41 Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.
42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the
custom. 43 After the Feast 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?” 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 men.
- Luke 2:41-52, The New International Version, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan
Publishing House) 1984.
In the name of Christ Jesus, dear friends:
"I’ll be home for Christmas." So go the words of the popular Christmas song. That was true for me this year. After our Christmas Day service on Monday, we loaded up the car and made the one-hour trek to Johnson Creek where we spent the day with my side of the family.
I heard on the news this week that this was another record year for Christmas traveling. I suspect that some people were fleeing the wind and snow for warmer climates, but there were also many travelers who went home for the holidays.
How about you? Did you get home for Christmas? Or did family members travel to spend the holidays with you? If you were unable to get home, or if you had other plans this year, you don’t have to feel like you missed out on something.
There is still time for you to get home before the Christmas season is over. Not to your hometown. Not to the house where you grew up. Today we have the opportunity to go home with Jesus for Christmas.
Let me explain. In the text before us today, Jesus was not in the place that he called home. He was in Jerusalem, not Nazareth. And he made the journey with his parents to celebrate the Passover, not Christmas.
But Jesus felt very much at home because he was in his Father’s house. And even though Jesus did not go to the temple to celebrate his own birthday, this account is worthy of our consideration today, the first Sunday after Christmas. So let’s go to the temple this morning. Let’s.
Go Home With Jesus This Christmas
Homecomings are often filled with strong emotions, and this homecoming was no exception. As we make our way into the temple courts, as we sit down and listen to Jesus, we will see:
I. The amazement of the people
II. The astonishment of Mary and Joseph
III. The awareness of the Christ child
Luke reports that Joseph and Mary and Jesus had gone up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. The Lord had instituted the Passover so that the children of Israel would remember how he had delivered them from slavery in Egypt fifteen hundred years earlier. Pious Jews traveled great distances to participate in the festival and worship their God. No doubt Joseph and Mary had made the trip to Jerusalem before, but this trip was special. Jesus was twelve years old, and he went along with them.
When the Feast was over, Mary and Joseph packed up and headed north along with all of their friends and relatives who lived in Galilee. There was only one problem. Jesus wasn’t with them, and his parents didn’t know about it. Maybe there was some miscommunication. Maybe Mary thought that Jesus was with Joseph. Maybe Joseph thought that Jesus was with Mary. It is possible that they assumed Jesus was somewhere among their friends or relatives.
He wasn’t. Where was he? Well, where would you expect to find a twelve-year-old boy in the big city? In the marketplace? Exploring the countryside? Getting into some kind of trouble? Jesus was in a place where it would have been very unlikely to find a boy his age...any boy except him. He was in the temple, "sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions" (46).
If that surprises you, you aren’t the only one. The people who were listening to Jesus were amazed too. In the New Testament, the word for "amazed" is often used to express a reaction to a miracle. Jesus healed a paralytic (Mk 2), and the people were amazed. Jesus raised a girl from the dead (Lk 8), and her parents were amazed. Jesus walked on the water (Mk 6), and the disciples were amazed.
The people in the temple that day were amazed, but for a different reason. They were "amazed at his understanding and his answers" (47). As the people sat and talked with this boy, they were probably filled with all sorts of questions. Who is he? Where did he come from? How can he know so much? They didn’t know much about Jesus, but they did know one thing for sure. Jesus was no ordinary child. He had a depth of understanding far beyond his years.
We do not communicate with our Lord face to face, but he still comes to us. He comes to us through his Word. And we are equally amazed at Jesus’ understanding and his answers. In fact, through the Word Jesus gives us the answers to life’s most difficult questions.
Someone asks: "Lord, I am a sinner. Every day I sin. Every day I fail. I know that I do not deserve your love. Instead, I deserve your punishment. What possible hope can there be for someone like me?" Listen to Jesus’ answer: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die" (John 11:25).
Another person is confused and asks: "Dear God, there are so many religions in the world. How do I know if I am on the right path? How can I be sure that I am going to heaven?" Jesus’ answer is clear: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6).
Someone out there is hurting. They want to know: "Lord, I try. I try so hard. But it just doesn’t seem to do any good. I am tired. I am alone. Where can I turn for help?" Jesus makes this promise: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).
When we search the Scriptures, we cannot help but be amazed. Not by Jesus, the child prodigy. We are amazed because the Scriptures reveal a loving God, a God who loved us enough to send his Son to save us. Jesus was God’s perfect answer to the problem of sin in the world. And Jesus continues to help us and guide us as we deal with life’s smaller problems.
But amazement was not the only emotion in the temple that day. Jesus’ parents were astonished.
About a day into their journey, Mary and Joseph knew that something was wrong. An entire day had passed, and they had not seen their son. They looked for Jesus among their friends and relatives, but he was nowhere to be found. That could mean only one thing. He was still in Jerusalem.
We know how the story turned out, but at the time Mary and Joseph didn’t. As they hurried back to the city, they had plenty of time to dream up a thousand different scenarios in their minds. Where could Jesus be? What happened to him? Will he be okay? Will he be in one piece? Will we be able to find him at all?
If you are a parent, maybe you have your own lost child stories. Even if you don’t have kids, you have probably misplaced something of value at some time. Do you remember how you felt? Did you feel the pit in your stomach? Now try to put yourself in Mary and Joseph’s shoes. They didn’t misplace their keys. They lost their son, who also happened to be the promised Messiah, the Savior of the world.
After three days of worrying and waiting, after hours and hours of praying, they finally found Jesus in the temple. Imagine what they were feeling. It was probably a combination of frustration and relief. Those mixed emotions might explain Mary’s state of mind when she asked: "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you" (48). Mary didn’t understand why Jesus had done this to them. And at that point, she probably didn’t care. She was just happy to be able to hold him in her arms again.
It is easy for us to question Mary and Joseph. They should have known where Jesus was. They should have known that Jesus was in no real danger. The angel Gabriel told Mary that her child would be "the Son of God" (Lk 1:35). Why didn’t she head straight for the temple? Didn’t it make sense that the Son of God would be at the house of God? Had Mary forgotten who Jesus was?
An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream. He told Joseph to give him the name Jesus "because he will save his people from their sins" (Mt 1:21). Wasn’t it obvious that this was no ordinary boy?
Jesus’ parents were not perfect people. They didn’t fully understand who Jesus was, but they weren’t the only ones. Jesus had to constantly teach the disciples. Even though he was with them day after day, even though they listened to him and saw his miracles, they were easily confused. Even at his ascension, after Jesus died and rose again, the disciples asked him if he was going to restore the earthly kingdom of Israel (Acts 1:6).
Before you condemn Mary and Joseph, before you condemn anyone, take a look in the mirror. Remember that we have the advantage. We know what happened. We know what Jesus came to do. We have it in black and white. In spite of this, we still question God...when we don’t understand why the Lord allows hardships to enter our life...nwhen we ask God in prayer and don’t get what we want...when we think we know what is best for us and are astonished when God doesn’t make things go our way.
Thankfully, Jesus does not treat us the way we often treat him. Even when we are faithless, he remains faithful. And already at the age of twelve, it was obvious that the Christ child was well aware of who he was.
What follows are the first recorded words of Jesus during his life on earth. He said to his parents: "Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house? Here we have just two simple questions spoken with respect. But these questions reveal that the boy Jesus understood both his divine nature and his divine mission.
In the Lord’s Prayer, we pray to "Our Father in heaven." We are God’s children, adopted into God’s family when we were brought to faith. Now look at the words Jesus chose. He called God "my Father." Jesus was the Son of God, but not in the same sense that we are God’s children. Jesus was with God in the beginning. Jesus was God’s Son from eternity.
Jesus told Mary that he "had to be" in his Father’s house. Maybe you remember the King James translation of this verse. Jesus told Mary that he had to be "about his Father’s business." Jesus was born into this world for a specific purpose. Nothing could stop him. Even now, God was preparing him for his divine mission.
Later in Luke, Jesus used similar words is used to describe this mission. Listen to his determination as he spoke to his disciples: "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life" (Lk 9:22).
Jesus was obedient and returned to Nazareth with his parents, but he knew that he would be in his Father’s house again. As he sat and talked with the teachers in the temple, he knew that the religious leaders of Israel would plot to kill him some twenty years later. As he walked the streets of Jerusalem, he knew that he would walk that way again...carrying his own cross.
Jesus was aware the difficult road that lay before him, but he traveled it anyway. He walked the way of the cross for you. He lived a perfect life for you. He suffered for you. He died for you. And on the third day, he was raised to life for you.
This account is unique in the four gospels. It is the only biblical record we have of Jesus between his infancy and his adult life. If these events had not been written down for us, our faith would not change one bit. But this glimpse into Jesus’ childhood does teach us valuable lesson.
The classic picture of Jesus during the Christmas season is that of a baby lying in a manger. He is more than that. He was a perfect baby. He was also a perfect child. Most importantly, he is our perfect Savior. He is the God-man who came to save us and never wavered from his mission.
May our journey home with Jesus this Christmas give us renewed hope and confidence while we await our final homecoming in heaven. Amen.