Maybe you have a scrapbook or a photo album with memories of
your children as they grew up (or maybe your parents have them of you). These days, it seems like a lot of our
memories are hosted digitally on social media services. But it’s always nice to walk back down memory
lane and wonder at how the years fly by, and oh, how much our children have
grown.
The New Testament doesn’t present us with Jesus’ baby book,
however, or serve as a biography of Jesus with all the milestones in his life
for us to ponder.
Instead, today we have that one precious story of Jesus’
life as a child of 12 years old, the only episode Scripture details about his
life between the visit of the Wise men and the beginning of his public ministry
at age 30. Perhaps this, in itself,
teaches us something – that Jesus holy work of perfect living didn’t require
anything noteworthy or special for many years.
That he simply did what he was given to do. He grew.
He learned. He was an obedient
son to his parents. We assume he
followed in his father Joseph’s business as a carpenter and did all the other
usual things a Jewish young man would do.
And we might take note and model our lives after that – a godly life is
fulfilled simply in our God-given vocations.
And then we also see, from Luke, that Jesus’ family was
religiously observant. They participated
every year in the Jewish Passover feast, and took the trip down from Nazareth
to Jerusalem, according to the custom.
It’s not exactly the same thing as being regular church-goers, but
there’s some similarity here. The whole
family, it seems, quietly and simply did what their faith asked of them. It was just a matter of course.
The real action begins when the feast is over, and the
family heads home. Scholars believe such
journeys were often made by larger extended families as a group, partly for
safety in numbers. And so it wouldn’t
have been too unusual for Mary and Joseph to lose track of Jesus for a short
time. But after about a day’s journey,
they notice they haven’t seen him, and their distress and anxiety grow as they
begin searching for him in the traveling group.
He was nowhere to be found! And
so back to Jerusalem they went, ever more frantic to find their beloved son.
And when they do, it’s sort of anti-climactic. He’s just there, sitting in the temple, of
course. He’s just been in his Father’s
house, visiting with the teachers, probably both learning from them and
teaching them a thing or two. Mary
gently berates him, and Jesus kindly answers her, “Why were you looking for
me? Didn’t you know that I must be in my
Father’s house?”
As St. Luke records everything so carefully, here again we
have more of Jesus’ story that likely came from the treasures of Mary’s
heart. She pondered these things deeply,
and Luke, inspired by the Holy Spirit, invites us to do the same. What exactly is the meaning of all this? What does Jesus teach us with his staying
behind and his answer to his mother?
What does it mean that he bust be in the Father’s house?
On one level, it’s a confession of his identity as the Son
of God. Yes, he is also the son of
Joseph, as even Luke here refers to Mary and Joseph as “his parents”. But we’ve read the back-story and we know he
is conceived by the Holy Spirit. We’ve
also read John’s Gospel and we know he’s the eternal Word that was with God,
now made flesh and dwelling among us.
And yes, again, by example, we can say Jesus is teaching us
something here about the centrality of God’s house in our lives. We, too, ought to be in our Father’s
house. We, too, ought to be engaged in
the study of his word, that we, too, might grow in wisdom and stature. That this passage comes at the beginning of a
new year might serve us as a reminder to re-commit to studying the Scriptures
this year. We have so many opportunities
here at Messiah, and as your pastor, of course, I invite you to join one or
more of our Bible studies, in addition to your own private reading and study of
Scripture. Notice even Jesus made use of
the teachers of God’s word, however…
And one more point of comparison we might draw is that of
anxious Mary – looking for Jesus. I’m
reminded of the cartoon with the missionaries at the front door asking the
woman, “have you found Jesus?” And on
the other side of the frame we can see his robe and sandals peeking out as he
stands behind the window curtains. Jesus
is not lost. We don’t need to find
him. Rather, we are lost, and he finds
us. Mary shouldn’t have worried. Jesus answer to her gives the same sense,
“why were you looking for me?” Didn’t
you know? Wasn’t it obvious? He’s the one in control, and we are the ones
so often frantically searching about, if not for him, then for answers and for
solutions to all our lives problems, and to the consequences of sin in our
world. But Jesus calmly goes about his
business.
And then, of course, there’s the deeper theological meaning
of the Temple. The house of God. Really, this is Jesus’ house, too. Last week we heard a little about the glory
of God dwelling there in the Old Testament times, and then being revoked. But that in the person of Jesus, God returns
to his temple, the glory of God comes home.
Of course Jesus had to be in his Father’s house. Of course he’s always about his Father’s
business.
But it wouldn’t always be so peaceful. At least once, and maybe twice, he cleansed
the temple, turning over tables, making a whip, driving out man and
animal. His Father’s house is to be a
house of prayer, not a den of thieves.
But we take the good things of God and misuse them, don’t we?
And then, many times, Jesus would teach in the temple. Openly and freely, he would preach the word
of God to the people of God in the house of God. So, his word goes forth from his house today
– not one temple, but in pulpits all over the world, where Christ is preached
for the benefit of his people.
And once, standing in the temple, Jesus would say, “Destroy
this temple and I will build it again in three days.” But he wasn’t talking about the brick and
mortar on that occasion, was he? He was
referring to his own body, his own life, which would soon be laid down as the
sacrifice to end them all. Thus the
temple curtain was torn in two, access to God was no longer mediated through
the priesthood of Levi, but through the priesthood of Christ, and by the
sacrifice of God’s own Son.
And soon that temple would be torn down, not one stone left
upon another. But the word of the Lord
endures forever. And the salvation of
Christ is freely offered to all. And the
work of the Father is accomplished by the Son and proclaimed with the power of
the Spirit to all nations, the Father’s business continuing to the very ends of
the earth.
Did Mary know all this?
Surely some of it. She pondered
all of it in her heart. She lived to see
the words of Simeon fulfilled, the sword that pierced her heart at the
cross. But also to see the temple of
Christ’s body rebuilt in his resurrection.
And the boy Jesus, who grew to the man Jesus, who died as
our substitute and rose as our firstborn of the dead elder brother, has also
gone before us into heaven. And one day
he will bring us there, too. He has done
all things well, for us, on our behalf.
And he has even greater things in store for us in the heavenly dwelling
of God. There, no temple is needed
either, for God will dwell in our midst directly, and we with him forever.
So, Christian, be in the Father’s house. Be about the Father’s business. And that is this: Hearing his word, growing in his word,
receiving his gifts, as is the custom.
Come to his table this day, and lay all your worries and anxieties
aside. Receive again the forgiveness of
your sins, for the sake of Christ. For
Jesus is always here, for you.
