Scripture: Luke 3:23a
Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry…
Thought for the Day: How many of you had something important happen in your life between the ages of 12 – 30? There are some stories of Jesus as a young person in the apocryphal Gospels, including the Infancy Gospel of Thomas written in the second century after Jesus, but material is scant when it comes to our Bibles. For Luke, these informative years were either unimportant or unknown to him. There is a lot of Jesus’ story that remains a mystery to us. Christian Tradition has tried to fill in the gap with all kinds of stories, but we can assume that most of them came from the imaginations of people who did not like the unknown. And many of those stories make Jesus sound more like a superhero or magician. I think had I been living during those years when some of those stories emerged, I would have imagined Jesus a little more teenager-like. Maybe Jesus told the parable of the prodigal son, in part, because he had been a bit of a prodigal son to his parents. Maybe there were a few bad choices along the way. Maybe your late teens and early 20’s were different than mine, but I had a few less than stellar moments. I only say this to suggest that Jesus was fully human and fully divine. And if Jesus was fully human, I don’t know if the divine part could have pushed out the usual teenage mischievous behavior. In fact, I kind of like a Jesus who understands how teenagers are struggling with temptation, hormones, curiosity, a zest for life and a prefrontal cortex that has yet to fully develop. I like a Jesus who knows that aspect of life, not as some distant observer, but one who was in the mix himself.
Prayer: God of all people and all ages, you provided us a savior, model and guide in Jesus. The fullness of his life, including the parts of which we know very little, made him the person that changed the world. May I learn to accept all of who I am, including some past moments of failure and outright stupidity, for it all has shaped who I am today. This I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
MEN’S DINNER
at
Cramer Retreat Center
Tonight – Tuesday
Dinner at 6:30pm
Study at 7:00pm
2 thoughts on “01-15-19”
And maybe Jesus did a lot of other things that humans do also…. for some, Jesus’ humanity is what really appeals to them. The idea that he could have made mistakes, dealt with hormones, had relationships, makes him seem more accessible and relatable. God fit God’s self into a truly human body and all that comes with it. And still, with all of that, Jesus managed to be teacher and savior to us all. What on earth does that say about all of us today who carry God within us!
Amen! We tend to think of God as perfect, but what if the categories that define the divine are something other than perfect and imperfect, holy and unholy…at least as we have understood them. Just a crazy thought…