Photo and Commentary ©2023 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, August 13, 2023
If you have plenty of time, and enjoy browsing, you could get lost in this place. I have. Every time we visit (which isn’t often, which is one reason I get lost) I think about the story of Hansel and Gretel dropping bread crumbs behind them so they could find their way back home. Next time, in lieu of crumbs, I’ll have to pick up a copy of the map they offer at the front desk.
It’s a big, sprawling antique shop, with a multitude of vendors (not present) who have filled booths and nooks and crannies and tables and bookshelves and glass cases with all manner of items they hope will catch your nostalgic eye.
I had accomplished my one-item shopping mission and switched to browsing mode when something did catch my eye – the framed print you see in my photo above.
The painting was familiar, like an old friend, but I cannot tell you where or when I’ve seen it reproduced. I just know that I have seen it – or similar scenes – several times over the years.
It was hung about waist high, so I edged closer and bent down to read the title, then straightened up and laughed to myself. It was simply labeled as “Vintage print – Boy and Men.”
I was startled into laughter because I had expected a less generic, more religious and specific title; something like, “The Boy Jesus in the Temple.” Because it’s an imagined depiction of this actual event:
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 the custom. After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. (Luke 2:41-47 NIV)
This is what people passing by the scene would have noticed – a “boy and men” in earnest conversation. So the vendor’s label was accurate but incomplete. How about, “Young Messiah and Men”? Or, “Jesus Teaches the Teachers”?
Passers-by would not have noticed a slight halo haze around Jesus. Scripture tells us that nothing about His appearance would have set Him apart as remarkable (Isaiah 53:2). What captured the teachers’ attention was His listening, His questions, His understanding, and His answers. He apparently disarmed them enough that they were comfortable asking questions of an unschooled twelve-year old boy. That’s what’s remarkable.
While Jesus takes center stage in this painting and in my heart, my eyes are drawn over and over to the faces of the teachers surrounding Him. They seem intent and thoughtful; I don’t see any hint of scorn or disdain. I like to think that the Holy Spirit nurtured the seeds the young Jesus planted that day, and that all the teachers eventually became His followers!
Last Sunday my blog post was entitled “Appearances,” with the theme that appearances can be deceiving. This week I’m thinking once again about appearances, and how being willing to dig a little deeper than surface appearances (such as an unschooled twelve-year old boy) can lead to priceless insights – to Truth!
Note: For information on this painting and its artist, see:
http://www.heinrichhofmann.net/jesus-in-the-temple-1881.html