Mary’s Lent Diary (Day 2)

Have found my diary again, I’ve only ignored it for about 12 years!  Well, I haven’t ignored it on purpose, it is just that life has been so busy…

Jesus is doing really well.  He is growing, strong and healthy, clever, God is with him – all the things I would want for my boy.  He is 12 now, can you believe it?!  Which reminds me, that is why I have dug out my diary again…

Like lots of families, we go to Jerusalem every year to celebrate the Feast of Passover.  We are just home from going this year and I have got to record what happened while we were there.  I can hardly believe it myself.

We walked to Jerusalem in a group, as usual, and when we got to Jerusalem, it was absolutely packed with people.  I know it always is at Passover time but still the number of people takes me by surprise, every time.  I guess it is because we only live in a small place – I can’t remember Nazareth being packed out. We had a week of celebrating Passover, remembering together all that God has done for us, then we set off for home.  There were crowds of people leaving Jerusalem and we all walked along together, chatting.

At the end of the first day of travelling, I asked Joseph to tell Jesus to stay near us, since it was getting dark.  ‘He’s not with me,’ said Joseph, who had been deep in conversation with Matthew, our neighbour,  ‘I assumed you were keeping an eye on him.’  I told Joseph that I had assumed the same thing about him. We looked at each other and realised the terrible truth – we had lost Jesus!

I think the last time I panicked so much was when I was in Bethlehem, ready to give birth to Jesus but with nowhere to go.

There was nothing for it, we had to go back.  So Joseph and I left the group heading away from Jerusalem and retraced our steps.  We were both really tense; we hardly spoke a word.

Back in Jerusalem, we started searching everywhere we could think of.  We tried all the places that we’d been to during Passover.  No Jesus. Then we tried the places we hadn’t been to.  No Jesus.  We asked people if they had seen him but, with such a crowd, it was impossible.  After three days, we realised that we were beginning to go round in circles, trying places that we had already been to.

I didn’t care.  I just had to be doing something, so I carried on dashing around until Joseph grabbed my arm and told me to stop.  He said we needed to come up with a plan rather than run around like headless chickens.  I could not believe what I was hearing!  Surely it was better to be proactive rather than stand in the middle of the square, thinking?!  But, typically, it wasn’t – after a few moments, Joseph realised that we had not looked in the temple.  The words were hardly out of his mouth when I was off, and he had to hurry to catch me.  We arrived, breathless, at the temple and what did we see?  Jesus sitting there, talking with the teachers.  And people were listening to him!  In fact, they were amazed at how much he knew.  So were Joseph and I but, after a minute, I began to feel annoyed.  Joseph and I had been out of our minds with worry and here was Jesus, sitting here as calm as you like!

I asked Jesus what he was thinking of?  Why had he treated us in this way?  Didn’t he know that we would be worried and looking for him?

His answer confused me even more than trying to work out why he had stayed in Jerusalem in the first place.  He asked why we had been looking for him, and seemed surprised that we did not know that he would be ‘in his Father’s house’ (his exact words).  Yet another puzzle that I can’t understand.  What did he mean?

Anyway, I am not thinking about that now.  Jesus came back to Nazareth with us and has been good as gold ever since, no more disappearing acts!

(Luke 2)

Jesus as a boy, teaching at the temple

Mary and Joseph lost Jesus.

Let’s think about how that happened….

Mary and Joseph set off with Jesus.

They walked beside Him. 

Maybe chatted with Him.

Then they took their eyes off Him and started chatting to other people, looking at other things, assuming Jesus was with them.

And, when they turned round, they could not find Jesus.

How about you?

Maybe you have set off with Jesus. 

You’ve started a journey with Him.  Chatted with Him.  Shared your life with Him.

And then you took your eyes off Him. 

Maybe just for a second.

You thought you’d give church a miss one week, you skipped reading your bible one week, you forgot to pray one week, you forgot to consult Him about your plans….and one week turned into two, and three….and you carried on with your life. 

Carried on with your life, assuming that Jesus was going along with you and your plans.

But, when you did eventually turn round, you could not see Jesus.

You knew he must be somewhere. but you couldn’t see Him.

Maybe that’s you right now.

You can’t see Jesus.  Not as you used to see him, talk with him, walk with him.

‘If I go up to the heavens, You are there.  If I make my bed in the depths, You are there…’

Psalm 139

Wherever you go, Jesus is there.  But maybe, to find Him, you’ll need to do what Mary and Joseph did.  You’ll need to get away from the distractions and the noise,  and get back to the place, physically or emotionally, where you can enjoy being with Jesus again.

When Mary and Joseph found Jesus, he was surprised that they had found it so hard to find him.  Why?  Because they should have know where he would be. 

They should have known. 

It was Mary and Joseph that had moved away, Jesus hadn’t gone anywhere.

Have you moved away from Jesus? 

Well, He hasn’t gone anywhere.

He’s waiting, but it is up to you. 

You can find Him if you want to. 

Find Him and keep finding Him, every day, in every situation…

If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

Jeremiah 29:13 (NLT)

The teachers Jesus was talking with were amazed by things He knew and said.

Are you amazed by Jesus?

Lord Jesus,

Help me to check-in with You, so I don’t miss You in my life.

May I recognise You in every day.

Amen

Mary’s Memo: Find Jesus

Based on an excerpt from 30 Days with Mary — Emily Owen

Extract taken from 30 Days with Mary. Copyright 2014 © Emily Owen. Published by Authentic Media Ltd, Milton Keynes, UK.

All content of this blog is © Emily Owen. No part of these works may be reproduced without permission.