Thursday, February 18, 2010

Still Marveling

Luke 2:49-50
(49)  And he said to them, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"
(50)  And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them.

(49)  καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς αὐτούς, Τί ὅτι ἐζητεῖτέ με; οὐκ ᾔδειτε ὅτι ἐν τοῖς τοῦ πατρός μου δεῖ εἶναί με; 
(50)  καὶ αὐτοὶ οὐ συνῆκαν τὸ ῥῆμα ὃ ἐλάλησεν αὐτοῖς.

We noted yesterday that His parents didn't quite understand who He was.  This is further proof that they didn't understand.  As a parent I cannot imagine the horror of losing a child for three days.  On top of it, this is a child that was conceived by the Holy Spirit.  They didn't fully understand who He was, but He was still their 12 year-old boy.  You couldn't issue an Amber Alert for a child back in first-century Palestine.  They just had to look all over the big city for Him.

Jesus was pretty incredulous when they found Him.  By starting His question with οὐκ He expected a positive answer.  In other words, this seemed obvious to Him.  Why wouldn't they know to look for Him at the temple?  Did they already forget how He was conceived?

Their relative cluelessness gives me some hope.  I realize that I am not the only one who loses sight of who Jesus is.  He is God in the flesh (incarnate).  He commands and deserves all my worship and obedience.  He is not just a good example for me to follow, though He is that as well.  He is the Lord of the universe.  Let's treat Him that way in how we worship but also in how we relate to Him.  

For example, I am often convicted by the relative shallowness of my prayer life.  How can I not spend more time praying to the Lord of everything?  I have access to God.  How can I not take advantage of that?

I often live like I do not understand the saying that Jesus spoke to His parents.  How about you?

1 comment:

JSA said...

Really cool insight; I had never looked at it that way (both that the parents of all people ought to have known, and about the attitude toward prayer)