The Gospel writers don't tell us much about Jesus' childhood (Anne Rice paints an interesting picture of Jesus at age 7 in her novel, Christ the Lord: Out of Egypt). What we do know from Matthew 2 is that it wasn't easy for him or his family. They travelled to Bethlehem for the birth, set up camp there for a year or two, then slipped away in the middle of the night for fear of their lives; lived as exiles in Egypt until king Herod died; then resettled in Nazareth, an insignificant village far enough away from Jerusalem that they could remain under the radar. Jesus lived the first 7 years or so of his life as a fugitive, and the next 23 as a resident of Nazareth (In John 1:46, Nathanael asks, "can anything good come from Nazareth?"). Joseph sets up his carpentry business for the 500 or so residents, not much of a market. Four half-brothers of Jesus are born. During Jesus' teens or early adult years, Joseph dies, leaving Jesus, the oldest son, with responsibility for the family. It was not a life of ease or prominence, lower middle-class at best, with the social stigma of a military brat or family in the witness relocation program.
Jesus was the original King who was "of the people." He understood the lives of regular folks because he was one. He arrived helpless and literally homeless. He knew what it felt like to be an outsider, to experience loss and grief and poverty. So the early Christians sang of their King,
"Christ Jesus,
who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness." (Philippians 2:5-7)
And He is still "of the people" today. He is the King, who understands and relates to all the good and bad of your life's experience and mine.
It's interesting to wonder where Matthew got these stories of Jesus' early life. I somehow imagine him sitting around with the other disciples and Jesus, having a meal, and Mary telling stories of how God moved and directed their life. Much like when we go home to visit parents/family and stories get shared about our life.
ReplyDeleteAnd Joseph: it must have been hard. Every time he gets his carpentry business going, he is asked to move, to give it up. Yet he never hesitates to do as he is commanded. I ask myself: would I be so quick to do as commanded? Or would I try to figure out every scenario and make my decision to obey only if I thought it was a positive or good thing to do? Or if I had assurances all would turn out okay.