March 17

OT – Numbers 26:1-51
Another census, another list of names. But in it are several items of interest.
1. The number of the people, despite the wars, plagues, the opening of the earth, the exploding lanterns, remains very close to the same. A few of the tribes have lost a lot –Simeon – since his leader Zimri had the gall to parade his Midianite floozy in front of Moses, and others grew quite a bit. But the overall numbers stayed about the same.
2. Being the ardent feminist that I am, the little note – Asher had a daughter names Serah (vs. 46) intrigued me. Serah is JACOB’s only living granddaughter. The tradition, according Rashi, was that when the news came to Jacob that Joseph was still alive, he fell into shock and his granddaughter Serah was sent for to play her harp and comfort him. So great was her playing that Jacob said “if your uncle is still alive, may you live forever” and she did. Eventually after many years in The Promise Land, she went to the Garden of Eden and was received alive by the cherubim who guard the entrance.
3. The other women listed as children of a man that has no sons is the beginning of the next story of whining. Stay tuned.

NT—Luke 2:36-52
Jump over to Luke 3:23, which says, “He (Jesus) was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph” and then it proceeds to list Joseph’s geneology. Back in our scripture for today, Mary makes the scolding comment to Jesus “Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you” to which JESUS replies “Didn’t you know I had to be my FATHER’s house?”
I have to think that the whole issue of who was Jesus’ true father is enormous in Luke’s readership/congregation. He addresses several more times than these comments and don’t forget, he has already addressed it earlier with Gabriel’s visit to Miss Mary. You just don’t get all that trash talking without some sort of issue.
That aside, even before I became a mother, I knew what MY mother would have done if I had ‘stayed’ behind, regardless of my reason. MY mother would have beat me with a broom, the yardstick she kept on the dash and beside the refrigerator, and a belt and THEN she would have told my dad and he would have whipped us all. Lollygagging is a cardinal sin in the Cole household.
So, if this is the case, and I can’t believe we were at all unique, what was Jesus thinking? And why was Luke telling this story at all?
I have theories. The first one is Luke wanted his readers to know he got his material from a primary source. He either talked to Mary or one of the other children. This is a family story. You know the ones. There are no time limits and probably at my funeral they will be telling about me falling in the trash cans and learning how to ‘swim’ at UGA. I am sure your family has them too.
The second theory has to do with the whole idea that Jesus wasn’t really human. Many people during the time that Luke wrote his gospel believed in Gnosticism, a form of Christianity that Paul rejected. One of the main tenets of Gnosticism is that Jesus was fully God, not human. Luke clearly follows Paul in rejecting that idea. Luke knew that parents everywhere fear losing their children. This really was bad behavior on Jesus’ part, no matter what he said. Jesus was clearly a human 12 year old boy who wanted to stay (for whatever, even Godly, reasons) and did. He should have told his parents.
But I have no Rashi to comment so if you feel I am going down the wrong path, feel free to challenge.

Psalm 60
My study Bible has this as the title of this Psalm:
For the director of music. To the tune of The Lily of the Covenant. A miktam (literary or musical term) of David. For teaching. When he fought Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah and when Joab returned and struck down twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
This psalm goes with 1st Chronicles 19:6-19 which is the story of one of David’s campaigns that did not go well. And that in and of itself is unusual. To the victor go the spoils. At least that is the idiom. For example, there is absolutely no mention of the Israelite departure from Egypt. The Babylonian record for Nebuchadnezzar is very different. No madness is listed. Kings don’t like their defeats and mistakes recorded. Today is no different. In China, their history books don’t list Mao’s violent killings and deportations. In Russia, little mention is made of Josef Stalin’s purges.
But David was not that way. We have just as many “I’ve made a mess” psalms as we have “the glorious victory” psalms. Maybe more. What king/leader do we know that admits he was indiscreet? None that I know of. Everything hangs out with David and for this, I am grateful. It so helps to know that I am not alone in my ups and downs and the wrongs and rights that happen to me and I cause.

Many thanks for taking the time to read and follow this blog. I cannot tell you how much I am learning and growing from reading scripture daily and having to pull my thoughts together instead of the wild tangle they normally are. I hope that you are being enriched as well.