[0:00] Take out your Bibles with me, please, and turn to the Gospel of Luke, chapter 2. Come to a very interesting section where the only Gospel of Luke gives us insight into Jesus the boy, the preteen, a 12-year-old, and what it must have been like a little bit to parent Jesus, right?
[0:33] What was that like? We get just a little glimpse of that. It's appropriate that we come to this text on Reformation Sunday.
[0:46] We remember Reformation Sunday really every week because we have the solas, sola gratiae. These five solas come from the Reformation.
[0:57] Grace alone, right? I'm saved by grace alone, not myself. Through faith alone, sola fide. In Christ alone, sola Christus.
[1:15] And sola scriptura. I know all these things based according to the Scriptures alone. And its great grand purpose, sola deo gloria, to the glory of God alone.
[1:30] Five solas. Grace alone, faith alone, Christ alone, Scripture alone, glory to God alone. I think they got it right. At least they got us around the right track.
[1:41] Well, it's appropriate, I say, because we come to a text where there's some Reformation going on. Jesus is going to do a little bit of reforming in his own family.
[1:52] A little more, a little redefining of relationship. Yes, you're my parents, but I got a greater parent. So, let's read the text.
[2:05] If you're able, please stand as we look at Luke chapter 2, verses 40 through 52. Luke 2, verse 40. Now, this is following the birth of Jesus.
[2:20] And then the, remember, they come to the temple and presentation. And Zechariah, excuse me, Simeon proclaims that Jesus is the light and he's also a sign that will be opposed.
[2:34] So, 12 years, skip ahead 12 years. Verse 40. The child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him.
[2:48] Now, his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was 12 years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem.
[3:07] His parents did not know it. But supposing him to be in the group, they went a day's journey. But then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances.
[3:20] And when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days, they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
[3:40] And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished.
[3:57] And his mother said to him, Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.
[4:12] And he said to them, Why are you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my father's house?
[4:23] And they did not understand the saying he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them.
[4:38] And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
[4:52] So it reads. Let us pray. Father, help us see what you want us to see. We're fascinated by some of the details in this text. It raises more questions than we can answer.
[5:07] We'd love to know more. But Luke has included. You have led Luke to include just what he has written. And so help us, Lord, to see why you've inspired him to include this.
[5:27] How this affects us. This we pray in Christ's name. Amen. Please be seated. Amen. So Jesus is a 12-year-old that began thinking, okay, what are 12-year-olds like?
[5:48] Well, I was a youth pastor for a long time. I know what 12-year-olds were like. I love 12-year-olds. You just take all that energy. You just have to direct it. That's all. You just have to direct it.
[5:58] I didn't know very many 12-year-old boys that had this kind of interest that Jesus had. So it led me to thinking about just children in general.
[6:12] You know, what did Jesus understand? What did children understand? What did children understand about God? And there's lots of things written. You know, there's that little book, Children's Letters to God.
[6:23] You know, we've probably read that for cute little things that children's ideas or confusions. One child was learning to pray, and she prayed this way. She said, our Father, who does art in heaven, herald is his name.
[6:38] Right? Forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets. That's probably not too far off, right? It's not fair. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from email.
[6:51] I like that one. That's pretty good. Another child was asked, you know, who was Jesus' mother? Oh, Mary. Who was his father?
[7:03] Verge. Verge. Where did you get Verge? Well, they're always talking about Verge and Mary. Verge and Mary. So children have a limited view of God.
[7:16] They have confusion. And we love that. It's just simple, and we get it. But when it comes to understanding Jesus in who he really is as man and God, we too are limited and sometimes confused by, in trying to wrestle and struggle through who this is.
[7:43] And here we have an encounter between Jesus and his parents where his parents are clearly struggling with him. They both have expectations. They expect that he's going to be with them.
[7:56] He has expectations that they understand he needs to stay behind. We have a conflict. We have a conflict. We have misunderstanding. We have expectations that are not met.
[8:10] And I think this applies to us as well. We have expectations of Jesus. We expect him to be where we are. And sometimes we're going along and we're thinking, where's Jesus?
[8:25] Did I leave him? I left him somewhere. Or we have trouble understanding. Of course, we wrestle with understanding how can he be a full man and fully God at the same time.
[8:42] And this text is going to kind of mess with that a little bit. We struggle with Jesus' what he calls us to.
[8:56] He calls us to a full devotion, a denial of self, right? We struggle with that. We struggle with how sometimes, you know, like he offends his parents here, he causes them pain.
[9:11] And sometimes Jesus causes us pain too. And we wrestle with that. So here in Luke 2, we're faced with this great mystery.
[9:24] And kind of Luke gives us a picture into Jesus' first recorded words, which speak about that he's not the normal child.
[9:37] He has another father. So Luke gives us a unique view, this encounter between the boy Jesus and his parents.
[9:48] We see here an unusual relationship. He is the son of Joseph and Mary. And as their son, he travels with them to Jerusalem. It's about a four-day travel, probably three to four days.
[10:01] They travel. They come for the feast of Passover, which is seven days long. There's, remember, the killing of the lamb, the Passover lamb, right? The blood of the lamb being put on the door.
[10:13] They're celebrating that Passover from that Exodus from Exodus 12. And then the unleavened bread.
[10:24] This would have happened. This was the first month for Israel. This was basically their new year. But for us, it comes in March, April. So they're doing that.
[10:37] He's the son of Joseph and Mary. But we see and are reminded here, and we've been reminded all the way in these first two chapters of Luke, he's not a normal child.
[10:51] He's not come into the world in a normal way. He comes by a miraculous virgin birth. His mother and father find out about him from an angel giving them the message and saying not just that they're going to have a son, that this will be a son who is a savior from sin, Matthew is, Joseph is told.
[11:19] Mary is told that he will be the son of the Most High. And the reason for the virgin birth is because he is a holy child. And they hear other things.
[11:32] They hear from Zechariah and they hear from Simeon. They hear these things about how he will be a king. He will be a savior. He will be a light for the Gentiles.
[11:43] And he will be also a lightning rod. He will be a sign which will be opposed. That this will not be a smooth, easy mission.
[11:56] So they've heard all these things. So we're struck with in this passage, how do you parent Jesus? How do you parent someone who is holy, going to be the Messiah?
[12:13] Right? This unusual child. And yet he's a boy. He's a normal baby. He has to be swaddled. And he has to be cleaned.
[12:25] And he has to, you know, he's fed. And they watch him grow. And for 12 years, they're watching this. And he's this wonderful child because he's holy. But they see him primarily for the next 12 years as just a boy.
[12:43] A child, a boy. Growing. Right? His original years were probably easier before he started talking, before he started asking questions. What happens when he starts asking questions?
[12:55] You know, children ask questions. You know, and that's the two or three-year-old going, what's their question? What's their favorite question? Why? Why? Why? Why? Because why? Why? Because why?
[13:06] So imagine Jesus, right? He undoubtedly is told the stories by his mother of what the angel said, what Zechariah said, what Simeon said, all these things.
[13:17] And so as he begins to learn those things, he's certainly asking questions. What's a savior? What's a king? What's a virgin birth? I wonder when they told him about that part.
[13:30] Right? All these things. He's son of the most high. I thought you were your son. You know, he's asking all these questions. Now he turns 12.
[13:42] And we're told of, as far as we know, the first real conflict between parent and child. They can't find Jesus. They are searching for three days.
[13:56] Three days. Well, the first day they're traveling, right? They go in this caravan. They travel. It's a four-day journey. They go to the first leg of the journey. Right? And they get there. They get wherever they're camping.
[14:07] And then they're looking for Jesus. Can't find Jesus anywhere. Not among the relatives. So we get a picture of how they traveled. They traveled in large groups. It was safer. Right?
[14:17] And there's lots of people going, apparently. It's not just a small group where they would notice Jesus is not there. It's a big enough group that they assume Jesus is somewhere in a group.
[14:27] And they'll find him. They come back the second day. So one day traveling up. Another day traveling back. Then they spend the whole third day looking for Jesus. Because we're told in verse 48 it's after three days that they found him.
[14:42] So you can imagine as parents if your child is missing for just, you know, imagine you go to a amusement park and you turn around and your child's not there for maybe just five minutes.
[14:54] Maybe they're just lost behind somebody else. But imagine the panic, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Now imagine three days of it. Can't, right? We've lost the Messiah.
[15:08] Right? I don't know. But Mary does communicate they are in great distress. It is traumatic for them. Okay? And then they do not understand.
[15:21] So let's look at this little episode here. I want you to enter into the parents' struggle with Jesus because I think it's also our struggle. Not only struggling with his identity that he is the son of Joseph and Mary, but he's also the son of the Most High.
[15:41] And what does that mean? And Jesus gives them a little bit of a, my father. Okay, what is that?
[15:51] They're struggling with that. And I think we struggle with that too. So Luke is displaying, I think, in this story how hard it is to fathom the mystery of Jesus' real identity.
[16:04] We wrestle with these two natures, son of man, son of God. As son of man, we see him in this story in his full humanity.
[16:15] We see him learning and growing and even submitting. We see him devoting himself to learn under human teachers. Right?
[16:25] He stays behind for three days to stay with the teachers, to learn from human teachers. He's learning. So we see his humanity in that. But then in verse 49 in his statement, we also see a glimpse of his deity.
[16:40] Right? And in his deity, at 12, he's already devoted to his father. How did he have that awareness?
[16:54] Where did he get that? Right? So we already see this going on. So, son of man, in his full humanity, the first part of the story tells us about he's just a boy.
[17:08] And he's learning and he's growing. Right? Verse 40, we see, right, he's growing and becoming strong. He's filled with wisdom and the favor of God was upon him. So we see him growing.
[17:19] But here's the mystery. How does the almighty God increase in strength? Here's Jesus increasing in strength. But he's the almighty.
[17:31] How does he increase in strength? How does an eternal God turn 12? You know, how does that happen? Yet, we learn here that the all-knowing, the all-powerful, the all-present God, the I am, became a baby.
[17:48] And now grows as a boy. He grows in wisdom and grace.
[17:59] In other words, he progresses. He increases. But if he's God, he doesn't learn. He doesn't grow. He's all there.
[18:11] But here we see Jesus growing and learning. How do we? Okay. Right? Too big. Although he's all-knowing, he learned. We're told in verse 43, he stayed behind.
[18:24] They start traveling back home. So three to four days to get to Jerusalem. They spend seven days in Jerusalem for the feast. So at least ten days have gone by.
[18:34] Then we add another three days before they find him in the temple. We've got, you know, and then while they're traveling back. We're talking about two weeks off. Joseph is a carpenter. He's two weeks off.
[18:45] He's not earning any money during that time. It's a sacrifice. It's a little side note. It's a sacrifice of faith for this family to do this commitment to come to the feast.
[18:58] Not everybody did that. Historically, not everybody did that. Many would come for the first two days and do the Passover and then skip the unleavened time. Because they needed to get back and earn their money.
[19:10] We see here this family stayed until a feast was over. They were there the whole time. And by the way, they went to three feasts a year.
[19:22] Okay? Every year. But here's Jesus learning. He stays in Jerusalem. And we get the little side note. The parents did not know.
[19:34] Right? He stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know. They didn't realize. They're traveling back. They suppose he's in the group. Right? And we have that whole search. But the other thing we realize, here's a 12-year-old Jesus who has apparently earned freedom and trust from his parents.
[19:53] They're not worried about it. They just suppose he's with the group. We don't have to worry about Jesus. I wonder if Jacob's with him. I wonder if James is with him. No, we don't know.
[20:03] Don't worry. Don't worry about Jesus. They get to camp and say, wait, wait, man. Where's Jesus? Okay? Okay. So why does he stay? We find out with the parents in verse 46.
[20:15] When they find him. They find him in verse 46. After three days. By the way, what's the whole three-day thing in Scripture? What's that all about? Okay? Is there a little illusion going on there?
[20:28] Right? After three days, he surfaces. Right? Okay. Okay. Why did he stay? We find out why. He's in the temple. He's sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
[20:42] He is three days with his teachers, learning. Learning. He's not teaching. He's being taught. Okay?
[20:53] He's not the one speaking. He is asking questions. But as he listens to them, he's going to ask, how? Why? What?
[21:04] Wait. What about how does that work with this over here? And we know he's asking those kind of perceptive questions because we're told in verse 47 that all who heard him were absolutely amazed at his understanding.
[21:17] The word understanding means bringing things together. In other words, he's already connecting dots. He's already connecting this idea with this idea. He's pulling those together.
[21:28] By the time he's 30, he will be doing that way beyond everybody else. He will be connecting scriptural promises and passages of the Messiah that they just did not see.
[21:42] But already at 12, he's already very perceptive. He's already very understanding. He is making those connections. And since they're amazed both at his understanding and his answers.
[21:55] So he's not only listening and asking questions, they're asking him questions. Well, how'd you come up with that? I mean, probably, you know, I don't know. Wouldn't you have loved to?
[22:06] It's like one of those moments, I just wish I could have been there. It's like in the upper room when he's explaining everything. I want to be there for that. I would love to be there to hear 12-year-old Jesus. He's already working it out.
[22:21] By the way, how does he come to such an understanding at 12? We have to remember, Jesus is fully human, but he's not like us.
[22:38] And I don't mean in his nature as God, but in his humanity, he's not like us. Do you know why? So God calls us, love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your might.
[22:55] Right? Your heart meaning your mind. So we're all called to love God with all our mind. Let's just think of that. To learn about God and to study and to know, right?
[23:05] Understanding. Understanding. So what's the best we can do in loving God with all my mind? What's the best? Am I tainted in any way?
[23:17] In my mind? Yeah, my mind's been darkened. My mind's, right? Right? So I'm restrained in the best I can do. And loving God is going to be tainted by my sin, my baggage, my weaknesses.
[23:31] This is not true for Jesus. This is not true for Jesus. He is holy. He has no corruption.
[23:44] So when he's loving God with all his mind, he's loving God with all his mind. Unrestrained.
[23:56] No wonder he understands so well. He's not held back by that. And we're told in verse 40, right?
[24:07] He's already filled with wisdom. Which means it's not just that he knows things. Wisdom is knowing how it applies. Right? Wisdom is knowing is the skill of living the truth.
[24:19] He's filled with that already. So by the time he's 12 and he comes to the temple and he's sitting with these teachers, we recognize, don't we, that for 12 years he's already been doing that back in Nazareth.
[24:34] He may not be with Nicodemus, you know, and Gamaliel and, you know, the big name teachers in Jerusalem who he's sitting with here. But back home he's with, you know, Frank and Larry.
[24:48] No, I don't know. Joseph. Dad. There is a synagogue in Nazareth. So he's, I'm sure he's getting his chores done and then he's either before he gets the chores done, he's going to the synagogue and reading the scriptures and learning and asking the elders there.
[25:09] He's devoted to learning. And then we see, although he's all-powerful, look at verse 51. Although this Jesus is all-powerful God, verse 51 says that he goes back with his parents back to Nazareth and was submissive to them.
[25:30] Although he's the sovereign, all-powerful God, he submitted to them. So we see these mysteries of this Jesus. He's growing, he's learning, he's submitting.
[25:42] That though he must be with his father, as a boy he must also learn obedience. Hebrews says it this way. Although he was a son, capital S, son, he learned obedience through what he suffered.
[25:56] How does God learn, right? And that's the mystery we're dealing with here. He's all-knowing, but he humbles himself to go through the same process we go through, to learn and grow.
[26:13] And then he summarizes it, verse 52. How does he grow? Well, he increases in wisdom, so mental. He increases in stature, physically. And then socially in favor with God and man.
[26:29] So the question that we're struggling with here is how does the Almighty become a man? How is it that God Almighty becomes a child who grows and learns and submits?
[26:41] How do we grasp that? Well, perhaps the best attempt to explain it is Paul's explanation in Philippians 2. He's calling us really to be humble like Jesus.
[26:53] He gives the example of Jesus' humility, which turns into a theological treatise that seminarians write long papers about. I did one trying to figure out this passage.
[27:06] So listen to how Paul describes Philippians 2. He says, have this mind in yourselves. Think like Jesus, in other words. Have this mind in yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.
[27:18] Who? Here's your example. Who? Though he was in the form of God. Though he was God. Did not count equality with God as a thing to be grasped or to be held on to is the idea.
[27:39] He's already got equality with God. He did not regard that as something to not let go. But what? Emptied himself.
[27:49] Now, there's long papers on what that, what does that mean? How does he empty himself? What is that? Right? Because God can't stop being God. So what is that?
[27:59] Okay. So he emptied himself. Well, here's the explanation. He emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, by being born in the likeness of men.
[28:14] Right? So he empties himself, as the great hymn says, veiled in flesh, the Godhead see. Right? Hail the incarnate deity. Right?
[28:25] How does he empty himself? By covering himself in flesh. Temporarily. Because it holds back his glory. Which came out a few times in his life, didn't it?
[28:38] Right? We're here to arrest Jesus. Who are you looking for? Is Jesus here? What did he say? I am.
[28:50] What happened? Well, what did he do? Well, what did he do? Did he do that? Did he do that? Did he do that? Did he do that? Did he do that? Did he do that? Did he do that?
[29:02] Did he do that? Did he do that?! So he humbled himself, or he emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, and being found in human form.
[29:17] He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name Jesus, Yeshua, Savior, every knee should bow in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Yahweh, to the glory of God the Father.
[29:53] Why would the eternal, almighty, holy God do this? What would move him to empty himself and humble himself, to leave his throne, as we sang in Wesley's song, that he leaves his throne?
[30:09] Why would he do that? Scripture's answer is his love for sinners, period. He loved sinners. But why leave the throne?
[30:22] He could love sinners from the throne. Well, there was no other way to rescue sinners than by his taking on flesh.
[30:35] He came to die. The only way to rescue is from his holy justice. He came to die. The only way to die for sinners was to become fully human and be absolutely holy as a human, so that he might then take our place as a perfect, spotless lamb dying in our place.
[31:02] And having earned our righteousness, or his righteousness, he then takes our sin and gives us his perfect righteousness. We're holy before God because it's a gift from him.
[31:20] It's a great, what Luther calls the great exchange. You know, we give him all our bad stuff. He gives us all the good stuff. It's really like wind in his hair said in Dances with Wolves.
[31:31] It's a good trade, good trade. It's my favorite line, sorry. Part of the Indian in me likes that. So in his humanity, he was devoted to learn from human teachers.
[31:50] Then in verse 48 to 50, we see the other side, this little, in the very middle of this story, we see this first, first words of Jesus that are recorded.
[32:07] Right? The very first words out of his, not the first words out of his mouth, but the first ones that are recorded. And in those words, we see his deity.
[32:19] And we see his deity even at 12. At 12, he's already fully devoted to his heavenly father.
[32:29] In his humanity, he is fully devoted to learn from human teachers. In his divinity, he is fully devoted to his heavenly father.
[32:42] So we see his purpose, which is prompted by mom's question here. Verse 48. Oh, don't you love the parents? I mean, we can relate to the parents here, can't we?
[32:55] Good grief. We understand her exasperation. And how come Mary, how come mom's always speaking and we don't hear from dad? I don't know. I think, I get the impression Joseph's just one of these quiet, calm, although she says he was anxious too.
[33:13] But anyway, she raises the question that prompts the whole thing. We see his purpose in this question that is prompted by Mary.
[33:27] She says, why did you do this? Why have you treated us so? Or literally, why have you done to us thusly? Why have you treated us this way?
[33:42] It kind of captures it, I think. So in other words, you have done something to us, Jesus. Do you know that? You have hurt us.
[33:53] Why did you do this? There's a rebuke here. I wonder if it's the first time she ever had to rebuke Jesus, right?
[34:06] He's been such a good boy. And now, he's disappointing us. You've caused us distress. This word, great distress, means anguish, trauma.
[34:19] At the very, is he dishonoring them? You know, he's supposed to be honoring to his father and mother. Has he somehow dishonored them?
[34:30] She may be thinking so. At the very least, he's insensitive. Why would you not have told us? Right? We've been looking for three days, Jesus.
[34:43] You know what turmoil we have been through. You have caused us incredible pain. How could you?
[34:56] Right? How does mom and dad say that kind of stuff when their kids have? And Mother Mary has this picture right here.
[35:07] Has this feeling. His response. What do you think about his response, right? So she's just said this. And he's already doing what he's going to do all through his ministry.
[35:20] When he gets asked a question, what does he do? He asks a question, right? Right? She asks, why? He says, why? He said to them.
[35:32] Now, consider to. Now, we can feel Mary's mood as she asks the question. She's upset. You can feel that. But what was the tone of Jesus when he answered her?
[35:46] Right? I'm sure it was not a sassy 12-year-old, you know, fire back. I'm sure it was not. I'm sure it was gentle.
[36:01] But straight. Remember that Simeon said to Mary, by the way, a sword will pierce your own soul.
[36:12] Here's the first strike. She was pierced. She's hurt. So I don't know how to capture how he said it, the tone.
[36:26] Right? But just imagine it's going to be quite gentle, I think, but truthful. Why? Why were you searching for me?
[36:40] Did you not know? I must be here. Why? I don't think it's an exasperated question that he's asked.
[36:52] I think it's just a straight question. Why? Why would you be searching? And the Greek tense of the have, did you not know is very rare.
[37:06] It's called the pluperfect. I love it. It's like, ooh, pluperfect. That sounds really fun. It's like the perfect in the past. So in other words, he's saying, haven't you known all along that I must be in my father's things?
[37:24] Haven't you known? Not just did you not know as if, but mom and dad, have you not been told all these things that you've told me, that the angel said, that Zechariah said, that Simeon said, that Elizabeth said, that all these things?
[37:47] Have you not, mom, treasured up all these things? Have you not known? I'm the holy one. I'm the son of the most high.
[38:03] Remember that phrase? I've asked you over and over again that you couldn't quite explain. I don't know what that means, but it's Messiah related. You know, how's Mary going to explain?
[38:14] Because she probably didn't understand that either. In terms of son of the most high, but more of a son like Messiah, son like David. But he's getting it.
[38:26] His understanding is surpassing his parents' understanding at 12. So to give Mary and Joseph the benefit of the doubt here, 12 years have passed since they've heard all those things.
[38:42] Okay? She did store them up. Absolutely. That's how Luke tells us she's the source for all this information we have. She's treasured up all these things. But if you heard all these things about your brand new baby, 12 years go by.
[39:00] Are those still on the forefront of your thinking? You know, in human tendency? Right? Right? We kind of, we kind of, okay, that's probably, we've got that in the back burner. Once he turns 30, then we'll deal with all that stuff.
[39:13] But we sure didn't expect it at age 12. Right? They're not ready for this. But he's reminding them, haven't you already known this was coming?
[39:28] Because of who I am. And so he says, he reminds them of his priority.
[39:39] He is no ordinary son. He tells them, haven't you known? Have you not known? I must be. I must be in my father's house.
[39:51] I must. It's a necessity. It's a divine mandate. It's why I was sent. It's why I came. It's why I was born the way I was born. It's why I was called the things I was called.
[40:04] I must be. So his devotion. Hear this now. His devotion to his father comes before his devotion to mom and dad.
[40:22] We're redefining our relationship, mom. You're not first anymore. I will honor you. But I have a father that comes before you.
[40:38] And what he wants me to do comes before what you want. So how does Jesus balance that, right? How do we balance that?
[40:51] We have a priority to God Almighty. And then how we have all these other priorities too. How do we balance that? Right? Here's Jesus doing this. And what he's telling his parents is that he has a devotion to his heavenly father that comes before his earthly parents.
[41:10] And that devotion comes even if it causes them pain. It's a devotion that he must do even if they don't understand.
[41:29] In fact, he will live the rest of his life doing the will of the father that most do not understand. And he's still doing the will of the father that sometimes causes us pain.
[41:47] Sometimes we lose Jesus, don't we? We think he's still with us. We expect him to be where I am. He's not there. And I go look for him.
[41:58] And what does he tell me? Right? You're going to deny me, Peter. Peter. You need to deny yourself.
[42:10] Where's your faith? Where's your faith? You worry about a little storm? You know, I think getting ourselves into the sandals of these parents because we experience misunderstanding with Jesus like they did.
[42:33] There's times that we follow Jesus. There's times that we follow Jesus that we struggle to understand what he wants us to do or why he has us in this situation.
[42:44] Or why isn't he answering me? Or why isn't he doing it the way I expect him to do that? Where are you?
[42:56] Where are you?
[43:08] are you? Right? So there's things that Jesus does in our relationship with him that causes pain, where maybe he even seems a little bit insensitive to my needs.
[43:26] So then comes the mysterious word. He says, I must be in my father's house, but here's the mysterious word, this, who's this my father? And notice, so what did Mary say to him, right? Verse 48.
[43:41] He says, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I. Isn't that how mom likes to put things? Your father and I. And Jesus's response in turn is about father. Your father, my father.
[44:01] My father. Okay. I must be in my father's things. Now, our translation has father's house.
[44:13] I think the King James might have in my father's business, right? But those are singular and the word actually, there's no word in the actual text. It's just must be in my father's, and the implication is things. It's plural. So it's more than his house. Of course, it's his house. It's in his works, in his will, in his words, among his teachers. I must be with my father's things.
[44:42] Everything that's about my father, that's what I must be in, okay? And the striking thing here is that at age 12, he already has this self-awareness, right? My father. He already has that.
[45:01] He's already aware of a unique relationship, a strong identity with the father, my father. Where does he get that? Right? And in verse 50, we're told the parents don't understand. Of course, they don't understand. They just don't get that. They didn't understand the saying that he said to them. It doesn't say that they were offended by it, which is, I think, tells me that Jesus said it to them gently, okay? It wasn't kind of a strike back or a defensive. It was simply the truth, but they just didn't understand. And it's the same word that described Jesus' understanding, where he's putting things together, right? His parents did not understand. They're not putting it together. They're not connecting the dots. They don't get that. Your father, my father, what I, they don't get it. They're wrestling with it. So here's the thing I want you to notice. In the gospel of Luke, Jesus uses this word must over and over in the gospel of Luke. What is divine necessity?
[46:18] What he must do? What's his priority? His priority to his mission is the theme we see all the way through Luke. And here at age 12, he's already aware that he's on a mission. He's already aware that he has a priority and a purpose in his life, right? So listen to this. Just a couple chapters later, when Jesus begins his ministry in Luke 4, 43, Jesus is out preaching and he says to them, I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to other towns as well, for I was sent for this purpose. I'm sent for the purpose of preaching and I must preach in all these towns. It's a divine necessity. Chapter nine, verse 22, he says, the son of man must, must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed. And on the third day raised must chapter 13, 33. Nevertheless, I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following three days, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem. I must go to Jerusalem to die.
[47:35] I must. Chapter 17, 25. But first he, the Messiah must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. It's absolutely necessary. Not only did he suffer, but that he'd be rejected. It's necessary.
[47:54] Wow. God's way is not our way, is it? Chapter 22, 37. For I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me. It has to be fulfilled in me. He was numbered with the transgressors.
[48:08] He's going to be with, he's going to die among sinners. For what is written about me has its fulfillment. Chapter 24, 7. After Jesus raised from the dead, they see the angel. The angel tells them that the son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified. And on the third day rise. He's reminding them that Jesus, that Christ must not only suffer and die, but he will be raised. Right? And then finally in the upper room, Jesus in chapter 24, 44 said to the disciples, right? Now he's raised, he's with them. He's opening their minds to understand the scriptures, remember? So he says to them, these are my words that I spoke to you while I was with you.
[48:59] That everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and the Psalms, all of it must be fulfilled. It has to be fulfilled. God has said it, it must happen. And I'm the one to do it. And so the first must that he talks about is I must be in my father's things, mom.
[49:25] It must be. Because this is the beginning of the mission. By age 12, Jesus is already becoming aware of his mission and his identity. By age 30, he said this in Luke 10, 22. He said, all things have been handed over to me by my father. He's talking about my father again.
[49:55] Everything has been delivered. So at age 12, he's, I must be in my father's thing. By age 30, it's everything's been delivered over to me. The father's put everything on me. Over to me by my father. And no one knows who the son is except the father. No one really knows who I am except the father.
[50:17] Okay. That, that helps. Cause right. Right. We don't get it. No wonder. Cause it's a, it's an, it's, it's a God thing. And, or no one knows who the father is except the son. There's an exclusive relationship there. And does that mean we can never know him? No. And anyone to whom the son chooses to reveal him. So no one can know the father except whoever the son says, you get to know him. You get to know him. Not get to. I choose you. I choose you. Why? I choose you. To know him. Do you wrestle with understanding Jesus? Are you going through something right now where you're wrestling with, okay, what's Jesus doing? I don't get it. I'm hurting and he seems insensitive.
[51:18] Or I feel separated. Like I've lost him. Maybe did I leave him somewhere? I thought he was with me. And now I'm feeling alone on this road. Where is he? Are you struggling with that? Maybe you're struggling with just, no, I don't get how he can be all of this. It's, it's, you know, maybe you're struggling with what he asked you to do because he asked us to do, to sacrifice everything, right? He doesn't say, take me and I'll give you your cake too. He says, if you take me, you walk the same road I walk, you deny yourself and you pick up a cross in order to suffer and you follow me. Pain now, peace later. I mean, all that good people, you know. Of course we struggle with that.
[52:22] So we may not fully grasp these mysteries. We may not fully grasp the things Jesus asked us and we may be struggling with those. That's okay that we can't totally grasp that. But what we can grasp is what he's told us why he must be in his father's things. Because he came to save us by suffering. He came to be rejected, to die, to be raised, and to fulfill God's promises so that we can have true life in this hard life. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. We, we pray, Lord, that you help us understand our dear Jesus. We thank you that, that, that, that, that you would actually show us him, that you would draw us to yourself, that you would open our eyes to see Jesus. And you don't open our eyes to understand all the mysteries, all the depths of, of what only you understand. But you make clear for us what we do need to understand. He may not give us always what we want, but you always give us what we need. And help us to embrace that, we pray in Christ's name. Amen.
[54:03] You stand and sing with us, yet not I, but through Christ in me.
[54:15] What gift of grace is Jesus my redeemer?