Scripture Reflections

There is a theme in the background of last Sunday’s Gospel reading (Luke 2:41-52). As a boy, discussing the Law with the teachers in Jerusalem, Jesus caused amazement—he was no threat to these men and they could delight in his precocious understanding. Around 20 years later, though, these same leaders, threatened by every word he spoke, would condemn Jesus to death. The boy at whom they marveled became the man whom they had to silence. He was now a rival and a danger.
 
This same story occurs in the life of David, and before that, in Joseph. A gifted young man, as he ages, becomes a threat to those who are desperate to retain power. Joseph’s brothers were so threatened by his dreams of leadership that they were willing to kill him. Saul rejoiced in David’s martial success until Saul felt his own position was threatened. This pattern is really about our inability to receive our Savior, because he threatens our position as lord of our own lives, but it shows up in history regularly.
 
In my mind, I call this the “Saul Syndrome.” God sends someone to help, but we reject him or her because the helper threatens our pride, self-sufficiency, or control. People we should receive and rejoice in are rejected, because we don’t want to be corrected or take second place. It happens in all of our lives—we know best and we aren’t going to cede our position! The one who would be a helper becomes a threat.
 
I wonder if we would think differently in these moments if we imagined ourselves as the leaders of Jerusalem. Certainly, the people whom we are inclined to ignore aren’t Jesus, but what if we recognized that our dismissal of them might be a silencing of God’s very answers to our prayers? The leaders of Jerusalem were praying for the Messiah to come and God’s deliverance, after all. They just didn’t like what the answer to that prayer looked like, when it showed up.
 
I hope and pray that we would be humble enough to receive God’s messenger (and message!), no matter how threatening it might be. Pray with me that the Spirit would make our hearts willing!
 
In Christ,
 
Steven+