Luke 2:41-52
JESUS, GOD’S SON, ATTENDS TO BUSINESS
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and Our Lord a Savior Jesus Christ. AMEN
Three days ago we met and celebrated the birth of our Savior. We saw the Son of God being born to poor parents. His delivery room was a stable. His first cradle was a feeding trough. We stood in amazement and awe that God, the Father, was so determined to save sinful mankind that he sent his Son to earth under such circumstances. We struggle to understand how Jesus, who is true God, could willingly put aside his glory and humble himself to become a mere man. Truly, this is remarkable.
In our lesson for today we will see Jesus as a twelve-year-old boy. In many ways he was like any other twelve-year-old. But, even here, Jesus will amaze us. Not much is known about our Savior’s childhood. The Bible only records two incidents between his birth and his baptism by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. At eight days old Jesus was presented in the temple. Other than this, our lesson for today is the only other account of Jesus as a child recorded in Scripture. There are stories in extra biblical literature, which purport to tell us about the childhood of Jesus. For example, in the Gospel of Thomas, there is a story about a young Jesus molding sparrows out of mud on the Sabbath. When someone rebuked him for doing this on the Sabbath it is said that Jesus breathed life into the birds and they flew away. Another story tells us about Jesus and a friend of his playing on the roof of a house. The friend fell of the roof and was killed. It is said Jesus jumped off the roof and brought his friend back to life. There are other stories just as outlandish as these are. However, Scripture remains virtually silent concerning the childhood of Jesus.
How many twelve-year-olds do we know that know exactly what they want to do in life and are determined to see it through to completion. There are not many. Most have not really given such things serious consideration. Those who have thought about it will probably change their minds several times before they finish high school. But Jesus is different. Jesus, God’s Son attends to business.
Jesus attended to business by making worship a top priority. It was customary among Jews living outside of Jerusalem to return to worship in the temple at least once a year at the Feast of Passover. Passover was the main feast of the Jews. Because of Roman rule the empire enjoyed relative safety. Judaism was a legal religion in the empire at this time. Therefore Jewish people were spread throughout the empire. Jews living outside of Jerusalem regularly worshipped in the synagogue. But at the Feast of Passover, Jerusalem was filled with Jews from all over the empire that returned to worship in the temple. Roman rule made travel safe. Traveling in large groups increased safety. It was not uncommon to see caravans of a 100 or more people traveling to Jerusalem during Passover time.
At age 12 Jesus went up to the feast with his parents. Twelve years old is a special time in the life of a young Jewish boy. At age 12 the Jewish boy celebrates his Bar Mitzvah. At that time the boy becomes a son of the law. While it is a time when the boy takes a major step toward manhood, along with this step comes more responsibility. As a son of the law the boy is required to learn and to obey the law. This was the first year Jesus was required to attend the feast.
Jesus was serious about obeying the law. He took his study of Scripture seriously. Being in Jerusalem was a tremendous opportunity for him.
He was able to sit at the feast of the best Rabbis and hear them expound on the Scriptures. Imagine for a minute, being a young Jewish boy in the temple at the Feast of Passover and having the opportunity to learn the Scriptures from the best teachers Judaism had to offer. It is easy to see how the young Jesus could become so wrapped up in listening to his teachers that he did not give a second thought about his parents leaving. Jesus had no intention of being disobedient to his parents by staying behind in the temple. He was simply caught up in being in his Father’s house and learning the Scriptures that he never realized that his parents had left.
Similarly we should not be too hard on Joseph and Mary. In those days, the older boys did not always walk beside their parents as the caravans traveled along. Many times the older boys would be seen walking together behind the caravan. Therefore it is not such a shock that the parents of Jesus did not miss him right away but only realized he was missing when they made camp that evening.
When the parents returned to Jerusalem they were shocked to find Jesus in the temple listening to the teachers of the law and asking in depth questions. Our lesson tells us that all those present were amazed at his understanding and his answers. We should not draw any misguided conclusions about this scene. It would be easy to picture a child prodigy standing in the midst of his teachers showing off his intelligence. But, with Jesus this was not the case. Jesus showed respect for his teachers. At the same time those present could tell there was something special about this child. The questions he asked, and the answers to the questions posed to him, showed that he was a child with an above average understanding.
But why did Jesus make studying the Scriptures such a top priority? After all, the apostle John tells us that Jesus is the Word incarnate. We can see two reasons for this. In order to fulfill the law Jesus was required to study the Scriptures. It was necessary for Jesus to keep the law perfectly for us. Secondly, we need to keep in mind that Jesus was also truly human. As a human boy he learned as we learn. He had to study. In verse 52 Luke tells us that Jesus grew in wisdom and in strength and in favor with God and with men.
Like Jesus, we should make worship our top priority. The writer to the Hebrews encourages us, "Let us not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing but let us encourage one another and all the more as we see the Day approaching." Like Jesus and his parents, we should not allow our busy schedules, travel distance, and other worldly cares to keep us from worship.
Why should we make worship such a top priority? Worship is one way we serve God. We use a form of worship that is called liturgical worship. Liturgy comes from two Greek words and means work of the people. Our worship is really a portrayal of how the Christian interacts with his God throughout life. In worship we enter into a dialogue with God. Through prayer, and the singing of hymns and psalms we speak to God. God, in turn, speaks to us through the absolution, Scripture readings, sermon, and Sacraments.
Studying the Scriptures should also be a top priority in the life of a Christian. We should study the Scriptures for our faith. The Apostle Paul told the Roman Christians, "Consequently, faith comes through hearing the message and the message is heard through the word of Christ." We should not be content that we were brought to faith through the Word. We need to continue studying the Scriptures so that our faith can grow. We should study privately. We should spend some private time with our Lord, praying, talking to Him, and allowing Him to speak to us through his Word. This is important and we should not let anything get in the way of this. We should also study the Scriptures with our families. Martin Luther wrote the Small Catechism as a method the Father could use to teach his children the Word of God. It is important that we as families gather around the Scriptures to learn and to encourage each other. A Christian should also make corporate Bible study with other Christians a regular part of his life. Psychologists recognize the importance of people supporting each other toward a common goal. We see this in the form of support groups. Groups like Alcoholics Anonymous are formed on the basis that people can help each other overcome problems with alcohol abuse. This is what the writer of the Proverbs meant when he said, "As iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another."
It is also a great necessity for us that God’s Son attend to business. It is necessary that he possess a divine nature. We see that even at twelve years old, Jesus recognizes his divine nature. Look carefully at Jesus’ words. Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house? Jesus using the word my is significant. By using the singular possessive pronoun my instead of the plural possessive pronoun our, Jesus proves he understands his special relationship with the Heavenly Father.
This relationship is a great necessity for us. Jesus had to live the perfect life that we cannot live. All of us, born in the natural way, are born with original sin. This, original sin, renders us totally incapable of keeping God’s Law. It makes us totally incapable of truly loving or having faith in God. That is why Paul wrote to the Romans, "Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law. Rather, through the law we become conscience of our sin. When we honestly view ourselves in the mirror of the law we are forced to confess with David that we are sinful from conception. We need go no farther than the first commandment. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." When we look at our lives, we can see many times when God was not our top priority. Had Jesus been merely human, he also would have been tainted with original sin. He would not have been able to keep the law perfectly any more than we are able to.
He also had to be divine to pay for our sins. A man can only die to pay for his own sins. Even if he could keep the law perfectly and was himself sinless, his death could only atone for the sins of one other person. Jesus had to be true God in order to make the payment for our sins. Jesus had to be true God if we are to be declared not guilty.
Jesus also understood the necessity of the Father’s business. In verse 49, our NIV translation fails us. The King James version is much more accurate in translating Jesus’ words, "I must be about my Father’s business." Literally the Greek says, "I must be about the things of my Father." But, what was this business that Jesus said he had to attend to? Scripture tells us that the Father’s business is saving a lost and condemned human race from sin, death and the power of the devil." The central focus of all Scripture is God’s plan of salvation. God first promised this in Gn 3:15 when he told the serpent, "I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and hers, he will crush your head and you will strike his heel." He repeated the promise to Abraham when he told him, "all peoples on earth will be blessed through you." The promise was fulfilled in his Son.
Jesus was determined to attend to his Father’s business. In verse 49 the Greek word dei which can translated as necessary or must shows that Jesus understood the necessity of his Father’s business and that he was determined to carry it out. It indicates that he considered it an absolute must. There was no other option for him. During Jesus ministry, we see him reaffirm this determination many times. In Luke 9:22 Jesus said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life." At the Last Supper Jesus said, "The Son of Man will go as it has been decreed but woe to the man that betrays him."
Jesus was the Son of God who perfectly attended to his Father’s business. Because of this we have also become children of God. As his children, we will also want to be about the Father’s business. We will want to worship on regular basis. We will want to study His Word as often as we possibly can. Then we will want to spread His Word to all people.
Even at twelve years old, we can see that Jesus considered his Father’s business a top priority. He showed us his determination. He showed that he understood the absolute necessity of being about his Father’s business. Because of this, his determination, we are no longer slaves to sin. Because Jesus attends to business we are made children of God. As such we will want to make worship and Bible study our top priority. We will also understand that it is necessary that we be about the Father’s business. That business today is the spread of the Gospel. Jesus told his parents, "I must be about my Father’s business." Peter, in the same way, said, "We cannot help but speak about that which we have seen and heard."
We all attend to our Father’s business in different ways. We have different personalities and different talents. Not all of us can be pastors. Not all of us can be missionaries. But all of us can live lives that show God’s presence. All of us can be prepared to give an answer for the hope which we have. As we remember our Savior’s determination to attend to his Father’s business let us also renew our determination to do the same.