October 24 - Luke 2-3: Hold These Things Dearly & Deeply

...[Mary & Joseph] found him in the Temple seated among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions.  The teachers were all quite taken with him, impressed with the sharpness of his answers.  But his parents were not impressed; they were upset and hurt....

So he went back to Nazareth with them, and lived obediently with them.  His mother held these things dearly and deep within herself.  (Luke 2:46-48, 51-52)

This is another one of those stories that I heard in Sunday School numerous times as I was growing up and I never got it.  It brought up so many questions in my childish brain:  Is it okay to disobey your parents as long as you're doing something at church?  Why didn't Jesus get a spanking, because I know I would have gotten one.  How did Mary and Joseph not know that Jesus was missing for a whole day?!? 

Now as a parent, I'm identifying more with Mary and Joseph.  I have lost a child in a store, been late to pick up one after school, and even forgotten about my daughter's performance in a class play.  (Shining moments in my parenthood.)  With two teenagers and one pre-teen, I also know the sting of catching my own flesh and blood in willful disobedience, the shock of disrespectful and disappointing behavior, and getting the emotional stiff-arm from a child who is asserting her independence.  I have a fresh understanding of the little phrase describing Jesus' parents, "they were upset and hurt."  My heart, like Mary's heart, is revealed in the next verse.

Young man, why have you done this to us?  Your father and I have been half out of our minds looking for you. (2:48)

Did Jesus really do this to Mary?  Was that the true intent of His heart - to cause fear and panic in His parents because they misplaced the Messiah?  Even at the age of twelve, Jesus knew His purpose, He knew His future, He knew His true Father.  He was living in obedience and surrender to God.  Mary must have realized that there was something bigger going on here than a pre-adolescent boy playing a trick on his parents.  She held on to the events, her feelings, Jesus' words, the scene of Him in the Temple and all that she knew of God.  She held these things dearly and deeply.  And she would need to, because this was only the beginning of the hurt she would experience for her son.

The next time Luke mentions Jesus is in 3:21-22, when John baptizes Him and the love and pleasure of God is poured out on Him.

As he [Jesus] was praying, the sky opened up and the Holy Spirit, like a dove descending, came down on him.  And along with the Spirit, a voice:  'You are my Son, chosen and marked by my love, pride of my life.'

I have felt a measure of this parental feeling, too - absolute love and pride for each of my children.  It overwhelms me sometimes.  But, why was this God's reaction at this moment of Jesus doing something so humble and seemingly unnecessary?

"If you miss everything in this letter but one thing, don't miss this:  My Son wished forward.  Seven times I had Luke record that He prayed, using the word proseuchomai, which means 'to wish foward.'  That is the core of human maturity in this life.  My Son had no greater desire than to carry out his part in My plan.  That is the center of spiritual formation, not more energy, not feeling more upbeat, but a clear awareness of the deepest truly human desire, a desire that releases resolve, an unflinching determination to follow the lead of My Son in bringing heaven's kingdom to earth, a longing to love.
"The first time I recorded that He wished forward was at His baptism.  As He was praying [Luke 3:21], My Spirit descended on Him, and I declared My pleasure in Him.  He was surrendering Himself fully to the calling I had placed on His life.  A perfectly mature person has confidence in the goodness of My plan and knows no greater desire than to move it ahead."  (66LL)

Being the mother of three girls is a big part of God's maturing work in my life.  I daily face the choice to be "upset and hurt" as a mom living in fear. Or to hold all these things dearly and deeply while wishing (praying) forward in confidence of God's plan and in a longing to love.