1 Samuel 2. 18-20, 26 Colossians 3. 12-17 Luke 2. 41-end
Lord, give us thankful hearts, and help us to hear your message to us, today. Amen.
Traditionally, this Sunday is known as the Feast of the Holy Family. The idea was to portray the family unit of Jesus, and Mary and Joseph as the model for all Christian families.
Well, they’re a bit scatty, those parents, aren’t they?! They leave Jerusalem at the end of the festival of the Passover, and they don’t notice that Jesus has stayed behind! Agreed, he’s not a child anymore, but he’s not 13 yet, the age of accountability according to Jewish law.
The story is far from idyllic, but it’s quite realistic. The teenage Jesus is separating himself from his earthly parents. A break has clearly occurred. He is now dedicating himself to the service of his heavenly Father.
Jesus is looking like something less than the son one dreams of, but at the end of the story, we read that he does obey his parents, returns to Nazareth, and grows in wisdom, in divine and human favour.
This, of course, echoes the story of Samuel who continued to grow both in stature and in favour with the Lord and with the people, just as the canticle of Mary (the Magnificat) echoes the canticle of Hannah, mother of Samuel; and Mary and Joseph, just like Samuel’s parents, customarily went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.
So Luke makes it clear, right from the beginning, that the story of Jesus is closely linked to the story of Israel.
However, he goes further than that. We need to remember that Luke’s intended audience was not the Jews familiar with the Jewish tradition, but late-first-century urban Gentile Christians who lived far from Jerusalem and long after the temple had been destroyed.
Luke’s message was that Jesus is not just for the Jews. He brings salvation to all people, all nations.
He is the one, the Messiah. Fully human and fully divine.
We start with a very human family and a very human teenager wrapped up in what he is doing in the Temple, and we end up with Jesus reminding us that his father is God.
And when you are in his presence, be prepared to be astonished.
It is always a surprising moment, when young adolescents start speaking for themselves like Jesus does and express an opinion very different from that of their parents or tutors. It can be unsettling, and even shocking.
In our passage today, it is amazing, and Luke conveys a real sense of wonder. The crowds as they hear Jesus with the teachers are amazed. They’re far more than impressed. The Greek word (‘existemi’) has the same root as ecstasy. They are outside of themselves, drawn to something they have never seen before.
Mary and Joseph are described as astonished, anxious, and confused. They are not only worried, but overwhelmed and pretty much scandalized.
But note the reply from Jesus. It is actually lost in this translation. Here, he says ‘Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ But the Greek words that are used mean something like: ‘don’t you see that it was necessary for me to deal with the things of my Father?’
Jesus uses that exact same expression much later in Luke’s Gospel, in chapter 24, when he meets the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. There is another couple (I think they were Cleopas and his wife) who share their anguish over the three days that have elapsed since Jesus’ death.
Jesus meets them and explains to them that it was necessary that these things should take place (same word in Greek).
Luke uses the story of Jesus in the Temple as a transition between the infancy narratives and his account of the mature Jesus. With his sense of wonder and necessity to obey his Father, Luke prepares us to what is to come.
And he warns us that nothing, not even family ties, should be allowed to interfere with obedience to God.
In our modern world, countless people come to faith from within a non-Christian community or an atheist family. It is not easy to respond to God’s call when people around you think it’s ridiculous or just a fad.
But what Luke is telling us in this passage is that the biological family is not so important in relation to the call of God. Jesus called a new spiritual family into existence.
What does it mean for us today?
Well, as always, Paul explains it perfectly in his letter to the Colossians. Now, the context of this epistle is the theme of the old versus the new: in baptism, Christians strip off the old self and put on the new self.
And it is not only metaphorical: in the early Church, candidates would strip off their old clothes, then they went into the baptismal waters, they would emerge, and then they were clothed anew.
So here we are, in the new spiritual family created by God incarnate, where Christ is all and in all. We are called to clothe ourselves with brand new clothes, those of compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. But also love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. We are to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, and to practice gratitude, giving thanks to God.
As members of the body of Christ, we live in the gifts of God. Not only the gift of peace, but also the gift of thankfulness. And thankfulness is also the response that the Church brings to God. The Greek word for ‘thankful’ in this letter is ’eucharistoi’- Eucharistic.
‘Let us give thanks to the Lord our God – It is right to give thanks and praise.’ Thanksgiving is at the heart of our worship and of the life of the church.
So today we give thanks for the incarnation, the baby in the manger and the young boy in the Temple who, although perfect, continues to grow in perfection. We give thanks because we have room to increase in holiness and in the love of God.
We give thanks too for our earthly families and for our spiritual family, because God lives in it. We are the family of Christ, and we live with thankful hearts, because we are a family that lives in a messy human world, with the confidence that God is with us and in Christ redeems us from within.
M L-R