Christmas
2
4 January 2015
Luke 2:40-52
Jesus in the Temple
O
God, our Maker and Redeemer, who wonderfully created us and in the incarnation
of Your Son yet more wondrously restored our human nature, grant that we may
ever be alive in Him who made Himself to be like us; through Jesus Christ our
Lord.
Last Sunday we ended with verse
40 of Luke’s presentation of the early life of Jesus. “And the child grew and became strong in Spirit, filled with wisdom, and
the grace of God was upon Him.” Fast-forward twelve years. Jesus makes a
return trip. To Jerusalem. To the temple. To listen to the scribes and the
Elders. And to ask questions. This is His habit. This is His method of
operation. That is His MO, His Modus operandi. His
profile. There is nothing strange or odd
in Jesus’ behavior. We should not be
surprised.
There are 41 events in the
Gospels where the words amazed and astonished are used to describe
people’s reaction to Jesus; where the people were either amazed or astonished in
meetings Jesus. Everyone who heard him was amazed
at his understanding and his answers.
This is the only boyhood story
about Jesus. In this snapshot of Jesus’ life we hear how the scribes, the
teachers and other the people present were AMAZED
at his understanding of scripture. 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.”
According to Luke, the boy
Jesus ends up in the temple instead of heading home with his family after the
Passover. When do parents start
seriously thinking about getting their child a cell phone? At around the age of
twelve. Because at the age of twelve, thirteen and fourteen kids begin hanging out
together. Anyone who has lived with a
twelve- year- old can related to this story. It could have happened today just
as it did two thousand years ago.
Mary
and Joseph assumed Jesus was with his friends. Thinking he was in their company,
they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their
relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem
to look for him. (Vv.44-45) What they found was a pattern of growth that is
necessary for us today.
Today is the first Sunday of a
New Year. Many make New Year’s
resolutions. Today’s reading makes a perfect resolution for us as a Friedheim
family. Make this resolve…
- That we might be regular
in our worship attendance.
“They found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teacher both
listening to them and asking them questions.” – Luke 2:46
A.
The trip
to the temple in Jerusalem was for Jesus an annual event. “Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year
at the Feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up
according to custom.”
B.
Nothing
would distract Him. His focus was complete. Mary and Joseph were frantic. Jesus
was so focused that He lost all track of time. "Why
were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn’t you know I had to be in
my Father’s house?" But they did not understand what he was saying to
them.
- That we might grow.
A.
“And the
child grew and became strong in Spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of
God was upon Him.” – Luke 2:40 Jesus’ life was one of growth through
submission, the ultimate example of losing your life only to find it.
B.
“And
Jesus increased in wisdom and statute and in favor of God and men.” – Luke 2:52
We just aren’t good at seeing those growth opportunities, but the Father loves
us anyway. Christ loved you enough to submit to the cross. Jesus submitted
where you could no. He is the one directing growth from the right hand of the
Father.
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