In a couple of weeks, we’ll be exploring the idea of Jesus as Priest and how as Priest His job is to keep what is unclean out of the Church. While it comes very much into focus in Luke 5, we already see Jesus dealing with all that is broken and unclean (impure, 4:36). The idea of sin as something that contaminates us and our world will be a part of that discussion, but for now a simple recognition that Jesus alone can actually fix the world (and us as part of that world) is a great place to start. I’ve always liked the idea of light and darkness. Watching a Sunrise (ps.19); lighting a candle in a dark room; shining a torch in the back garden at night time; or just flicking the switch for a bedroom nitelight… all simple ways of showing that Jesus (as light of the world) drives back darkness. Wherever light is, darkness isn’t. We see that enacted in the passage before us.
To be a Disciple of Jesus is to recognize His authority – though it’s baffling how many people try to be Christians whilst still deciding for themselves what they will believe and how they will live. The whole point of this section of Luke’s Biography of Jesus (Gospel) is showing us that He has authority – absolute authority. This gives you a great opportunity to explore how as a parent, your authority in the home is about helping your child(ren) to learn how to relate to Jesus’ authority. When your kid(s) learn to obey you they are being given the tools that will help them learn to obey Jesus (Matt.28:19-20). You can explain why the rules of your home are what they are… reflecting the rules of God’s home; and why you teach your children to obey ‘first time and straightaway’… because that is how we should obey the Lord. In fact, the only reason parents have authority is that it is delegated from God.
There are a number of ways into this… a simple game like ‘Simon says…’ that is about following instructions; or a list of instructions that end in finding a gift; imagining a game of football without any rules or referees… following rules (or in Jesus’ language: obeying everything He has commanded) might actually be a good thing! Discussing (or re-reading) any favourite stories that show a Monarch as a wise and benevolent ruler might be helpful here too (Lk.4:43).
Older children might benefit from a conversation about how authority structures are reflected not just in family life, but also in Church life, and in the life of a nation?
This could be a great opportunity to explore what your child(ren) are afraid of. There are frightening things in the world, things that can hurt or scare us. The way to deal with that is not to pretend they don’t exist, but to know that Jesus is more powerful than any of them. He has authority over us… and over everything else too! Do we trust Jesus to protect us? What does that protection mean? If you’ve lit the candle (see above), maybe this is a chance to chance to pray together about Jesus watching over us and protecting us from what scares us.
