Where is the Love?
Searching with Mary
“Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety!” Mary, said this to 12-year-old Jesus after he’d been missing for three days. As the mother of two teenage boys, I feel this deep in my soul. Kids, even good kids, are confounding at times. As parents we try our best to build a safe future for our children, but like holding a fistful of sand, situations often slip through our fingers.
Politically volatile first-century Jerusalem was not the kind of place a sixth grader would typically make their own unsupervised field trip. Yet it happened. Jesus managed to surprise the two people who had the most inside information about his identity and purpose: Mary and Joseph.
These two caring and anxious parents are a little bit of why I decided to write for the book Jesus Was. Jesus was sent by God, out of an abundance of love, to bring salvation to the world, and his parents knew that. Yet, the Gospels record scenes that are sometimes confusing, surprising, and complicated.
Even his biggest supporter, his mother, had questions. We might read these ancient stories and ask how to translate their significance into our lives today or wonder what they’re trying to communicate about God. Jesus was good and loving, but clarity doesn’t always come immediately.
I want a long-term and thoughtful perspective that lets the mystery of God’s love unfold through Jesus.
Mary likely didn’t have clarity when her 12-year-old took a risk to hang out in the temple for three days on his own. And yet 3 verses later Luke says, “His mother treasured all these things in her heart.” The initial moment was rife with anxiety, but Mary was patient to let the divine plan continue to unfold. She paid attention, in a long-term and thoughtful way, and that’s what I want to do, too. When I read about Jesus and dig into the context of his stories, I want a long-term and thoughtful perspective that lets the mystery of God’s love unfold through Jesus.
Each of the contributors to Jesus Was looks at the life of Jesus in his historical context and then thoughtfully reflects on what this could mean in their own circumstances. They patiently unfold corners of his story so that we can unfold corners of our own lives and our own expectations about God. They help me see a better picture of Jesus, one I hadn’t fully imagined, one that’s better than I expected. And that is a treasure worth holding on to.
Leave a comment: I’d love to know, what confusing, surprising, or complicated scenes from the Gospels are you most interested in unfolding? And who in your life has helped you see a better picture of Jesus?
JESUS WAS: Not What We Expected but Better Than We Imagined is coming in September!
"This is a book that brings Jesus out of the headlines and back into our hearts."
—Pastor Josh Burtram and Will Wright, hosts of the Faithful Politics podcast
Pre-order your copy of Jesus Was today: https://a.co/d/2eUBPZF