Selah

   Sunday evening I had the blessing of seeing Selah in concert.  Their first album released in 1998 is one of my favorite albums.  I did not have a normal dinner, so I was in need of a little snack after the special concert.  I went to a back area of the lobby to eat two fig bars I brought and to drink some water.  Suddenly the members of Selah came and sat down at a nearby table with their backs towards me.  Then a line of people formed to have them sign CD’s and such.  Being the only person behind the group, I had a unique vantage point for the signing.
   The first person in line was a young lady and she approached the table.  Standing before the trio, she started fanning herself with her hand, and she had to catch her breath several times before speaking.  She emotionally explained: “I grew up with you all.”  She later explained she is a senior in high school, thus she was born right around the time Selah started in 1998, and she had listened to their music throughout her youth.  Todd asked her name, and then he shook her hand.  She explained how excited she was.  Then the young lady, remaining emotional yet becoming articulate, stated: “I was wondering if each one of you could take my Bible and highlight your favorite verse, and then write your name next to it?”  The table was silent for a moment.  The three of them have surely signed countless CDs and posters over the years, but this was a unique request.  Of course they obliged.  I thought her out of the norm request was beautiful, showing she had put thought into having them do something special and something so personal as to involve her cherished Bible.  As they were highlighting, I softly said myself, “God bless her.”
   She repeated again, “I grew up with you all.”  Then she talked with them about one more thing, being very selfless and articulate.  Finally they said she could take a picture with them.  Obviously she was excited about that.
   In thinking about her today, I was reminded of how influential a person can be in the life of a teenager.  When I was a teenager, I listened to much rock music, some of which contained sinful and raunchy lyrics.  I saw numerous rock concerts where drinking and drugs were prevalent.  Praise be to God even before I was a Christian I abhorred drinking too much and drugs, largely due to my parent’s teaching and the death of a friend at my high school.  Yet those groups subtly had an influence on me.  And I dare say often it was not an influence leading me to become a more loving person.
   We Christians have the opportunity to be a loving influence in the lives of students.  That includes you students who are followers of Jesus.  You have a huge opportunity to witness the love of Jesus to your peers.  The number of struggling or lost students is staggering.  Sometimes I hear students make statements in casual conversations with their friends which make me shutter and of which I respond saying a prayer renouncing evil under my breath.  So often I wish I had an opportunity to have lunch with these teenagers so I could tell them the Gospel.  What these young folks need is true love, which they can have being in the ultimate loving relationship with Jesus Christ.
   Jesus can enable us to be a light in the darkness.  Doing what is wrong will inevitably lead to getting hurt.  Doing what is good will inevitably lead to goodness.  Your influence on a teenager could factor into a huge decision he or she makes.  May we be willing to take a stand witnessing Jesus, wanting the best for all young people!
Hunter

How old was the virgin Mary when she became pregnant with Jesus?

   In following Jesus for 26 years, I have heard many Christmas sermons at a variety of churches.  Within numerous sermons, the various pastors stated that when Mary gave birth to Jesus she would have been a girl about age thirteen.  I even read a Bible scholar recently who stated with assurance the age of thirteen.  Yet Mary’s age is not mentioned in the Bible.  And deep in my heart, I was suspect.  My question soon became: How do pastors and scholars know this?
   At Colorado Christian University I gained insight into this question when doing research for a paper on a different topic.  In reading writings of scholars from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s who observed the social culture in the Middle East, I learned about marriage practices at that time.  One well published scholar in 1900 was specific about age: “Marriage takes place early – girls at thirteen or fourteen, young men at nineteen or twenty.  It is not considered respectable for any man over twenty-one to be unmarried.” (1)
   I also read the writing of another scholar who made extensive observations of middle eastern oriental culture.  Note that scholars in the early 1900’s viewed the Ancient Middle East and the current Middle East to be a part of the “Orient.”  In a comprehensive book Dr. Trumbull started out boldly saying that viewing the present cultural practices was just like viewing the ancient cultural practices of the Middle East.  He stated, “The Oriental social life of to-day is the Oriental social life of former days.” (2)
   Observations by these scholars are fascinating to me and I think there is much to learn from them.  However, Christians seemed to adopt the belief of scholar H. Clay Trumbull, assuming that if the Jewish people were doing something in the Middle East in 1901, that would mirror their practice 1900 years earlier.  This is a false presumption.  And those scholars would often give some insight into a cultural practice of folks in Syria or folks in India, and then assimilate it to all of the Orient.  But no one can assume that everyone in every region of the Middle East carried out the same practices either in 1900 or in the time of Christ.
   This is an important issue considering some think it was immoral for God to impregnate Mary with a baby at such a young age.  And even young teenagers listening to these Christmas Eve sermons have contemplated why God would have a girl their age designated for such a challenge.
   I am convicted Mary was older.  I have not read any such facts about marriage practices by Israelites written in the early centuries.  And one of seven recorded things Jesus said when nailed to the cross was a statement to the apostle John to take care of His mother, Mary.  She would have only been about 47 years old at the time of His crucifixion if she was pregnant with Jesus at such a young age.  Yes I know many people speculate on the average age of people living in the Middle East then and they make women who were 47 out to be over the hill.  Yet most Christians I know adhere to historical evidence that John lived to be quite old.  And different regions in the Middle East may have had different death rates.  And yes I heard a scholar say in a class once that if a woman became a widow at a certain age in the Ancient Near East, then her life would be in jeopardy because she would not have a man to provide for her in the paternal ancient Israel culture.  Maybe that was still the case to a degree in the time period of Roman rule.  I still advocate we cannot assume Mary was so young when pregnant.  The Bible does not say this, and we need to be more careful about what is preached from the pulpit about such a delicate issue in my opinion.
Hunter Irvine

(1) E.W.G. Masterman, “Social Customs in Palestine,” The Biblical World, Vol.15, No.4 (Apr., 1900): 270, http://www.jstor.org/stable/3137138
(accessed May 8, 2016). 

(2) H. Clay Trumbull, Studies in Oriental Social Life and Gleams from the East on the Sacred Page
(London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1895), 1.