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Advent 4
Luke 2:41-52
December 28, 2014 at St. Matthew, Port Washington, WI
In His Father’s House
Learning
Teaching
Why this story? Jesus spent 30 years in Nazareth before he began his
public ministry. There must have been lots of stories that were insightful
and interesting. Yet this story of Jesus going to the Passover with his
parents is the only account we have of Jesus while he was growing up.
Why this story? The Holy Spirit is not just giving us parenting advice
about not losing your child. He wants us to know something about Jesus,
something important. He wants us to see Jesus in his Father’s house, both
learning and teaching.
After the Passover festival, the group of people leaving for Nazareth met
at their customary spot and started the 60 mile return trip. Typically, the
women and children walked in the front of the caravan while the men
traveled at the back. A 12 year old boy could have been in the front or
the back of the group. It’s easy to see how Mary, at the front, thought
that Jesus was in the back with Joseph, while Joseph, in the back, thought
that Jesus was in the front with Mary. In the evening as each family reunited, Mary & Joseph must have gone numb with fear when they realized
that Jesus wasn’t with them. “I thought he was with you.” “I thought he
was with you.” Apparently, no one ever told Jesus what the customary
time and place was for the Nazareth caravan to leave.
With fear in their hearts, they rushed to Jerusalem and started looking.
Without cell phones, how do you find a 12 year old boy in a city of over
40,000 people? Certainly, they must have begun with the relatives where
they stayed for the Passover. On the third day they were in the Temple
area. The temple was a building not much larger than our church, but
only one priest went in that once each day. Around the Temple was an
open area that covered 35 acres. For comparison, our church owns about
three and a half acres. Around this courtyard there were all sorts of
rooms, looking like classrooms. As Mary & Joseph walked past, they
were shocked to find Jesus in one of the rooms talking with the teachers.
How many 12 year olds will go to school during their free time? Jesus
did.
Nearly every Sunday School picture and stained glass window of this
Bible story gets it wrong. Jesus is almost always pictured as teaching the
teachers. That’s wrong. He was listening to them and asking questions.
He was the student, not the teacher. As a typical, normal, 100% adolescent boy, he was curious. Certainly he had a keen understanding and
quick grasp of what was explained, but he was learning.
It strikes us as unusual that Jesus was learning because we know that Jesus is 100% God. Since he is God, he already knew everything, but he
chose not to use that knowledge. Jesus wasn’t ashamed to humble himself and learn like an ordinary school boy. He did this because we needed
him to. He did this because we have not always been eager to learn
God’s Word. In his explanation to the 3rd Commandment, Martin Luther
explained that we should “not despise preaching and God’s Word, but
regard it as holy and gladly hear and learn it.” Instead, we are often like
students who only go to their classes because they have to. They only do
what their teacher tells them to do, and not a bit more. That is how we
often appear to God.
Instead of being eager to come to church, we groan that we have to go
again. Instead of being eager to listen to God’s Word, we often treat
church as some sort of holy obligation to endure so we can get our attendance card punched to convince ourselves that we are, after all, pretty
good people. Going to Bible class? “I don’t have to in order to get a passing grade, do I?” Reading a devotion in our home? “I don’t need to do
that extra credit.” We do the bare minimum. And even when we do read
devotions at home, our eyes often glass over paragraphs without thinking. I struggle with reading the Bible and paying attention, but then not
applying the message to my life to see what guidance and comfort it
gives me. We can read our Bible with as little emotion as if we were
reading a book in a foreign language. We are not perfect students of
God’s Word.
There is going to come a time for each of us when we will stand before
God the Judge and he will ask us, “Have you kept the 3rd Commandment
perfectly? Did you gladly hear and learn my Word?” We’re going to be
standing in front of God like a guilty student who didn’t do his homework staring at his shoes and mumbling, “Sort of.” That’s why Jesus was
learning in the Temple. That’s why the Holy Spirit preserved this story
for us. Jesus did not use his divine knowledge because he was living as
our substitute. He had to do everything that we were supposed to do, and
do it perfectly.
If Jesus only came to die for us, he could have come into this world as a
full-grown man one day and been killed for us that next day. Instead,
Jesus came into our world as a helpless baby and lived a full life as our
substitute. Jesus humbled himself and was learning like a normal human
so that he could give you his perfection.
When you stand before God the judge, Jesus will be right by your side to
answer for us. “Your honor, this person did keep the 3rd Commandment
perfectly. Here is proof.” He will present his perfect life as evidence.
Think of a student who completes his homework sheet perfectly, but puts
your name at the top. You get credit for the perfect homework. Jesus
lived a perfect life and he gives you credit for it. Maybe you’re thinking,
“That’s not fair.” You’re right. It’s not fair. It’s love. Jesus did that for
you so you could live.
If one student did, indeed, hand in his homework with someone else’s
name on it, then the other student would get the credit and he would fail.
He would suffer the consequences of not having his homework completed. Jesus suffered the consequences for our failures as he hung on the
cross. He paid for all of your sins. He paid for your forgiveness.
Let’s apply this a bit. If Jesus wasn’t ashamed to humble himself and
learn, how much more will we admit that we have a lot to learn. As you
approach a new year, make it your resolution to grow in grace and
knowledge of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Rededicate yourself to
faithful, heartfelt worship here at church. Rededicate yourself to gladly
hearing and learning God’s Word. Take advantage of the opportunities
you have in Bible Class, the Meditations, the Forward in Christ, other
devotion books and even the Bible itself.
Jesus was learning while he was in his Father’s house, but when Joseph
and Mary found him, he started teaching them. We can understand
Mary’s exasperated burst of emotion, “Son, why have treated us like
this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” Certainly, Mary was a caring mother. That’s why she was so upset. But she let
her emotions take control. She accused Jesus of doing something wrong.
Inconceivable. She also forgot that she was only Jesus’ surrogate mother.
Long before he was the legal son of Mary and Joseph, he was the eternal
Son of God. Jesus was surprised that they were surprised to find him in
the temple. Sure, he was a 100% normal boy, but he was also 100% God.
Mary exclaimed, “YOUR father and I.” Without showing any disrespect
Jesus taught her. “MY true father is God, and it is my destiny to be about
my Father’s business, to be concerned about saving people, to follow
God’s Word. My destiny is not to be a carpenter who makes crosses, but
to be a Savior who will die on a cross. Being here at the temple where
the plan of salvation is revealed is where I have to be.”
It’s so easy for us, like Mary, to treat Jesus as a very special person, a
good example and teacher, but still a person. We need more than a good
example and teacher. Jesus lived a perfect life but, try as we might, we
can’t follow that holy example. Jesus rose from the dead but, try as we
might, we can’t do that either. We don’t need a human example. We
need a divine Savior. We need someone who could live a perfect life and
give us credit for it. We need someone who could break the chains of
death that hold us in the grave. We need a divine Savior. By referring to
the Temple as his Father’s house, Jesus teaches us that he is true God, the
Savior we need. Even as a 12 year old boy, Jesus was fully aware that he
was true God on a mission from God to save sinners.
Do not think of Jesus as just a bright 12 year old boy. Do not treat Jesus
as if he was just the author of a self-help blog. Do not treat his Word as
just another opinion in the world which you can shrug off is you don’t
like it. Do not ignore him. Learn from him. Don’t ever forget that Jesus
is completely God. Whatever he says is absolutely true. Listen to his
Word and apply it to your heart and life. Jesus is true God, worthy of our
honor, respect, obedience, praise. Give him first place in your heart and
life. Hold on to him as the only Savior you’ll ever have. Trust in him and
be saved. Amen.