We may identify with Mary and Joseph, and the anxiety of a parent who’s every temporarily lost a child. We may wonder about the reaction of the Jewish teachers, and imagine the kinds of questions and answers Jesus shared with them. We mind find ourselves in awe as we “sit at the feet of Jesus” and as he teaches us, even today, from his word. We may even see in Jesus himself, the example of learning and growing in our faith. Let’s take each of these in turn as we pay attention, with Jesus, to the “Things of the Father”.
One of the moves Martin Luther made with this passage was the idea that Mary and Joseph had “lost” Jesus. Imagine if we would ever “lose” Jesus. Luther says, “This is a striking, poignant Gospel lesson for us to consider… Just think what it would mean if we lost the child Jesus from our hearts!” Of course, we know it is possible for the believer to deny the faith, shipwreck one’s faith, fall away from salvation. We don’t believe “once saved always saved”. There’s too many passages which warn us from falling, that we know it’s possible. But on the flip side we have numerous promises that God will never leave or forsake us, and that no one can snatch us out of his hand. You can’t “lose Jesus” like you misplace your car keys. You can’t “lose Jesus” like you can lose a loved one, or be abandoned by a spouse.
But what is the best way for us to make sure that we don’t ever become so weak and feeble of faith that we would ever fall away from him? Simply, be in the Father’s house. Be rooted firmly in the gifts of God – the Word and the Sacraments. Receive them regularly. Follow the pious example of Mary and Joseph who made their usual pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Only you don’t have to go so far. Don’t be a stranger to God’s house, but rather be about it, be here, make and keep it your habit. And you will be strengthened in faith and held close in Christ.
Just look at these learned men with whom Jesus converses for three days. Luke tells us “And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.” These were men who, in their day, were teachers and experts in theology, the things of God. They were the teachers of Israel, all over 30 – the customary minimum age for a public teacher. And with a generation’s head start on Jesus, still they found amazement with his understanding and answers. For while he was listening and asking them questions, as he was a humble and avid student of the word, so too they also must have learned from him, for he surely mastered that word like no 12 year old ever before or since.
Doesn’t Jesus also teach us here, by example, of the value of catechesis? A simple question and answer method of teaching and learning God’s word. Luther picked up this idea and gave us a wonderful tool for doing just that – with all of its good questions, “What does this mean?” and it’s sure answers - “This is most certainly true”. Therefore let us not only teach our children but remain rooted in these catechism truths all our days, being constantly amazed as we encounter Jesus through his word.
Maybe you remember hearing this passage, even many years ago, from the King James Version. There, Jesus’ words are translated, “How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?” But most modern translations take the Greek to mean, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” The problem is that the way the Greek is written, the object of the sentence is a bit ambiguous. It’s more like, “it is necessary that in the things of my Father, I must be” The “things” really has to be supplied. So here we have it translated as either “business” or “house”.
You can see how either makes sense. Jesus is about the Father’s business, always. He is taking care of business, you might say. And so tending to the Word of God, asking, answering, learning, teaching it – this is always proper business for the Son of Man who is the Son of God. And where, but the temple, does this business most properly take place? Where, but with the teachers of the law and the learned men of God? Surely Jesus was taught by his parents and other teachers back in Nazareth. But he also valued that place that was set apart – the holy place of God – where the word was central. We too can both read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Word in our personal devotions and home reading and study, but let us not neglect doing so with other Christians in the place where God has given us to gather – now, the congregation. Shouldn’t you, also, Christian, be about the Father’s business, and in the Father’s house?
Of course, also at the temple would many other items of business been on the agenda. Of course you would have had the priests there, busily saying prayers on behalf of the people. Jesus, the Great High Priest, certainly knew a thing or two about that. He prayed then, even as he prays now, the one ultimate intercessor between God and man, between the Father and the children.
Then you would have also had the sacrifices of the temple. All the blood of beasts on Jewish altars slain. The sights and sounds and smells of the temple must have been quite something. And all the more on high festivals, like the one that was just ending as Jesus’ family headed home. But this business of the temple would soon cease, as the once-and-for-all sacrifice would be made. The Lamb of God was in the house, his Father’s house, his own house. And he is the one who would soon take away the sins of the world. The one to whom all sacrifices pointed forward, and in whom all sacrifices are fulfilled.
And this, perhaps even more than anything, is the “Father’s business”. The cross was Jesus’ mission impossible, issued from his Father from eternity, the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world. The cross is why the Babe of Bethlehem was born. The cross is where this 12 year old boy was headed. The cross is where the great teacher, the man Jesus, would die.
Wouldn’t it be nice to know exactly what Jesus was talking about as he discussed the Scriptures with those learned men? Since we don’t have the conversation recorded, we would have to speculate. But a reasonable assumption is this: that Jesus was directing them to think on the subject of the promised Messiah. After all, later on, Jesus would make the claim that the Scriptures these kinds of men searched for salvation are the same Scriptures that testified of him (John 5:39). And so the Living Word, the Incarnate Word himself would have shown them in the written Word, what it was all about. And perhaps even the heart of it, as he would one day teach Nicodemus: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” (John 3:14)
And so Jesus shows us, by this one brief glimpse into his childhood growing years, the only one recorded in all of Scripture, that he is both human and divine. His divinity peeks through to the amazement of the Jews who were astounded by his understanding of Scripture. And his humanity also shows in his obedience to his parents, and in Luke’s comments about him increasing in wisdom and stature. He grew and learned, just as we do – he was a human. But he did so without sin, for he was not only a human, but also the Son of God.
And at the end, Jesus returns and is submissive to his parents. So in his state of humility, he continues to fulfill the law for us – including the 4th commandment, honoring father and mother. He does what we can’t and don’t, and fulfills all righteousness for us. But he’s also preparing for the day when the temple will be destroyed and rebuilt in 3 days. He will return to Jerusalem, not to learn in humility, but to die in humility, and rise in victory. Here, as a boy, we see one more step along the way.
Thanks be to God that Jesus was about his Father’s business for us all. And thanks be to God for the privilege and joy, even today, that we have, to be in the Father’s house, to learn from his word, and to treasure up all these things like Mary – pondering in our hearts – the mystery and blessing of the Word made flesh, the Son of Man and Son of God, even Jesus Christ our Lord.
No comments:
Post a Comment