Luke 2:40-52 The message of Christmas
is that Jesus is Immanuel—God with us—and we say: Of course!
We picture the baby Jesus lying in his manger, with a halo around his
head and a kind of golden glow in the background and we wonder to ourselves why
everyone doesn’t believe in Jesus. But
of course, that’s not how it was at all!
Mary and Joseph
were just two regular people-- and Jesus looked like every other boy born in
that day. It took the work of the Holy
Spirit in the hearts of the parents and the shepherds and the wise men to bring
them to faith—just as it takes the same work of the Holy Spirit to bring us to
faith. After the angel choirs went back
into heaven and the Wise Men returned to the east, things went back to normal
for Mary and Joseph --and Jesus grew up just like every other boy his age.
Except of course,
he wasn’t like every other boy his age—he was God. That is the witness of Holy Scripture. That is the confession of the Church. And that is what we believe. But it is still a mystery that can only be
known by faith. Part of that mystery is
laid bare before our eyes today as we see Jesus in the temple at the age of
twelve—already at that young age doing his Father’s business. Luke writes that:
The child [Jesus]
grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.
Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went
up according to custom.
Mary
and Joseph were pious and devout. The
regular cycle of synagogue and temple worship—of Sabbaths and festivals-- was
faithfully observed. This was certainly
nothing extraordinary among believers of that day-- and it is only unusual to
us because of the large number of people today who consider themselves believers
and yet never really make worship a priority.
But Mary and Joseph were ordinary, pious believers.
From
the Baby of Bethlehem, Jesus grew into a young man of twelve. Working in Joseph’s carpentry shop had made
him strong and fit. But Luke also says something
remarkable: that already at age twelve
he was filled with wisdom. I remember being
twelve years old. I was a pretty good
kid and did well in school but I was certainly not wise. Jesus was--and not just because he was
smarter or more intuitive than other boys his age—but because the favor of God
rested upon him.
The hand of the
Lord’s blessing was upon Jesus in a special and mighty way. In many ways Jesus at twelve was ordinary—but
he was also extraordinary.
Children then were
no different than children today. Even
good kids talked back every now and then or at least grumbled beneath their
breath. Even good kids had to be told
twice to do something. Even good kids
did dumb things. Jesus didn’t. Ever!
When we consider
the sins of our youth it is a comfort to know that Jesus’ perfect life as a
child—perfectly avails in God’s sight as our own righteousness—in place of the mistakes
of our younger days.
The Lord’s hand of
favor and blessing rested upon him and he was already recognized as being wise
at this young age. This is important for
us to remember as we hear what happens next.
Luke writes that:
When the feast was
ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His
parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's
journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and
acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem,
searching for him.
It
was customary in that day for religious pilgrims to travel together for safety
and fellowship. And so when the Passover
was complete and Mary and Joseph were heading out of Jerusalem
And when they
stopped for that night-- they would have thought that he was with Aunt
Elizabeth or Uncle Zechariah or playing with Cousin John. But when they
couldn’t find him—well you can imagine how they must have felt. As a parent I have a great deal of sympathy
for Mary and Joseph. But it’s not as if
they had not been warned. Simeon warned
Mary that she would have heartache as the Messiah’s mother even if she did not
expect it this soon.
Twelve uneventful
years passed between that prophecy and her frantic search. Mary and Joseph hadn’t had forgotten about Jesus’
miraculous birth or angelic announcers or the visit from the wise men—but
things had settled down to normal.
And that’s Good
News for us! Jesus lived through and
redeemed each part of our lives! From his
conception within the Virgin Mary to each stage of prenatal development—from
his birth and childhood—to his death on the cross—Jesus lived each part of our human
life—for us—perfectly re-making what sin has destroyed.
The failures of
our childhood—the burdens of family life—the monotony of day to day work—Jesus
lived and redeemed by his perfect righteousness and obedience—the new Adam who
got right-- what we so often get wrong.
At the beginning
of the sermon we talked about how difficult it was for the people of Jesus’ day
to see the extraordinary in his very ordinary life—how it took a Spirit-worked faith
for them to believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior just like it does for us. That was even true for Mary and Joseph who were
eyewitnesses to it all. Luke writes that:
After three days they
found Jesus in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and
asking them questions. And all who heard
him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.
I
can picture Mary recounting these events to Luke with a look of chagrin on her
face. “Three days! What was I thinking? We should have known where that boy was! Where else would Jesus be BUT in the temple? That is where he had to be!”
450 years before,
Malachi closed out the Old Testament by promising that God himself would come
to his temple. And you can imagine what
the people of Israel Mt. Sinai
But what they saw
when God came to his temple was a baby being circumcised-- and a twelve year
old boy asking and answering questions.
And yet Malachi was exactly right in his prophecy! God was
in his temple! You see, that tension between what is seen and what has
to be revealed is the mystery of the incarnation and it elicits amazement then
and now.
The scene in the
temple is ordinary. This dialogue
between rabbis and students is still a common feature of Jewish life. But what is amazing, is the answers Jesus gave-
and the questions he asked-- and the insights he had. Wisdom from above!
The Word which was
from the beginning, the Word through which the world was created, the Word who
spoke by the prophets-- had taken on flesh and blood and come to his temple to
instruct those whose job it was to bear witness to him. It was the beginning of Jesus being about his
Father’s business. Luke writes that:
When his parents saw
him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, "Son, why have you
treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great
distress." And he said to them,
"Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my
Father's house?" And they did
not understand the saying that he spoke to them.
These
are Jesus’ first recorded words. His
last recorded Words were: “Father, into
your hands I commend my spirit” and these verbal bookends capture the whole
purpose of Jesus’ ministry: to do his
Father’s will—to speak his father’s Words—to accomplish his Father’s saving
mission. Already at twelve, that
single-minded, saving purpose is clearly seen in Jesus’ life and even if other
had forgotten--he had not.
When Mary and
Joseph caught up with Jesus they were astonished rather than angry and I think
that moment was like a lightening bolt from heaven-- reminding Mary and Joseph
as to who Jesus really was and what he had come to do. We can see them in our mind’s eye watching
from behind one of the pillars as the truth slowly sinks in. Mary says, “Son, don’t you know how worried
your father and I were”? And Jesus
answers her kindly but pointedly: “I am
here to do my Father’s business and you should know that.”
That single-minded
devotion to our salvation was seen throughout his life. It was there at his birth in the name he was
given—Jesus—the Lord saves. It was there
at his circumcision where he fulfilled the law and shed his blood. It was there at his baptism when he was
anointed with the Holy Spirit to be our Savior.
It was there throughout his ministry as he healed the sick and raised
the dead and set his face towards Jerusalem
This is the last biblical
picture we have of our Lord’s life until he is baptized by John. But we know what his life was like in the
mean-time. Luke writes that Jesus:
…went down with them
and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up
all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and
in favor with God and man.
Next
Sunday we will see that the One who steps into the waters of the Jordan River to
be anointed with the Spirit for his work as Messiah is no usurper of a position
not his. He is the Savior of the world
and the only way that we can be reconciled to God.
Mary knew that day
what all the prophecies had meant—what Jesus had come to do—and she treasured
it up in her heart. The next time we
hear from her will be at the wedding at Cana where
she points the people to her Son and says:
Listen to him and do what he says!
I pray that God would grant us the same obedience of faith! Amen.
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