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'Next year in Jerusalem' - is a wish, a prayer, a resolution and a longing, spoken by millions of Jewish folk for the best part of 3,000 years. I have been at the Waiting Wall in Jerusalem during Passover, a number of times, and to this day the very place exudes an electric atmosphere. It is like the heaviness before a summer storm.
When Jesus of Nazareth was a boy of twelve years old, his parents took him with them on their annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem. At that age boys were made 'Sons of the Temple'. After the festival, the company of friends and relations returned to Nazareth, but after going north for a whole day, they discovered that Jesus was missing. After a frantic search they turned back to Jerusalem. It took three days before they found him - and by then they were worried sick. It is a terrifying ordeal to lose a child. Normally it is even more terrifying to be a child who is lost. They finally found him in the Great Temple, listening to the nation's wisest teachers, and asking them questions. [Oh, I wonder what he asked them - wouldn't you love to know?]
The account in Luke's Gospel Chapter 2 tells us that everyone was amazed at his understanding and his answers. His parents were relieved and cross - 'We have been out of our minds. Why have you done this to us? We've been looking for you everywhere.' "Why", said the boy Jesus, "Didn't you know I'd be in my father's house?"
Of course they didn't understand, but as they went back the 80 odd miles north, his mother stored it, with all the other things about him, in her heart.
Today, what questions would you want to ask of the world's wisest men?
Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or swerve from them.Do not forsake wisdom, and she will protect you, love her, and she will watch over you. Proverbs 4: 5-7
A Prayer: Lord, to reverence you is the beginning of all wisdom. Put into my heart a holy fear of you so that there is nothing else to fear.
Now read Luke 2: 21-52
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