Consider with me: Jesus is twelve years old when He is found teaching in the Temple. Joseph and Mary have made their yearly journey to yet another festival as a family. We won’t see Him again for 18 years and that will happen in Cana at a wedding. Tradition is a powerful thing and it appears that Jesus kept those traditions of Passover, Pentecost, and Sukkoth (Booths). We don’t know how many Passovers the Lord kept through the course of His life. It could be that He was there every year until the day in which He Himself became The Lamb.
Can you imagine a 25 year old Jesus walking through the crowded streets of Jerusalem at Passover time? Lambs baying; people rushing from merchant to merchant; the streets lined with visitors from the tip of Philippi to North Africa. Jesus is walking among them the whole time. He’s there, The Lamb, seen and yet unseen. He’s among them watching the ritual take place. It’s an empty offering of sorts with no remedy in sight. Nothing in their lives have changed. but there He is, going about the people as they clamor to offer their lambs, some brought – some bought. How is it that Jesus can be present, but so hidden? How could it be that the Lamb, for which the Passover was made, could be so cloaked? I suppose the greater question is: Could we have church and not see Him? He said that He was the Lord of the Sabbath. It was made for Him; because of Him; by virtue of Him. Passover was to be the day of Atonement. Pentecost was to be the Day of His Spirit In-filling. Sukkoth was going to show His sustaining Grace. And it brings me to this season which should be about Him. We cannot afford to lose Him in the crowd. Jesus is here among us. He is the answer we have been looking for. It’s Jesus Time!
Pastor Jeffrey Harpole