"Throughout the silent years Jesus was learning the meaning of family life. The name for God which came most naturally to the lips of Jesus was Father; and the very use of that word is itself a very beautiful compliment to Joseph. It was said of Martin Luther that he hesitated to pray the Lord’s Prayer and to say “Our Father,” because his own father had been so stern, so unbending, so unsympathetic that the word “father” was not a word which he loved. To Jesus the name “father” was the most natural and the most precious name for God, and it was in the home at Nazareth that he must have learned the meaning of that word.
There were words which Jesus heard in the home in Nazareth which lingered in his mind all his days. Once he came to a little girl whom all others thought to be dead, and said softly: “Talitha, cumi,” which means, as we might say, “Little lamb, get up!” (Mark 5:41) Where did Jesus hear a child called “little lamb?” Surely these were the words which he had heard the gentle Mary croon over himself and over his brothers and sister, when they were very young. Throughout the years Jesus was discovering that it was God indeed who had set the solitary in families (Ps. 68:6). He was no monkish ascetic; he grew up within a home."
(Barclay, William., The Mind of Jesus, HarperSanFrancisco, United States of America, 1960, pgs 11-12)
Ummm. What a warm insight.
ReplyDeleteLittle lamb sounds so tender and loving. It is more meaningful to me written as lamb, rather than damsel, because of the many references to the Savior as the Lamb of God and how we are to feed His sheep. Thank you, Donna, for the beautiful spirit I feel when reading what you share here with us.
ReplyDeleteI was so happy to learn that, because of the wording it makes it sound like "talitha cumi" is literally translated: "Damsel, I say unto thee, Arise" Good one.
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