Luke 2:41-52 About My Father’s Business
Good morning! Welcome back! Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke chapter two. We are going to look at verses 41-52, and that’s on page 858 in the pew Bibles.
This little passage is the only record in Scripture of Jesus’ childhood, and though it seems a bit obscure, there is a lot for us to learn from this account. Ideas that are theological, practical, and symbolical…
Sounds a bit like a three point sermon…
41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. 43 And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44 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, 45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. 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.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.
52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
Let’s pray.
Now you’ll remember that Luke put together this orderly account after following all these things closely in order that the recipients of his Gospel account would have certainty about the things that they had been taught. In Luke’s investigation of the life and ministry of Jesus he would have interviewed eye witnesses to Jesus’ life, one of whom was most likely Mary herself.
It’s interesting to me that this is the only account of Jesus’ childhood that the Holy Spirit prompted Luke to include in his Gospel even though there are lots of false Gospels published even today that tell fairy tales about Jesus as a kid. One even includes Jesus’ solution to a board that was cut too short in Joseph’s woodshop. Joseph says, “This board is too short.” And Jesus says, “No problem,” and stretches the board to the right length. As a woodworker, I can say, that would be really handy. Either way, it’s fantasy, Luke’s record is the truth. Even though the glimpse is brief, it’s powerful.
The first layer of this account is theological. Did you know that you are all theologians? Theology is simply the study of God: Theo=God, ology=the study of. You don’t even need to have your doctorate for it, we can all be theologians!
The theological layer of this account deals with the humanity of Jesus. I don’t think most Christians struggle with the divinity of Jesus, the fact that he is fully God, I think a lot of us do struggle with His humanity, the fact that he is a man in every way except for sin.
Jesus was not always fully man, He took on flesh and dwelt among us, as it says in John chapter one. He had to be fully man to take our sins upon Himself on the cross in order to pay the penalty for our sin, but because He is fully God He could not stay dead, God raised Him up.
But here in our text we see the boy Jesus, fully God and fully man.
The next layer of this account is practical.
41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom.
It was only required of the men to go to Jerusalem for Passover, the women and children, the blind and the lame were not required to go. Women and children were allowed to go but they were not required.
This very well could have been Mary’s recollection of these events told to Luke.
When Jesus was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to custom.
Stop there. Who’s custom?
The Law required Joseph and Jesus to go to Jerusalem for the feast, it doesn’t say that they went up to Jerusalem according to the Law, but according to custom. Who’s custom?
It was their family’s custom. Joseph and Mary made it their family custom for all of them to go up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover. Joseph and Mary were teaching their child the way He should go in hopes that when He was old He would not depart from it.
I think the Holy Spirit prompted Luke to include this account to remind us of the strength of the family when it comes to our faith, to the strength of family customs and traditions in supporting our faith. To me that’s intensely practical.
But there’s also this bad parenting moment included in this account, after all, you can’t win them all.
43 And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44 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, 45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
Now before we get too down on Mary and Joseph for leaving their baby behind in a car seat we have to remember a few things. First, what Luke calls, “the group,” in verse 44 is most likely most of their village. This would have been their family, friends, and neighbors all walking together. It was also traditional for the women and children to go first in the group and for the men and older boys to follow. Jesus, being twelve, could have fit in either group. Joseph most likely thought He was with Mary, and vice versa. “He’s got to be here somewhere!”
But at the end of the first day’s journey they tried to find him and realized that He wasn’t with them or with anybody they knew and decided to go back to Jerusalem to search for Him. They traveled back to Jerusalem the next day and found Him in the Temple on the third day sitting amongst the teachers.
Sometimes the strongest lessons we can learn are when we learn what not to do. Keep an eye on your kids! Even though this might not have been the best example, establishing family faith customs is a great example. Even what Jesus was doing when they found Him is a great example, sitting with the teachers, listening to them and asking questions.
It was not typical for a twelve year old to be sitting with this group in the Temple courts, but as we all know, Jesus was not a typical twelve year old. But he did give us an example of seeking wisdom from teachers.
By twelve years old Jesus would have been taught the Law and the prophets, He would have had vast amounts of the Old Testament memorized because that was their tradition. But he still sought out this group of teachers of the Law to listen and ask questions of them.
There is an example there for us to follow.
We don’t have to go to Jerusalem, we don’t have to go anywhere, with one click, one tap, teachers of the Word of God are available to us. However there is strength in gathering in person, listening to the teaching of God’s Word and asking questions.
Mary and Joseph were less than impressed as you can imagine but this wasn’t an act of rebellion on Jesus’ part, otherwise He would have violated the fifth commandment. Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem intentionally in order to teach us.
46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. 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.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.
52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
Jesus grew and developed like any other boy only without the hindrance of sin. He grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. But His answer to Mary… I find myself in the same spot as Mary and Joseph, in verse 50, “they did not understand the saying that He spoke to them.”
Why were you looking for me?! Maybe because you’re twelve and we haven’t known where you were for three days?! I still don’t understand that.
But Mary gives us a great example of what to do with sayings of Jesus that we don’t understand: She treasured up all these things in her heart. She pondered these events and the things Jesus said, she thought about them and what they might mean, she didn’t brush them off as insignificant, she held onto them like treasure in her heart.
But Jesus went with them back down to Nazareth, He submitted to them as He should, and gave all kids everywhere an example to follow and He grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.
The last layer of this account is spiritual. We are faced with the theological in Jesus being both fully God and fully man, with the practical of sitting with the teachers to learn, not to mention keeping track of your children, but there is also a spiritual lesson here as well.
So often we seek Jesus the same way His parents did, just assuming that he is just floating along with our expectations and our choices about life, when in truth He is doing exactly what His first recorded words in Luke’s Gospel say, literally, I must be about my Father’s business.
In verse 48, Mary tells Jesus that she and Joseph had been seeking Him in great distress, great sorrow, and in doing so gave us another great example: When we find ourselves in a place where Jesus is not, we have the choice to sorrow and sit, or sorrow and seek. Mary and Joseph decided to seek in their sorrow and found Jesus about His Father’s business.
Jesus will never leave us nor forsake us, He promised us that, but there are plenty of times when we don’t feel like He’s there or can’t see Him at work, or can’t hear His voice.
We’ve all heard Jeremiah 29:11 that says, “for I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord…”
But Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
Some twenty years later on the shore of the Sea of Galilee, in John 6:35-40, Jesus explained what He meant by being about His Father’s business:
“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. 36 But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. 37 All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. 38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. 39 And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. 40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
Amen.
