Luke 2 -- treasured memories

We started through this tour of Luke by discussing the mechanics of inspiration. How does one speak for God without migraines, convulsions, and grinning like a baby camel? The writers of the New Testament (İncil) put their brains in gear, described things they'd actually experienced, or spent major chunks of time listening to those who had been on the scene. For example, John Mark was related to Simon Peter, apparently his nephew. His gospel tells the story of the life of Jesus through the eyes of Peter. Imagine the younger man listening to his uncle repeating the most significant accounts, time after time, to various audiences.

Matthew and Luke both dipped into this same well of information. All but a handful of verses from Mark are incorporated into the other two synoptic (seen together) gospels. John's gospel reports a number of personal conversations that involved Jesus and one other person. Well, since Jesus was in heaven by the time John wrote his gospel, he apparently found and talked to the other party, time after time.

People remember the landmarks of their lives. Luke, the physician, seems to have spent a great deal of time with Meryam, the mother of Jesus. Tradition informs us that Mary retired to the city of Efes in Turkey. Luke was from Troas, another Anatolian city. In chapter 2 of Luke's gospel, we read these comments:

Luk 2:19 Meryem ise bütün bu sözleri derin derin düşünerek yüreğinde saklıyordu.
Luk 2:33 İsa'nın annesiyle babası, O'nun hakkında söylenenlere şaştılar.
Luk 2:50 Ne var ki onlar ne demek istediğini anlamadılar.
Luk 2:51 İsa onlarla birlikte yola çıkıp Nasıra'ya döndü. Onların sözünü dinlerdi. Annesi bütün bu olup bitenleri yüreğinde sakladı.

Mary committed some things to memory, and meditated "deeply" upon them. The word derin has a number of definitions:

derin	deep. profound. abstruse. fathomless. recondite. religious.
derin	deep. exquisite. extensive. profound. recondite. sound. thorough.
derin	deep. profound. bottom. depth.

In Turkish, to intensify a word, you often double it. Mary thought about these events, and words, very deeply, indeed.