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“The Boy Jesus in the Temple”
When reading Luke 3:41-52, it seems evident that Luke had firsthand information from Mary about this event. In verse 46, Mary sounds very much like any distraught mother: “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.”
How many times have we heard something similar from our own mothers? Their loving concern came pouring out. But boys will be boys and girls will be girls, especially around age 12.
In the icon, Jesus and the teachers are not in the temple. They are in front of it, in the open. The event cannot be contained by time or space. The event speaks to all teachers, children, and parents.
We all need to listen, to engage in dialogue, to challenge one another while respecting one another’s gifts and responsibilities. This leaves room for blank spaces, the unknowns of the present, to be filled in later.
“Jesus went down with them to Nazareth, and was obedient to them, and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced [in] wisdom and age and favor before God and man.”
Lord God, may the depth of your mysteries draw us closer to you.
© 2001 Clyde Rausch, OMI