little ones. But there we have Jesus in the first 12 years of His life when He was also in stature a child, a holy child, the perfect child.
The greatest beauty is now that mentally He will not change — the oneness of purpose, the wholeheartedness with which we see Him do everything, the complete absence of even ability to worry in His character, His watching the Father and imitating Him. How truly He can say, “For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15).
In His great understanding of human nature He uses the word “become.” “Unless you become as little children….” He knows that the way of the world is this: a little one is hardly out of diapers when he is told approvingly, “Now you are a big boy.” When he goes to kindergarten, “Now you are not a baby anymore.” When he is in the first grade, “Well, you are not in kindergarten anymore; you are a big boy now.” This goes on until in high school he doesn’t have to be told that he is a big boy now. He knows it himself. Then one day sooner or later he will be banged on the head by those words of our Lord, and all the growing up will not seem like an achievement any longer, but like something which has to be undone. That is when the “becoming” starts. After we have grown up in the eyes of the world, we have to “grow down” in the eyes of God. We have to. There is no way out if we want to go to heaven. Heaven is full of children; our Lord himself said so. One of the quickest ways to accomplish this “growing down” is to become very much at home in the little house in Nazareth — to watch and to imitate.
Chapter 11
“Did You Not Know...?”
Luke says, “Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom” (Luke 2:41–42).
We are more or less used to accepting the idea of their taking Him with them to the temple obviously for the first time as we might take our little ones for the first time with us to church. It is very much worthwhile to look at the map and to find out a few things about these pilgrimages, which the Jewish men were obligated to make. There were three major feasts, about which the Book of Deuteronomy says, “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God …at the feast of unleavened bread, at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of booths. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed; every man shall give as he is able” (Deut. 16:16–17).
The greatest of these feasts was the Pasch, the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The very word “
Pasch
” meant “Passover,” as this feast was instituted in order to remind the Jews throughout all generations of that unforgettable night when the Angel of Death had passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt whose doorposts had been smeared with the blood of a lamb. That is why a lamb had to be offered at the Pasch, and it had to be offered in Jerusalem by the head of every family.
Therefore, when the days of the Pasch came close — it was at the time of the full moon in spring — from all over the world Jews set out toward Jerusalem. The women were not obliged to go along, but the really pious women did, as we know from Hannah, the mother of Samuel, who went every year. Children under 12 years of age were obviously not taken along. There was a twofold coming of age for a Jewish boy. At 12 years he came of age before the law, and at 20 before the state. We in our countries are so used to the number 21 in connection with the coming of age, that we have the feeling 12 is almost too soon. In the Orient, however, girls and boys mature so much earlier that a 12-year-old boy there might be like an 18 year old here.
The Jews living in foreign countries, some many hundreds of miles away, were not bound to attend the Pasch every year in Jerusalem, but they wanted to come at least once in their lives. When they
The greatest beauty is now that mentally He will not change — the oneness of purpose, the wholeheartedness with which we see Him do everything, the complete absence of even ability to worry in His character, His watching the Father and imitating Him. How truly He can say, “For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15).
In His great understanding of human nature He uses the word “become.” “Unless you become as little children….” He knows that the way of the world is this: a little one is hardly out of diapers when he is told approvingly, “Now you are a big boy.” When he goes to kindergarten, “Now you are not a baby anymore.” When he is in the first grade, “Well, you are not in kindergarten anymore; you are a big boy now.” This goes on until in high school he doesn’t have to be told that he is a big boy now. He knows it himself. Then one day sooner or later he will be banged on the head by those words of our Lord, and all the growing up will not seem like an achievement any longer, but like something which has to be undone. That is when the “becoming” starts. After we have grown up in the eyes of the world, we have to “grow down” in the eyes of God. We have to. There is no way out if we want to go to heaven. Heaven is full of children; our Lord himself said so. One of the quickest ways to accomplish this “growing down” is to become very much at home in the little house in Nazareth — to watch and to imitate.
Chapter 11
“Did You Not Know...?”
Luke says, “Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom” (Luke 2:41–42).
We are more or less used to accepting the idea of their taking Him with them to the temple obviously for the first time as we might take our little ones for the first time with us to church. It is very much worthwhile to look at the map and to find out a few things about these pilgrimages, which the Jewish men were obligated to make. There were three major feasts, about which the Book of Deuteronomy says, “Three times a year all your males shall appear before the Lord your God …at the feast of unleavened bread, at the feast of weeks, and at the feast of booths. They shall not appear before the Lord empty-handed; every man shall give as he is able” (Deut. 16:16–17).
The greatest of these feasts was the Pasch, the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The very word “
Pasch
” meant “Passover,” as this feast was instituted in order to remind the Jews throughout all generations of that unforgettable night when the Angel of Death had passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt whose doorposts had been smeared with the blood of a lamb. That is why a lamb had to be offered at the Pasch, and it had to be offered in Jerusalem by the head of every family.
Therefore, when the days of the Pasch came close — it was at the time of the full moon in spring — from all over the world Jews set out toward Jerusalem. The women were not obliged to go along, but the really pious women did, as we know from Hannah, the mother of Samuel, who went every year. Children under 12 years of age were obviously not taken along. There was a twofold coming of age for a Jewish boy. At 12 years he came of age before the law, and at 20 before the state. We in our countries are so used to the number 21 in connection with the coming of age, that we have the feeling 12 is almost too soon. In the Orient, however, girls and boys mature so much earlier that a 12-year-old boy there might be like an 18 year old here.
The Jews living in foreign countries, some many hundreds of miles away, were not bound to attend the Pasch every year in Jerusalem, but they wanted to come at least once in their lives. When they
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