Based on the Scripture Reading from Luke 2:41-52:
Would you pray with me: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Amen
It is hard to believe that another year has come to an end. Time seems to be passing more quickly these days. Even as we read today’s Gospel Lesson from Luke, we move from the birth of Jesus, through the years, to when Jesus was twelve. And while we continue our celebration of the Christmas season, this might seem a bit perplexing. Why do we leave the manger, and travel with Jesus to Jerusalem and to the Festival of Passover, and then return next Sunday to celebrate the Epiphany? For most of us, we like things in chronological order. But today, that is not the case. And while in all my readings, I have not discovered the answer to this question of why the story of Jesus in the temple is inserted between Christmas and the Epiphany, it did make me ponder about how we view time.
In everything, there is a rhythm. From the passing of the days and nights to the movement of the celestial bodies, and the changing of the seasons, there is a rhythm by which humankind has measured time. Yet how we see time is perhaps not how God sees time. For God is greater than all things by which we measure time. And in our measuring of time, everything has a beginning and an end. But God is without beginning or end. God is eternal. God omnipresence, being everywhere at the same time, suddenly seems to make time irrelevant.
So, as we find Jesus in the temple today, as a young boy on the verge of manhood, which was considered to be age 13 in the Jewish tradition,[1] we are given a glimpse into who this Christ Child really is. Mary, his mother, continues to ponder who is this child who was conceived in her womb by the power of the Holy Spirit? Who is this child whom the shepherds came and greeted?[2] “Mary is faced with the same problem that confronts all who hear the word of God.” [3] "Faith” is the entry way “into the mystery” of the Person Jesus, the second Person of the Trinity. [4] Mary is unaware of her son’s divine purpose for becoming flesh and walking amongst mortal beings. And in today’s Gospel lesson, many things are revealed to us.
First, we see Mary and Joseph’s deep devotion to God. They are raising Jesus in the traditions of their faith: the faith of their forefathers passed down through the generations. They worship the One true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And they adhere to God’s commandments and follow what is written in the Mosaic laws. As required by the law, pious Jews were expected to attend one of three pilgrimage festivals each year. [5] The journey from Nazareth to Jerusalem was about eighty miles one way and would take about three days. [6] In traveling to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover, they sacrifice much. It cost time and money to travel, especially when taking the entire family along.
Their faithfulness can be seen in Mary and Joseph remaining for the whole eight days of the festival, even though they were only required by law to stay for the first two.[7] Imagine the city of Jerusalem with all of the hustle and bustle of over a quarter million people flocking to the city from everywhere to celebrate the Passover. [8] With such chaos, it is no wonder how Mary and Joseph could have lost sight of their son.
And as was the custom, those who came for the pilgrimage traveled to and from Jerusalem in caravans for protection. Mary and Joseph likely assumed that Jesus was with their relatives and friends, as they set off on their return journey to Nazareth. But when that first day came to an end, he was not found. Can you imagine their panic, their horror that their beloved son was missing?
From this passage we also see how important family unity is to Jewish life. It is a life of relationship in which the nucleus family is of vital importance, and extended family plays a key role. In this passage, we see Mary and Joseph’s great love for this child, and their desire to protect him. They return to Jerusalem, and search for three days before finding him in the temple. They have been worried about their son, while “anxiously searching” for him. And in finding him, he is among the teachers, listing and asking questions.
These teachers, these leaders of Jewish faith and society are “amazed at his understanding” of the Torah. They are “amazed by his answers” as they discuss the interpretation of Scripture, as they discuss the laws. This passage gives us a glimpse into Jesus’s divine wisdom. It illustrates that even as a child, Jesus knew who he was, showing his relationship with his Father in heaven.
And when confronted by his parents regarding his disappearance, he responds to Mary and Joseph, “Why were you searching for me?” “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” Yet Joseph and Mary did not understand what he was saying. They did not understand his divine purpose for becoming flesh and walking amongst mortal beings.
Jesus, being an obedient child, submitted to their will and went back to Nazareth with them, and “grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” [9] Perhaps his obedience in this passage can even be seen as a foreshadowing of his submittal to the Father’s will on that dark night in the garden of Gethsemane. For Christ remained obedient to the Father’s will, even unto death upon that cross on Calvary.
And as we hear this story and gain insight into the Person of Jesus Christ, we might ask how can this lesson relate to our lives today? Like with Mary and Joseph, sometimes, life seems to go astray, and our plans do not go as we expected. Our journey takes a detour, and we have to take a step back to search for what truly matters in our lives. It is as if we ourselves are lost, “anxiously searching” for answers.
During such times, we can experience feelings of distress. We may not know where to look or what to do, or who we should call upon for help and guidance? And just like Mary and Joseph, without deep understanding of the situation, we might begin our search looking in all the wrong places. When Mary and Joseph go to the temple, perhaps to pray to seek God’s help and guidance and to ask for help from the Jewish leaders, it is there that they find Jesus.
Sometimes, when we feel lost and anxious about our own situations, we don’t think about asking God for help, until there are no other places to look, no answers to be found. But perhaps, if we were to turn to God first, and seek Jesus in our times of anxious searching, we might find what we need to see clearly – the peace that Christ brings into all situations.
For through our Lord, and by his love-light, the way is illuminated. He bears our heavy burdens. He walks with us amidst the shadows that try to darken our lives and makes all things new. When we feel lost, there is one who can guide us, lead us, and who walks with us at all times, even when we sometimes feel alone. In these times, just remember that your faith and your love bind you to the one who loves you and wants what is best for you. In God all things are possible. All things are made anew when our journey takes a detour, and we can be assured that Jesus loves us and will never abandon us on our life’s journey. He is our hope, our peace, and eternally with us. Amen.
[1] Grant R. Osborne, Luke Verse by Verse (Bellingham, WA:Lexham Press, 2018), 80-81.
[2] Tokunboh Adeyemo, African Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), 1235.
[3] Ibid., 1235.
[4] Ibid., 1235.
[5] Grant R. Osborne, Luke Verse by Verse (Bellingham, WA:Lexham Press, 2018), 81.
[6] Ibid., 81.
[7] Ibid., 81.
[8] Ibid., 81.
[9] Luke 2:52, NIV
Works Cited:
Adeyemo, Tokunboh. African Bible Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006.
Osborne, Grant R. Luke Verse by Verse. Bellingham, WA:Lexham Press, 2018.
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