Baby... Boy... Messiah
In our Lenten Journey to the Cross, we've been looking at the Old Testament hopes of a coming Messiah. From this week onward, we will be walking the streets of Bethlehem, Nazareth and Jerusalem and the beaches and hillsides of Galilee with Jesus, a carpenter from Nazareth. He is the long-awaited Messiah, the Son of God and the Son of Man.
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As she rushed towards Jerusalem with her husband Joseph, Mary berated herself: "I shouldn't have taken things for granted - I should have checked! Just because He's God's Son planted in my womb doesn't mean that he isn't also a fragile 12 year old who could get hurt, kidnapped or killed."
And this is the profound mystery of the incarnation isn't it?
God-with-us but wearing the fragile skin of a baby, the pre-adolescent acne-prone skin twelve-year old boy, and the leathery work-worn skin of and adult carpenter.
God comes to live with us.
It's as confusing for us as it must have been for Mary.
On the on hand: Deity.
On the other hand: Frailty.
It's as confusing for us as it must have been for Mary.
On the on hand: Deity.
On the other hand: Frailty.
And in-between these two extremes Deity and Frailty we find wisdom, mercy and grace:
- His words and parables pointed to an eternal kingdom.
- His healings and exorcisms spoke of mercy.
- His reproofs were loving and kind: "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?"
- His rebukes were fiery and uncompromising "Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites!"
- His life of obedience earned Him the cross and salvation for us.
| After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they travelled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you." "Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men. (Luke2:43-52) |
