Along with his humility and
simplicity, there can be no doubt at all that Jesus was pious. Merriam-Webster's
definition of "piety" includes "fidelity to natural obligations[…;] dutifulness in religion", and that does as
readily describe Jesus' own personal piety.
I think that if one should
try to niche Him – as we do everything else –, both the Reform and the Orthodox
schools of Judaism would claim Him. Speaking as a gentile, albeit a philosemtic one, I believe the Reform movement
would agree with His stressing such things as individual responsibility and
freedom, and against merely following ritual mindlessly.
And their Orthodox cousins (the more open-minded, at least) would nod sagely at
His stressing the meaningfulness of genuine religious word, tradition,
and ritual, where the whole (wo)man is engaged in
it.
Jesus was a rabbi, and was so
addressed.
He was conscientious about following religious customs (e.g., most likely wore
a tallit (or tallis) in the Temple) – and, just as
much, about following Jewish teachings, such as those regarding honoring one's
parents (actually, that one's a Commandment from God Himself!).
Mary (His mother) and Joseph
(His foster-father) were themselves both devout and pious Jews, and so of
course would have encouraged this in the Son they were raising. Joseph followed
Mosaic law closely, but balanced his piety with big-hearted compassion. Jewish
law required
that an adulterous woman (and man) be stoned to death; yet out of his love for
Mary (though when he heard she was pregnant he felt he now could not complete
the traditional Jewish rite, and bring his betrothed wife into his home)
he had begun planning an alternative that would instead save her
life.
He was unquestioningly
obedient to God. (I'll treat St. Joseph more deeply in a couple months.) When
instructed by an angel rather to wed Mary and raise the child, he did not
hesitate to do just that, regardless of what strict adherence to the law
dictated.
Later, warned
by an angel that political authorities were going to try to find the baby Jesus
and kill Him, he got his wife and child up immediately – in the middle of the
night – and, following the angel's command, fled the country with them, staying
away until told by the angel that the threat was gone. No questions or
quibbling; he was utterly reliable as guardian both of Jesus and of Mary.
Mary, too, shows her piety
early on. When told, herself, by an angel that (though a professed celibate)
she would conceive and bear the hope of Judaism, the Messiah, she did not
express any doubt, but asked only that the angel clarify what he meant. And,
like Joseph, she obeyed… with beautiful, trusting, humble
piety/devoutness: "Then I am God's servant; let it be done to me just as
you've described it."
She, too, follows Jewish law
(indeed; very early tradition tells us that her parents gave
her to the Temple at the age of three, and there she served until
she wed Joseph). The most obvious examples are her and Joseph's bringing
Jesus to the Temple for his circumcision, their following of the religious
laws on post-partum purification, and their yearly Passover
visits to the Temple.
Under this family-mindset of
following the law, and a deep reverence for God, Jesus was raised, advancing
in "wisdom and age and favor before God and man". So do we ourselves
advance and grow, simply by following the example of His parents.
My own opinion it is that it
is antithetical to try to be humble, and quite vain to try to be a
saint. But – as I've mentioned before – we can certainly try (even just a little
harder) to follow the life-example of humble and saintly people. Joseph and
Mary: if Jesus is our brother, then they, too, are our parents.
How blessed we already are.
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