My Father's Business

We are going to continue to look at the story of the trip to Jerusalem by Mary, Joseph and Jesus as found in Luke 2:41-52. Last time we looked at verses 41 - 47, lets look at the rest of the story.

Luke 2:48 So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.”
49 And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” 50 But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.

51 Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

This story which is only found in the Gospel of Luke, has four distinct features.

1. The only inspired story of the youthful years of Christ. Luke must have thought this very important.
   
2. The first recorded words of Jesus.
   
3. The last time Joseph is mentioned. Its possible that he died before Jesus public ministry.
4. The actions of Jesus in the minds of His parents, Mary and Joseph appear to be wrong.

What is open to interpretation is the number of days that Jesus parents looked for Him. As I simply read this story it would appear they traveled a day, returned to Jerusalem (another day) and then searched for 3 days in Jerusalem for a total of 5 days. Jesus was trustworthy and without sin, their were miracles surrounding His birth and extraordinary proclamations at His dedication. However after 5 days of searching we can easily imagine all these things being forgotten as Mary and Joseph are overwhelmed by anxiety and frustration. Gently Jesus is rebuked by Mary and Joseph for what He has done.

But Jesus does not acknowledge the rebuke with repentance. He in turn gently rebukes them in kind for not remembering who He is. He is the Son of God and the temple is his Father's house and He is about His Father's business. Even with this reminder and all the incidents that Mary has stored in her heart it would appear there is no real resolution to this story since verse 50 states "they did not understand". Despite that Mary did remember this incident in her heart and was able to recall for the benefit of including in the Gospel.

Here are the possible options for this passage.

1. Just an anecdote. Just an incident in Jesus early childhood. Not acceptable given all the other incidents that could have been recorded about His life.
2. Jesus was wrong to stay without permission. This can't be right since Jesus is without sin.
3. Absent minded Messiah. Somehow Jesus got into a discussion at the temple and lost track of time. Doesn't seem to fit with the versus that Jesus had increased in wisdom.
4. Jesus parents were negligent in leaving without Him. This doesn't fit since it would appear that they made this trip each year without incident and had come to rely on Jesus responsibility.
5. Jesus was right and His Parent's were wrong in rebuking Him.

Jesus had a unique priviledge as the Son of God. This text is not to be taken as a example of when children should disobey their parents. Jesus needed to stay behind to:

• Learn of God
• Learn from the teachers of the temple those things His parents could not teach Him
• Probably would not be allowed to stay if He asked permission.
• He did not ask because He is God

Mary and Joseph were wrong because they forgot that as mere humans their authority was vastly outranked by the 12 year-old child God had temporarily placed in their custody. And though there was just this one incident reported in the childhood of our Lord when the authority and identity of Jesus were asserted (the text tells us that He returned with His parents and lived in submission to them after this, v. 51), He was fully God and thus could sovereignly act independently, if He chose to do so and if it were in accord with the Father’s will. Jesus reminded His parents that He was, first and foremost, the Son of God, in obedience to Him, and called to carry out “His Father’s business.” The time would come when Mary would probably not have permitted this “son” of hers to go to the cross, but this He must do, in obedience to His true Father.

So what are we to learn. We are to be obedient to those in authority over us (parents, government, church leaders) . But if God is our Father we are ultimately to be obedient to Him, when their is a conflict in that authority. We need to remember though that being obedient to Him is to respect and obey the authority of our parents, government and church leaders. We need to be careful that we don't manufacture conflict based on our own desires.

Jesus in the Midst of Teachers

Well I am back, and I thank you for your patience while I was gone.  I actually took a trip with a motorcycle group up to Prince Edward Island in Canada.   We were gone for a week, and during that time I did not have access to a computer.  It was great to take a break.   There were 22 of us in all that went with 13 motorcycles (3 with sidecars), a car, a SUV and a RV.  Though motorcycle groups are fairly common around here, we were the largest by double than any others we saw.  On Sunday night August 3rd some of the ladies in our group performed gospel music during the open mike time in the recreation center.  It was a big hit and several times over the next few days we ran into folks that said "Are you with that motorcycle group from Maine that sings gospel music?".  Word travels fast on Prince Edward Island.  One of our members did have an accident that totaled his motorcycle when he hit a loose patch in the road.  Praise God he had his helmet and gear on, so ended up bumped, bruised and some serious road rash but was eager all the rest of the week to be riding again.

Speaking of trips the passage we are going to look at is Luke 2:41- 47, where Joseph, Mary and Jesus take a trip to Jerusalem.   We will look at the rest of the story through verse 52 in the next posting.

Luke 2:41 His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. 43 When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it;44 but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. 45 So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. 46 Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.

Though Jesus through His death on the cross was due to usher in a new covenant where we would live according to God's Holy Spirit through Christ's redemption, at this time Mary and Joseph were still living in obedience to God's covenant with Israel, and did all according to the Law of Moses.  They were faithful servants of God and this was probably the reason they were chosen as the parents of Jesus.  They had Jesus circumcised, waited for the days of purification and brought Him to the temple for dedication (2:21-23).  Now Mary and Joseph along with all their relatives have traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.  The Passover is a remembrance of how God delivered the people of Israel from the Egyptians (remember the movie the Ten Commandments with Charlton Heston).

Just like our trip to Prince Edward Island they traveled as a group (obviously a much larger group) for protection and a chance to visit with family and friends along the way.  Now at age 12 in the Jewish culture Jesus would not be considered a helpless little boy, but nearing maturity and manhood.  But He would still be expected to be under His parents watch and care.  In this story Jesus remains behind while His parents join the company of folks heading home.  It was such a large group with many watching over each others family members, it is understandable that 3 days could go by before Joseph and Mary started to wonder where was Jesus.

They returned to look for Him and found him in the temple sitting with the teachers asking and answering questions.  This was a common practice among the teachers (rabbi) to discuss and understand God's Word better.  You did well for yourself if you were able to participate in the discussion.  Not only were the teachers listening to Jesus, but it appears they had been doing so for several days.  They were astonished at His answers.  It is probably safe to say they were astonished at His knowledge of the Old Testament and its meaning as they understood it.  But it is also possible that they were astonished at His perspective that truly revealed God's desire for a relationship with all of humanity and the need for a Messiah that would be a savior from sin.  Though Jesus statements might have been radical, they were probably difficult to refute, given that they were supported by the truth of scripture.

At that time it was felt that only the privileged could have understanding of God's Word and the common people would be dependent on them to tell them what to do to please God.  Granted Jesus was full of wisdom beyond His years as the incarnation of the Son of God.  But we also live in a time when many Christians do not trust their own understanding of the Bible and rely on privileged teachers to interpret its meaning.  Thousands of  Christian books are published each year that will explain "God's truth" on a topic.  Sometimes this argument is a house of cards with human wisdom supported by a sprinkling of verses from the Bible thrown in out of context.  Don't get me wrong I use many books in my study of God's Word as an aide to understanding, but I never take any author as an absolute authority.  Knowledge of God's Word insures that I am not led astray by weak teaching.

I hope that this blog is like a discussion in the temple where we look at God's Word together to gain understanding.  My hope and desire is that we have seen so far in Luke real stories that are easy to understand, written plainly and with lessons to be learned that are not mysterious.  Please continue to pray that what I represent is God's truth.  Your comments and questions can help insure that I am kept honest in what I present.  I have been told many times that people find it technically difficult to comment my posts.  At some point the ability to do that easier will be made available.   In the mean time at the end of each post is a line that looks like this:  " Posted by Pastor Keith at 6:04 AM 0 comments".   Click on the "0 Comments".  You will see a space to enter your comment, you can select anonymous if you like.  Then select the button "Publish Your Comment".  Looking forward to hearing from you.