Better understanding the Gospel

with Marie-Noëlle Thabut

“He came to his own house, and his own people did not receive him”: this is a phrase from John in the prologue to his Gospel; it seems that the account we read here in Luke illustrates this point. For this account presents us with both a manifestation of the mystery of Jesus and the incomprehension of his closest relatives. That this family went to Jerusalem for Passover is not surprising. That it lasted eight days is also not surprising: the two combined feasts of Passover and Unleavened Bread, which were already one, did indeed last eight days.

But what follows is astonishing: the young boy remains at the Temple, seemingly without bothering to inform his parents; they leave Jerusalem with the entire group, as they do every year, without checking whether he is indeed on the journey. This separation lasts three days, a number Luke specifies, of course, intentionally. When the three of them are reunited, they are not yet on the same page: Mary's affectionate reproach, still deeply moved by the anguish of those three days, clashes with her son's equally sincere astonishment: "Why were you looking for me? Didn't you know? I must be in my Father's house."

The manifestation of the mystery of Jesus lies, of course, in the wonder of all, and particularly of the doctors of the Law, before the light that so clearly dwells within him. It also lies in the mention of the three days which, throughout the Bible, are the usual time frame for encountering God. Three days will be the period between the burial and the Resurrection, that is to say, the complete victory of life. The manifestation of the mystery of Jesus lies, finally, in this astonishing statement from the mouth of this twelve-year-old boy, accompanied by his two very human parents: “I must be in my Father’s house.” There he clearly affirms himself as the Son of God; at the Annunciation, the Angel Gabriel had already presented him as the “Son of the Most High,” but this could only be understood as the title of the Messiah; this time, the revelation takes a step further: the title of son applied to Jesus is not merely a royal title, it speaks of the mystery of Jesus’ divine sonship. No wonder it's not immediately understandable! And that's not all: Jesus, today, says "I am in my Father's house"... Later he will say "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father".

It's truly incomprehensible, even to his parents: and Jesus dares to ask them, "Did you not know?" Even believers as profound and fervent as Joseph and Mary are surprised, bewildered by the mysteries of God. This should reassure us. Let us not be surprised that we ourselves understand so little! Have we forgotten the words of Isaiah? "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the Lord. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9).

The Gospel suggests that Mary herself doesn't understand everything immediately: she takes it all in, questions it, and seeks to understand. "Her mother treasured up all these things in her heart." After the shepherds' visit to the cave in Bethlehem, we already read: "But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart" (Luke 2:19). Luke gives us an example to follow: accepting that we won't understand everything right away, but allowing meditation to take root within us. Just like our own, Mary's faith is not a bed of roses!

And all this takes place in the Temple in Jerusalem; Luke attaches great importance to the Temple, which for the Jews was the sign of God's presence among his people. But, as we know, for Christians, it is now the body of Christ himself that is the true Temple of God, the place par excellence of his presence. Our story today is one of the stages of this revelation; Luke is certainly thinking here of the prophecy of Malachi: “The Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his temple; the angel of the covenant in whom you delight will come. He is coming,” says the Lord Almighty. (Malachi 3:1)

The last sentence of Luke's account gives us pause for thought: "Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man." This means that Jesus himself, like all children of the world, needs to grow! The mystery of the Incarnation goes this far: it signifies, on the one hand, that Jesus is fully human, and on the other hand, that God has patience with our growth: for him, a thousand years are like a day (Psalm 89/90).

Finally, we might be surprised by an apparent contradiction: Jesus answers his parents, "I must be in my Father's house," only to return with them to Nazareth immediately afterward. This means he didn't stay in the Temple of stone! Neither did Samuel, for that matter (see the first reading): although consecrated to the Lord and brought to the Temple at Shiloh to remain there for the rest of his life, Samuel ultimately served the Lord outside the Temple, taking the lead of his people. Perhaps this, too, is a lesson for us: "I must be in my Father's house" means a life given in service to humanity, not necessarily within the Temple precincts. In other words, being with the Father means first and foremost being at the service of his children.

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Complement

- The Gospel of Luke begins at the Temple in Jerusalem with the announcement to Zechariah of the birth of John the Baptist (John means "God has shown favor"); it is there that, on the day of the Presentation of Jesus, Simeon proclaims that God's salvation has arrived; it is there finally that the Gospel of Luke ends: after their farewell to the risen Christ, the disciples, he tells us, return to the Temple in Jerusalem.