Luke 2:39-52
When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by
the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.
And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace
of God was upon him.
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.
I love this little story! I love it for two
reasons; first, because it’s the only story we have in scripture about Jesus’
early life; and second, because it’s such a normal
family story!
An early adolescent decides to spontaneously
make his own plans to pursue something he wants to do – and doesn’t think to
notify his parents that he’s staying behind as the whole family leaves
Jerusalem.
Imagine the following scenario:
“Where have you been? School got out at 3:00 o’clock
and it’s 6:30! Your father and I have been worried sick!”
“Oh, sorry Mom, I stayed after to talk to my
teachers about the stuff I’m learning in class – it’s pretty cool!”
What family hasn’t experienced something like
that (maybe except for the voluntarily staying after school part)? Somewhere
the wires get crossed or communication just isn’t clear – or a child just makes
a half-baked decision – and, just like that, a potential conflict erupts.
But I also love this story because it teaches us
something extremely important about grace. Notice how the story begins:
When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by
the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.
And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace
of God was upon him.
Luke wants to be sure that we know that although
Jesus was raised in the normal way by normal human parents, the “grace of God
was upon him.”
Notice how the story ends:
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.
Isn’t that what we all want most for our
children? Don’t we want more than anything – more than good grades; more than
success on the athletic field; more than being popular with their friends - that
they grow in “wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men”? Of course it
is! Deep down that’s what we so desire for our children and for ourselves, to
grow in favor with God and men. But how?
We have a hint in the two little words that
bookend this story: the words are grace
and favor. Both English words come
from the same Greek root word, charis, which is usually translated as grace.
So this little snippet from the otherwise hidden
early life of Jesus both begins and ends with grace – the favor of God. Grace is what allowed the young Jesus to
grow in all areas of his life. Grace is what allowed Mary and Joseph to
understand the uniqueness of their son. And grace was what allowed this family
to move through a potentially divisive event without trauma or unnecessary
pain.
Grace. We all know what grace is from a
theological point of view. We know that it is only by God’s grace that we can
each be forgiven for our sins and made acceptable to our holy God. But do we
know how to live in this grace? Do we
know how to build the central relationships of our lives, our homes – on and
in this same grace?
Ask God to help you not only experience his
grace in your heart, but to learn to live out that grace in your home and in all
your relationships.
Pastor Brian Coffey
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