1 Samuel 2:18–20, 26
N. C. Wyeth: Eli and the Boy Samuel
(1928. Illustration in the March 1929 issue of Good Housekeeping Magazine,
Somerville Manning Gallery, 43”x33” oil, for sale)
Passing It On
They say that imitation’s
The sincerest form of flattery.
Thus, Luke sincerely must have liked
Old Samuel’s author’s mastery,
And copied nearly word for word
How Jesus, a young shaver,
In wisdom and in stature grew
In God’s and human favor.
He must have thought that Samuel,
Such a consummate anointer,
Devoted to old Eli,
To another was a pointer;
Another who would be a king,
But not of any nation,
Who lived so love for humankind
Might be our dedication.
Scott L. Barton
Samuel was ministering before the Lord, a boy wearing a linen ephod. His mother used to make for him a little robe and take it to him each year, when she went up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice. Then Eli would bless Elkanah and his wife, and say, “May the Lord repay you with children by this woman for the gift that she made to the Lord”; and then they would return to their home.
Now the boy Samuel continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and with the people.
+ + +
Luke 2:41–52
Max Liebermann: The 12-Year-Old Jesus in the Temple (1879)
Questions About This Odd Text
I have many questions about this odd text
Where the soon-to-be teenager’s parents were vexed
By the child who went off and then worried them sick,
And they scratched their heads, saying, “What makes this boy tick?”
Oh, why did they travel e’en just for a day,
While, with neighbors, they thought he was still on the way?
And I wonder just where for three days did he stay?
Did he sleep? Did he eat? Did he ever once play?
And why such obedience back at the house?
Was he loud, in high spirits, or quiet as a mouse?
Most of all, I ask why in God’s favor he grew?
And then how in God’s name was this something Luke knew?
Like Mary, I treasure these things in my heart,
While the text, in another way, Mystery imparts.
Scott L. Barton
Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it.Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.
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