May the mumbling commence!
Our next book to read in this regimen is the gospel according to Luke. So, in the next half-dozen days we will read through Luke…
Do you know where your children are? What if you only have one child? Surely, one child would be relatively easy to keep track of, right? It seems that Mary and Joseph were having trouble keeping track of Jesus, their precocious twelve-year-old. Read from the end of Luke chapter two:
Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you."
"Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. (Verses 41-52)
Before I had a child, I looked with disdain at the parenting of Mary and Joseph. How could they assume their child was somewhere in the group for an entire day? We call that today child endangerment. Jesus could have ended up in foster care if Mary and Joseph were caught at this today.
It took Mary and Joseph a day to begin wondering about Jesus. “Have you seen him?” They probably asked one another. “No, I haven’t.” Then the search began that led them all the way back to the temple. It took three days to find Jesus. That’s a total of four days without knowing where their child was!
But now that I have a child – a three-year-old son, named Micah – I can better understand. Whenever my family is at a church event, there will be times where I will look at my wife, Anita, and ask her if she knows where Micah is. Neither of us know for sure at that moment. As a family, we feel safe in the context of the church setting that Micah will be cared for. Someone will be keeping an eye or two on him at all times.
But the situation with Jesus was different in one significant way. In Jewish tradition, Jesus would have been entering manhood. At the age of thirteen, a boy would be considered a man of Israel. This is marked by a Bar Mitzvah.
So, was Jesus showing the first signs of teenage rebellion? Not so fast, my teen friends! Jesus was honoring his Father in heaven. That is what Jesus meant when he said that he had to be in his Father’s house. But Jesus’ earthly parents just did not understand. I can almost hear the “Amens” from the teens now.
Before you claim the high ground, teenagers, read the last two verses of the passage. Jesus went home to Nazareth with Mary and Joseph and was obedient to them – despite their misunderstanding him. Mary treasured these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature before God and people. So, before we claim a right to rebel, we must fully understand the depth of Jesus’ obedience both to his earthly parents and his Father in heaven.
Parents: respect and love your children. Teens: respect and obey your parents. And above all obey God. If we obey God, all other things will fall into place.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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