{"id":331,"date":"2012-01-03T15:31:46","date_gmt":"2012-01-03T20:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/onscripture\/?p=331"},"modified":"2012-02-21T12:32:03","modified_gmt":"2012-02-21T17:32:03","slug":"luke-222-40-how-are-we-caring-for-our-children-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/onscripture\/2012\/01\/luke-222-40-how-are-we-caring-for-our-children-today.html","title":{"rendered":"Luke 2:22-40 – How Are We Caring for Our Children Today?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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By Susan K. Hedahl<\/a><\/p>\n

The enactment of religious rituals for children in the Jewish faith of Jesus\u2019 time is the background of this only biblical glimpse we have of Jesus\u2019 early infancy.\u00a0\u00a0 This luminous text of hope from Luke\u2019s Gospel is pictorial in its rendering of Jesus presentation at the temple.\u00a0\u00a0 As a newborn, he is brought by his parents to be circumcised and officially named, following the custom of their faith.<\/p>\n

Luke\u2019s description of Jesus\u2019 \u201cbris\u201d at the age of eight days leaves an indelible tableau in our mind\u2019s eye.\u00a0\u00a0 Four adults are part of the scene, eager to see this child launched with due ceremony and love.\u00a0 We can almost see them posed on the front steps of the Temple!\u00a0 They are proud, happy and awed by this child.\u00a0 \u00a0Along with Jesus\u2019 parents, there are two other adults of deep piety, Simeon and Anna, who respond to the occasion. \u00a0\u00a0These two devout and faithful people are recorded as praising God.\u00a0 God has granted them the opportunity to witness the arrival of an infant whom they understand to be the central change agent for the cosmos.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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This story of a baby\u2019s first religious rituals prompts the memories of many adults whose own parents involved them at an early age in the practices of their faith.\u00a0 Luke paints a touching and very typical picture of just such an occasion.\u00a0 Today, even though obscured in the unknowingness of early infancy, how many adults still cherish the pictures and artifacts from their own infancy rituals?\u00a0\u00a0 Caregivers of all sorts save a scrapbook of pictures, perhaps a special robe, a candle, a signed guestbook or maybe a picture of the banquet table of well-wishers.\u00a0 All of these are reminders which can still bear meaning for adults about the religious and personal commitments caregivers made for them as infants.<\/p>\n

The child, Jesus, launched into the world, through the faithful hopes and practices of his parents and others, prompts the Gospel writer to conclude: \u201cThe child grew and became strong\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

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Paradoxically this text, while focused on Jesus throughout, also records the responses of the adults <\/em>around him to the child.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In fact, this text poses a critical set of questions for adults who have anything to do with children, be they parents, members of religious communities or the general public.<\/p>\n