For context, read Luke 1:26-66; Luke 2; Matthew 1:18-2:40
I’ve begun studying the book of Luke. It has been a long time since i took a long look at Luke’s gospel, and right now, i’ve just finished chapter 2. Chapter 2 might be where we learn the most about Jesus’ earthly mother, Mary.
Mary was given a very big job by God. Not the biggest job, but i feel like there’s likely to be a lot of pressure involved in carrying, giving birth to, and raising the Son of God. And when this task was presented to Mary by the angel, Gabriel, her response was simple: to paraphrase, she said, “As You wish, Lord.”
After Jesus was born, when Mary and her husband Joseph took Jesus to be circumcized on the 8th day, according to the Jewish requirements, two different people, known as temple prophets, recognized that Jesus was the coming Messiah. The first, a man named Simeon, took the infant Jesus in his arms and prayed and prophesied at the same time, thanking God for letting him see God’s salvation and called Jesus a Light for revelationto the Gentiles, among other things. And he told Mary that Jesus would cause the thoughts of many hearts, including Mary’s, to be revealed, and that a sword would pierce her soul. (Can you even imagine?)
The second prophet, a woman named Anna, upon seeing Mary and Joseph and Jesus, came up to them and offered a prayer to God, thanking Him for the redemption of Jerusalem.
The only comment we have here is that Mary and Joseph were amazed. I imagine they were also a bit confused.
At the end of chapter 2, Jesus is 12 years old, and He has just given Mary and Joseph the fright of their lives by disappearing in Jerusalem during the Passover celebration, and making His location unknown to His earthly parents for 5 days. FIVE days!
When Mary and Joseph finally discovered Jesus sitting with the teachers in the temple, they were understandably relieved and upset, not understanding why Jesus would scare them like this. The 12-year-old Jesus has a completely unsatisfactory response, acting as though His earthly parents should have known that He would be about the business of understanding the scriptures, understanding more about His Father God. Jesus asks, “Why were you looking for Me?”
The gospel records that Mary and Joseph did not understand this remark. Neither would i.
But i want to go back now to the moment when Mary first heard about this assignment. Gabriel told her that she would give birth to the Son of God, and that Jesus would be King.
Listen: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and His kingdom will never end.
Luke 1:31-33 (NET)
Joseph received a similar message before Jesus was born:
Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife because the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will give birth to a son and you will name him Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.
Matthew 1:20b-21 (NET)
So…why didn’t Mary and Joseph understand when they received these prophetic messages or when Jesus was quite a different young man as a 12-year-old? I mean, God told them, right? Shouldn’t they have expected all this? Mary, herself, was even filled with Holy Spirit in Luke 1:46-54, and prophesied that Jesus was the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham and Abraham’s descendants. Why didn’t she get it? Why does the scripture say she didn’t understand when Jesus was incredulous about His parents not expecting He would be in the temple when He was missing for 5 days?
You might wonder why I’m talking about this. Please allow me to explain.
It occurred to me that Mary didn’t get a lot of subsequent instruction. Except for one additional dream in which the Lord told Joseph how to save Jesus, the toddler’s life, Joseph didn’t get any additional instruction either. Mostly, Mary and Joseph just got confirmation that this child would be born to Mary, who really was still a virgin, and that this was God’s Son.
No follow-ups; no manuals on how to raise this unusual child; no “what to expect when you’re expecting the Son of God.” After all of the unusual happenings surrounding the first few years of Jesus’ earthly life, Joseph and Mary simply proceeded with life as usual. They had other children; they raised their family; they did all the customary things they would have done if they hadn’t been the parents of Jesus.
The thing that occurred to me is that Christians are often heard expressing their desire for God to tell them what their mission is, or what their calling is, or what the next step is, or what color shirt to wear today. And i’m not saying that the Holy Spirit won’t answer those inquiries, but i’m not saying He will either.
I am not among those who think that those who say they hear God speaking to them about the mundane details of the day are all just imagining things, because i have known the gentle urge of the Holy Spirit, telling me to fill up with gas (or something else) at a certain time – and then saw the confirmation that it was good that i listened – and other things. I have also thought i might be hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit when it probably was just my imagination.
What i have not heard from God is any clear instruction about how what my life’s mission is, or any of a number of things i truly wish He would spell out for me. So as an earnest, Bible-believing, believer in Jesus, what should i do when i don’t get the specific direction or instruction i think i would like?
Well, i think we kind of do what Mary and Joseph did. They honored God in all the ways they already knew to do. They followed the teachings of the scripture that they had been taught, and they, i imagine, trusted God to do what HE was doing. And have you noticed how many times the scripture tells us about something that happened with Jesus and Mary, and “Mary treasured these things in her heart…” ?
It does seem like that if we are paying attention and availing ourselves to obeying what we know to obey, the Holy Spirit will give us hints to help us stay on the right path; He will give us an encouraging word from a Christian brother or sister; He will sometimes give us a dream that we don’t exactly understand right now – but we can tell it wasn’t a regular dream.
When these things happen, i think it’s entirely appropriate to consider these things in our hearts, to bring them to the Lord and say, “Lord, i don’t understand, but please do as You wish because i am your bond-servant.”
And while we’re considering all these things in our hearts, we should continue following the incredible treasure of scripture. We are the benefactors of the eye-witness testimony of those who walked with Jesus in the flesh, those who for sure directly heard the words of the Son of God, in person, with physical ears, and subsequently clearly knew the voice of the Holy Spirit. And they wrote down what they were sure about, and the Holy Spirit preserved those words for us for all these years later!
Bonus tip: i’ve also learned that when i am studying the Bible frequently, i also more frequently get extra Holy Spirit hints. He wants us in His word. We DID get a manual … of sorts. It doesn’t have a section on all the individual decisions i should make in my life, but it does tell us how to please the Lord. And if you’re like me, that’s what we want to know more than anything.
