Luke 2: 41-52
Every year his parents went to
Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they
went up to the Feast according to the custom. After the Feast was over, while
his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but
they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for
a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When
they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. After three
days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening
to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his
understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished.
His mother said to him, “Son, why have you
treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”
“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “didn’t you know I had to be in my
Father’s
house?”
But they did not understand what
he was saying to them.
Then he went down to Nazareth
with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things
in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and
men.
Most parents have a story about
temporarily losing a child in a mall or in a crowd and being terrified. My wife
and I once got home after church and realized that we only had 3 of our 4 sons.
While 3 out of 4 is a pretty good percentage in baseball or basketball, it’s not good when it comes to your
children! We had driven two cars to
church and each thought the other had picked up that particular son. So one of
us rushed back to find him before we were discovered to be terrible parents!
I love this little story that Luke
includes in his telling of the gospel! I love it because it’s the only story we have in
scripture about Jesus’ childhood;
and I love it because it’s such a classic and completely understandable family
story!
Scholars tell us that it is likely
that Jesus’ family
made the trip to Jerusalem as a kind of annual pilgrimage at the time of
Passover. It’s also
likely that they traveled in a large group with extended family; aunts, uncles
and cousins all together in one big group. So if we imagine four or five
families traveling together, with 15 or 20 children between them, we can
imagine how easy it would be lose track of one of those children!
So that part of the story is
totally understandable. What makes the story unusual is the reason that Jesus
was left behind in Jerusalem!
His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father
and I have been anxiously searching for you.”
“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “didn’t you know I had to be in my
Father’s
house?”
But they did not understand what
he was saying to them.
This is a beautiful and mysterious
story. Was Jesus simply a spiritually curious young man who got caught up in a
theological discussion and lost track of time? Or, as many scholars believe,
was Jesus making a statement about his identity and his destiny?
I think there’s a good chance he was doing both.
Twelve years of age would have
been the stage of adolescence when a boy in that culture would start
understanding the direction of his life. He would go through the ceremony
called “bar mitzvah” - and become a “son of
the law.”
Some have suggested that Jesus, at
age twelve, already understood within himself that he was different from other
boys; that he had a unique relationship to God the Father. Perhaps he chose
this particular opportunity to learn more about the Passover and, specifically,
how the Passover applied to him.
Notice that the young Jesus is
described as “sitting among the teachers, listening to them and
asking questions.” Why would the Son of God
need to ask any questions? We don’t have a clear answer to this question other than to
say that God seems to value the process of growth. Luke concludes the whole
story with these words:
And Jesus grew in wisdom and
stature, and in favor with God and men.
I think Luke is telling us that
Jesus purposefully stayed behind in Jerusalem, not because he was being
disobedient to his parents or desired to cause them pain, but because he was
being obedient to his Father in Heaven.
Notice that when his mother says, “Your father and I have been searching anxiously for
you,” he responds, “...didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”
Jesus had two fathers; an earthly
father named Joseph and a heavenly Father, and it was time for him to grow in
understanding his unique relationship to his Father in heaven.
This is the part that Mary and
Joseph, in the frustration of their search and in the relief of finding their
son, failed to fully grasp. Luke says,
But they did not understand
what he was saying to them.
In many ways we still struggle to
understand the mystery of how Jesus could have been fully human and fully God
all at the same time.
But, scripture teaches, he was;
and because he was, we can be saved.
Pastor Brian Coffey
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