Part 2 (2/2)
40 And the child grew, and waxed strong, filled with wisdom: and the grace of G.o.d was upon him.
The incidents of the infancy of Jesus recorded by Luke not only add human interest to the story but they interpret the future career and the saving work of our Lord. Thus when on the eighth day he was named ”Jesus,” a name often given to Jewish boys, it was because he was destined to fulfill all that the name implies, for he was to be the ”Salvation of the Lord.”
So, too, when five weeks later he was presented in the Temple, when his mother offered for herself a sacrifice which indicated lack of wealth but not abject poverty, the real significance of the scene is set forth in the prophetic utterances of the saintly Simeon and Anna. The first of these utterances was the song of Simeon, called from the Latin form of its opening words the Nunc Dimittis (”Now Lettest Thou Depart”). To this devout soul it had been revealed that he should not die until he had seen the Messiah, ”the Lord's Christ.” Led by the Spirit to the Temple while the parents of Jesus are there presenting their Son before the Lord, he took the little babe in his arms and sang the sweetest and most solemn song of the nativity, which, unlike the Magnificat or the Benedictus, promises redemption not only to Israel but to all the world.
”Now lettest thou thy servant depart ... in peace;” the figure of speech is full of beauty; it is the word of a faithful watchman who welcomes with joy the hour of his dismissal, for he has caught the vision of the coming One; now he is about to be sent away in the peace of an accomplished task, in the peace of fulfilled hope; for his eyes have seen the Saviour according to the promise of the Lord. The redemption which the Messiah brings, as the song continues to declare, is for all peoples; it is a light to reveal the way of salvation to the Gentiles; it is to be the true glory of the favored people, Israel.
While this salvation is provided for all, it will not be accepted by all.
To the wondering mother, Simeon uttered a dark word of prophecy. The ministry of Jesus will be the occasion for the fall and the rise of many.
Their att.i.tude toward him will be a revelation of character; some will reject him and thus condemn themselves; some will speak against him, even though he is the very token and instrument of divine salvation; this opposition will reach its climax at the cross, when bitter anguish like a sword will pierce the soul of Mary. Jesus is to be the touchstone of character; wherever he is known, by accepting or by rejecting him, men will disclose their true nature; ”the thoughts out of many hearts” will be ”revealed.”
While Mary and Joseph were still wondering at these sublime words there appeared an aged prophetess whose long years of widowhood had been spent in continual wors.h.i.+p; she, too, praised G.o.d for the salvation to be accomplished by the Child of Mary and she went forth to speak of him to all who like her ”were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.”
Mary and Joseph, however, returned to their home in Nazareth where Jesus was to spend his infancy and early childhood. During those years of obscurity his development was normal, but unique in its symmetry and its perfection; he ”grew, and waxed strong” in body, but there was just as true a growth in mind and spirit; he was ”filled with wisdom: and the grace of G.o.d was upon him.” The Saviour of the world was to be the ideal Man.
G. The Boy Jesus At Jerusalem. Ch. 2:41-52
41 And his parents went every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the pa.s.sover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up after the custom of the feast; 43 and when they had fulfilled the days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and his parents knew it not; 44 but supposing him to be in the company, they went a day's journey; and they sought for him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance; 45 and when they found him not, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking for him. 46 And it came to pa.s.s, after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both hearing them, and asking them questions: 47 and all that heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when they saw him, they were astonished; and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing. 49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? knew ye not that I must be in my Father's house? 50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. 51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth; and he was subject unto them; and his mother kept all _these_ sayings in her heart.
52 And Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favor with G.o.d and men.
It has been said that the boyhood of Jesus is like a walled garden from which we have been given but a single flower, but this is so fragrant as to fill our hearts with a longing to enter within the secret inclosure. We have but a single incident of his boyhood days; it is recorded for us only by Luke, a visit to Jerusalem paid by Jesus when he was twelve years old.
At about this age a young Jew became a ”son of the law” and began to observe its requirements, among which were the pilgrimages to the holy city to observe the sacred feasts. On this first visit to Jerusalem, Jesus was unintentionally left behind by his parents as they started on their return journey to Nazareth. At the end of the first day they failed to find him in the long caravan which was moving northward toward Galilee.
The day following, Mary and Joseph returned to Jerusalem, and on the third day they discovered Jesus in the Temple in the midst of the teachers who were surprised at his knowledge of the sacred Scriptures. There was an implied rebuke in the words of Mary, ”Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing?” In the reply of Jesus there was something of surprise and also of reproof, yet there were deep undertones of love, of spiritual vision, and of solemn resolve: ”How is it that ye sought me? knew ye not that I must be in my Father's house?”
These are the first recorded words of Jesus and they are an index and an explanation of his entire career; for their preservation this story was recorded by Luke. If they contained a rebuke for Mary, it must have been conveyed in accents of reverence and affection; and was there not involved a delicate compliment? Jesus does not reprove his parents for seeking him, but for not seeking him in the Temple first of all; and does he not seem to have implied that his parents had taught him to love the house of G.o.d and to delight in the law of G.o.d? He was saying in effect: ”Why thus did you seek me? Why did you not remember that the Temple is the very place where I should be found?”
These words are thus a revelation of the life in the home at Nazareth. It was not by a miracle or due to some divine attribute, but because of the training he had received from his pious parents, that Jesus at the age of twelve was a master of the Scriptures, and had learned to reverence and adore all that was related to them and to the wors.h.i.+p of G.o.d. Is it not possible for parents to-day to awaken in the hearts of their children a love for the house and the Word and the will of G.o.d?
These words, further, were a revelation of the consciousness of divine sons.h.i.+p. Jesus already realized that in a unique sense G.o.d was his own Father, the true source of his being. He instantly corrected the words of Mary, ”thy father,” which referred to Joseph, with his own words ”my Father,” which referred to G.o.d. Luke depicts Jesus as the ideal Man, but always as one conscious that he was the Son of G.o.d.
Our children should learn to regard G.o.d as their Father, not in the unique sense employed by Jesus as the eternal Son, nor yet in the sense which can apply to all created beings, but as denoting that intimate relations.h.i.+p with G.o.d made possible for believers through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Most important of all, these words are the revelation of a firm resolve, of a great molding purpose; Jesus perceived that it was his duty to be in the house of his Father-not merely in the literal Temple, but in the sphere of life and activity of which the Temple was the great expression and symbol and sign. He had determined, that is, to devote all his thoughts and energies and powers to the definite service of G.o.d. At the age of twelve are not most children sufficiently mature to form a somewhat similar purpose and to recognize in the service of G.o.d the supreme and comprehensive duty of every life?
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