Today's Scripture Reading (October 18, 2020): Luke 2
Christmas has
always been a significant holiday in my family. In some families, the holiday
of the year is Thanksgiving, but it was always Christmas in my family. And the
Christmas season began at Thanksgiving, Canadian Thanksgiving, which occurs on the
second Monday in October. Once Canadian Thanksgiving was finished, the
Christmas music was unleashed in the house, decorations slowly began to emerge
from their hiding spots, and the march toward the big day had begun.
Once the day
arrived, again, there was a defined way in which the day would progress. When I
was really young, I lived in the same area as both sets of my grandparents. And
so, every year, my family went on a Christmas pilgrimage. The day started with breakfast
and a Christmas celebration with my parents. And then we gathered ourselves
together and made the journey to my Dad's parents' home, and a lunch
celebration feast with my paternal relatives. And then the move was made to go
to the home of my mom's parents, and an evening celebration feast with my
maternal relatives. How we spent Christmas was never questioned or in doubt.
This was the way it would be.
Passover was
one of the central feasts of Judaism. According to the Law of Moses, it was one
of the times when all men were to appear in Jerusalem. As the Jews scattered
further and further away, that advice changed to all men within a certain distance
from Jerusalem, but the expectation remained that men would come to the Temple
in Jerusalem three times a year.
Joseph was an
observant Jew, and so he made sure that every year he went to Jerusalem at the
time of the Passover. And the family of Joseph went with him. In the beginning,
it was just Mary, Joseph, and Jesus. But as the family grew, the children were
included in the journey.
The picture
that this comment paints is that the House of Joseph and Mary did not live
outside of the faith of the land. And they did not just do the minimum. From
the time that Jesus was born, he was instructed in what it meant to be a Jewish
man in the society. Joseph could have made the eighty-mile trip from Nazareth
to Jerusalem on his own. It would have been an easier path. But Joseph wanted
to teach his children, and especially his sons, what it meant to be a Jew, and
live a life that honored God by obeying the Laws of Moses. And so, from his
earliest memories, Jesus would have known that for a Jew, the Passover pilgrimage
to Jerusalem was not optional. And as an adult, it would be during that same
pilgrimage that his life would come to an end. Joseph had taken Jesus on a yearly
Passover pilgrimage, and years later, Jesus would be arrested and executed
during his own Passover pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: John
1
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