First Sunday After Christmas- Jesus grew in wisdom
Our Gospel reading today is the only account we have in the Bible of Jesus as a child. We obviously have accounts of him as a baby, but this is the only place we see him as a kid.
Mary and Joseph lose 12 year old Jesus. This seems a bit strange for us. Mostly that is because we imagine family in a certain way. We imagine the nuclear family. A mom, a dad, and kids. We usually keep a pretty close eye on our kids. … But in the 1st century things were different. Jesus would have been travelling as a part of a huge caravan. People would have come from all over to go to Jerusalem for Passover. So, imagine large streams of people walking along the roads back home from Jerusalem. They probably would have been travelling with a large family group, along with friends. They would be walking with aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents, and plenty of others from the village. So, this would be a big crowd of people, and it would be easy to assume that Jesus was with his cousins a few kilometers ahead or behind as they were heading home.
They start to get worried because they have been walking for a day, and they probably stop to make camp, but they see that Jesus isn’t with any of their relatives or friends. If Jesus was with the crowd of relatives and friends he was safe. But outside of that group, on his own, there were reasons to worry. So, they walk a day’s journey back, searching all the way to Jerusalem, and then spend a day searching or him in the city. … There’s probably a bit of foreshadowing happening with him being found on the third day.
Eventually they find him in the temple, sitting with the Rabbi’s, listening to them and asking questions. This is sort of a first century university classroom, or a seminary class. This kid seems to be able to keep up. He has an unusually profound knowledge of the Torah. …
His parents aren’t impressed. … Bishop N.T. Wright speaks about this moment saying,
Mary and Joseph lose 12 year old Jesus. This seems a bit strange for us. Mostly that is because we imagine family in a certain way. We imagine the nuclear family. A mom, a dad, and kids. We usually keep a pretty close eye on our kids. … But in the 1st century things were different. Jesus would have been travelling as a part of a huge caravan. People would have come from all over to go to Jerusalem for Passover. So, imagine large streams of people walking along the roads back home from Jerusalem. They probably would have been travelling with a large family group, along with friends. They would be walking with aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents, and plenty of others from the village. So, this would be a big crowd of people, and it would be easy to assume that Jesus was with his cousins a few kilometers ahead or behind as they were heading home.
They start to get worried because they have been walking for a day, and they probably stop to make camp, but they see that Jesus isn’t with any of their relatives or friends. If Jesus was with the crowd of relatives and friends he was safe. But outside of that group, on his own, there were reasons to worry. So, they walk a day’s journey back, searching all the way to Jerusalem, and then spend a day searching or him in the city. … There’s probably a bit of foreshadowing happening with him being found on the third day.
Eventually they find him in the temple, sitting with the Rabbi’s, listening to them and asking questions. This is sort of a first century university classroom, or a seminary class. This kid seems to be able to keep up. He has an unusually profound knowledge of the Torah. …
His parents aren’t impressed. … Bishop N.T. Wright speaks about this moment saying,
“The agony of Mary and Joseph, searching for three days, contrasts sharply with the calm response of Jesus when they found him. Mary blurts out an accusation, perhaps tinged with that mixture of guilt and relief that most parents will recognize. Instead of saying, as she might have, ‘How could I have done this to you, leaving you behind like that?’, she says, ‘How could you do this to us?’ Jesus accepts no blame, and indeed issues a gentle rebuke that speaks volumes […] for his own developing self-awareness. ‘Your father and I’, says Mary, ‘have been looking for you.’ ‘No’, replies Jesus, ‘I have been busying myself in my Father’s work.’”[1]Jesus acts like they should have known that he would be there- In his “Father’s House”.
We read that Jesus “increased in wisdom and in years”. After the holiday celebrations have ended Jesus is still in the Temple listening to the teachers and asking questions.
I like the way the Temple is described here. It seems like it is open at all hours, day and night. If he was gone for three days, he probably slept in the temple courts, and that doesn’t seem to be unusual. People are constantly teaching and praying, and this young boy was welcomed among them to participate and was well taken care of. … Jesus is participating in learning the ways of his people. There was development in Jesus. He learned. He advanced in wisdom.
If Jesus was in need of sitting among the teachers and learning, then we definitely are as well. Jesus developed and matured, not only in body, but also in wisdom. That is the way we have been designed as human beings.
For some time, I have been reflecting on a statement by one of my heroes, Dallas Willard. He said that we have somehow come to the idea that we can be Christians without being disciples. Those who are really serious Christians, well they are the ones who are into discipleship, which involves Bible study, prayer, and other spiritual disciplines that form our souls. But, somehow we got the idea that this isn’t for all Christians, only for those Christians who are really very serious. Dallas Willard points out that the word “Christian” is very rare in the Bible, but the word “disciple” occurs very often. “Disciple” implies learning. It implies an apprentice learning from a master. So, we are expected to grow and develop in our spiritual lives. To learn to live according to the ways of the master.
In a way then, the Church is to be a training gym so people can train in the ways of God and become more like Jesus as they grow closer to God. … Those who start training in a sport are not going to be on the Olympic team right away. They will slowly grow and get better over time, and even those on the Olympic team will still be very conscious of specific things they are still working on. The spiritual life isn’t all that different. The saints aren’t those who feel they have finished their development. They are very aware of things they are still working on- graces they still need from God to correct aspects of their character- wisdom they still need to be able to serve the world God loves.
The church is where the tradition has been preserved. It is where we can train to become the kind of people God originally intended us to be- so that we can learn to think as God meant us to think, feel as God intended us to feel, make choices as God would have us make choices, have relationships and behave as God would have us. Not because we are being manipulated, but because we become who we were truly were meant to be. It is about entering into freedom. It is the freedom of a bird to fly as she learns to use her wings. It is how we are designed. We are made to live in the ways of God.
This development won’t happen without our planning for it and wanting it. God won’t force this on us. In our reading from the letter to the Colossians, Paul implies that our intension and focus matter. He uses many words that are about our action. Holiness isn’t something that happens to us as we passively sit back. Holiness happens as we do what Paul is saying- “clothe yourselves” (3:12); “Bear with one another… forgive” (3:13); “let the word of Christ dwell… teach and admonish… sing” (3:16); “give thanks” (3:17). These are all things Paul is telling us to do. They involves our choices and our actions. Our decisions matter. We will not become holy by accident, or outside of our own decisions. We have to Intend to. We have to plan for it. We have to work at it.
Sophia, whose name means wisdom, is called to enter into this training. Her baptism is a bit like giving her a membership to a gym. God has given the Church the Scriptures, the Sacraments, the spiritual disciplines, and the teaching of the elders who have gone before us. These are riches she can make use of to develop her soul, to help her grow in wisdom.
In our Colossians reading, Paul uses the symbol of baptism. In the early days when a person was baptized they would have taken off their old clothes and then gone into the water to be baptized. When the person came out, they would have been given a white robe. It is white to symbolize being washed and made clean. Paul uses these ritual actions to make a spiritual point.
Earlier in our reading from Colossians (Col 3:1-11), Paul talks about all the things we take off- the old garment: “sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, … ” (3:5-) … He goes on- “anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk… [lying], seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator” (3:8-10). Paul is describing all these things as a garment. He tells us to get rid of the old garment, the old self, the non-baptized self.
And now he’s going to tell us to put on the new garment- the new self, the Christian garment of baptism. He tells us, “clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience” (3:12). He is describing what a baptized, Christian life is supposed to look like. He is describing the clothing of a disciple of Jesus.
As we reflect on Jesus as a child in the temple, we are reminded of the importance of seeking wisdom and growing in our faith. Just as Jesus sat among the teachers, we too are called to be disciples—lifelong learners in the ways of God.
Today, as we celebrate Sophia’s baptism, we are reminded of the commitment we make in our own baptisms. It is a call to enter into a lifelong journey of growth and transformation. May we, like Jesus, grow in wisdom and in favor with God and others. AMEN
[1] Luke
for Everyone. N.T. Wright, p29
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