Jesus the Kid

Luke records the only story of Jesus as a kid. Twelve years old is an interesting age, no longer a child, not yet a man. And Luke purposefully selects a story full of symbolism: Jesus getting lost and found at Passover.

Passover was one of the seven major festivals of the Jewish year [see Leviticus 23], Passover being one of the three which required all men to travel to Jerusalem for the events (the other four festivals could be celebrated in our own home town). Passover celebrates the night that God delivered the Jewish people out of slavery from the oppression of the Egyptian Empire. On that night God sent an angel of death who took the life of every firstborn male - except those who dwelled in a home with the blood of a lamb smeared on its doorposts. For those with lambs blood on the doorpost, the angel of death passed over that home.

Most Egyptians didn't cover their doorposts with blood, and their home was stricken with grief. They had their warning, they disbelieved the announcement, and their sorrow prompted the release of the Hebrew children. The angel of death was the LORD's way of bringing justice to the Egyptians - their cruelty had killed many innocent people, orphaning children and widowing mothers. Now the LORD was going to avenge those deaths - and yet he still gave them an opportunity to receive mercy.

According to the story of Jesus, every year his family went to Jerusalem for Passover - a very exciting and dangerous time. Over a million people would cram into the city and it's surrounding villages for the day, which was followed by the week-long Feast of Unleavened Bread. This eight days of festival was also a highly charged political event - whenever you get that many oppressed people together in their most holy city celebrating a day of freedom, well Rome wasn't too thrilled with the gathering.

They bulked up the garrisons, sharpened their swords, and sometimes they acted violently - shedding more innocent blood. Many Jews were waiting for the angel of death to come again, this time to release the Jews from the oppression of the Roman Empire. And we know the story: Jesus would be the lamb whose blood was smeared on the doorposts of the earth. God sent the angel of death on the day Jesus died - and his blood covered the world. What mercy...

Thoughts on the Jesus-story:
* Jesus and his family were Torah-observant.

* Jesus and his family were eventually accepted by relatives and neighbors

* Jesus had an impressive knowledge of Torah, sought greater understanding of it, asked inquisitive questions, and gave sharp answers.

* Jesus was a typical twelve year old in many ways.

* Jesus’ parents didn’t always know what to do with him.

* Jesus chose to be obedient to his parents at the expense of seeking more knowledge of Torah from the famous Temple teachers.

* Jesus matured and grew up in a small, rural, poor, no-account village in Galilee, a backwards region of Palestine, a despised province of Syria, and a vital but troublesome merchant area for the Roman Empire