Luke 2:41-52 * December 27, 2009 * Sunday after Christmas * Pastor Leyrer

Dear Friends in Christ,

Even though we are now officially “post-Christmas” there remains a definite Christmas glow among us – if for no other reason than we’re only two days removed from the actual event. That’s why we’re singing wall to wall Christmas hymns today. We remain in Christmas mood and mode.

But while we’re still thinking about baby Jesus, our text for today transports us twelve years into the future and offers us a brief glimpse of Jesus’ childhood. This morning we’re on the move. We’re leaving Bethlehem and going to Jerusalem.

Curiously we may wonder: What happened during those 12 years? What was Jesus like as He grew up? What were the family dynamics of His youth? The fact of the matter is we don’t know. If you want, you can find some fanciful stories in books and on the internet about these childhood years, but that’s all they are: stories with no validity.

Between His birth and the beginning of His ministry at age 30 is a three decade expanse in the life of Christ throughout which the Bible is silent. Within that period we have but one incident the Holy Spirit has chosen to share with us, and today we have it before us.

It will be helpful to consider it in light of what we are told in Romans 15:4, that “everything written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of Scripture we might have hope.” That makes the account of the twelve year old Jesus in the Temple more than just a human interest story. It’s an incident to encourage us and fills us with hope.

Using it as the springboard for some even deeper truths, let’s look through the eyes of Mary and Joseph and consider how this event in the life of Christ answers two important questions for us:

WHERE DO WE FIND JESUS AND WHAT DOES HE TELL US?

We’ll begin by working through the details of our text: “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.”

Jewish believers were obligated by Old Testament law to attend three great feasts each year: Passover (commemorating the flight from Egypt and salvation from death through the blood of a perfect lamb), Pentecost (a beginning of harvest festival), and an end of harvest festival called The Feast of Ingathering (also known as the Feast of “Tabernacles” or “Booths” in commemoration of the Israelites wandering in the desert).

Because Jewish believers were dispersed throughout the entire then-known world – as well as in recognition of long distances for those living in the outer regions of the Holy Land – it became the custom of many to spiritually observe all of the great feasts but to pick and choose the ones they could physically attend at the great Temple in Jerusalem. For Mary and Joseph it was Passover. The twelve year old Jesus went with His parents. Whether He routinely went with them or this was His first time, we are not told.

At any rate, “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.”

The fact that Jesus could stay on in Jerusalem without His parents missing Him was not necessarily a case of negligence on the part of Mary and Joseph as it was perhaps a lack of communication. If the custom verified for a later date prevailed at this time, the caravan of pilgrims consisted of women and children in the front and the men and young men in the rear. At the age of twelve Jesus could have fit into either category.

What probably happened is the equivalent of a scene repeated in grocery stores and shopping malls to this very day: Mom thought the child was with Dad; Dad thought the child was with Mom, when as a matter of fact he was with neither. But it wasn’t until the end of the day that they figured this out. So they combed through the friends and relatives who were also a part of their caravan, but no Jesus. Now what?

“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 questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and answers.” Mary and Joseph retrace their steps. After three days – one day out of town (at which time they discover Jesus is gone), one day back to town, and one day in town – they find Jesus within that large area surrounding the temple itself known as the temple courts.

A number of respected teachers were apparently still in the area. It is among these notables that Mary and Joseph found their son. But something seemed not quite right. There was a major role reversal in play here. We are told that Jesus was asking questions, but to the amazement of everyone present He was also providing answers; and answers which contained such depth of insight that they took these learned men by surprise. Not to mention Mary and Joseph.

“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.’” Mary’s remark appears to be a combination of surprise and anguish, to which Jesus replies with His first recorded words in Scripture. He answers with a couple of questions and assertions of His own. “‘Why were you searching for me?’ he asked. ‘Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’”

Jesus’ answer shows He understood the unique relationship existing between Him and the Father, as well as the mission for which He had come to this earth. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” asks Jesus. In other words, “where My Father is, where He centers His activity, there I am to be found as well.” Or as it is allowable to translate in the original language (and as many of us remember it), “Didn’t you know that I must be about my Father’s business (or affairs)?”

Which then raises its own question: what is the business of the Father? “God would have all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” writes the Apostle Paul to Timothy. The work of the Father is the work of salvation; consequently this is the work in which the Son also “must” or “had to be” be engaged. Therefore it is natural, Jesus implies to Mary and Joseph, that you should find Me here.

“But they did not understand what he was saying to them.” Mary and Joseph did not fully grasp at this time the mission of their son. Nevertheless – and regardless of their lack of understanding – Jesus was the ever-obedient child. Another example of how, as man’s perfect substitute, Christ came to sinlessly carry out all the commands God makes of us, including the Fourth Commandment (honoring our parents). And so our text concludes: “Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.”

So far the story. We see Mary and Joseph finding and listening to Jesus in the Temple. Now let’s personalize this text. Where do we find Jesus, and what does He tell us?

Toward the end of his Gospel the Apostle and Evangelist John declares why he wrote what he wrote. What he said of his specific book applies to the entire Bible as a whole: “These [words] are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” Here, in the Scriptures, is where we find Christ.

Here is also where He speaks to us. And what does He tell us? Many, many things.

But one thing is prominent, preeminent and central. First and foremost He tells us of His great love for us and the fact that He did indeed carry out His Father’s business. And He did it on our behalf. Because He wants us to have “life in His name.”

Just as the baby Jesus of Christmas didn’t stay an infant, the twelve year old Jesus didn’t remain a boy. His perfect life progressed. At age 30 He began His public ministry and the Bible picks up the thread of His life. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John record it all for us. In the words of the hymn, it’s the “old, old story of Jesus and His love.”

And in the end, it’s the only story we need to know. Because when life comes down to our last breath – which we’ll all take one day – nothing else will matter. Not our bank accounts. Not our worldly achievements. Not the legacy we’ll leave behind. The only thing that will count will be knowing and clinging to Christ.

The world has seen a lot of great men, but none of them can do what the God-Man Jesus Christ has done for us by His perfect life as our substitute, His selfless sacrifice in our place, and His glorious resurrection to prove that our sins have been forgiven.

Who alone can say, “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me?” Of whom alone can it be said that his is “the only name given among men by which we must be saved?” Who alone can make the claim “He who believes in me will never die,” and then back it up by rising from the dead? The answer to all three questions is the same. Jesus Christ.

He and He alone is the One who provides us with and prepares us for eternal life…

At the same time He alone also provides us with the strength for daily life in the present. Christianity is not a rabbit’s foot or a good luck charm. Jesus once told his disciples what they could expect on this side of heaven. He did not want His followers then or us today to think of the Christian life in saccharine or sugary terms where all is sweetness and light. Instead He speaks of the opposite. He said, “In this world you will have trouble…

In other words, hardship, tears, disappointments, uncertainties and pain are all woven into the fabric of our lives. These things are to be expected. Even so, when they come upon us they can bring us way down.

However, the sentence doesn’t end there. It goes on… but take heart, I have overcome the world.” The promise of Jesus’ presence in our lives to help us overcome our temporary but inevitable difficulties sustains us. And so we listen to Jesus and find all kinds of strength for the journey and power for living.

Jesus makes promises to us such as “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you” and “Fear not. I have summoned you by name, you are mine” and “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” And our spirits are lifted because we know we are never alone, but always loved and always cared for. Our senses may tell us otherwise, but our faith knows the words and promises of Christ to be true. So we watch and wait, confident and secure in His claims.

In the single event we know about the boyhood of Jesus Mary and Joseph find Him in the temple and listen to His first recorded words. Embedded within that event are some deeper lessons that bring us encouragement and hope.

Where do we find Jesus? In His Word. What does He tell us? That in every way and on every day we are His beloved. We heard that two days ago and we’re reminded of it again today. How blessed we are. Amen.