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PAGE TWENTY-FOUR
Stnisay Scrvor|
BOYHOOD OF JESUS
Background Scripture:
Luke 2:41-52.
Devotional Readings:
I Timothy 4:12-16.
Memory Selection:
Jesus increased in wisdom
and in stature, and in favor
with God and Man. Luke
2:52.
The key word of foday's les
son is ‘“normality.” We see it
in the growth of the Child and
Boy Jesus, the development
through which every human be
ing should go.
If our children grew and de
veloped as the Boy Jesus did,
their advance would be precisely
what God Almighty wants it to
be.
Naturally the examination of
such a process is a matter of
concern to all who would live
the Christian life and guide the
immature in so doing.
“And his parents went every
year to Jerusalem at the feast
of the passover.”
It was required of every Jew
ish man that he attend the feast
of the Passover, Pentecost, and
Tabernacles. Although his re
quirement was not scrupulously
observed and was practically im
possible for those who lived in
distant parts of the world, never
theless pious Jewish men on the
whole did try to meet it.
But we are told that not only
Joseph but Mary also went up
every year to Jerusalem to at
tend this feast. Nazareth was a
bout eight-miles from Jerusalem,
and since the only transportation
was on foot or seated on the
hard back of a donkey, this
round trip of almost two hund
red miles every year involved
considerable sacrifice.
Jesus came from a home which
took its religion seriously. These
parents were willing to sacrifice»[
for what ey believed to be
right. They allowed nothing to
interfere with their fulfillment
of the will of God. ‘
Social workers are practically
unanimous today in their decla
rations that most juvenile de
linquency arises from parental
deliguency. Children who break
the law are seldom the products
of homes which keep the law.
There is a striking symbolism
in the fact that Joseph and Mary
went up to observe the Passover,
the feast which marked the res
cue of their people from the
bondage of Egypt. Jehovah pass
ed over the homes ofEgyptians
and Hebrews on that ancient
night, taking the first-born of
the Egyptians and sparing the
first-born of the Hebrews. Jesus
was Mary's first-born son. The
Spirit of God had brooded over
her in the divine conception.
This First-Born would lead not
only the Jews but the entire
human race out of a bondage
worse than that of Egypt, name
ly, the bondage of sin. Further
more, he would transmute the
institution of the Passover into
the institution of the Lord’s Sup
per, substituting his body for
that of a creature slain. He, the
Lamb of God, would take away
the sin of the world.
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(Uur Adveriisers Are Assured Ut Hesults)
| Jesus was twelve years old
'when he went up with his par
‘ents to Jerusalem. In the syna
| gogue of Nazareth, he either had
| completed, or after arriving at
Jerusalem had completed, his
\ | Barmitzvah (bar, meaning a son;
« | mitzvah, meaning commandment;
| therefore, son of the command
ment, or law).
- This proceduce corresponded
t |to the reception today of an |
| |adolescent into full membership|
t |of the church. <
- Here we not the normality of}
our Lord’s experience. If a child
. |jn a modern home were to have
|a perfectly normal experience,
| his entrance into church mem
| bership would be a period of
marked spiritual significance.i
' | Something of a transforming na- |
| ture would happen to him at
(that time. He would take his
z ]stand with reference to spiritual |
matters. He would give his heart
' |to God with completeness. He
- |would dedicate himself. ;1
This does not always happen —
lin fact it very often fails to hap- |
|pen. But that is because we |
| have been wrong in our teach- |
|ing and training or in our home
| influence. Or perhaps we have
|lacked wisdom and tact.
. Jesus represents what should
normally happen to a normal
adolescent when he joins the |
church.
Someone has said that adole
scence is God’s best chance with |
the soul. Vast physical and psy
chological changes are taking
place in the maturing youth.
Doors are now open which will
soon be closed. Moods and ten
dencies are now plastic; soon
they will harden. Many path
ways lie before his feet. and
choice is his prerogative. Never |
again will the way before him!
be so open, his nature so capa- |
|ble of molding, his energy so
abundant, his enthusiasms so -~
effervescent. ;
Strike now, while the iron is |
hot. Mold while the tendencies‘
are plastic. Speak while the ears
is open. Instruct before perver- |
sity has come in to twist his
thinking.
Be kind, understanding, be
fore the opportunity passes
which may never return.
The parents left with the cara
van Dbelieving that Boy was
|“in the company.” Joseph and
| Mary were wise parents in many
| ways, but they were not perfect
| parents. They made mistakes as
do all the rest of us. They were
wise in that they put responsibil
ity upon the Boy; they were un
wise in that they did not reflect
more on what this responsibility
involved. They might well have
checked up before the caravan
started, but they did not.
The Boy Jesus could be trust
ed, but he could not be expected
to do exactly what his parents
thought he ought to do. Like all
growing boys, he had a mind of
his own.
Joseph and Mary were typical
adults. They “fulfilled their du
ties,” that is, they went through
the ritual requirements for the
|Passover. Now that it was all
iover, they probably felt that
they had done their duty. But
the Boy was not satisfied. To
him religion was something more
than the meeting of ritualistic
requirements. Joseph and Mary
| were people of superb character
(and insight, but the Boy, being
ithe Son of God, was superior to
{ them both.
l He saw more deeply into the
nature of things than they did.
| Ritual was not enough. He must
|linger and inquire. He must
}delve more deeply. And so he
remained behind.
| His parents sought for him
'through many weary hours.
| “After three days” probably
means, according to the Jewish
reckoning of time, on the third
day. It took them a day or more
|to go back to Jerusalem, for
they were traveling against the
‘flow of traffic. They hunted for
the Child for a day in the mar
iket places and bazaars. Probably
on the third day they went to
the temple to pray for guidance.)
and there they found him, “sit- |
| ting in the midst of the teachers, |
{both hearing them, and asking |
| them questions.” {
| We adults forget all too easily. |
| The shepherds and Anna andi
| Simeon — all these had made it |
| plain to Mary and to Joseph that |
|this Child would be great. He |
| would fulfill what the soul of
| Israel had longed for during the
| centuries, and yet the last place
ihis parents thought of looking
for him was in Jehovah's tem- |
ple. . '
Sometimes we overestimate
our children and sometimes we
| under-estimate them. Both are
| regrettable mistakes. ‘
t Again note ‘the normality of
{this Boy. He was mot sitting in
[the midst of the teachers, telling
{ hem; he was listening and ask
ing questions. Even the son of
God at the age of twelve was
not yet able to instruct the
teachers of Isreel. It was hic
|r}utv to listen and 23': gu-=stions,
IT!zP time would come when he
lrm""l defv these m~n and many
ol their false notions.
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