What Did Jesus Play As A Child?
Good Morning Friends,
Have you ever wondered what Jesus might have played with when he was growing up? It is fun to imagine what the games and activities would look like and the fun that Jesus may have had playing them with his family and friends. But it is hard to know for sure because the Bible doesn’t talk about them and other writings give fanciful stories that draw away from the amazing miracle of being a human child. Still we know that children and adults did play games and instruments as they have been found by archeologists and so can reasonably believe that Jesus would have known about them if not actually played with them. So my interest here is in imagining the more mundane but beautiful thought of Jesus playing and how his creativity more so than supernatural powers must have made the experience absolutely joyful. The scripture that guides my interest in this is from Zechariah in God’s image and promise of the future Kingdom… a time when the streets of the City will be as a playground for both the young and the old. So this morning I am prompted to imagine. What Did Jesus Play As A Child?
Scripture: When they heard this, all in the synagogue were filled with rage. They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way.
Luke 4:28-30 (NRSV)
A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken.
Proverbs 15:13 (NRSV)
Of all this force, there were seven hundred picked men who were left-handed; every one could sling a stone at a hair, and not miss.
Judges 20:16 (NRSV)
“But to what will I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to one another, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we wailed, and you did not mourn.’
Matthew 11:16-17 (NRSV)
And the streets of the city shall be full of boys and girls playing in its streets.
Zechariah 8:5 (NRSV)
whirl you round and round, and throw you like a ball into a wide land; there you shall die, and there your splendid chariots shall lie, O you disgrace to your master’s house!
Isaiah 22:18 (NRSV)
they offered him wine to drink, mixed with gall; but when he tasted it, he would not drink it. And when they had crucified him, they divided his clothes among themselves by casting lots;
Matthew 27:34-35 (NRSV)
Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable one. So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.
I Corinthians 9:24-27 (NRSV)
while Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he came again to the temple. All the people came to him and he sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman who had been caught in adultery; and making her stand before all of them, they said to him, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” They said this to test him, so that they might have some charge to bring against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger on the ground. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, “Let anyone among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” And once again he bent down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they went away, one by one, beginning with the elders; and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. Jesus straightened up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, sir.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go your way, and from now on do not sin again.”
John 8:1-11 (NRSV)
Message: I have included scripture today that might give us some indication as to what Jesus might have done as a child. But there is one scripture that might seem out of place for you. It is that of the adult Jesus being run out of town and the attempt made to through him off a cliff. And I have included it because if I were a young child outside of Nazareth I would probably have played near that cliff throwing rocks off the edge and perhaps exploring how leaves and seed pods might seem to float off the edge in a peaceful way drifting in the wind. That is what I did as a child. Perhaps Jesus did something similar. The point is that we do so need better metaphors for describing our work in community that draws from our creative roots. That is why Leadership Foundations have chosen to substitute playground imagery for the battleground imagery typically used to describe the building up of communities in mission together. Here the word play can clearly be associated with music and team sports as well as games of personal skill and chance. So what may Jesus have played as a child? Perhaps he had whistles and spinning tops and toys on wheels and hoops with sticks. And I imagine he had foot races with others. And with all the rocks in Israel he most likely threw some of them for target practice or skipping stones on a lake. Perhaps he even knew of those who would be given a crown of leaves for winning a race. Undoubtedly our imaginations could make all sorts of connections from playing in the sand with a stick to Jesus writing in the sand with his finger on the ground to the Pharisees who brought him a woman who had been caught in adultery. Indeed some of the games played as adults may have been similar to the childhood games. However the stakes increased and the risk of losing was much greater. And that makes Zechariah’s passage all the more important. For here we join in the hope of a future for those now struggling to rebuild. Here we see that the words apply to every generation who seek to live for God
Pray we are creative in the ways we play. Pray we play by the rules. Pray we rejoice in the high honor that Jesus brings to the life of children that is more than entertainment. Pray our cities are redeemed. Pray God’s Kingdom come. Pray we learn from our play. Pray we enjoy life that transforms. Pray we live out in our family and personal relationships an image of hope and in the spirit of a child at play.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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