I would guess that in households across America, the holiday season gave ample time for some healthy, and perhaps redundant, reminiscing about events of significance, entertainment and enjoyment in the life of the family. That was the case in our household. In fact, the sharing tended to erupt like popcorn on a perfectly heated stove. The memories ran deep and the impact was rich. Regardless of the age of the participants, bridges were built to a legacy of God’s faithfulness and care, even when the waters beneath were troubled or pain filled.
As I reflected on the power of a reflective family, I was drawn to speculation about the early days in the life of Jesus. It appears that the Gospel authors leave gaping holes in His childhood development. We’re told in Matthew 2 that Joseph and Mary took their young son from Egypt back to Nazareth, but the story languishes in written account until we read about a 12-year-old Jesus that is in Jerusalem for an annual family pilgrimage. Once this story is recounted we once again encounter more silence.
What happened in these non-descript times in the life of the Son of God? Were the first 30 years of Jesus’ life so completely uneventful that they deserved no account?
Actually, the Gospel accounts do fling open a window on the early life of Jesus. We get this glimpse through subtle but powerful insights as He forms His ministry life.
At the start of the ministry of Jesus, in His earliest recorded conversations, we see what He’s been doing for 30 years. It is here that the words of Jesus explode with Old Testament strength. Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Isaiah all provided a launch pad for the initial Gospel dialogs in Jesus’ ministry discourses.
Jesus had listened as a young boy sitting around the family dinner table. He had heard the prophetic words of the Old Testament authors. And at some point, maybe when He caught His mother’s eye from across the table, He began to know. Soon His soul confirmed what His mind was processing, it’s me. I am the one.
The scripture is virtually silent about the first 30 years of Jesus’ life, but the explosion that occurred at age 30 fully exposes what had been happening. A family, deeply rooted in scripture, had taken Jesus to a place where He was ready to live out the purposes of God. Building bridges indeed. To the past. To the memories. To the future.
A boy no longer, Jesus was ready, because He’d been nurtured and taught in the ways of God. May we learn the lessons of Nazareth, between the manger and the ministry. Bathed in the richness of scripture from His earliest memories, to be propelled into the profound purposes of God.
May this be our model in the New Year.
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