January 21, 2026

GOD’S WORD FOR TODAY:

“Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. When He was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to their custom.” (Luke 2.41,42)

TODAY’S REFLECTION ON GOD’S WORD:

For twelve years, Joseph took his family to Jerusalem and the Temple for Passover. Following Luke’s gospel narrative, they went from Bethlehem to Jerusalem and then on to Nazareth. For the following eleven years, they journeyed from Nazareth to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. They may have even sojourned there for the season leading from Passover to Pentecost. If they did, it is likely they stayed in Bethlehem with family as they did when Jesus was born. For Luke, the heart of this narrative is the journey which faith caused them to take. It is a witness and an encouragement to us to keep ourselves on the faith journey to the New Jerusalem. Along the way, we remember both Passover and Pentecost. We may not celebrate them as our Jewish brothers and sisters do, but as members of the body of Christ we dare not forget the importance of those two days in the life and the future of the Church. In truth for me, and the storyteller in me led by the Spirit, I believe that Jesus was born during the season of Passover. The ebb and flow of His faith journey would center around that pivotal moment of deliverance and redemption in the life of His people, the people of God, the sheep of God’s pasture for whom He was the Good Shepherd. [Dare I say that the consideration of the season of Saturnalia, a Roman holiday and spiritual event, as the appropriate date to assigning the birth of Jesus was a move away from the Jewishness of Jesus and their traditions. How can we do that if indeed we also understand that Jesus was crucified, as witnessed by all the gospels, on Passover after the Seder Feast, which was a special Sabbath, and before the traditional Sabbath when Jesus was laid to rest in the Garden Tomb? Regardless…] Passover is an important theme for Luke as he shares the gospel narrative carrying the concept of the power of the Holy Spirit, being obedient to God’s will, and the ministry of reconciliation through the righteousness of God, which is the incarnation of Christ Himself as Jesus the Messiah.

We do not hear of these trips of Jesus’ family for Passover in the gospel according to Matthew. It doesn’t mean that Luke is not representing the story of Jesus’ life correctly. It doesn’t mean that Matthew doesn’t see these events as critical or necessary. The very task of harmonizing the gospel themselves, as some scholars have attended to do with varying degrees of success, is not an easy endeavor. Even the storyteller in me has to carefully study, pray, listen and follow where the Spirit leads. The beauty of the textual differences is, as I said before, the opportunity for the gospel and the whole of scripture to become individualized and personalized. This is what God desired to do the entire time with humanity. It is one thing to hear “God is love” and “Jesus is love.” It is comforting and supportive to hear “God is sovereign” and “Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.” What is more important is when those words and truths become true partners in our lives because of those believers we walk with and talk with. The whole function of “incarnation,” the Word becomes flesh, is that God’s word becomes real. It is not just something we say or hear. It is something we focus and pay attention to. It is something that we do and make real for others. Luke makes it real through the whole course of Jesus’ life as a man of Judaism, a man of God and God’s man. Luke makes sure that “all righteousness” is fulfilled. Jesus is circumcised on the eighth day and named by custom and tradition. Forty days later, Jesus is presented in the Temple for consecration and commitment to serve the Lord. On His twelfth birthday (or birth year), Jesus becomes a man through the act and custom of Bar Mitzvah. He takes on his heavenly Father’s work at that time. Luke provides that beautiful story where Jesus declares, “Wouldn’t you expect Me to be in My Father’s House doing My Father’s work?” there on the steps of the Temple among the Elders and Teachers of the Law. He goes on to learn the trade of Joseph as a carpenter and stonemason. Then, when He is thirty years of age, He goes to be baptized to “fulfill all righteousness.” It is the age when a man makes his decision, after training, to become a rabbi. All of these experiences highlight “The Word, who is Jesus, being a flesh and bone person of God.“

For Luke, this is the path that he believes every believer should follow. They should do it not to become Jewish believers in Christ but those who pursue all righteousness by following the teaching and the practices which formulated and guided the life and ministry of Jesus. As His disciples this is what we should be doing today. We are “the next generation” as those who have been born again in spirit and in truth.

TODAY’S PRAYER IN RESPONSE TO GOD’S WORD:

Father, in these days we are finding the need to believe even more than ever before. We all have known trouble, some in greater ways than others, but You are offering us the assurance that we will not be consumed by it forever. Regardless of the “time” we are in and the “time” we have been given, we ask for Your Holy Spirit which Jesus asked You to share with us, to lead and guide and direct us in the paths we should go. Teach us what we still need to learn. Empower us to put that learning into action. Bless our actions not as a works righteousness but as righteous works of faith, hope and love in Jesus’ name. AMEN.