be my people,<\/em>
Your God shall be my God.<\/em>
Where you die, there I will die,<\/em>
And there I shall be laid to rest.<\/em><\/p>\n

Ruth\u2019s faithfulness is our guide\u2014<\/em>
May we be the same.<\/em>
Forget not our God of love,<\/em>
So gracious and so true.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Their song touched every heart. Dinah, who had once left her hometown and her God, had returned. That alone filled the people with joy.<\/p>\n

And there was an unexpected addition to the song.<\/p>\n

From inside Luke\u2019s cloak, Theophilus the cat poked out his head\u2014and began to meow along with the melody.<\/p>\n

Laughter burst out everywhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cWelcome home!\u201d
\u201cWe\u2019re so glad you\u2019re back, Dinah!\u201d
\u201cWelcome, Luke!\u201d
\u201cIt feels like the Festival of Joy has come early!\u201d<\/p>\n

Voices of greeting filled the courtyard.<\/p>\n

Mary embraced Dinah warmly.
\u201cDinah, thank you. Your song was full of heart. To hear your voice again feels like a dream. You must have endured much. There may still be trials ahead\u2014but let us keep our eyes on God\u2019s reward.\u201d<\/p>\n

The two old friends held each other tightly.<\/p>\n

Jesus turned to Luke.<\/p>\n

\u201cLuke, your voice surprised me. It was beautiful. Next time, let\u2019s sing together. I think we could write a fine song\u2014perhaps about friendship. We must thank God for giving us such wonderful friends\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

He placed his hand on his chest and grew still for a moment.<\/p>\n

\u201cJesus! Don\u2019t freeze up again!\u201d<\/p>\n

The new friends burst into laughter together.<\/p>\n

And under the warm summer sky of Nazareth,
friendship quietly took root. \ud83c\udf3f<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u21d2\u65e5\u672c\u8a9e\u30da\u30fc\u30b8\u306f\u3053\u3061\u3089\u3092\u30af\u30ea\u30c3\u30af\u3057\u3066\u306d\uff01 During the summer, the farmers of Nazareth were so busy with the harvest that their heads […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-850","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-long-novels"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=850"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":857,"href":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/850\/revisions\/857"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/858"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/primitivechristianitystudy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}