Luke 2:41-52 Common English Bible (CEB)
Each
year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. When
he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to their
custom. After the festival was over, they were returning home,
but the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents didn’t
know it. Supposing that he was among their band of travelers,
they journeyed on for a full day while looking for him among their
family and friends. When they didn’t find Jesus, they
returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they
found him in the temple. He was sitting among the teachers, listening
to them and putting questions to them. Everyone who heard him
was amazed by his understanding and his answers. When his
parents saw him, they were shocked.
His
mother said, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Listen!
Your father and I have been worried. We’ve been looking for you!”
Jesus
replied, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that it
was necessary for me to be in my Father’s house?” But they
didn’t understand what he said to them.
Jesus
went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. His mother
cherished every word in her heart. Jesus matured in wisdom and
years, and in favor with God and with people.
I
have to admit, I found it a bit jarring when I began looking at the
lectionary scriptures for this Sunday. So soon after Christmas, we
are already leaping years ahead in the life of Jesus! I wanted to say
“no, let's stay in Christmas for just a little longer! Let's sing
some more carols and enjoy the baby. Is it already time to take down
the lights and the tree?” Well, don't worry – my tree won't come
down for at least another week. After all, it took about 10 days
before I even got the lights on it! It seemed like the gospel lesson
today was already screeching toward Easter with this Passover trip to
Jerusalem. And I was just getting comfortable in front of the
chestnuts roasting on that open fire. But with the new year upon us –
this message of searching and seeking is actually the logical next
step after welcoming the Messiah.
Scripture
doesn't tell us very much about the life of Jesus between the time of
his birth and the start of his public ministry. there are very few
stories about the young Jesus in the Bible at all. In the three years
cycle of the lectionary they are all read in worship on the First
Sunday after Christmas. One year we read the story of Mary and
Joseph’s presentation of their son at the Temple and the unusual
responses from Simeon and Anna. The next year we read about the holy
family fleeing to Egypt to escape genocide. And in the current year
we read about Jesus’ decision to stay behind for a few days in
Jerusalem to get to know his God a little better.
In
my study I came across an interesting question that I had never
pondered before: When did Jesus begin to realize that he was set
apart and chosen by God to be the Messiah? Whoa...I had never
considered that before. I had always assumed that Jesus always knew
that he was divine – but then how could he be truly human? I'm sure
that scholars could argue this much more adeptly and we could get a
dozen opinions from only ten wise men...but I thought it an
interesting question of Jesus' self-awareness. I know that when I was
twelve years old, I didn't know much about myself and didn't even
consider my place in the larger world. I was pretty much focused on
starting Junior High and not flunking science. I'm not sure that I
really starting asking myself who I was and how I fit into the world
until I was twice that age.
The
question reminded me of one of my favorite book series, Harry Potter.
In the first book we meet Harry who is just living his life...and not
a very happy life...when he turns eleven and things change very
suddenly! A great big man breaks down a door and tells him that he is
a wizard – understandably, it takes Harry a little while to adjust
to the idea.
Did
Jesus experience something like that in his life? Well, probably not
a half-giant breaking down a door...but some increasing awareness
that he is different... Did he always know that he was meant to do
something important...someone who would change the world? Or did he
grow into that knowledge? When? Was it when his mother became
pregnant by the Holy Spirit? Was it when his parents presented him at
the Temple?
Was
it when Simeon and Anna recognized God’s very Spirit in him? Was it
when he lingered behind in Jerusalem to ask questions for three days
after his visit to the holy city for Passover at the age of twelve?
What it when he was baptized and the heavens opened up and a dove
descended and alighted on him and the voice of God was heard
declaring, “this is my son, the beloved, with whom I am well
pleased?” Was it when he opened his public ministry by declaring
“’The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me
to bring good news the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to
the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed
go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.’ And he rolled
up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes
of all in the synagogue were fixed on him”.
Whenever
and however it happened for Jesus, it must have in some ways been
like it is for all of us. It must have been a gradual realization
over time, brought about by a combination of gentle nudges,
enlightening conversations, and radical reactions to the world we all
inhabit and the role our divine creator God plays in it all. But in
other ways, it must have been completely different. After all, none
of us is the Messiah, the son of the living God, the one whom we call
Christ.
But
we are all seeking to know things. At our core, there are questions
that we seek answers to. Who are we? Are we the person we are meant
to be? What is our purpose? Will our lives make a difference? Why are
we here?
Our
gospel lesson today describes two searches – Mary and Joseph as
they search for their lost child, Jesus. Sermons4Kids often provides
me with material when I do the children's time at Centenary and
today's lesson had this story for the kids: Has this ever happened to
you? You are shopping when an announcement comes over the store's
loudspeaker, "May I have your attention please? We are looking
for a six-year-old child who is lost. His name is John and he is
wearing blue jeans and a red shirt. If you find John, please bring
him to the customer service center." How did this child become
lost? Perhaps he just wandered off to look at the toys and his
parents left him behind. Maybe the child's mother and father each
thought he was with the other parent and went on about their
shopping. You can imagine how concerned the parents were when they
realized that the child was missing. How about John? How do you think
he felt? If he was having a good time playing in the toy department,
he probably never even knew that he was lost! Have you ever been
lost? How did you feel? Were you afraid, or were you confident that
your parents would find you and everything would be alright?
It's
a sweet story that doesn't end with anyone kidnapped and nobody
called child protective services. But it made me remember a time a
few years back when several Centenary families were camping up at
Jellystone near Natural Bridge. The great thing about camping with
cartoon bears is that the kids can pretty much roam from pools to
lake to campsites to the river without a whole lot of supervision. I
was sitting near the lake when one of the moms came up asking if I'd
seen her son Cooper. I hadn't but joined her in looking.
As
the minutes passed the panic started to rise in my heart. We became
more frantic in the search. It was one of the worst 30 minutes of my
life and it wasn't even my kid. He was found but not before his mom
grew another hundred gray hairs. I can't even imagine how Mary and
Joseph felt when they discovered Jesus wasn't with the group.
At
first, his parents did not miss Jesus. They assumed he was traveling
with some of their friends. When evening came and Jesus still didn't
show up, they became worried. They looked among their friends and
relatives but Jesus was no where to be found. So they started
retracing their steps. They returned to Jerusalem to search for him
there. They searched for three days before they finally found him.
And
he didn't understand why they were so upset.
He
was right where he was supposed to be...didn't they realize that? Why
were you worried? No need to search, I'm right where I'm meant to be.
And they didn't understand. Which, from a parent's point of view,
makes sense. From the parent point of view the place he was meant to
be was with them and the group on the trip back to Nazareth. He was
not meant to wander off and worry them and cause them three days of
heartache and concern. But from the divine point of view...Jesus has
the right answer. He WAS right where he needed to be, because he was
searching for answers. He was asking questions. He was seeking to
know and understand his heavenly father, the one who had sent him on
this mission. A mission he may have only begun to understand and
embrace.
The
second search in our gospel lesson today is Jesus' search for
answers; he is developing into adulthood, and—above all—
discovering his mission as Son of God. I know this presents serious
questions for some people regarding Jesus’ nature as both human and
divine. For some, the question is, “Didn’t he understand his own
divinity?” For others, the question is, “If he understands his
divinity, how authentic was his experience as a human being?” For
me it came down to this question, if Jesus always knew he was divine,
then how could he have truly had an authentic human experience? And
to that question I have had at least a dozen answers in less than a
week. The searching for me, continues. And isn't that actually a
valuable part of faith building?
A
friend of mine who is agnostic has spent many hours – often long
into the night - asking me why I believe in God. From time to time he
exasperatedly says something like “if there was really a God, why
wouldn't he just reveal himself, like write it up in the sky so that
there wouldn't be any question?”
He
genuinely wants to throttle me when I say “then there would be no
need for faith.” I love Gary, but he just doesn't get it. God wants
us to choose
to believe. The searching is part of the exercise. It is a part of
the growth experience. God didn't want us to just pop out into the
universe and grovel at his feet – he could have made beings like
that...but then where would be the joy in that? He created all these
unique and vibrant and intelligent and interesting beings and wants
to have an individual and unique and vibrant relationship with each
one. By choice. Something that we grow into.
Even
when we do get a glimpse of Jesus as a young man, Luke doesn’t go
into much detail. He simply says that Jesus was “increasing in
wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor”.
But
isn’t that precisely the where journey of Jesus departs radically
from ours? All human beings increase in wisdom and in years (if you
are lucky, many years), but not all of us increase in divine and
human favor. We have the ability – but do we have the will? Are we
people that reflect the God that we say that we worship? The God that
Psalm 148 we read earlier is talking about? The Lord whose name
alone is exalted; whose glory is above earth and heaven. He who has
raised up a horn for his people? When God looks upon our heart, is it
aligned with his will? His desire to shower love upon all his
creation – not just the ones whom we deem worthy? If it is...then
you are living a life in divine favor. And probably in human favor –
but if you had to pick...which one would you choose? If I had to
offend all of my friends and family and coworkers in order to do what
was just and right in the eyes of God...would I have the courage to
do what I needed to do? Will I stand up to injustice even if it would
cost me human favor? With God's help, I will strive to be sure that
answer is yes.
Not
one of us has increased in divine favor in the way that Jesus did.
Jesus increased in divine favor so much that when his disciples tried
to describe what it was like being with him, the only words that
would suffice were to say that being with Jesus was so holy and so
profound that for them it was the same as being in the presence of
God! They could not differentiate, and so they began to use divine
language to speak of their teacher, their rabbi, the one they called
their messiah and Lord.
Certainly,
Jesus must have known himself to be fully human; but did he know he
was fully divine? Some passages of Scripture suggest he had an
awareness of his own divinity. Could this be the reason that he
wanted to stay behind and linger in the Temple for a while? Was it
because it felt more like home to him than the home he shared with
his earthly parents?
We
know from the scripture that Jesus wasn't just a casual observer in
this encounter in the temple. He was listening to the teachers but he
was also asking questions. Though under the law, attendance at the
feasts in Jerusalem was obligatory for boys from the age of thirteen,
a birthday that was a milestone in the life of a Jewish boy, when
they became a Son of the Commandment or Bar Mitzvah; in practice,
this legal age was pushed forward by one or two years so that Jesus,
after he had passed his twelfth year, came up to Jerusalem for the
Passover with his family.
Jesus’
first view of the Temple must have filled him with a great sense of
the purpose he had been developing during the quiet years in
Nazareth. Attendance at the Temple was obligatory only for the first
two days of Passover, after which many of the pilgrims would have
returned home again. This is when Jesus stays behind – to continue
his spiritual journey.
And
that's all we really can know. Luke doesn’t give us any insight
into the reasons behind Jesus’ choice. We don’t know how he felt
about his understanding of his call. We do know that after this he
does return with his family to Nazareth and then we begin to
encounter the adult Jesus as he begins his ministry. What he felt and
experienced during the intervening years are not recorded in
scripture. But we know that when his ministry began, he was ready.
How
about us? Where are we in our searching for God? In our development
of this relationship? Are we where we want to be? Are we where we
need to be? We know the mission – we've got the directions, now we
need to continue on this journey of divine and human favor.
Which
brings me to my final thought...Father Greg Boyle in his book Tattoos
on the Heart addressed this particular concept in a way that I found
incredibly comforting and true to my understanding of the heart of
God. He suggests that instead of growing in favor with God...since
God's love is boundless and unconditional...how could it “grow”?
Instead he says that it is us who discovers our favor with God...
Rather than growing in favor – we actually realize that we are
favorable. Did Jesus become increasingly favorable to God, or did he
just discover, over time, that he was wholly favorable?
Have
we misplaced Jesus? Gotten so busy in our lives that we look around
and discover that we need to find him? Then we should do what Mary
and Joseph did...then we will discover him...at his Father's
business.
And
he is ready for us to join him in this world changing work. Seeing
all that we encounter through the eyes of God so that we can share
the good news … that Jesus Christ was born and fulfilled his
mission of bringing a new connection between creation and Creator.
That God so loved the world. That he gave his only son, to walk among
us...to experience humanity...to die for our sins and create a new
covenant.
Colossians
3:12-17 gives us our instruction: “Therefore,
as God’s choice, holy and loved, put on compassion, kindness,
humility, gentleness, and patience.
Be
tolerant with each other and, if someone has a complaint against
anyone, forgive each other. As the Lord forgave you, so also forgive
each other.
And
over all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of
unity.
The
peace of Christ must control your hearts—a peace into which you
were called in one body. And be thankful people.
The
word of Christ must live in you richly. Teach and warn each other
with all wisdom by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing
to God with gratitude in your hearts.
Whatever
you do, whether in speech or action, do it all in the name of the
Lord Jesus and give thanks to God the Father through him.” Amen
No comments:
Post a Comment