As I grow older, I become increasingly irritable when I see so much Americanization and dumbing down of holy things. My parents laugh when I express these signs of my age. But I hope that some of my general disquiet might be worth taking seriously.
The current object of my disquiet is the phrase, “Happy birthday, Jesus,” which I hear and see thrown about as people revel in their gift-giving and overeating. It conjures images of American birthday bashes with balloons, party favors, and scores of expensivve presents. It certainly does not give me a sense of the holy child or the joyful journey to tell others that he is born. Nor does it give me a sense of Jesus’ life as a child or what significance it has for his saving work–and I do believe this matters.
Did Mary and Joseph settle down to a normal family life after all the holy baby hubbub died down? Or was Jesus’ childhood lived against the backdrop of the holy things? How did that change his childhood? What did Mary do to prepare him for what was to come?
There is one biblical portrayal of Jesus as a boy. In Lk. 2:42-52, his family makes a journey to the temple and then returns home. He stays behind, and his parents have to go back and look for him (v. 48). His parents’ astonishment might indicate that this is not normal behavior for him. He, on the other hand, seems to think that they should have expected them to behave in this manner (v. 49).
It is important to understand the significance of Jesus’ age. when this incident occurred. He is of the age that Jewish boys typically near bar mitzvah–and Christian boys in certain traditions near confirmation. And he is at the temple, engaging the leadership in discussion. Why is everyone so surprised? Perhaps it is an indicator of the state of society, that this is not normal behavior for boys of his age–not then and not now. When we simply say, “Happy birthday, Jesus,” and go on about things, we have not stopped to contemplate who Jesus was–or who we can be in Him. We have so much more potential for depth in our relationship with God than we often achieve.
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I understand what your saying at the same time so many ppl forget the reason for the season, even many Christians so to me a reminder is ok sometimes. Sometimes at church we have sung happy birthday to him I know that is a little lame but it was fun 🙂