"And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him." -Luke 2:40
Mr. Lucado discusses the first time that Jesus is acting upon the knowledge of who he is - God in human form. His parents have been traveling on a return trip home after visiting Jerusalem. They realize after 3 days that he is not with them. They look for him at relatives' homes and friends' houses, but do not think to look at the temple. Max points out that this is the first place that our Lord goes. He goes there first, showing us that we can do the same. In this visit, Jesus astounds many thinkers that are much older and have had more education. AND, even though he senses this call on his life, he returns home with his family. He spends time living with, taking care of , and focusing on them.
First of all, it amazes me to think that it took three days for Mary and Joseph to notice that their son was missing from their traveling group. There must have been a lot of people in that caravan! Reading this today, it does not surprise me that Jesus was in the temple. But then again, I only have a few pages to read, between his birth and this story. We have the benefit of reading the summary of what happened... Angels appeared announcing the arrival of the Messiah and we can quickly find out about how Jesus grows up and teaches people about the love of God. Mary and Joseph didn't have that knowledge. They were frantic, looking for their missing child. If I stop to think about it, this makes complete sense. Who wouldn't be frantic?
It also caught me off guard to think about how Jesus did spend a lot of his life at home with his family. It wasn't until in his early thirties that he went and gathered the disciples to help him tell about God's story to others. He really cared for his family. He made them a priority and helped them understand. What made the most sense to me was the line where Max asked, "What makes you think they'll believe you overseas if they don't believe you across the hall?" Lots of times, I need guidance because I am scared to start a conversation about spiritual things. I think I should try focusing on my actions, though first.
1 comment:
Ahh what a challenge! I don't even know what to say about day 5. This message convicts me greatly because I dream about what I want to do with my life and what I am called to. But I love that Jesus knows His call but didn't try and jump into it right away. He knew there was a perfect time for everything. He seems to have so much peace and confidence in His call and the timing of it all. Jesus could have easily shamed all the pharisees and people in the temple who thought they were great, but He didn't He went and became a carpenter first. Wow what a thought.
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