A lot happens in the second chapter of Luke's Gospel. We see Jesus born in Bethlehem because of a Roman census. A few days later he's named and circumcised and, at the beginning of the next month, presented by his parents in the Temple in accordance with the Jewish religious Law. This has all been about obedience. Mary and Joseph had to go to Bethlehem because the Romans required it, but in so doing they fulfilled the prophecy that the Messiah would be born there (Micah chapter 5, verse 2). They were blessed with a safe birth, even though it couldn't be in a house or inn, but presumably in a stable - that's where you find mangers, after all. There was also the visitation by the shepherds sent by angels. It was necessary to circumcise the boy on the eighth day and of course they were going to give him the name commanded by Gabriel. Taking him to the Temple in Jerusalem when he was 40 days old was also a religious duty, requiring the sacrifice of two doves or pigeons, but this time a couple of prophets turned up to confirm yet again who Jesus was and what he would do. It seems that every time his parents (Jesus was effectively adopted by Joseph) did what was required of them, some form of clear blessing resulted. Obviously, God in Heaven was going to look after his son, just born on Earth a few days ago, and his family.
We don't know much else about them for 12 years, other than that Jesus became strong and wise, and that the grace of God was upon him (Luke chapter 2, verse 40). We can, though, probably safely assume that God the Father and the Holy Spirit continued to guide and support Mary and Joseph as they brought up Jesus in Nazareth. In fact, we know from Matthew's Gospel (chapter 2, verses 13 - 23) that before they finally settled in Nazareth, God guided the family through angelic dreams on more than one occasion, to keep them safe as they travelled to Egyp and back. They must have had an enviable relationship with God. Anyway, Luke skips over those 12 years and next recounts an event that took place in Jerusalem when the family went there for the feast of the Passover (Luke 2:41-52).
When things go wrong, God is still in charge - we need to trust him to show us the way back.
Joseph and Mary had presumably taken all their children to the feast in the capital and Jesus had become engrossed in discussions with the religious leaders in the Temple. When it was time to leave, his parents probably counted up, "James, Judas, Simon, Joses and, yes, there are the girls. Jesus must be with his friends; we'll find him later." Of course, a day later they still hadn't found him, turned back for the day's journey to Jerusalem and then spent three more days looking for him. Why didn't God, who must have been looking after the family closely, not let Mary or Joseph know that Jesus wasn't with the party travelling back to Nazareth? Why didn't he tell them where to go when they reached Jerusalem? Why did they have to wait until he had been lost for five days before finding him? Did they panic and forget to pray for guidance? Do we do that when circumstances seem to be going wrong? It's so easy to just start trying to fix the situation rather than taking the time to listen to God first.
Maybe I've done Mary and Joseph an injustice there. Perhaps they did pray and perhaps Jesus' real Father in Heaven wanted him to be alone in the Temple with the leaders for a few days. Maybe he wanted Mary and Joseph to learn to trust. Sometimes we seem to be doing everything right, walking closely with God and obeying him in all that he asks of us. Life is great, we can see where we're going - or rather where we think God is taking us - and peace and joy abound. Then perhaps it all seems to go wrong, as if the rug's been pulled out from under our feet. "We've lost the Son of God! Have you seen him? Well, yes, he's our boy, he looks a bit like me," says Mary, "but he's also God's son, so it's rather serious." We don't know how they tried to find him, or what they said to people in the city, but they must have been thinking something along those lines. He was their boy and he was God's boy, and he was 12, alone lost in the capital city - what could be worse?
Had they done something stupid? Had they been negligent? Perhaps so, but probably not. Sometimes God lets things go wrong and we understand why; at others, though, he seemly allows them to go pear-shaped for no good reason. At those times we have to trust him. There's nothing that we can do to set right what wasn't wrong in the first place. It's God that's up to something. Is there something that you don't understand about your life at the moment? If so, God does understand. Panicking serves no purpose, but trusting him to explain in his time and in his way is where the power lies to bring you into what he has prepared for you.
ความคิดเห็น