Meeting at Night

"Christ and Nicodemus,"
Crijn Hendricksz, C. 1601

Following Jesus’ first miracle, where he turned water into wine at a wedding celebration in Cana, his “getting acquainted time” with five disciples, and his cleansing of the temple in Jerusalem during Passover – all of which were covered in recent posts, the Apostle John tells about an intriguing conversation held late at night. By the way, it is not clear that Nicodemus came to see Jesus at night because he was afraid or wanted to meet Jesus in secret. It is possible that he came to see Jesus at night because he knew he could have a more extensive conversation with him then without crowds of people clamoring for his attention.

In any case, this conversation is very interesting because it shows Jesus relating to an important Jewish religious leader. Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, the council of 70 men who were the religious leaders of Israel. It is estimated that there were approximately 7,000 Pharisees during the time of Jesus and they were an influential group in the 1st Century because of their knowledge of the law and Jewish traditions; they were also intellectuals with high ethical standards.

Pharisees play a prominent role in the New Testament – in large part because they are interested in the teachings of Jesus and Jesus takes them seriously. Unlike the Sadducees, who are collaborators with the Roman authorities, or the Zealots, who want to overthrow the Romans by force, or the Essenes, who separate themselves from society and retreat to isolated locations, the Pharisees were active and respected religious leaders.

Read the discussion between Jesus and Nicodemus recorded in John 3:1-21. Don’t let your familiarity with this story get in the way of a fresh encounter with Jesus.

Did you notice how Nicodemus addresses Jesus? “Rabbi, we know you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him.” Nicodemus knew about the miracles Jesus performed in the early stages of his public ministry and he wants to know more about him. He is courteous and there is no hostility evident in how he approaches the young rabbi.

Jesus’ reply to Nicodemus is short and cryptic. He tells Nicodemus that unless he is born again he cannot see the Kingdom of God. By the way, this is only time the Apostle John uses the word “Kingdom of God” is his entire Gospel – unlike the other three Gospels where this term is used frequently.

It is hard to follow this conversation because the contextual framework of 1st Century Jewish religious beliefs is unfamiliar to many of us. Here’s the bottom-line: Jesus says that getting into God’s Kingdom is not the right or prerogative of any particular race or culture and you don’t pass qualifying exams by any legalistic practices. Jesus shares a mystery with this powerful Jewish leader – entrance into God’s Kingdom is by a direct act of God. It’s a gift of God. Being a high-ranking ancestor of Abraham isn’t enough.

As the conversation continues, Jesus explains with great authority that he will be “lifted up” – a direct reference to his crucifixion – and this sacrifice will be a cure for sin. To be a follower of Jesus and a member of his Kingdom require that this gift be received by faith. Jesus offers this gift to Nicodemus and now it is up to Nicodemus to decide for himself.

We don’t know what happens to Nicodemus or what he decides about Jesus’ offer, although I suspect he became a follower of Jesus. He is mentioned two more times in John’s Gospel. During a debate among Jewish religious leaders, Nicodemus takes on his colleagues for condemning Jesus without “finding out what he is doing” (John 7:50-52). But more importantly, Nicodemus assists Joseph of Arimathea in removing Jesus’ body from the cross and preparing it for burial (John 19:38-42). Why would he do this, why run the risk of an attack from those who demanded Jesus’ crucifixion, if he is not a believer? I think he does accept the offer of salvation from Jesus.

So What?

• For some Christians, “born again” are special code words. It is so interesting to me that these words are only used here in Scripture and nowhere else. Have you ever had anyone ask you if you are “born again”? A positive response to this question doesn’t give you free access to the Kingdom of God. A life of faithful discipleship is much better proof!

• There is a powerful mystery in this conversation and it reminds me of what one Biblical scholar wrote: “Is any conversation with Jesus easy?” Jesus’ responses to Nicodemus are hard for him to understand, as they are for us today. Salvation is a gift of God, not something we earn by heredity or legalistic behaviors. It is offered to all of us as a gift, but we need to accept the gift. “Born again” is better translated “born from above” – born by an act of God. Our response needs to be one of acceptance and gratitude.

• How have you responded to this gift of God, this gift of salvation? If you haven’t yet or are uncertain about whether or not you have, this is a good opportunity to do so. There’s so much more to learn, but this is the important first step.

Cleaning House

“The first thing to notice about Jesus is the hardest thing for many Christians to notice about him. It helps if we back away for a moment from our Anglicized version of his name and call him Yeshua; better yet, Yeshua bar-Yosef, and do our best to envision him, a bronze-skinned young Middle Eastern man, lying down next to a low table to enjoy a meal with his friends. . . . He speaks Aramaic at home, a language we have never heard, and reads Biblical Hebrew in the synagogue. Even through layers of biography and translation (Aramaic to Greek to English) we can hear him say things we would never say and do things we would never do” (Andy Crouch, Culture Making, p. 134). 

"Casting Out Money Changers,"
Giotto di Bondone, 14th century

These words by Andy Crouch came to mind when I read the story of Jesus’ cleansing of the Temple at a very early point in his public ministry. I would encourage you to read about this event in John’s Gospel (2:12-17). I can’t imagine doing that myself, although I might think about it! For many of us, the picture of Jesus we have been taught is of a very gentle man, a teacher, someone who we would be drawn to because of his warm, caring attitude.

But charging into the Temple, knocking over the merchants’ tables, scattering their coins, and dispersing their livestock – this is a radical act! Would you do this? How do you think Jesus’ disciples felt about this, so soon after they joined him as their rabbi?

After the wedding in Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine, an act that surely impressed the disciples, John tells us that Jesus went to Jerusalem at the time of Passover with some of his disciples, entered the temple, and caused havoc by overturning tables, making a cord of rope, and driving out the animals that were for sale to pilgrims for their sacrifices.

The other three Gospels record a similar event during the last week of Jesus’ life, but this encounter was different. While Biblical scholars argue about whether it was one event or two, it seems likely to me that there were two separate occasions when Jesus did this.* The first time there was no response from the temple authorities, but the second time so enraged the Jewish leaders that they took drastic action.

Let’s set the context. Throughout the history of Israel, the temple in Jerusalem played a very significant role. Solomon had the temple built around 950 B.C., but it was destroyed approximately 360 years later by the Babylonian Empire. Seventy years after its destruction, it was rebuilt on a modest scale, but in 20 B.C. Herod the Great began a major rebuilding project of the temple that was even more extraordinary than Solomon’s structure. This rebuilding project by Herod was completed in 63 A.D., many years after his death.

Herod’s temple was not only magnificent, it was also a huge financial center controlled by the Sadduccees. One of its major businesses was operated by money exchange dealers in the Court of the Gentiles. Many Jews who came to Jerusalem for Passover had Roman or other foreign coins that were not accepted in the temple. The leaders demanded that worshippers use certain Tyrian half-skeckel coins to pay their annual temple tax. You can imagine what the exchange rate was like – just like at today’s airports when you travel to Western Europe and need to exchange dollars for euros. For poor villagers, this was a painful welcome to Jerusalem!

The second major industry concerned the animals brought for sacrifice. If temple inspectors found the animals were blemished, the visiting worshippers were forced to buy “unblemished animals” at above market rates. Between these two businesses, a great deal of money was being exchanged in the temple and visitors were being exploited to the benefit of the merchants and the hierarchy that shared in the profits.

The temple and its crowded courts were thoroughly corrupted by merchants and their sponsors in the temple leadership. We know from historical records from this time that the temple leadership was corrupt and that the ruling elites had worked out arrangements with the Romans that allowed them to conduct business in this way.

This helps us to understand why Jesus is so enraged by what he sees. What is striking to me is that there is no resistance to what Jesus did! The temple leaders don’t respond, nor did the merchants or other visitors to the temple. In fact, it is likely that the Pharisees approved of what Jesus did.

For his disciples, as John notes, the prophecy that the Messiah would have “zeal for your house [that will] consume [him]” came to mind. This is a clear link to Old Testament prophecy. But when Jesus is asked by bystanders with what authority he did this, his answer was very mysterious. He said, “Destroy this temple and I will raise it again in three days” (v. 19) – a response that neither they nor the disciples understood. This is a sign-post that Jesus deliberately puts in place to explain his mission, a sign-post that will only become understandable after his resurrection.

What a powerful story and what a dramatic beginning to Jesus’ public ministry! Is this the Jesus you know?

So What?

• Have you ever been in a church or cathedral where there are many commercial booths in operation, where the area around the sanctuary is a hub of business enterprises? I admit this action by Jesus has come to mind on occasion. I do worry about how commercial our churches and their “coffee times” have become and how this can detract from a worshipful environment. Has this ever occurred to you? • 

• For Jesus’ disciples, as well as for others, his teachings are sometimes difficult to understand and often not clear until years later. I think this is still true. There are times when I read teachings by Jesus in the Bible and simply don’t understand them at the time, but later they become clearer. Sometimes my uncertainty remains, but I still trust his words. There are times when Jesus doesn’t explain his teachings to his disciples until much later, when they have experiences that help them more fully understand what he said. I think this is still true today. Has this also been your experience? 

* NOTE: For my reflections on the second cleansing of the temple, see my post of June 6, 2011, “Get Out of This House!”

Getting Acquainted with Jesus

The way in which Jesus picked his disciples is such an interesting story, because he chose to find disciples who were to become not just his students, but also his closest friends. He was soon known as a rabbi, a teacher, because of his knowledge of Scripture, but he did things no other rabbi would do. Right from the start of his public ministry, he demonstrated that his mission was to announce the Kingdom of God and he chose followers who he was equipping for future roles that they never anticipated.

"The Calling of Peter and Andrew,"
Caravaggio, c. 1602

The Gospel of John (1:25-51) tells us the fascinating story of Jesus’ first disciples and how their early friendship was formed. Two disciples of John the Baptist, Andrew and John, heard him refer to Jesus as “the Lamb of God” and they decided to follow Jesus to check him out. By the way, the Apostle John does not identify himself as one of these first two, but we know that he was. He never refers to himself by name in his writings.

When Jesus sees these two men following him, he asks them what they want and they respond with a strange question about where he is staying. They called him “Rabbi” (teacher) and he gives them an encouraging response: “Come and you will see.” This first encounter is very casual and informal. John tells us that Jesus spent the whole day with them and probably stayed with them overnight. They were just getting acquainted.

The next day, Andrew, leaves to find his brother Simon, and tells him, “We have found the Messiah,” and he brings Simon to meet Jesus. It seems likely that Andrew’s assertion about Jesus was the result of their conversation from the previous day and his evaluation of Jesus’ character. Andrew was hoping that Jesus might be a national deliverer, which was a widespread expectation in the early years of the first century in Palestine.

The circle of three has now grown to four. When Jesus first meets Simon, he says to him, “You are Simon son of John. You will be called Cephas [Peter].” What a way to start a friendship! Jesus accepts him as he is, but promises that he will become a “rock.” Volatile, impulsive Simon, a “rock” – who would have imagined, but Jesus knew what was in store for him.

The next day Jesus heads toward Galilee, his home territory, and he meets Philip, who is from the town of Bethsaida and is probably also a fisherman, and Philip in turn quickly finds Nathaniel and excitedly tells him that he and his friends “. . . have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote – Jesus of Nazareth.”

Nathaniel’s first reaction is one of doubt and he exclaims, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Let me add a personal footnote here: I immediately identified with this comment, since a number of people over the years have made comments to me about my hometown -- Cicero, Illinois. Can anything good come out of Cicero, Al Capone’s hometown?

It is so interesting to me that as Nathaniel approaches Jesus, Jesus says, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” I especially love this comment since I have a new grandson named Nathaniel and I pray that the same will be said about him!

Jesus’ group of friends quickly totaled five in number and their initial time together was just to get acquainted. At a later point, Jesus will ask them to follow him, to leave their fishing businesses behind, and to become his companions. Jesus’ initial time with these men is friendly and conversational and he even gives them nicknames. He spends the day with them and finds out who they are. This is the Jesus that we meet in John’s Gospel.

Unlike other rabbis who did not recruit their own disciples, but chose a select few from many applicants, which was the common practice in the first century, Jesus took the initiative with most of his disciples. He chose them. He issued the call – “Follow me.” In fact, these men might not have passed the qualifying tests for the best-known rabbis of that time.

These men will quickly learn that Jesus is not a typical rabbi, but truly an exception. They have expectations about him, based on John the Baptist’s testimony, but now they have to see if these expectations will be met. Is he in fact the Messiah, the one the prophets wrote about? The only way to find out is to follow him.

John’s Gospel tells us that one of the first experiences these new friends of Jesus have is going to a wedding with him in Cana. As noted in my previous post, Jesus’ first miracle – the changing of water into wine – was surely a shock to these fishermen and this was only the beginning. The next three years of their lives will involve experiences that they could never have even imagined!

So What?

• One of the powerful insights that I gained from this study was how Jesus accepted these men as they were, but knew they would become different people after spending time with him. Peter, the impulsive one, would become a “rock” upon which Jesus would build his church. Andrew, Peter’s brother, who introduce him to Jesus, would also become a great leader in the early church. Common laborers, good fishermen, but Jesus knew they would be transformed over time into Apostles who would change the world after his resurrection. Doesn’t this give you hope? We too can be changed into agents of God’s Kingdom if we commit our lives to him.

• Spending time with each other, investing in each other’s lives, is what Jesus did with his disciples. He was especially close to three of his disciples, but knew all twelve very well. For me, investing in the lives of others is a practical “take-away” from this story. For those of us who claim to be disciples of Jesus, this is something we need to do.

• Looking back over your life, can you think of changes in your character or your plans that took place once you decided to be a disciple of Jesus?

Jesus' Wedding Gift

"The Wedding Feast at Cana"
Julius S. von Carosfeld, 1819

Following his baptism in the Jordan River and his 40-day-and night struggle with Satan in the wilderness, the 30-year-old Jesus is now ready to begin his public ministry. But what a way to begin! Jesus surely did not consult with marketing experts on how to launch a campaign. This is not the kind of publicity blitz we are used to in the Nation’s Capital.

In John’s Gospel (2:1-11) we read about Jesus’ first miracle in the town of Cana, a city only mentioned in this story in the New Testament. Biblical scholars believe this small village was about nine miles north of Nazareth, so it was clearly not a major urban center. Why does Jesus perform his first miracle here? Once again it is clear that God’s ways are not our ways.

We know from historical studies of this time period that wedding feasts in the first century ordinarily lasted seven days. To help you imagine what the context was like, think of the wedding feast in “Fiddler on the Roof,” where the bridegroom and his wedding party make a gala procession to get the bride and her friends and then return with them to the house of the groom for a feast that could last for a full week with wine and food and lots of dancing. Weddings in small villages in Galilee brought lots of life to an otherwise drab existence for poor peasants.

"Fiddler on the Roof"
movie wedding, 1971

It is reasonable to assume that Jesus’ family knows the groom or bride since his mother is invited as well as Jesus and his disciples. The disciples would not be a part of this celebration if there were not some personal connection to the wedding party. The fact that Joseph is not mentioned after the family’s return from Egypt leads most Biblical scholars to believe he died earlier and Jesus may have been acting as the head of the family at this event.

It also occurred to me that for those disciples of Jesus who had previously been followers of John the Baptist, the contrast between John the Baptist and his desert diet and animal-skin clothes and this celebration would have been a remarkable change-of-pace.

As the wedding celebration continued, Jesus’ mother - who is not identified by name in this story, but neither is the bride or groom – informs him, “They have no wine” (v. 3). Why does Mary tell Jesus this? What does she expect him to do? It is hard to imagine what Jesus thinks after his mother tells him this. What if he choose not to respond? These are some of the many questions for which there are simply no answers.

What we do know is that Jesus decides to respond. Although he refused to turn stones into bread in the wilderness, as Satan requested, this time he orders the servants to fill the jars with water and this water turns into high-quality wine. This is not the last time that Jesus changed his plans to accommodate the wishes of someone else.

John makes clear in his Gospel that the wine comes from huge jugs, normally approximately 20-30 gallons in size, that are located near the front of the house and are used by observant Jews for ceremonial washing before they enter a home and eat a meal. Philip Yancey suggests that “Jesus, perhaps with a twinkle in his eye, transformed those jugs, ponderous symbols of the old way, into wineskins, harbingers of the new.” Jesus’ miraculous action is a powerful sign that the old religious practices are coming to an end and new Kingdom values are being revealed in Jesus. By the way, the wine Jesus made was excellent and the hosts and guests know it, although they do not know where it came from. It’s a great wedding present!

During the next year of his life, word will spread across the country about this new rabbi, this miracle-worker, and crowds will flock to him, but Jesus knows right from the start, witnessing miracles does not always result in faith. This miracle is a sign for his new disciples that Jesus has extraordinary power and John notes that “His disciples believed in him” (v. 11).

God is a “God of surprises” and we see this right from the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry. This miracle of turning water into wine occurs in an obscure out-of-the-way town, not in Jerusalem where the powerbrokers could see his power and be impressed. This first miracle appears to be an act of mercy and the disciples are there to witness it. It will be the first of many.

So What?

• It is so striking to me that Jesus begins his ministry with such a humble act of mercy, without drawing attention to himself and what he has done. Only a few know who brought – or made - the new wine; not the host or the bride and bridegroom. Just the servants, his mother Mary and his new disciples. He is the promised Messiah, but one who is humble, compassionate, and merciful. There is no other religion that believes in a God like this!

• It takes imagination to be able to put yourself into this first century Palestinian context, but if you can envision this scene, it helps you understand the radical character of what Jesus did and how he did it. Can you picture a scene like this in our time? What would it be like?

Tempting Jesus

Several years ago, I was leading a group of Americans on a tour through the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow. This gallery is the leading collection of Russian art in the world, established by a Russian merchant, Pavel M. Tretyakov, who donated his well-known collection of art to the Russian nation in 1892. As we walked through the Gallery, I was especially drawn to a remarkable painting by Ivan N. Kramskoy entitled “Christ in the Wilderness.” Unlike many western paintings of Jesus in which he looks like a 1960s hippie in a perfectly clean white robe with bright blue eyes and a smile, Kramskoy’s portrayal is of Jesus evidently struggling with the evil that he faced as he announced his public ministry. Here is indeed “a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering (Isaiah 53:3).”

This painting made me contemplate the depth of Jesus’ suffering in a way that I had not thought of before. I have to admit that I never really thought very much about this event in Jesus’ life and often quickly read through the story of his temptation by Satan in the Judean wilderness. The painting prompted me to think more deeply about this experience of Jesus that immediately followed his baptism in the Jordan River.

Being baptized signifies that we have been set apart or called for service in God’s Kingdom and, once we understand this calling, a wilderness lies ahead. Challenges will come our way because Satan wants us to deny that we are really followers of Jesus. Baptism and wilderness are connected. Matthew, Mark and Luke all describe Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness and I would encourage you to read these three short reports (Matthew 4:1-11; Mark 1:12-13; Luke 4:1-13).

The Gospel writers draw parallels between the experience of Adam in the Garden of Eden and Jesus in the wilderness. In Genesis, God creates the world and makes man and woman in his own image and then notes that his creation is “good,” even “very good.” Adam and Eve have a special relationship with God and shortly after they are created, Satan interjects himself, tempts them and leads them to disobey God. Satan does this by raising doubts about whether or not God can be trusted.

In a similar pattern, God moves again in history and sends his own son to earth as the Messiah and immediately announces “This is my son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (Matthew 3:17). Shortly after, Satan appears to tempt Jesus. Three times Satan tries to raise doubt in Jesus’ mind about whether he can trust God. 

In Western culture, people are skeptical about the existence of the demonic. For many, any belief in the supernatural is quickly dismissed. The Bible, however, makes it clear that there are very real forces of evil in our world and these forces are cruel, complex and often well disguised. That’s what Adam and Eve experienced in the Garden of Eden and what Jesus faced in the desolate wilderness of Judea.

Throughout Jesus’ life, he was assaulted by Satan and we also face similar attacks, often very subtle. For Jesus, the ultimate attack comes in the Garden of Gethsemane, another Garden where Jesus begins his final journey to the cross, where he pays the ultimate price for the sin of Adam and Eve.

Kramskoy’s painting makes the sorrow and pain that Jesus knew he would face in the next few years very real. It also should be a warning to us. Like Adam and Eve, we are often afraid to trust God and some of us don’t trust anybody. But Jesus’ death on the cross has given us a defense against Satan. If we trust in Jesus as our King, we have a defense against Satan that can withstand his deceit and his lies.

Now God’s words about Jesus at his baptism – “with him I am well pleased” – can be about us as well if we follow Jesus and resist Satan’s temptations that will surely result in our demise.

So What?

• It is important when reading the Bible that we remember some of the main story-lines – the “big picture.” Satan is the father of evil and he is a liar who is out to oppose followers of God and to deceive us. Getting people to be skeptical about the supernatural, about the existence of the father of evil – this is what Satan does. It is good that we believe in God, but it is also important that we understand God’s enemy, Satan.

• Art is such a powerful medium for communicating significant truths about our world. Have you ever had an experience like the one I shared about Kramskoy’s painting?

• The only way we know about Jesus’ temptations in the wilderness is that he shared this with his disciples. Can you imagine what they thought when he told them about his experience with Satan? 

• After Jesus is baptized, he is immediately challenged by Satan during his forty days in the wilderness. That seems to be a pattern that many of us have faced. We make a faith commitment, we decide to change our habits and live a faithful life – and immediately we are faced with a serious challenge designed to make us revert back to our old life. Often this challenge from Satan is to make us doubt God’s trustworthiness or to encourage us to be so self-centered that there is little room for God in our small world. Have you experienced this?

Jesus' Baptism: Why?

Sometimes I think I ask too many questions when I read the Bible. As I was studying Jesus’ early life and his decision to “go public” at the age of thirty, I wondered why Jesus decided to be baptized by John the Baptist. Why would the Son of God, who was without sin, seek out his cousin, the prophet who lived in the wilderness, to baptize him? Why did he need to be baptized?

19th Century Russian
Painting: Jesus' Baptism

It is interesting to note that Jesus’ baptism is recorded by all four Gospel writers – one of the very few events before the last week of his life that all the Gospels describe, some in more detail than others. Take a few minutes to read these four accounts – you might be surprised what you find: Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1: 2-13; Luke 3:21-23; and John 1:29-39.

Biblical scholars estimate that the journey from Jesus’ small, obscure town of Nazareth to the Jordan River, where John was baptizing many people, would have taken 10-14 days on foot. What many of us in the West fail to realize is that Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan River has great significance. For first century Jews, ritual immersion in water, particularly “living water,” was very important. The purest form of “living water” was rainfall and therefore, by definition, any lake or river was considered “living water.”

The choice of baptism by John in the Jordan River was important because it was “living water” to the Jews and Jesus would use this term in reference to himself on several occasions. In addition, the Jordan was the river where God blocked the water flow so Joshua and the Israelites could cross the river and enter the Promised Land many centuries earlier. For Jews it was not only that “living water” of the Jordan River was important to their religious life, but also a reminder that God keeps his promises as he did with Moses and Joshua.

When Jesus went to John the Baptist, he was not seeking ritual purification, but rather was using this event to announce the beginning of his public ministry. At thirty years of age, he had reached his “age of authority” in Jewish society and now this unknown young man from Nazareth was “going public.”

As I read these four accounts of Jesus’ baptism, I noticed that Jesus does not ask John to baptize him, but simply joins a line of others who are waiting to be baptized by this courageous and stern prophet. John the Baptist has attracted many followers and is a powerful figure by this time, yet when he sees Jesus he humbles himself and says “I am not worthy to untie his shoe,” and becomes the first witness to clearly state who Jesus really is - “the Lamb of God” and “the Son of God” (John 1:29 and 34).

When Jesus emerges from the water, while praying, the heavens open and the Holy Spirit descends on him in the form of a dove. A voice from heaven announces, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:21-22). Don’t miss this important part of the baptism – all three persons of the Trinity are clearly seen here. The presence of the Holy Spirit is critical because of the Spirit’s role in equipping Jesus for the challenges that lay ahead of him.

When Jesus submits himself to John’s baptism, he identifies with all of us. This baptism is the first step toward his painful death on the cross. He submits to baptism for sins he never commits and three years later dies on the cross for our sins, so all of us can be forgiven.

My former pastor, Craig Barnes, points out that at the beginning of the Bible God spoke frequently, but as the Old Testament moves on, God’s words are much harder to come by. Then, for 400 years between the Old and New Testaments, there are long periods of silence from God. But the birth of Jesus changes all this and when Jesus is baptized, God roars from heaven: “This is my Son.”

By sending his Son who would suffer and die for our sins, God demonstrates his great love for us and clearly states his desire that we were loved by him. If we can’t hear this, it may be because we are choosing not to respond to his offer of a new life.

So What?

• Jesus’ baptism is so much more than fulfilling a religious requirement. Jesus is announcing his public ministry, but also identifying with all of us and our sinfulness. This demonstrates so much about Jesus’ character and his love for those who will follow him.

• Consider the thoughts that are possibly going through Jesus’ mind as he is baptized by John. He knew he has much suffering to endure and this is just the beginning. Yet he humbles himself and identifies with sinners. Thank you, Lord, for your love for us and for sacrificing yourself for our sins.

• Sometimes we can feel as if God is silent and non-responsive to our prayers. But this baptism of Jesus and his endorsement by God the Father is clear evidence of God’s message to us that we are loved. Maybe we need to pay closer attention and listen to God’s message to us that he loves us -- as evidenced in the gift of his Son who paid for our sins. God is speaking to us everyday and his grace is a daily reminder of how much he loves us.

Growing Up: Jesus' Youth and Early Adulthood

In an earlier post, “A Surprise Birth” (April 11, 2011) that describes the miraculous birth of Jesus, I comment that the “God of the Bible is a God of surprises. The God of the Bible is not predictable and rarely does things the way I would do them!” As I study the four Gospels and reflect on the beginning of Jesus’ ministry, the same thoughts come to mind.

"The Flight Into Egypt,"
Vittore Carpaccio (c. 1515)

I believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, but many times I wonder why God chose to have its writers include some events and ignore others. For example, only two of the four Gospel writers (Matthew and Luke) even describe the birth and childhood of Jesus and there is very little information at all about his first thirty years. Why is that the case? And what is the significance of the few events that are recorded?

Following Jesus’ birth, we know that his parents faithfully followed Jewish religious practices. We know from the second chapter of Luke that Joseph and Mary had Jesus circumcised eight days after his birth and gave him the name that the angel told to Joseph and Mary. Then, forty days later after his birth, the parents returned to the Temple where they offered a sacrifice for Mary’s “purification” and then dedicated their son to the Lord. Two separate trips to Jerusalem and three religious rituals – all diligently carried out according to Jewish religious requirements.

Then there is a silence about Jesus’ life for 12 years. The only thing we know about this early period in Jesus’ life is recorded in Matthew, who shares the story of a visit by an angel to Joseph in a dream, instructing him to take his wife and young son and flee to Egypt because Herod the Great is searching for Jesus in order to kill him.

We don’t know how long Joseph, Mary and Jesus were exiled in Egypt, but after Herod died an angel once again appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him he could now return to Israel. Once again, I wonder why this exile of Jesus isn’t even mentioned by the other Gospel writers. Of course we don’t know the answer to this question, but it does explain to me part of the reason why the Christian faith is spreading rapidly in the developing world where poor people are often forced to flee their home country and can identify with Jesus and his parents as they faced the same desperate situation.

Jesus grew up in an obscure town in Galilee, Nazareth – a town never even mentioned in the Old Testament. Matthew breaks off his brief story of Jesus’ youth and early adulthood after their return to Galilee, but Luke adds one other famous story – Jesus’ visit to the Temple in Jerusalem.

Luke makes it clear that Jesus’ parents were very conscientious Jewish believers who went from Nazareth to Jerusalem every year for the Feast of the Passover. When Jesus was twelve years old, he was now of the age when he could begin participating in this religious festival.

"Jesus Among the Teachers,"
Vasiliy Polenov (c. 1896)

I think many of you know this story. As the religious ceremonies come to an end, Mary and Joseph start on their way back to Nazareth assuming Jesus is with their family and friends who travel together as a community. When they discover Jesus is missing, they return to Jerusalem and find him in the Temple listening to the rabbis and asking them questions.

In Michael Card’s commentary on Luke, he points out that many Renaissance paintings of this famous scene lead you to believe that this precocious boy Jesus is doing all the teaching! Luke doesn’t say this, although he does highlight the fact that the participants were “amazed at his understanding and his answers” and his parents were “astonished.” (Luke 2:47-48).

Following this one event in Jesus’ life, his teenage years and early adulthood are simply ignored by all the Gospel writers. Now, for another eighteen years, Jesus’ personal history disappears from the Biblical story. The only new thing we learn is Luke’s comment that “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52).

This leaves a great deal of mystery about Jesus’ youth and early adulthood, about his family, his siblings, his work and his own understanding of his mission. The conversation in the Temple, when Jesus tells his parents he is in “my Father’s house,” gives us some sense that he is becoming aware of his role.

Why the “God of surprises” chose to reveal to us only limited knowledge of Jesus’ early life is a mystery – one of many in Scripture. What seems to be clear, however, is that Jesus’ parents raised him in a deeply religious home and that he was thoroughly grounded in the Hebrew Scriptures.

So What?

• While we don’t know much about Jesus’ early history, we do have some understanding of the context of his life in first century Palestine. It may be hard for us in the West to identify with this kind of life, but many people in the developing world surely can!

• The fourfold description that Luke gives us about how “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (2:52) is a great way to think about a balanced life – the intellectual, physical, spiritual and social dimensions. Marge and I took a year-long Sunday School on these four facets of human development based on this passage and it served us very well in parenting our large family and keeping these in mind as we set goals for them. By the way, these four dimensions are also highlighted in Stephen Covey’s best-selling book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Habit #7: “Sharpening the Saw.”