Reflection on Luke 2:21-52 - "Jesus brings parenting challenges"

We have here in Luke chapter 2, the only biblical material that deals with Jesus as a child and young person. I today just wanted to reflect on these verses with the thoughts that came to me as I read and studied them. These verses first and foremost bring the reader’s attention to the identity of Jesus as the long awaited Son of God and Saviour. But we might also sense some interesting insights concerning family relationships, if not mentioned directly, then still able to be raised as a result of just reading this text.

First, at 8 days old, we have Jesus’ circumcision and naming. We should note here that the parents of Jesus, Mary and Joseph, follow God’s leading in giving their child the name of “Jesus”, meaning ‘God saves’ or ‘God is salvation’. Clearly God spoke and continued to speak to Mary and Joseph about the upbringing of Jesus, and of course they were wise to take this counsel very seriously and act upon it as best they could. They would no doubt also involve trusted others to help them fulfil this particularly challenging task of parenting – and not just because this was the Son of God, but that this was a child (like any other) that was loved by God. We have heard many times that it takes a village to bring up a child.

Then we read about Jesus’ presentation in the temple (which would have occurred about 32 days later ... 40 days after birth). According to custom, as the firstborn male in the family, Jesus would be dedicated there to God’s purposes. This commemorated God bringing the people out of slavery in Egypt. Today we would want all of our children, first-born, last-born, middle-born, girls and boys, to be dedicated to God’s purposes; for to miss God’s best would be a tragic outcome.

While at the temple this young family encounters two characters by the names of Simeon and Anna. Simeon was a Jew who was completely dedicated to God and expectantly looking for the new ways that God would interact with his people (as indicated by prophets such as Isaiah). Before we even read of the Holy Spirit’s coming at Pentecost, we read that the Holy Spirit was already a part of Simeon’s life (just as the Holy Spirit had been evident in many of the heroes of old testament times) – the point being, that we should carefully listen to whatever Simeon says. The words that Simeon offers (from verse 29 to 32) identify that this child named Jesus is the bringer of salvation for all people – bringing the glory of God’s intimate presence to Israel, and the light of understanding to the Gentiles. They also state that God had certainly been faithful in fulfilling his long-abiding promise to the nation of Israel (v.29).

We then read of Mary and Joseph’s ‘amazement’ at these words of Simeon (v.33). Why were they ‘amazed’?

‘Amazed’ that this stranger Simeon knew all this stuff maybe? But then those so committed to God’s cause and in such deep relationship with God as Simeon was, tend to grasp or rightly identify such happenings better than others do. Mary and Joseph had heard similar things before from the angel sent by God, also from Mary’s relative Elizabeth, and from the visiting shepherds!

‘Amazed’ maybe at such a direct mention of the “Gentiles” ... which certainly broadened God’s plan a whole lot for those who hadn’t interpreted “all people” beyond the boundaries of Israel? Well sometimes, even though told, it takes a while for the full significance of such things to sink in. After all, healthy noisy baby boys were born everyday – and it would be hard to see or admit or publicly suggest that there was anything so special about their child, especially at such a young age!

The bigger difficulty for Mary and Joseph now, was to accept the further things that Simeon had to say about Jesus’ future.

Firstly, that Jesus would face opposition! Mary and Joseph would have been forgiven for thinking that bringing the Son of God and Messiah into the world ... well that everyone would celebrate this – that this will turn around their nation fortunes for good ... everybody will jump on board with this! But alas, the coming of Jesus will bring out the dark side of many: those who were unwilling to contemplate change, and those who were unwilling to experience God working in new ways. But even more amazingly, how people react to Jesus, yes this young child Jesus before them, whether positively or negatively, will determine how their lives ultimately pan out ... whether they will receive salvation or not.

Secondly, Simeon says to Mary (in verse 35) that, “a sword will pierce your own soul too”; indicating that whatever opposition Jesus attracted – this will personally touch Mary as well. This expression indicates future sorrow and grief for Mary. To see your beloved son rejected time after time is a bitter pill to swallow. And we know from John’s Gospel that Mary stood at the foot of the cross where Jesus hung. So, from this early point of Jesus’ life, his mother Mary would have to live with the prospect of her son Jesus facing many complex challenges and difficulties in life. Probably this would be akin to the mother who has to watch their son or daughter go off to war zones or military service whereby their life would be under threat every day.

Mary would even have to deal with her son Jesus showing preference for his true followers (because they were doing the will of God) as against his sometimes doubting and resistant family (Luke 8:19-21).

This Luke 2 text clearly reminds us that Jesus is a child of great significance. But so too are all our children, not in the same way that Jesus was divinely significant, but each of our children are unique and special, and God has a particular future in mind for them. They have a cause! And sometimes that God-given cause is going to bring us reason to be concerned, but nonetheless it is their cause! We also know that when we bring children into the world, beyond all the excitement and all the happiness, lies all the challenges that life in this world brings. This is not a reason to stop having children, rather an opportunity to work out how best to prepare our children for what lies ahead.

And first and foremost, above and beyond whatever other good parenting principles we can find, there is the need to create the framework of faith in God around our family. I think there is room in this scripture passage for us to see that this is exactly what Mary and Joseph set out to do! They put God first, fulfilled their religious obligations as they understood them, and made sure that Jesus felt at home in the temple. As a result of this, we see that Jesus, reading on to verse 40, “... grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him”.

Yet you can imagine Mary’s distress to hear that her son’s life would not be an easy one; although now we probably wouldn’t look at it this way, for Jesus’ life was one of purpose and service and healing to others, despite its torturous end. But even then, this sacrificial life of Jesus was vindicated by God raising him from the dead. So even with the very real fears of parents concerning the future, a committed and grounded faith in God is the greatest tool for day-by-day survival.

Yet we still cannot underestimate the very real heartfelt concerns of Mary and Joseph at that moment of Simeon’s short but heavily impacting speech (v.34-5). God did bring a voice of encouragement though. Anna, a woman with a background of many many years of single-minded and constant worship and prayer, having also identified who this child Jesus really was, brought a ministry of praise and witness to God for all to hear. This was not just some tragedy in the making, but God was right in the centre of this ... acting to bring salvation to the world!

We next read about Jesus at age 12 years. Luke has not included any reference to this family’s flight to Egypt because of the threat of Herod (that we read about in Matthew). The intervening decade or so in Jesus’ life is summed up in one verse, which of course is highly complementary to his parents and any others involved in Jesus’ upbringing, the verse that we just read: “The child grew up and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favour of God was upon him” (2:40). Here is good physical, mental and spiritual development, that we would all aspire to with our children. We read later in verse 52 of Jesus’ social progress as well – the 12 year old boy Jesus increasing in “human favour”.

Jesus was with his parents when they, as usual, went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. We might immediately think that it was during this same festival some twenty-one years later that Jesus was crucified right there in Jerusalem. How much of this destiny did Jesus already know about ... well we don’t know. But we do know that Jesus was brought up with a love for theology. Jesus would have been read and told the stories of the old testament heroes of the Jewish faith, and Jesus was clearly interested in figuring out what their lives had to say to current generations.

Some level of self-awareness in Jesus was seen when he was able to speak of the God of heaven as his real or ultimate Father (v.49). In any case, Jesus was well prepared for when his time of formal ministry would arrive. Just the enlightening touch of the Holy Spirit that would come at his baptism in eighteen odd years time and he was away!

We read that, back when he was 12 years old, Jesus went missing. When returning home to Nazareth from Jerusalem, Mary and Joseph had not yet missed Jesus, assuming that he was with other members of their travelling party. It wasn’t until they were camping for the night, that Mary and Joseph realised that Jesus was nowhere to be found. So they returned all the way to Jerusalem and looked for Jesus for some time. You would think that at some point panic must have set in.

Mary and Joseph kept looking and finally found Jesus in the temple, listening to the theological discussions, asking questions as they came to mind, and providing some of his own incredibly wise insights (v.46-7). You would think that Mary and Joseph would have looked in the temple earlier, but they still thought that he’d be playing footy or something rather than spending his time discussing the scriptures.

Any 12 year old who goes missing for three to five days from a loving home is likely to be first hugged and kissed, then screamed at for quite a while through pent up anxiety and imagined worst-case scenarios, then hugged and kissed again in absolute relief. Mary though it seems was quite restrained in her obviously emotional comment, “Child, why have you treated us like this”?

Jesus’ response to this, if we set aside his true identity, could be regarded as “brattish” and insolent: “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” Precocious Jesus suggests that his parents should have known him well enough to know where he would be. We do need to get to know our children, for they will always be more than just the sum of their parents. It seems that the parents had underestimated this 12 year old, and his capacities to engage with and contribute to community life. We must always be looking for the virtues and giftedness within our children in terms of the contributions they can make to family, church and community, lest these be missed and wasted.

Parents must also be diligent in finding ways to correct and transform negative behaviour patterns, for this is their responsibility before God. Yet the overriding notion is that each child is born in the image of God and has a potentially valuable role to play in the world. And better to have a huge stone tied around your neck and be thrown into the sea than to hurt one of these children.

There seems also to be a shift here in who Jesus identifies as his father (v.48-9). When Mary refers to his father Joseph’s anxiety along (with her own), Jesus as much as says that he was about his real Father’s business now. We might feel for Joseph here and all the effort he had put in, and Luke continually honours Joseph’s fathering role by continuing to refer to Joseph as a parent of Jesus along with Mary (e.g.2:27). But Joseph must have known somewhere in the back of his mind that this day would someday come. And the day comes for all parents when their children are ready to launch out on their own and decide upon their own allegiances.

Mary and Joseph, through their priorities and loving care, had prepared Jesus well for his life’s work. We can only all pray that when our children launch out that they will seek their Creator’s purpose for them, and in turn appreciate that it was their parents and extended family that so well-positioned them to embrace their future. We can only pray that our good efforts of preparation will be enough for the right decisions to be made.

We spend our time well working out how we can encourage the children of our families and our church to be aware of God’s love for them, sacrifice for them and also His call upon their lives.

The words in Luke 2 verse 49, albeit from a twelve year old, are the first words from the mouth of Jesus in the Gospel. Jesus identified his call – to do God’s work in God’s world! That in general terms is what each of us is called to, and what each of us is called to model – to do God’s work in God’s world!

Despite the anxiety that Jesus had caused his mother, and although Mary did not yet fully understand the meaning all of these remarkable events, we hear the beautiful words ... that Mary “treasured all these things in her heart”. I’m sure this mothers’ day that many mothers are continually storing up in their memories the remarkable deeds of their children so that they might be treasured all the days of their lives. But we should also pause with Mary, the mother of Jesus, and treasure the revelation of Jesus, and all that this means to each of our daily lives.