Epiphany
1 – Luke 2:41-52 – January 9th and 10th,
2016
In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +
In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +
And so
today we hear the story of Boy Jesus in the Temple – the great
Sunday School Classic. I can even remember the lessons – see how
Jesus goes to Church and pays attention and learns – you should go
to church and pay attention and learn, too! And yes, that's true –
but that's not really the full point of this text. There's so much
more going on. In fact, this text is fantastic. If we rush through
it, if it treat it just as a morality tale about showing up to
Church, we miss just how wondrously it reveals who Christ Jesus is.
So, let us examine and ponder the text.
Now
His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the
Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up according
to custom.
There's a lot in these two sentences. I could point out that this
was their custom – that they made it a habit. I could point out
that the parents brought the Child faithfully and regularly. That is
true – but here's the biggest thing. When? At the feast of the
Passover. Everything in the Scriptures, everything in the story of
salvation, your salvation, revolves around Passover. Passover was
the meal first celebrated in the Exodus – the Lamb eaten in haste
with the blood on the wood of the door posts. Passover is what is
being celebrated on the night when He was betrayed, when He took
bread broke it and gave thanks and said, “This is My Body”. That
happens when Christ celebrates Passover. It's Passover when they
take Christ Jesus, the true Lamb of God, and nail Him to a wooden
cross that is drenched in His blood for our deliverance. Luke isn't
giving this story to be cute – it's pointing ahead to what Christ
Jesus would do at the passover, not when He was 12, but 21 years down
the road when He is 33, when He gives His life for your Salvation.
But
even when He was 12, we should have had a clue of what was coming.
And when the feast was ended, as they were
returning, the Boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did
not know it, 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, and when they did not find Him, they returned to
Jerusalem, searching for Him.
Now, this does let us know that Jesus was a pretty responsible kid –
Mary and Joseph figured He could take care of Himself, that He's
probably just walking in the big gaggle of cousins over there. You
didn't have to worry about Jesus – but when they go to camp for the
night, He doesn't show up. And no one's seen Him. And so they tear
back to Jerusalem searching for Him. And then we get a highly
amazing verse.
After
three days they found Him in the temple, sitting among the teachers,
listening to them and asking them questions.
Now, don't hear this and think, “Man, Mary and Joseph are lousy
parents, they spent three days in Jerusalem before they go to look
for Jesus in the Temple.” Day 1 was walking away from Jerusalem,
Day 2 was heading back, and then, on the third day, that's when they
find Him. However, I am hoping that something else is spinning in
your mind when I said “on the third day.” This is a giant case
of foreshadowing – again, on the third day 21 years down the road,
that's when Jesus rises from the dead. This is pointing forward to
Christ's death and Resurrection, because God really likes to use
foreshadowing. That's basically what the prophets are – that's
what the Passover itself was – a giant dose of divine foreshadowing
so that folks would be prepared for Christ's Coming.
But
let's consider what Jesus is actually doing in the Temple. This is
one where we don't hear this right, we don't understand. Jesus is
sitting, and He's listening to the Teachers and asking them questions
– and we hear that and think, “wow, what a good student. Active
listening! Asking questions!” Nope – not what is going on.
First thing to note – Jesus is sitting among the teachers – and
if you were sitting in the ancient world, that meant you were the
teacher. The teacher sat. A few chapters later in Luke 4, when
Jesus teaches at Nazareth, He reads from Isaiah and then we hear
this: “And He rolled up the scroll and give it
back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all were fixed
on Him. And He began to say to them, 'Today, this Scripture has been
fulfilled in your hearing.'”
He's not just going and sitting down like one of our readers – He
was sitting in the teaching seat – it would be the equivalent of
walking and standing up in the pulpit today. Moreover, in the
ancient world, when the Rabbis got together (and to a certain extent
even today), teaching was done by question and answer. It's
something I do in bible study, I ask questions. The Rabbis thrived
on that – so the hearing and questioning isn't Jesus learning...
it's Jesus schooling the Rabbis. We get an example of this 21 years
later in Matthew 22: “Now while the Pharisees
were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question, saying, 'What do
you think about the Christ? Whose Son is He?' They said to Him, 'The
Son of David.' He said to them, 'How is it then that David, in the
Spirit, calls Him Lord, saying, 'The Lord said to My Lord, sit at my
right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet'? If David calls
Him Lord, how is He his Son?' And no one was able to answer Him a
word, nor from that day did anyone dare to ask Him any more
questions.”
That's how the teaching, the intellectual debates were done – by
asking questions back and forth and each other. And the boy Jesus
blows their minds – And all who heard Him were
amazed at His understanding and His answers.
Note this – they weren't amazed at His age. This isn't “I can't
believe a 12 year old knows so much” - rather, He is surpassing
them in knowledge. He is teaching, He is giving them understanding,
He is giving them answers that they hadn't had, that they hadn't
thought of. This is Christ Jesus, the Word of God Himself,
explaining the Word of God. And it's wondrous.
And
then Joseph and Mary show up. And when His
parents saw Him, they were astonished. This
is actually funny. This word here doesn't mean “impressed” -
they weren't pleased over how much their Son knew. They were freaked
out and embarrassed – that moment that parents have where they
can't believe what their kid has just done. Which is why Mary says,
“Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your
father and I have been searching for you in great distress.”
Every single one of us in here, when we were young... or maybe not
so young has gotten the “Just what in the world did you think you
were doing” tongue lashing. That's what's going on here. And
yet, Jesus is in teaching mode, and so He asks one last set of
questions to amaze the Rabbis - “Why were you
looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in My Father's
house?” Now,
here's one where old King James translates it better - “Wist ye not
that I must be about My Father's business?” Literally Jesus says
that He must be in the “things of His Father”. And yes, while
the temple is a thing of the Father, and Jesus is in it – that's
not really the main thrust. You see, it's not that Jesus is a good
little boy who goes to Church – the point is that Christ Jesus came
and was born to be about the work of Salvation, and that's what He's
going to be doing. Of course He's going to be teaching, of course
He's going to be in the Temple, of course He's going to be preparing
folks for His own death and resurrection, because that is what it is
all about – Christ's death and resurrection for our forgiveness.
“And they did not understand the saying that He
spoke to them.”
And, understandably enough, Joseph and Mary don't understand. It
would have been over our head too.
And
after that, they head home. 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. And Jesus
increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.
And Jesus goes home – He gets up, leaves the Rabbis behind,
because He is only 12, he's not 13, he hasn't been Bar Mitzvah'd yet.
And He follows along after mom and dad, He does what they say (that
actually would be the finger wagging part of this text). And He
grows up – and then Luke jumps forward 18 years to when John the
Baptist starts preaching, and Jesus is ready to turn 30 – which is
when the Rabbis started teaching publicly in full.
So
then – what does this mean? In thinking about this text, I am
amazed at how often we just want things to be nice and neat and
orderly. Mary and Joseph wanted Jesus to be nice and neat and
orderly – as a parent, I totally get that. And that's actually a
trend in American Christianity – we're big on moralism, on making
the point of Scriptures, the Church, about making people behave nice
and orderly. And that's not a bad thing in and of itself – but
it's not really the point, it's not really the main thing. It's
interesting, Mary “treasured these things in her heart” - you
know what that means? That's Mary saying, “maybe instead of
hustling Jesus out of there because I was embarrassed, I should have
listened to Him more, I should have marveled over what He was
teaching, what He was doing.” And likewise, we today can be so
quick to drive to the practical – is this lesson going to help my
kids behave, or give me advice on how to manage the house, or teach
me to manage my finances? Actually – the point is revelation, is
epiphany, is the light shining upon us. Just pause for a moment and
ponder – there is Christ Jesus, and as all the world swirls around
Him, as His parents are panicking and freaking out – there He is.
God become man for our salvation. God calmly revealing to us the
plan of salvation laid down from eternity. I'm reminded of a story
later in Luke – Jesus with a different Mary and her sister Martha,
where Martha is running around all busy, but Mary just wants to sit
and listen to Jesus. Martha was distracted by
much serving. And she went up to Him and said, “Lord, do you not
care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help
me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious
and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has
chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
So yes, there is an aspect of Jesus in the Temple that is about
getting to church – but that's because Jesus is there. Because in
His House Christ still comes and teaches us through His Word, because
Christ calls us away from all the busy practicalities that we
Americans love and worship, and instead He focuses upon the fact that
He is our Savior and Redeemer, that He is about His Father's
business. That we are saved not by what we do or our own
improvement, but that He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins
of the world.
That's Jesus's focus. That's what He is determined to
be about. It was true, even when he was a 12 year old – and no
offense to the 12 year olds in here, but that's not an age of great
dependability. Doesn't matter. Jesus is bound to bring about to
fulfillment all the promises of salvation found in the Word – and
He does. Thus we have life in His name, all thanks and praise be to
God. In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World. +
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