Christmas II
By The Rev. Martha Frances+
Yr. B, Christmas II - 4 January 2009
Text: Luke 2: 41-52
Others: Jeremiah 31: 7-14; Psalm 84; Ephesians 1: 3-6, 15-19a
This morning we have the opportunity to hear a story not often read in church because many years we do not have a second Sunday of Christmas before the Epiphany. This year we have this wonderful transition Sunday between all the stories of Jesus' birth from the last couple of weeks & next week's celebration of Jesus' baptism when we will baptize three young folks—so be sure to come back for that celebration!
Luke gives us a snapshot really—the only picture we have of Jesus between the infancy narratives & the beginning of his public ministry—with his visit in the temple at the age of 12. Since Jewish males are expected to take on adult responsibilities at age 13, when they also entered adulthood in Jesus' day since there was no such thing as adolescence, it is significant that Jesus was still a boy at 12. Passover was one of the festivals centered in the Jerusalem temple, so observant Jews were expected to travel there to observe the anniversary of Moses' leading the Hebrews out of Egypt & God's rescue of the Hebrew children from slaughter.
Clearly, a whole group of family & friends venture from Nazareth to Jerusalem at this time—a 4-day journey on foot—so Mary & Joseph assume Jesus is with the pilgrims as they begin their return journey. At night when children return to their parents' fire for a meal & bedtime, Jesus does not appear so Mary & Joseph search the group of pilgrims in vain. They must be weary after the day's travel as well as panicked when they pack up their belongings to return to Jerusalem to find Jesus. They leave the protection of their hometown community as they set their faces back to Jerusalem to find their lost son.
Luke tells us they search 3 days before finding Jesus in the temple. Now I'm the mother of 4 boys—now grown men with their own families—but I can remember the panic I experienced when we lost one of them at a public event like at a festival or sports game, even for a little while. For Mary, 3 days must have been an eternity! Can't you just imagine her tone of voice when she finally finds him in the temple & asks him, "Child, why have you treated us like this?" A clearer head would tell her & us that Jesus has not set out purposely to upset his parents but rather, as a 12-year-old is wont to do, has been so intent on his own agenda that he forgets to check in with his parents. How human of him! Which is exactly the point: he is fully human just like other boys. And his parents have searched anxiously for him!
Even Jesus' sitting among the elders of Israel listening & learning & expounding upon the scriptures himself is not that unusual of a child prodigy if we remember the amazing library of compositions Mozart had written by this age, for example. Granted, the rabbis were astonished at the depth of his wisdom, but we have the pleasure of hearing insightful wisdom from even very young children at times, don't we?
It is rather Jesus' early self-awareness which might take us aback were we in the crowd that day. In the first words we hear from Jesus in Luke's gospel, he states clearly that they should recognize he is about his Father's business. Mary has just referred to his earthly father Joseph, but Luke lets it be known that even when Jesus is still a child he is aware of the special relationship with God his Father. He now claims for himself what had been previously stated by others: his divine relationship with the Creator. Jesus' claim of his heavenly Father is beyond his earthly parents' comprehension, repeating a Gospel theme of even those closest to him not understanding who Jesus is.
As the little family returns to Nazareth, it is clear that it is not yet the "fullness of time" for Jesus, for he remains obedient to his parents according to the passage, presumably learning the craft of carpentry from Joseph for whom this is his final appearance. Once again, we see Jesus maturing as a young Jewish man, learning a trade as he matures in his understanding of the scriptures & lore of Judaism. Next week we continue this story with his next recorded public appearance—his baptism by his cousin John.
Another of the themes Luke emphasizes in his gospel is the central importance of the temple in the lives of Jewish people. This same theme is picked up in the passage from Jeremiah we read this morning. The joy of worshipping in the temple once again is evident for the exiles returning from Babylon. God is their shepherd who leads the flock back to their homeland & to their central place of worship, the temple, as God turns their mourning into joy & they are satisfied with the bounty of their homeland.
Psalm 84 picks up on this theme as the psalmist sings "How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!" and continues "For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere." Although our "temple" is a small parish church in northwest Houston, the celebratory nature of both these passages as well as Jesus' making the temple his spiritual home at age 12 reminds us that it is in our faith community that we nourish our own spirituality & rear our children to love & follow Christ as the exemplar in their lives. May we cherish the community of Hope as the Jewish people celebrated their time in their temple, & may we continue to provide for our community's spiritual growth here at Hope.
Luke's story of Jesus in the temple at 12 is transitional in the telling of the gospel—the good news—& we can learn even from this early appearance how he grew spiritually from his teachers, the rabbis & Jewish elders, but also of his developing relationship with God which he recognizes is not like other humans'. Jesus wasn't afraid to venture beyond his comfort zone, or at least the comfort zone of his family, when he fulfilled an obvious desire for learning beyond what he could gain in Nazareth, yet he also prepared for his later life by developing as a typical young Jewish man in a family setting in Nazareth. May we continue to develop our own spiritual lives, pass that yearning on to our parish children, & reach beyond to offer the blessing of a life with Jesus the Christ to those who may not yet know him.
Yr. B, Christmas II - 4 January 2009
Text: Luke 2: 41-52
Others: Jeremiah 31: 7-14; Psalm 84; Ephesians 1: 3-6, 15-19a
This morning we have the opportunity to hear a story not often read in church because many years we do not have a second Sunday of Christmas before the Epiphany. This year we have this wonderful transition Sunday between all the stories of Jesus' birth from the last couple of weeks & next week's celebration of Jesus' baptism when we will baptize three young folks—so be sure to come back for that celebration!
Luke gives us a snapshot really—the only picture we have of Jesus between the infancy narratives & the beginning of his public ministry—with his visit in the temple at the age of 12. Since Jewish males are expected to take on adult responsibilities at age 13, when they also entered adulthood in Jesus' day since there was no such thing as adolescence, it is significant that Jesus was still a boy at 12. Passover was one of the festivals centered in the Jerusalem temple, so observant Jews were expected to travel there to observe the anniversary of Moses' leading the Hebrews out of Egypt & God's rescue of the Hebrew children from slaughter.
Clearly, a whole group of family & friends venture from Nazareth to Jerusalem at this time—a 4-day journey on foot—so Mary & Joseph assume Jesus is with the pilgrims as they begin their return journey. At night when children return to their parents' fire for a meal & bedtime, Jesus does not appear so Mary & Joseph search the group of pilgrims in vain. They must be weary after the day's travel as well as panicked when they pack up their belongings to return to Jerusalem to find Jesus. They leave the protection of their hometown community as they set their faces back to Jerusalem to find their lost son.
Luke tells us they search 3 days before finding Jesus in the temple. Now I'm the mother of 4 boys—now grown men with their own families—but I can remember the panic I experienced when we lost one of them at a public event like at a festival or sports game, even for a little while. For Mary, 3 days must have been an eternity! Can't you just imagine her tone of voice when she finally finds him in the temple & asks him, "Child, why have you treated us like this?" A clearer head would tell her & us that Jesus has not set out purposely to upset his parents but rather, as a 12-year-old is wont to do, has been so intent on his own agenda that he forgets to check in with his parents. How human of him! Which is exactly the point: he is fully human just like other boys. And his parents have searched anxiously for him!
Even Jesus' sitting among the elders of Israel listening & learning & expounding upon the scriptures himself is not that unusual of a child prodigy if we remember the amazing library of compositions Mozart had written by this age, for example. Granted, the rabbis were astonished at the depth of his wisdom, but we have the pleasure of hearing insightful wisdom from even very young children at times, don't we?
It is rather Jesus' early self-awareness which might take us aback were we in the crowd that day. In the first words we hear from Jesus in Luke's gospel, he states clearly that they should recognize he is about his Father's business. Mary has just referred to his earthly father Joseph, but Luke lets it be known that even when Jesus is still a child he is aware of the special relationship with God his Father. He now claims for himself what had been previously stated by others: his divine relationship with the Creator. Jesus' claim of his heavenly Father is beyond his earthly parents' comprehension, repeating a Gospel theme of even those closest to him not understanding who Jesus is.
As the little family returns to Nazareth, it is clear that it is not yet the "fullness of time" for Jesus, for he remains obedient to his parents according to the passage, presumably learning the craft of carpentry from Joseph for whom this is his final appearance. Once again, we see Jesus maturing as a young Jewish man, learning a trade as he matures in his understanding of the scriptures & lore of Judaism. Next week we continue this story with his next recorded public appearance—his baptism by his cousin John.
Another of the themes Luke emphasizes in his gospel is the central importance of the temple in the lives of Jewish people. This same theme is picked up in the passage from Jeremiah we read this morning. The joy of worshipping in the temple once again is evident for the exiles returning from Babylon. God is their shepherd who leads the flock back to their homeland & to their central place of worship, the temple, as God turns their mourning into joy & they are satisfied with the bounty of their homeland.
Psalm 84 picks up on this theme as the psalmist sings "How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts!" and continues "For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere." Although our "temple" is a small parish church in northwest Houston, the celebratory nature of both these passages as well as Jesus' making the temple his spiritual home at age 12 reminds us that it is in our faith community that we nourish our own spirituality & rear our children to love & follow Christ as the exemplar in their lives. May we cherish the community of Hope as the Jewish people celebrated their time in their temple, & may we continue to provide for our community's spiritual growth here at Hope.
Luke's story of Jesus in the temple at 12 is transitional in the telling of the gospel—the good news—& we can learn even from this early appearance how he grew spiritually from his teachers, the rabbis & Jewish elders, but also of his developing relationship with God which he recognizes is not like other humans'. Jesus wasn't afraid to venture beyond his comfort zone, or at least the comfort zone of his family, when he fulfilled an obvious desire for learning beyond what he could gain in Nazareth, yet he also prepared for his later life by developing as a typical young Jewish man in a family setting in Nazareth. May we continue to develop our own spiritual lives, pass that yearning on to our parish children, & reach beyond to offer the blessing of a life with Jesus the Christ to those who may not yet know him.
posted by
Hope Episcopal Church
at 2:42 PM
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