12-30-18 Grace-Benson/Vail Sermon

Luke 2:41-52 [CWS—Christmas 1]

Pastor Ron Koehler

Grace—Benson/Vail, AZ

December 30, 2018

41

Every year his parents traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. 42When he was twelve years old, they went up according to the custom of the Festival. 43When the days had ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it. 44Since they thought he was in their group, they went a day’s journey. Then they began to look for him among their relatives and friends. 45When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. 46After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us this way? See, your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.” 49He said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be taking care of my Father’s business?” 50They did not understand what he was telling them. 51He went down with them and came to Nazareth. He was always obedient to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. 52Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people.

In the name of Jesus Christ, our Newborn King, dear friends, It was really nice for me to have both my boys home for Christmas this year. They’re about to turn 24 and 22 but we had fun watching videos of when they were born and when they were little and we told stories about them as young boys—much to the amusement of them and our daughter-in-law!

I’m sure our stories and our memories are much like anyone else’s—or what other families are living right now. Of course, every kid has their own personality, but kids are kids—there are many things common to all of us as we grow up. Children and young people are not perfect, just like all the adults are not perfect. Kids confess their sins right along with all the adults in worship, for example. They learn to do that as parents try to teach them what God says is pleasing to him—both in how they behave and how they worship.

It wasn’t too much different for Jesus, believe it or not. He did a lot of kid stuff, a lot of little boy things. He grew like every kid. Maybe his dad, Joseph, even took a measuring stick from his woodworking tools and measured Jesus every once in a while so that Jesus could see how much he had grown and how tall he was getting. Jesus had a time he had to be back home in the evening and a bedtime too, I imagine. His mom and dad probably had chores for him to do like clean up after supper or sweep up sawdust from dad’s shop. He was a kid just like some of you were years ago and like some of you are right now.

But Jesus was a little different than any of us as kids. The best thing was that he never complained that he wasn’t growing fast enough and he never disobeyed a curfew.

Jesus never whined, “Do I have to go to bed already? I’m not even tired!” He didn’t skip his chores and he didn’t pick on his brothers or other boys and girls. He always listened the first time he was told something. I wish I could show you Bible stories about all these things from Jesus’ childhood—and I bet you’d like to hear them, but God didn’t have any of that stuff written down for us. There is no Holy Spirit-inspired book called “The Gospel of Jesus’ Early Years”.

But we do know this: God does say about Jesus that his is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, and that he has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). That means Jesus was tempted to not listen to his mom and dad and skip his chores and complain and whine about bedtimes, but he didn’t do it. He never sinned, even as a child. Even if we don’t have all the stories about Jesus as a kid, we do know he never sinned. That’s why when he died on the cross, his giving up of his life mattered. At that moment he handed over to us his perfect righteousness and he took all our sins on himself. That was the trade that was made on Good Friday when everything went dark. The perfect, grown-up Jesus made us perfect by taking our sins on himself.

But let’s back up a bit! There are just three bits of history that tell about Jesus as a child: his birth, which we celebrated last week; and the visit of the Wise Men, which happened when Jesus might have been up to between 2 and 3 years old; and then the gospel for today, which you heard just a little bit ago and is printed for you in your worship folder. Today this account from Luke’s gospel gives us a A LOOK AT THE YOUNG SAVIOR A Look from the Parents’ Perspective Now let’s look at this from the perspective of Mary and Joseph. Mary was shocked when the angel told her that she would give birth to the Savior. She finally did, and we hear that she pondered the events of that night in her heart, always remembering the makeshift delivery room of the stable and the manger cradle, as well as the adoring shepherds who arrived with stories of angels and a message of peace.

Joseph was also stunned by the angel telling him that he would be the Savior’s earthly father. He listened to God’s message and trusted it and was not afraid to take the pregnant Mary as his wife. The angel of God later told him to take his wife and child and run off to Egypt to escape the cruel Herod until it was safe to return, which he did when the angel visited him again. Both mother and father believed the Lord when he told them that it was time for God to become man, for his Son to be born as a human being in order to free all people from their sin. With great faith, they took on this great responsibility of being the Savior’s earthly parents.

Try to imagine being the parents of God’s one and only Son! Were Mary and Joseph always rushing to keep him from danger? Did they grab him from behind the back legs of a donkey as he toddled around so he wouldn’t get kicked in the head? Did they stay pretty close as their little boy waded in the muddy rivers of Palestine or in the Sea of Galilee? Did Joseph cringe when the boy started inspecting the sharp tools on his workbench? Did they put all “helicopter parents” to shame?! If they did, could we blame them for being overprotective? Or were they totally carefree, knowing that God the Father would keep his Son from any true harm? I think we get a sense of the responsibility that they felt from Luke’s gospel.

As they usually did, the family had gone up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. An already big city for the time (perhaps 80,000 people), Jerusalem swelled to capacity at festival time. Some estimate that up to a quarter of a million people were there for the events of Passover. Try to picture all those people in and around the walled city with its incredibly large and lavish Temple. Try to picture animals for sale for the sacrifices…and construction going on…and money-changers for all the visitors to the city. Imagine the smell of food vendors…and calling of merchants…and the stench of blood and the burning smell of animal flesh from the Temple.

And now imagine a 12-year old boy, along with family and friends, squeezing and pushing their way through the crowds. What a sight this must have been for the boy Jesus! God says here that he grew in wisdom; he learned things. He must have walked around with wonder and amazement at it all as he put aside his “all-knowingness.”

So do you think his parents might have kept a close eye on him in the middle of all this? I would think so, but still something happened. They were a day into their trip away from the festival, in a caravan of family and friends, when they realized Jesus wasn’t with them. If you have ever lost a child out in public somewhere, or even thought for a few moments that you had, then you know the panic they must have felt.

But then again, maybe you don’t—because as much as you love your child or grandchild, he or she is not the miracle-baby, the Son of God and the Savior of all people.

I try to imagine the thoughts and feelings: “Uh-oh, where is our boy?!” “Where is God’s Son?” “We are in SO much trouble if God finds out! What am I saying, he knows! What are we going to do?” He wasn’t with any of their relatives or friends so they had to go back. The situation looked more and more grim as three days went by and they couldn’t find him. I really can’t imagine the despair Mary and Joseph must have felt.

Finally, they found him in the temple courts. You may think they should have started there, but I suppose they might have. The temple was a very large area—like a city inside the city—with a number of different courts. They could have checked in and around there and not found him, especially with the number of people there. We don’t know, but they eventually found him sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us this way?

See, your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.” He said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be taking care of my Father’s business?” They did not understand what he was telling them.

Maybe you can appreciate the emotional response of Mary and Joseph, the release of fear and worry and frustration—mixed with a little anger maybe—as they saw Jesus sitting there talking. In all of this they didn’t even understand Jesus’ response to them about being in his Father’s house. Jesus’ words were not just an answer about where he had been; there was a bit of a gentle reprimand in there too. Remember, this was not just any 12-year-old, this was not just their son, he was also their Savior—and they knew this. Perhaps we need the same reminder about Jesus. In our forgetful, weak, sinful minds we might also just look at Jesus as the manger baby or the impressive 12year old in these accounts. We too need to remember that this is God become man in order to bring salvation. Maybe we have difficulty understanding how that happened with Jesus as he grew from Bethlehem’s baby to the man who hung on the cross 33 years later.

A Look from Jesus’ Perspective Though Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, he knew just who he was and what he had come to do. That’s why he was at the temple. That’s why he astonished people with his attentiveness to the religious teachers and with the questions he asked and answered.

That’s why he could answer his parents not with the disrespect of a typical 12-year-old boy, but with the calm response of the Son of God who was doing his Father’s work.

And that is what he was doing. As far as his human side, we’re told that he grew in wisdom. He had to learn just like any of us. He sat at the feet of religious teachers to learn God’s Word just like you and I sit in Sunday School or Confirmation Class or Bible Study. This is a God-pleasing and necessary thing for a child of God. God expects his people to do this. And Jesus met that expectation perfectly—bringing forgiveness for the times we don’t attentively study his Word.

Jesus may have even taught those teachers and others nearby things about God through the questions he answered. After all, even without full use of his divine abilities, he had an insight into the Father’s will and plan of salvation that none of them shared. Although he didn’t fully show who he was until years later, he was carrying out his Father’s plan of salvation already as a boy of 12 years. He was listening to Scripture and learning it, even while showing his incredible faith and knowledge. He was doing just what his Father in heaven wanted him to do—what we needed him to do—even though it was a little distressing for his earthly parents.

A Look from Our Perspective When we look at Jesus Christ, true God and true man, we marvel at just how that worked. How could he be both? What a mystery that is for simple, sinful human minds!

But the most amazing thing is that he would come to be our Savior in the first place. He was willing to be born into the world like any of us came into the world—through an earthly mother. He was willing to learn to walk and speak and write his alphabet. He was willing to learn to put his own clothes on and go through awkward growth spurts.

He was willing to sit and listen as people taught him the very words of Scripture that he had the prophets write. He was willing to obey the laws of the governments he

established. He was willing to suffer at the hands of sinful people so that sinful people could live eternally.

Should God have had to do any of that? We might say that doesn’t even make sense—no one would do that! And you’re right, no one would. Except for the only One who would make a difference if he did.

This is what God the Father had in mind for the Messiah to do.

This is what Jesus, God’s Son, agreed to do.

This is what the Holy Spirit encouraged Jesus along the way to keep on doing.

This is what Jesus did.

We might want more stories about Jesus as a child. We might want to be able to treasure those childhood moments of Jesus in our hearts just like his mom did. We might be curious about it all, but finally, this one story is enough. We get to see our Savior as a child doing what his heavenly Father wanted him to do. He was earning our salvation every step of the way—perfectly, sinlessly. Part of the way he did that was to listen to his parents when they told him it was time to go home. He went with them back to Nazareth and was always obedient to them, Luke says. It was this outward sinlessness that caught the attention of the people and the earned the favor of his Father. As Luke says, Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people.

Yeah, as a parent, I could tell you stories about my boys when they were young and many of you could tell stories about your children and grandchildren, but what is really important for us is to know what Jesus did, not just as a child, but through his whole life and death and resurrection. Because while he looked like any other 12-year-old at the Passover and he looked like any other 33-year-old as he hung on the cross, he just wasn’t. He was our Lord cloaked in the humility of a human being. He is now our risen Lord who completed the work of salvation so that we can one day live with him in heaven. Thank God for this LOOK AT THE YOUNG SAVIOR, but even more so for the Bible’s complete look at our Savior’s whole life and love that has brought us salvation.

Amen.

Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.