THE BOY JESUS AT THE TEMPLE
Luke 2:41-52
Key Verse: 2:49
"'Why were you searching for me?’ he asked, ‘Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father's house?'"
Today’s passage ends Luke’s introduction into the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. The passage itself is unique among the four gospels. It is the only passage in the Bible that gives us a small peephole to see what Jesus was like during his boyhood years as he lived under Mary and Joseph. The snapshot given us takes us to the time when Jesus was twelve years old and accompanied his parents to a Passover celebration in Jerusalem. The usual description of a 12-year-old boy is being a bit mischievous, carefree and enjoying playing outdoors. In this passage we will see Jesus Christ at the age 12 was much different. Even at the tender age of 12 Jesus was serious about his love of his Heavenly Father. Left to himself he would have gladly have spent all his preteen, teen and golden years of his twenties in the temple of God. However to be obedient to the word of God, we will see Jesus denied himself of his love to be in his Father’s house so he could obey his earthly parents God his Father had placed over him. In fact Jesus’ great humility to listen, ask questions and obey will be the very precious life lessons we will glean from this very brief look into the preteen life of our Precious Savior Jesus Christ.
Part 1 When Jesus was Twelve Years Old
Look at verses 41 and 42: “Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom.” Jesus’ parents Mary and Joseph lived 70 miles from Jerusalem, nevertheless every year the Bible tells us; this couple together traveled this distance back and forth to attend the Feast of Passover. According to my own calculation using about 2 miles an hour, 12 hours a day travel, the trip to Jerusalem from Nazareth and back again took a total traveling time of about six days. I would think very few of us have even once in our life traveled such a long distance by foot much less year after year. Let us think for a moment why this couple made this long trip every year. Exodus 12:24-28 read: “Obey these instructions as a lasting ordinance for you and your descendants. When you enter the land that the Lord will give you as he promised, observe this ceremony. And when your children ask you, ‘What does this ceremony mean to you?’ then tell them, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice to the Lord, who passed over the houses of the Israelites in Egypt and spared our homes when he struck down the Egyptians.’” The key motivating words in these verses are obeyed, observe and do it for you and your descendants.” Mary and Joseph were serious people when it came to obeying God’s commands. They were even more serious parents when it came to passing God’s commands and God’s history to the four sons and daughters God had entrusted to them. As we study those Exodus verses we see one of the main reasons in celebrating the Passover every year was to pass on to the next generation the salvation history of God. I remember at one bible conference a student asked one missionary why UBF feels an obligation to study the bible with young people. The missionary answered: “To pass God’s salvation plan to the next generation”. Unfortunately it is completely possible entire generations have missed the salvation plan of God simply because the previous generation never felt it was a serious matter the next generation should be taught it and re-taught it. Deut.6: 7 teaches: “Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” I can picture Mary and Joseph talking to boy Jesus and their other sons and daughters about the Passover and other commands and history of God as they made their 140 mile journey every year to and from Jerusalem. The journey gave the couple prime time with their children. They’re not work, house chores, TV, computer and the many extracurricular activities to steal parent and child time. I noticed the women in our neighborhood enjoy walking together. Not only for the exercise but also it places them in a good environment to talk with each other. I’m sure the journey to Jerusalem put parent and child in an excellent environment to talk with each other about the word of God and the salvation history of God.
Especially the Passover was an important historical event in God’s history that all people of God should be intimately knowledgeable of. Ask yourself for a moment: “Could I share with others the origins of the Passover and why it is a very important historical event?” The Bible reader can find a detail account of it in Exodus chapters 11, 12. God’s last plague he would send upon Pharaoh and Egypt was called the “Plague of the first born.” This plague would shatter the hard heart of Pharaoh and force him to release the Hebrews from his oppressive slave rule. At midnight on the night God specified to Moses, God would go throughout Egypt and strike down the first-born son. From the first-born son of Pharaoh, to the first born son of the slave girl to even the first born of the cattle as well. The only households God would pass over were those who painted their side and upper doorframes with the blood taken from a year old lamb without defect. Every Israelite household that followed this direction to spread on their doorframes the lamb’s blood God would then pass over that household and not strike down the first born living in it. What is very interesting, the only criterion God used to pass over a household was if that house had the lamb’s blood painted on its doorframes. This means those Jews who did not followed this direction either because they ignored it or were not made aware the importance of the lamb’s blood on their door frames had their first born struck down. It is also very possible there were believing Egyptians who somehow found out about the importance of the lamb’s blood and placed it on their doors. In doing so God passed over their households. No other event in the history of God better foreshadows why God sent Jesus Christ his Son to this earth to die on the cross by the shedding of his blood. Apostle Paul declares in 1Corinthians 5:7: “For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.” Yes, this Jesus Christ who in this passage is 12 years old would be making another trip to Jerusalem 21 years later. However at that time it was not to participate in the festive Passover celebration but to go there in order that he could offer himself as the Passover Lamb for all mankind for all time. 2006 years later each person must ask themselves: “Do I have by faith the blood of Jesus painted on me so that God’s judgment will pass over me?” All my life while I live on this earth I must believe and remember this Jesus Christ is my Passover Lamb who was sacrifice for me. He is also the Passover Lamb your children and my children must believe and remember for God’s judgment to pass over them.
Let us turn back to Luke 2:43-45: “After the Feast 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.” From these verses we see the trip to and from Jerusalem was a big family and relative caravan. Many relatives traveled together. It was a time for yearly family reunions plus travel to Jerusalem among many relatives offered better protection from roadside robbers. Often in these caravans the children and women would travel in the front while the men would bring up the rear. In this instant as Mary and Joseph traveled back to Nazareth Mary thought 12-year-old Jesus may have been with Joseph while Joseph may have assumed boy Jesus was up with Mary or one of the relatives up front. It was not until the end of the first day when the caravan stopped for the night did Mary and Joseph discover that boy Jesus was not with either of them nor among any of their relatives. We can only imagine the great distress they felt when they could not find Jesus anywhere. There is something about a missing child that no comfort in the world can bring until the child is found. Many months ago one co-ed named Natalee Holloway came up missing in a place called Aruba. To this day she is missing and authorities believe was violently killed. Nevertheless her parents will not give up the search for her. Every time I see a missing child picture in a little way I feel the inconsolable hurt this child’s missing is causing his/her parents. Later in this message we look more at the emotional impact Jesus’ disappearance had on Mary and Joseph.
Right now let us see what Mary and Joseph did to find Jesus. More importantly let us see what Jesus was doing while he was separated from his family. Look at verse 45: “When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.” Once this couple discovered Jesus was not with them they turned right back around and went back to Jerusalem to look for Jesus. Verse 46 tells us after three days they found Jesus sitting in the temple courts. This means Mary and Joseph had searched all of Jerusalem before deciding to see if Jesus could be in the temple. I heard one young man was found missing by his parents. I believe the story was the police eventually found him playing games in some kind of video arcade game room. Maybe Mary and Joseph checked the places most children would go to if they became lost. Play grounds, Roman and Jewish law enforcement facilities, or the homes of friends or relatives they knew in Jerusalem. After three days of exhaustively checking every possible location they decided to check the temple itself. Look at verse 46: “After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.” What a great relief this couple experienced once their eyes spied boy Jesus. Strangely we see boy Jesus did not seem to share their fear and distress. In fact the Bible tells us he was absorbed in listening and asking questions to the teachers. Observe boy Jesus’ focus in listening to the teachers of the temple and asking them questions. We notice a similar single-minded absorption preteens have when they are reading their favorite book such as Harry Potter, watching a movie or playing their favorite video game. Never however do we hear about a 12 year old on his own sitting absorb in the house of God listening to the teachers and asking them questions. I remember once I was asked to give a message to CBF children at their summer bible conference. The one constructive criticism of my message I remember was to keep my message short because CBF children do not have a long attention span. My own opinion is they may not have long attention span for bible messages but for those things they enjoy nothing can distract them from it. As for boy Jesus this is one of the first of many evidences Luke gives to show boy Jesus is very much different than all other boys. Yet at the same time we can learn from boy Jesus. First we can learn from his great humility. John 1 calls Jesus the Word and also calls him God through whom all things were made. Jesus doesn’t need any one to teach him. Nevertheless what do we see humble boy Jesus doing? We see Him listening instead of fault finding, criticizing and correcting. May I submit to you today the ability to listen to others is a far greater show of greatness than acting like a know-it -all. You may ask, where do you get your data to prove this? I get it from Jesus Christ the Son of God. Isn’t he the Son of God? I would never go up to little David Yun and tell him I know more about your father than you do. Certainly Jesus knows far more about God his Heavenly Father than all the bible teachers in the world, yet we see him listening to the teachers of the temple which we know were far from being the best teachers.
As for me I was always one of those people who had the bad habit of being quick to talk and slow to listen. God’s word has repeatedly pointed this weakness of mine out to help me repent. James 1:19reads: “My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” By the grace of God this is the one main word of God I learned and have practiced since I studied this passage. Last Wednesday evening we had a MDJ meeting. All MDJ members were invited to attend so each could have an opportunity to share what they felt the direction of MDJ should take in the spring of 2006. In the past I would have interrupted many times and interjected my opinion. This time right before the meeting I had just finished studying this passage. As I sat in that meeting I thought about boy Jesus who listened to the teachers. Remembering boy Jesus listening empowered me to keep my mouth shut and listen to what each person had to share.
Second we see this couple also found boy Jesus asking the teachers questions. Notice Jesus didn’t just quietly listen and say nothing. When he had a question he spoke up and asked. Jesus teaches us how we should study the bible correctly. First we should listen very carefully. Second after we listen carefully, we should then ask questions because certainly there will be a word of God we do not understand. Later in his life when Jesus taught about prayer he taught in Matt 7:7: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Look at verse 47: “Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.” If this verse was taken by itself it would seem boy Jesus was doing all the teaching in the temple courts and answering many people’s questions. But when we take this verse in context with its previous verse I believe it shows Jesus sincere listening and asking questions marked him in the eyes of these religions teachers as a very gifted, unique young boy. Little boys who show they have a great hunger to listen and ask questions are never regarded as slow and dense. Rather they show evidence that they have ability to have great potential and understanding. Among American presidents, President Lincoln is regarded as one of America’s greatest. Did he become great because he attended Yale, Harvard or Princeton? History tells Lincoln received less than a year of education because there was never an opportunity given him to go to school. Not withstanding Lincoln did not allow his inability to have a formal education to choke his hunger for truth and knowledge. As a young boy he would travel miles to get his hands on one book. Then he would read and re-read it. With all his chores during the day this meant the only time he could read was at night, using the poor light given off by the fire from the fireplace. Some of his all time favorite books were Robinson Crusoe, Pilgrim’s progress, Aesop’s Fables, the Bible and a book about the Life of Washington. From books like these, God formed this man into a president who could put the history of America and the meaning of the Civil War into a speech that took only 278 words and even more amazing making this speech into the greatest speech ever given by an American president. Do you know what the title of this speech is? The Gettysburg Address.
Part 2 “Didn’t you Know I Had to be in My Father’s House?”
Look at verse 48: “When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” The amplified Bible version of this verse reads like this: “And when they (Joseph and Mary) saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, Child, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously looking for you, distressed and tormented.” My interview with mothers who have temporarily lost one of their own children fully cooperate Mary’s words and the range of her emotions from being distressed to being quite upset with Jesus. My wife once told me she lost track of Samuel on a wooded trail by our home. She screamed for him. He would not answer. Then she took out her cell phone and called 911 to report her son was missing. Terrible thoughts were racing through her head that maybe a child molester had kidnapped him. While talking to the 911 operator Samuel appeared. Suddenly Mary’s emotions turned from frantic distress to anger: “Samuel where were you. Why didn’t you come when I first yelled?” I’m certain the 911 operators probably receive dozens of calls like these everyday.
Now of more interest is Jesus’ response to Mary’s very agitated question to him: “Look at verse 49: “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” Jesus answered Mary with two questions both of which highlighted Joseph’s and her own weaknesses in faith in believing or accepting who Jesus really is. If they had really believed Jesus to be the Son of God they wouldn’t have needed to have searched at all for Jesus. If they would have fully accepted God’s words about his Son they would have gone straight to the temple because this was recognized as the House of God. Everyday millions of parents send their children off to schools many miles away from them. If for some reason the parent needs to pick up their child, they don’t search all over the town for them. They go straight to their child’s school and ask the office to send their child to meet them. There is absolutely no searching involved. Since Jesus is the Son of God there is only one place in all Jerusalem he would be. This would be in his Heavenly Father’s house.
Jesus’ question: “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” was his first declaration he is the Son of God. Many people believe Jesus to be a great man, a prophet of some kind. Nevertheless they think he is still not too much different than the rest of mankind. Jesus is very much different. He is the Son of God who co worked with God in creating all creation. God has gladly lavished on Jesus his Son all His glory, honor and power. God promises Jesus in Psalm 110:1 “The Lord said to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’” To be a friend of Jesus is to be a friend of God. To glorify Jesus is to glorify God. To dishonor Jesus is to be an enemy of God who one day will turn all Jesus’ enemies into a footstool for Jesus to stand on.
Verse 50 tells us Mary and Joseph did not understand what Jesus was trying to say to them. Look at verse 51: “Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.” Notice the words: “was obedient to them.” Jesus had a clear identity as being God’s one and only Son. Moreover he knew when he grew up he would not be a carpenter like his earthly father but become the Passover Lamb. Nevertheless we see Jesus was obedient to those God placed to be his earthly parents. By being obedient Jesus shows the best example how children should act around responsible parents. Ephesians 6:1-3 God’s word teaches children; “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with a promise-that it may go well with you, and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.” I think most children if they had a choice in the matter would choose that life would to go well for them and that they could enjoy a long life on earth. According to God’s word they do have this choice in this matter if they choose obedience to their parents. When children obey their parents they make God the Creator obliged to keep his side of the promise to make life go well for them and to give them long life on earth. When I was growing up my father would sometimes give me warnings. When I was about boy Jesus’ age, my friend and I found this abandoned dark tunnel in the park behind my parents’ house. I told my father I was going to investigate it. He warned me to be careful. His warning immediately went in one ear and out the other. I became no more than an animal who was walking ignorantly down a path with a trap set in it. Sixty yards down that dark tunnel I found myself falling down into a pit. As I was falling, my dad’s warning came back to me: “Be careful”. God had mercy on me; all that happened was that I was badly shaken up. From that experience I learned anytime my father warned me I should think long and hard how to be careful and how to best apply his warning.
In today’s passage we learn Jesus is our Passover Lamb who was sacrificed for us. Like Mary and Joseph we must never forget Jesus is our Passover Lamb and we must teach the next generations Jesus is their Passover Lamb. By faith we must look to his blood shed on the cross to reconcile us with God our Creator. We also learn from his humility to listen to his teachers and to obey his earthly parents. It is not surprising therefore the Bible tells us in verse 52: “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Boy Jesus should also be our example to follow. Let us remember boy Jesus who humbled himself and listened, asked questions and obeyed those God placed over him. This is God’s way for us also to grow in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.