8 June 2024 Luke 2:41-51
“And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.” Luke 2:47
Is it possible that the Church has become bored with Jesus?
When the boy Jesus was in the Temple conversing with the teachers of the Law of Moses, “all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers” (Luke 2:47). When Jesus’ parents finally found Him, “they were astonished” (2:48). The verbs used to express this amazement and astonishment are not mild verbs, but mean that someone has been completely knocked off his feet, struck so hard as to be stunned senseless. People couldn’t believe what they were hearing. It was an experience that for some never quite went away: “His mother treasured all these things in her heart” (2:51). She never forgot what that blow felt like. Every time she thought of it, she felt it again.
Are we still willing to be stunned by Jesus like that? Or do we really think that there is nothing left about Jesus that is really surprising, that it has all been fully known, considered, written, published, prayed, preached, catalogued, and filed?
Isn’t that just another way of saying that we are now bored with Jesus?
When the Apostles first started preaching about the Risen Christ, it disturbed the settled understandings of the Sanhedrin and the teachers of the Law, and they arrested the Apostles, telling them to cut it out. They were willing to consider murder to keep from being surprised by Jesus – why not? They had done it before. That was until Gamaliel, one of the most revered teachers of the Law ever, told them to dismiss the Apostles from the room for a minute – he didn’t want them to hear what he was about to say. Behind closed doors, Gamaliel advised the council to leave the Apostles alone, because there was no way they could defeat the Apostles’ argument. They did have Jesus killed. The tomb was empty – if it were not, all they would have had to do was produce the body of Jesus, and that would havedemolished the Apostles’ claims. They could not deny the miracles, either those of Jesus himself, or those done by the Apostles – too many people had seen them. And most importantly, there was nothing in the Law of Moses that said what the Apostles were saying was false. Therefore, he advised, “Keep away from these men, and let them alone; because if this plan or this undertaking is of human origin, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them – in that case you may even be found fighting against God!” (Acts 5:38-39). Even a teacher of Gamaliel’s stature couldn’t say the gospel was wrong. Even he kind of wanted to see where it might go.
Even Gamaliel, perhaps despite himself, was a little fascinated by Jesus. Not surprisingly, one of Gamaliel’s students wound up being fascinated by Jesus, too. That was the last Apostle, St. Paul.
It was fascination with Jesus that made it possible for the ancient Church to out-think, out-teach, outlive and out-die the Roman Empire. It is fascination with Jesus that has made possible the emergence of universities, hospitals, science, rights, and reforms like the abolition of slavery. It is the most preposterous arrogance and ignorance to suppose that we have already thought everything about Jesus that needs to be thought. It isn’t Jesus who is boring. We may be.
Mary never forgot the blow she got when she saw who her Son was, saw Him in action. She felt it again every time she thought of it. She feels it still. Perhaps we should think a little harder about who Mary’s Son is. That will make us many things. One of the things it will not make us is boring.
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