Our Sermons

Bible Passage: Luke 2:41-52
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  December 30, 2018

Can you imagine what it would be like to know Jesus when he was growing up?  Can you imagine what it would be like to be his brother or sister, to be his mother or father? What would it be like to know God in the form of a child growing up in your home? The Bible doesn’t supply much information about Jesus’ childhood and it is hard not to wish for more. In fact, some people over the years have tried to supply their own stories to satisfy this irresistible appetite. There are some legends from the mid-second Century, found in what is called the “Infancy Gospel of Thomas,” which try to fill in the gaps left by the silence of Scripture. Some interesting events include a young Jesus breaking the Sabbath by making model birds out of clay but he gets out of trouble by miraculously making them fly away. In another tale, a child jumps on Jesus’ back and is struck dead, but Jesus raises him to life again. In another Joseph cuts a piece of timber too short, but Jesus stretches the piece of wood to the right length. Sounds like a handy kid to have around! However, not only are these stories completely contrived, but they are often out of step with our Jesus’ character and disconnected to his mission as our Savior. By contrast, the Bible, the true account of Jesus’ life, gives us only one peak at Jesus’ childhood. That singular snapshot is our Gospel lesson today from Luke 2. Although we’d all like to know more, what we have here in these verses tells us exactly what we need to remember, not just about Jesus’ life, but our own as well.

We begin with verse 41: Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom.”  Each year every Jewish male was required by law to make a trip to Jerusalem and offer sacrifices at the time of the Passover. So Joseph would have made the trip every year. He and Mary were faithful to God’s Word. This was especially important as they were parents of the Son of God himself. Would you want to be one of Jesus’ parents? Would you want to raise a sinless child?  (Maybe some of you are thinking, “A perfect kid? Ya, I wouldn’t mind that!”) Although he certainly was an obedient child, think of what it would be like to protect and provide for God himself? Can you imagine the responsibility they felt? I also imagine that there were times when Jesus’ perfection rubbed against their sinfulness and that would have created some guilt and tension for Mary and Joseph. They had a special responsibility and not a light one at that.

Now at the time of our text Jesus was 12 years old. This was near the time when a Jewish boy would become a “Son of the Law”, that is—a young man required to keep the regulations of the Mosaic Law. And that’s why on a spring day over two-thousand years ago Mary and Joseph set out with their young son on a one-hundred mile walk to Jerusalem.  The family would have traveled with other pilgrims from Nazareth, many of whom were friends and relatives of Mary and Joseph. So they all walked down to Jerusalem together and celebrated the Passover. But oddly enough, Luke doesn’t tell us anything about this. He picks up right at the end of the festival when Mary and Joseph started back to Nazareth. “After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it.  Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.”

Yikes! They forgot Jesus! Now, in their defense, remember Mary and Joseph were traveling in a caravan of people so they most likely assumed Jesus was with some of their relatives. Plus since Jesus was such an obedient son they may have simply assumed the best, but whatever happened, they left Jesus behind in Jerusalem. When they realize this, they immediately turned around. But it took them another whole day to get back there before they could even start searching. They must have been worried sick, separated from their son for the better part of three days and now they were trying to find him in a busy city. A city, mind you that was just recently filled to capacity because of Passover celebrations. They say Jerusalem could swell to ten times its size during the festival. The temple courts alone could hold over 100,000 people, not to mention the zoo of animals waiting to be sacrificed. We don’t know how many pilgrims were still there, but finding a small boy among the crowds was not an easy task. However, Mary and Joseph somehow not only find Jesus, but find him in the temple courts sitting among the Rabbis. Jesus was talking with basically the college professors of Jerusalem and amazing them with his understanding and his answers. And then comes the moment that Luke really wants to show us.

Remember, in all of Scripture this account is the only glimpse of Jesus’ childhood. And in this account Luke fast-forwards through the long journey to Jerusalem, he completely skips over everything that happened at the Passover Festival, he barely mentions Mary and Joseph’s frantic search, but then comes to a screeching halt at this moment when Jesus’ parents find him in the temple. The entire narrative is focused on this short conversation between a 12-year-old boy and his mother. Mary finally sees her child and says, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

Only a parent can understand the overwhelming mix of concern and relief that Mary must have felt when she saw Jesus. Mary was entrusted with a great responsibility and I’m not just talking about the fact that her son was Jesus; I’m talking about the fact that she was a mother. There’s no doubt that concern for her child consumed her every thought for those three anxious days of searching. And she was so concerned about Jesus that when she finally sees him, safely sitting and contently chatting with the Rabbis, her concern and responsibility boil over and she questions Jesus, “Son, why have you treated us like this?” (You can almost hear the frustration in her voice.)  And Jesus responds by questioning her. He asks, “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be in my Father’s house?” Did you catch the contrast? It is subtle, but vital. Mary said, “Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” Jesus answers, “Didn’t you know that I had to be in my Father’s house.” In other words, Jesus has chosen this moment to tell his parents in an unforgettable way that he knows who his real Father. Jesus’ motive to stay behind in Jerusalem was not carelessness or disrespect. He let his parents leave without him in order to teach us something in a more powerful way: Before he would follow any will, even that of his parents, Jesus first listen to his heavenly Father. “Didn’t you know?” he asked her.

This moment, when Mary questions Jesus, reveals an experience of the human heart which happens to all of us here today. There’s a tendency in our hearts to feel that the causes for which we live and work are more our causes than they are God’s. To think that our children are more our children than they are God’s; to think that even our own souls belong to us more than they belong to God. And in those moments when we forget about our heavenly Father, this very scene between Mary and Jesus plays out again and again. We accuse God of mistreatment and Jesus asks us that striking question, “Didn’t you know?” Let me give you 4 examples:

1. An older man loses his mobility and begins to grow bitter as the list of things he can no longer do becomes longer and longer. He shakes his fist at heaven and says, “Why have you treated me like this!” Jesus says, “Didn’t you know, your heavenly Father promises you true and lasting joy that cannot be taken away by age. Focus on his promises, not this world!”
2. A young woman gets into a relationship and avoids talking about faith until things get serious. Now they find themselves tempted to sin, so far from the selfless love they yearn for and they ask God, “Why have you treated me like this!” And Jesus responds, “Didn’t you know?” Your affection should be founded in your heavenly Father’s love and wisdom!”
3. child sees that his parents don’t mind missing church, but notices they can make it to every single sports practice and game come hell or high water, even finding time to practice with them outside of normal hours. As that child grows up they begin to prioritize accordingly. “Didn’t you know”, Jesus says, “you need to be in your Father’s house?”
4. An individual begins to sin in private and is devastated when someone finds out. But Jesus says, “Didn’t you know, this should have bothered you even when you weren’t caught, because your heavenly Father sees all things.”

In these and so many different ways we often forget that we belong to our heavenly Father.

Thankfully, Jesus never forgot. He always remembered and honored his Father in heaven. He lived as a human child, perfectly submitting to his parents, yet he also submitted fully to the will of God, his Heavenly Father. Think about it like this, have you ever heard of a son or daughter of a business owner who gets involved with the family company? Though they may work from the bottom of the ladder, he or she will always be the heir and future owner of the company. Therefore, his or her parents have a higher set of expectations for their behavior and the stakes of investment and risk will be higher than for other employees. In the same way, while Jesus lived out a relatively normal childhood, he was also responsible and aware in a way that his peers never were and never could be. He was responsible to live up to his Father’s expectation of moral perfection so that his life could be an acceptable sacrifice. He lived in our midst, aware that the little sins he saw all around him would fall on his own shoulders one day. He came to the earth he created knowing that he would be rejected, betrayed and crucified.

My friends, Jesus died because your soul, for which you are responsible, is not your soul only, but it is God’s soul too. Ye,s it is yours, genuinely, really yours, but over you and above you, God’s. Your children are your children, but over you and above you they are God’s children. We all belong to God, who thought us so precious that he would send his Son to die in order to call us family. And if this were not enough, our Jesus not only died but also rose from the dead, so we will one day belong physically with our Father in heaven! All this was accomplished by our gracious Savior, who even as a 12-year-old boy was perfectly fulfilling the law in our place and remembering his mission and the will of his Father. And so he asks us today when we are weighed down by sin and guilt, when we are struggling with loneliness or depression, when we are gearing up for a new year, whatever it may be Jesus asks, “Didn’t you know?” Didn’t you know? I have loved you with an everlasting love. Didn’t you know? My death has covered over every sin you have ever committed? Didn’t you know? You are forgiven and free, a welcome and treasured child of your heavenly Father? Didn’t you know, I would be with you always, to the end the ages? Didn’t you know, the love the Father has lavished upon us, that we should be called children of God?

Finally, there is one application that seems almost inescapable. Jesus asked Mary specifically, “Didn’t she know, that he “had” to be in his Father’s house. He knew he needed to be there. And because of the faith in our hearts, we are not just convinced of the necessity to seek our Father in worship, but we are convicted withthe desire to be in his house. What greater blessing is there than for us to get together with our spiritual family here in our Father’s house? Here each week we are reminded that God is our true Father. Here each week we listen to the message of Christ Crucified—news of forgiveness and life.  Here each week we don’t ask “What should I do to make my life better?” Or, “How can I make my family better?” But rather, “What is God’s will for my marriage, for my children, for my parents? What does my heavenly Father what this soul of his to be?” Didn’t you know we too need to be in our Father’s house? Amen.