Luke 2:40-52 NIV
40 And the child grew and became strong;
he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.
41 Every year Jesus’ parents went to
Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. 42 When
he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the
custom. 43 After the festival was over, while his
parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they
were unaware of it. 44 Thinking he was in their
company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among
their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not
find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After
three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers,
listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone
who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 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.”
49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be
in my Father’s house?”[a] 50 But
they did not understand what he was saying to them.
51 Then he went down to Nazareth with
them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things
in her heart. 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and
stature, and in favor with God and man.
Each and Every Day
Here we
have the Word made flesh pondering the Word of His Father in the Temple. Jesus
began to teach the world to ponder the Word from the get go. Jesus loved the
teaching of God’s Law. Jesus had a passion for the Law in many ways that I
could never begin to understand. But Jesus does build a passion for the Law and
the Gospel and the Word and the Sacraments within his followers.
God was
pleased with His Son and filled Jesus with wisdom. Jesus had to learn much the
same way we do today. He was human after all. Sure, He was God, but Jesus still
was human. So, God filled Jesus with His grace. There it is again. Grace, a
gift. But this grace was a bit different from the grace you or I receive.
Jesus’ gift of grace was the favor of God. The grace we receive is a gift of
God that we don’t deserve. So, in this way Jesus was filled with the Father’s
favor and blessing. Not only did Jesus grow
in stature, He was beginning to grow and show His being God little by little,
more and more, bigger and bigger. Jesus grew physically and grew in revealing
the Spirit of God within Himself.
The law of Moses required the attendance of all males at the three
feasts, of Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles (Exodus 23:17; Deuteronomy 16:16). This is exciting times here. They are feasts
that God gifted His people in order to gather together with God to celebrate
life with God. So, it’s no wonder that Jesus was attracted to the Temple. The
Temple known as God’s place with His people. Later on, in Jesus’ life, He would
refer to Himself as the Temple. The place that God comes to us and lives with
us and calls us to be with Him in eternity.
Jesus is growing into a man. There are some stages of growth every
Jewish male went through. Around the age of 3, Jesus would have been weaned,
and began to wear a tasseled garment, like was mentioned in Numbers. Then He
would be sort of homeschooled by Mary. At five, Jesus would begin to be taught
the Law, sort of like we may think of pre-catechism study of today. Then at
twelve, Jesus would be responsible for His own actions regarding the keeping of
the Law, in preparation for when He was thirteen and he put on the phylacteries,
worn at the recital of His daily prayers. The phylacteries were a little
leather box with some Scripture in them. In my own crazy explanation, I can’t
help but to think of the play list many football quarterbacks wear on their
forearms. It holds the important stuff to remember. So, it makes sense that at
12 years old, Jesus was really getting into this Torah stuff big time. Jesus
was passionate for the Law and the Gospel. Now going to these Jewish Feasts was
a big passage into adulthood for Jesus.
It really doesn’t surprise me that Jesus stayed behind. He was hungering
for wisdom and knowledge. He was a child growing into a man, with the Spirit of
God within Him in a fierce way. And in this Jesus teaches us once again. We
too, should exhibit the passion for worship and knowledge that Jesus had even
at this young age. Go to Sunday School and Church and Bible Studies and Outreach
activities with passion for God in your heart. Look at the passion of Jesus for
the Law and the passion of Jesus that he freely gave His life for you and for
me! All of this stuff is not to be taken as an obligation. No! It’s a God given
privilege! Come on folks!
It seems sometimes we want to beat up on Mary and Joseph for not
noticing that Jesus wasn’t with them. Like for three days? Really? But I think
they were more right about not tracking Him like a dog on a leash. They let Him
do what a child should do. Explore what they want to explore and do what they
want to do. We try to track our kids, today, to the point that the kid can’t
breathe and grow. It wasn’t like neglect. Joseph and Mary did follow up when
they noticed Jesus wasn’t around. It just took a few days. Sometimes the
separation is good for both parents and child. And I think, in this case the
reunion is a joyful occasion as well. God cares for those lost and God cares
for those seeking the lost as well. Maybe there is a message to look for in
this seeking Jesus and then finding Him right where it was obvious He would be.
May we all seek Jesus with this kind of passion.
What’s
kind of cool, to me, is that when they find Jesus, He’s not all geeked out
about buildings and sightseeing; no Jesus is all geeked out about the written
Law and Wisdom and understanding. I may have been this way as a child, just a
little, but I’m sure I would have been looking at buildings and the man-made
stuff a little more than sitting in a Church or something listening to Pastors
talk. And it’s not like Jesus was hiding from His parents. Jesus was right out
in the open for all to see. So, Jesus’ heart was not in deception of any kind.
His heart was in learning, wisdom and understanding.
It
reminds me of Jesus in Sunday School, the give and take. Listening to God speak
through other people. Asking questions and open discussion. I wish all Sunday
School lessons were similar. People together ponder the Word of God in open
give and take, unafraid of having the “right” answer, but open to giving honest
opinions. I think God speaks to us through the mouths of fellow disciples as
well as through Word and Sacrament.
And then
you throw in this three-day stuff. How much does God speak to us with a message
of three? Now, there’s something to talk about for a long long time!
I can’t
tell you how many times I’ve listened to a child speak about some “God” thing
and I sat in amazement. Let alone listen to the child Jesus reflecting on the
Law. What an experience to have for the religious leaders of Jesus day! It’s
another one of those “Listen to Him” things. And likewise, when I hear a child
speaking God’s Word; guess what? Listen to Him!
I get a kick out of Jesus answer to Mary as
she concluded her search for the boy Jesus. It’s like, well, where did you
think I would be? It’s the same for me, when I sense that I can’t find Jesus;
He’s right where He always has been and will be. I remember a time in my life
when I was deep into sin, and felt the presence of God was nowhere near me. As
I was driving home from work at GE Aviation in Cincinnati, I passed this huge
sign in front of Solid-Rock Church right by I-75. Guess what the sign said? “God
is closer than you think.” Yep, even when I had separated myself from God in my
sin, God was just the same closer than I could ever imagine. And in this
passage of Scripture, Jesus is right where we all should think, deep in the Law
and the Gospel talking with the religious leaders of His day.
How many
times have I missed the message of Jesus in my life? How many times have I
failed to understand? It’s often when I’m so involved with my earthly life, my
life in the here and now, that I miss an eternal message from Jesus about my
eternal life with Him. I can get so wrapped up in myself, my problems, my
illness, my own death; that I fail to hear Jesus’ message right before my eyes
in plain sight. I miss it because I’m not thinking of Jesus, but rather
thinking of myself. As this happens, when I realize it, I see Jesus right
before my eyes. It’s like he spins me around in my sin and says, “Look here!” So,
yea, I can see how Mary missed it. Didn’t you know I would be in my Father’s
house, the temple? Jesus is not only on this earth He is of heaven as well.
Lord, forgive me when I miss the point of life, and spin me around to your
forgiveness and grace, I pray.
And now
it’s here, once again, that even as a young child Jesus teaches us. Jesus
teaches us how to grow in wisdom and stature. How? By living life as a
carpenter, and learning the trade from His earthly father, Joseph. How’s that
teaching? We can grow in wisdom and stature by living our lives with what God
gives to us, how God blesses us with talents handed down from generation to
generation. We too can grow in wisdom and stature by using the gifts God gives
to us to serve not only God, but our neighbor as well. Even as a tradesman, we
have gifts to give. And in the giving of our gifts to God and neighbor, we grow
in wisdom and stature, just as the boy Jesus grew in wisdom and stature,
developing earthly gifts and skills for neighbor and society in which God had
set this young man, Jesus. Yes, Jesus teaches us to be happy and content with
whatever call God has given us at all times in our lives. Live the life God
gave you as you too, develop holy wisdom and stature in the presence of God.
So, what
kernel do I take from this week’s study of this passage of Scripture? Well, for
me, look around, Jesus is right where you can expect to find Him. And I think
Jesus wants all of us to grow in wisdom and understanding. Wisdom and
understanding of things of this world and wisdom and understanding of God’s
Kingdom. Jesus leads us all of our lives into the Kingdom of God.
Sometimes
I wonder, if when Jesus was speaking of the children, if He didn’t recall His
own childhood and understood that we are all children. We are called to welcome
all children, us included, for the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to God’s children.
It doesn’t matter what age one may be; God welcomes all the children, and Jesus
remembers when He too was a child, how he grew in wisdom and understanding.
Wisdom and understanding that His Heavenly Father taught Him and wisdom and
understanding that His earthly Father showed Him in love.
And
isn’t that what most of this is about? Mary and Joseph loved their child,
Jesus, enough to let Him grow in wisdom and understanding. And Mary and Joseph
loved Jesus so much, that when they sensed separation, they went out seeking
Jesus. And Jesus out of love comforted His parents with the knowledge that
growth in God is growth in mankind as well.
So, I
see the love of God as God shows me His eternal presence in my life, and I feel
the love of God when I turn to seek God in all those times in my life that I
feel a separation. God loves me so much to show up, to forgive, to lead, and to
guide me, and you through all of life.
Seek
the wisdom to know God’s way in life each and every day,
Ponder
on God’s gift of His Word each and every day.
Yes, God blesses us by making us His own each and every day.
This is
a reunion with love. A reunion that each of us should expect from ourselves and
a reunion with God that God gives to us each and every day. Let us rejoice in
the reunions of love… today… tomorrow… and forever. – Amen
And when
you meet Jesus in that reunion of love…
This
YouTube Video reminds me of what to do when I see Jesus, my Lord and Savior…
“Turn
Your Eyes Upon Jesus”
