Year 1, Day 211, Luke 2

Jesus: Birth to Adulthood

Luke 2 covers 30 years of time.  We go from the announcement of Jesus’ birth (Luke 1) to John the Baptist in the Wilderness (Luke 3).  That’s thirty years of time.  I’ve always wondered what happened in those thirty years.  Were they just normal human life?  Were they filled with small miracles as Jesus grew in power?  Was Jesus liked or disliked?  Was He always wise and always right?  Was He an easy kid to raise or was He just impossible because He was always right even when being contrary to Mary and Joseph?  {See the Temple incident as evidence of that one.}

But this morning as I am typing those questions, I realize the propensity for me to become distracted.  With thirty years of time spent untold, I can get lost in all of the wondering and pondering.  I can get so lost in the pondering that I miss what Luke actually wrote.  I need to trust good Doctor Luke in that he wrote what the Holy Spirit led him to write.  All that I need to know, I have been given. 

Granted, it is not all that I want to know.  But that’s kind of my point.  I want to know it, but I shouldn’t let my wants to distract me from what I need to know.  The Holy Spirit guided Luke to write what I need to know to accomplish God’s will.

Jesus’ Birth and Dedication

So what do we know from this passage about Jesus?  First, let’s look at Simeon, Anna, and the shepherds.  For the record, these people could easily be called: some old guy with the Holy Spirit, some longstanding widow who spends all of her time hanging around the temple, and a bunch of smelly people who did a job that traditionally wasn’t considered very respectable.  This absolutely continues the theme from yesterday that God casts “normal” people in His grand plan!  God wants to use the normal!

But what even cooler is that these seemingly normal people are actually quite extraordinary.  What made Simeon notable was not anything he brought to the table but that he had the Holy Spirit resting upon him.  What made Anna notable was her devotion to the Lord above the things of this world (no doubt a sign of the Holy Spirit being upon her as well).  What made the shepherds notable was their willingness to listen to the angels and humbly seek out the Lord.  These are average people who are remembered for thousands of years because of what they were willing to have God to do through them. 

What a great testimony to the Christian!  It is not I or you or we that am, is, or are great!  It is what God accomplishes through me and you and us that is great.

The Sacrifice

Furthermore, look at the sacrifice made for Mary.  Two turtledoves.  From Leviticus 12:8 we can see that this is the sacrifice of the poor.  Mary (or Joseph, more likely) cannot afford a lamb.  So the bird option is used.  Again this goes to show how “normal” Mary was.  She couldn’t even afford a lamb for a “proper” sacrifice.

Holy Heavenly History, Batman!  Something just hit me as I wrote that last sentence.  Maybe I’ve heard this before and my subconscious is pulling this out – but I don’t ever remember hearing this spoken before.  Mary could not afford a lamb for the sacrifice!  Mary could not afford the lamb, but God had given her the very lamb that would become her sacrifice!  How cool is that?  Mary – a poor young virgin facing societal shame for bearing a child that was not of her husband – cannot afford a proper sacrifice.  Yet God has given her all the sacrifice that she would need in Jesus.

I am struck by all the parallels into the Old Testament that this brings up.  Remember Abraham?  Abraham is asked where the sacrificial ram is when Isaac clearly sees that his father has none.  Abraham says “God will provide.”  Mary cannot afford a lamb, but knows that “God can provide.”  Remember the prophets and how almost all of them say “God does not desire your sacrifices.  Rend your hearts, not your garments.”  {See Joel 2:13, Hosea 6:6, and Psalm 51:15-17 as the most often-used citation of this concept.}  Mary cannot afford a lamb for the proper legal sacrifice, but she gives herself to be used by God instead.  Her heart is rent, and God uses it to bring in the Savior of the world.

Jesus At the Temple

This is a great transitional story that does allow me to go back to an earlier pondering an wonder just how spiritual Jesus was as a child.  If we look closely here, we can hear that Jesus is in the temple.  Mary finds Him and says, “Where have you been?  Your father and I have been searching for you.  We are in such distress!”  And look how Jesus replies.  He says, “Didn’t you know that I would be in my Father’s house?”

Jesus is drawing a distinction between His fathers.  Jesus draws a distinction between His father’s search and His Father’s house.  Jesus is not trying to discredit Joseph; Jesus is trying to illustrate that there is something unique and special going on here.  Biological relationships can be great.  But spiritual relationships are even greater.  Jesus knows who his father is.  He also knows who his Father is.

I believe this is why we don’t hear about Jesus being punished by Mary.  In fact, we hear that Mary “treasured all of these things in her heart.”  I’m sure Mary wanted to throttle Jesus when He said what He said – especially after searching for Him and thinking Him lost!  But she sees in Jesus an immature twelve year old boy who is coming into a spiritual being unlike the world has ever seen.

Perhaps you balked a bit at my last comment.  Perhaps you wonder how it is that the Son of God – perfect in every way – could be seen like an immature twelve year old boy.  Perhaps it sounds a bit blasphemous to paint the young Jesus as a bit immature.  So don’t take my word for it.  Read the Bible.  What does the last verse in this chapter say?  After this point, Jesus increased in wisdom, stature, and favor.

How can a person who is fully divine increase in wisdom, right?  Let’s not forget that Jesus was also fully human.  While He was completely the Son of God, he was also completely human as well.  Human beings tend to be a bit immature at twelve.  That doesn’t mean that teenagers are always wrong or sinful or anything else.  But it does mean that even when doing the right thing they lack a sense of maturity and wisdom about them.  If Jesus was fully human – and I believe that He was – we should expect this to also be true of Him, too!

Mary sees this and knows it.  So she can treasure Jesus’ comment in her heart for the spiritual expression of a twelve year old boy that it is.  Jesus grows in wisdom and stature and favor until His time for ministry has truly come upon Him.  That’s what we’ll begin to talk about tomorrow.

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