Christmas 1 - After Christmas - what next?

Luke 2 vv. 41-end

We are now in Year C for our Sunday readings so our weekly readings will come from the Gospel of Luke. However, the majority of the Christmas story is recorded in Luke anyway, with only three events recorded in Matthew. Neither Mark nor John record any of these events.

Every year, Jesus was taken with his family from Nazareth to Jerusalem for the Passover. Today's story tells of the occasion when he was 12. After travelling homewards for a day, his parents realised he was not with the party so went back to look for him. They found him in the Temple in deep discussion with the teachers there.

We discussed a number of points raised by the story. Jesus was very knowledgeable, presumably because he had been well prepared for his Bar-Mitzvah. He clearly knew by this age that he was God's Son and that he had an important role to play. His mother, too, became more aware of this role and would remember this occasion. It was noted that the Bible does not record any other events in his life until he starts his ministry aged about 30 years. Apparently, a Rabbi would normally not start teaching until about that age.

How about us?

Sometimes, we lose Jesus from our lives. If this, happens, we must retrace our steps until we find him and he becomes central again. Maybe, we too need to be in our Father's house.