Being Real

So do you ever wonder, if he and his brother James wrestled just for fun, or if when pinched his finger in a door, he cried and then tried not to cry? Do you ever imagine that Jesus ate too much dessert at a family wedding or reunion, and his stomach hurt? Do you ever wonder if he made James laugh so hard that milk came out James’ nose? Can you imagine our lord, who made the heavens and the earth moved to tears by grief, by laughter, …by life?

He grows strong, with wisdom and grace. And every year the family goes to Jerusalem for the Passover and the year that Jesus was 12 something special happened. Aha! Now we’re going to get to something supernatural, something miraculous, and something bigger than the circus, the zoo, and Disneyworld combined. Jesus is going to Jerusalem and he’s going to levitate to the top of the temple and on the way just for fun, part the Jordan…. That’s got to be it!

So they go to Jerusalem and they are faithful in their sacrifice and service to God and they return home. But Jesus stays behind. Now he doesn’t get lost. He’s not fallen prey to a momentary distraction and gotten lost like you and I did as kids. He chooses to stay behind. And his parents don’t realize it for an entire day. They think he’s with the family, a cousin, and aunt, grandma even.

You know every time I see “Home Alone”, the scene where the mom is on the airplane relaxing for the flight, and suddenly her eyes pop open… and she realizes he’s not there, every time I see that scene I think of Mary and Joseph at the end of that long day. They just forgot. Now that picture in the movie is kind of cute because, you know that the boy is Ok, but Jesus parents didn’t think it was cute. Bad things can happen in the city. And a strong boy like Jesus might find himself kidnapped and sold into slavery.

And so they return to Jerusalem and look for him, for three days, three days he’s lost… hmm I wonder if Luke is preparing us for something else… Well they find him, at church, more specifically in the temple… and with the teachers, sitting and listening, and answering and asking. And everyone is amazed. You get the idea that Jesus had been longing for this all along. When his parents challenge his obedience, (and by the way it was not Jesus’ disobedience that left him in Jerusalem, remember his parents forgot him), when they challenge Jesus he responds again with what must have been another awe inspiring answer to all who heard it. "Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?" They don’t understand. They seldom do and again, as Mary has done time after time according to Luke, she ponders these things in her heart.

This is a great story… but its not a miracle, not in the technical sense of the word and certainly not compared to what Jesus will do. I mean Jesus goes to the temple instead of getting in trouble. As a 12 year old boy that may be out of the ordinary but it’s not a miracle. And yes they do find him perplexing the teachers of the law, which may seem remarkable until I ask you if you’ve ever been spiritually stumped by the question of a child. And so maybe Jesus is a prodigy… but this is not a miracle. It’s not even a magic trick… not even “pick a card any card.”