Word to the Wise
Wednesday, December 30, 2009 - Sixth Day in the Octave of Christmas
[1 John 2:12-17 and Luke 2:36-40]When they had fulfilled all the prescriptions of the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him. [Luke]
For someone as important as Jesus is to millions of people, we know almost nothing directly about his life before he began active ministry except what is given to us in the "infancy narratives" of the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. We know from scriptural research that these "infancy narratives" were the last parts of these two gospels to be composed and reflect the influence of subsequent events in Jesus' life. The well-known movie, THE PASSION, draws on apocryphal (non-inspired writings} to give a few scenes from the life of the Holy Family. Some of these writings are rather fanciful and imaginative. From archaeological evidence, we can gain a picture in general of life in the Middle Eastern culture of Jesus' time and use that to help us understand what Jesus' "hidden life" was like. The two gospels were more concerned with his "credentials" as a descendant of David and the fulfillment of the prophecies and hopes of Israel, and not with providing detailed biography. Today's gospel scripture is the continuation of yesterday's story of the encounter in the temple with Simeon and includes a further encounter with a prophetess named Anna. Again, Jesus is shown as the fulfillment of Israel's hope. His family is also shown to be of good repute and faithful to the law! This Jewish identity is important in the gospel and we must always remember that to understand Jesus, we must understand that he was a first century Jewish male and subject to all the cultural and social expectations of his time. We learn from research into the culture of his time how he might have understood his own ministry and why he spoke and acted as he did. Looking once more at the crib scene, all of this reminds us that Jesus was born in history to a pious Jewish family. The truth of the Incarnation is not well-served by turning Jesus into a "super-human" who was protected as a child or adult from the difficult and unpleasant challenges we face in everyday life. The crucifixion lies ahead! AMEN
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