“Soon after his birth, Joseph and Mary presented Jesus to the Lord at the temple in Jerusalem, in keeping with the Jewish law.” Luke 2:22Today’s scripture is one that we tend to skip over at Christmas. Mary and Joseph follow the law and take Jesus to the temple and “present him to the Lord”......they take him and dedicate him to you, his Father! You gave him to them and they give him back, like all good Jewish parents. He is to be one of your people.
How strange and convoluted it all is when you try to analyze it. You came to earth as a baby. You are both father and son. You are the giver and the given. You are the giver and the gift! You came to save us, but had to use Mary and Joseph to save yourself as an infant from Herod. How to imagine the Eternal God of the Universe as a helpless baby!??
It seems so crazy and yet it seems so right. I’ve been listening to a Christmas CD that has a song with the line, “What a strange way to save the world!” To us very strange and incomprehensible. To us a mystery, a paradox, a puzzle. but once the puzzle is accepted and believed it doesn’t seem to matter any more if we understand it.
We accept the baby, we accept the man/Savior, we accept the gift of grace and our hearts swell with thanks and love. Jesus is ours now. Jesus is here in our hearts. We are his temple and he has been “presented” there to you, Lord. He is the lifeblood running through us. He is our connection to you forever more. The “man” in him is forever connected to our humanity. The Lord and Savior in him is forever connected to his Father and to our hearts and minds and souls.
Thank you, Lord, that you are all wise and powerful and knew how to reach us and connect with us to make us new! Praise and thanks forever more. amen
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