Luke 2:40-52

January 3, 2021

Gospel                                                                            Luke 2:40-52

⁴⁰ And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him. ⁴¹ Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. ⁴² When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. ⁴³ After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. ⁴⁴ Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵ When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. ⁴⁶ After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 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.” ⁴⁹ “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” ⁵⁰ But they did not understand what he was saying to them. ⁵¹ Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. ⁵² And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

Title: The Family Business

This past year has been a tough year for one of the hallmarks of the American dream – the family business. Often family business are small businesses, passed down from generation to generation – and a variety of types – restaurants, shops of all kinds, factories, and of course, one familiar to those around here, farms and other ag related businesses. In all these cases, there is something special about working in the family business, carrying on the work that was started generations ago. Now working in the family business can be a source of pride and accomplishment, but it can also be seen as a detriment, that is, if you aren’t really fond of that work. It can be seen as an obligation or even a burden. But for those in the right situation, it can seem like you were born right into the work you were meant to do. And it can seem truly like a life’s work.

1. The Work of Jesus

And when you are born into a family business, sometimes you get started early. Everyone learns to pitch in at an early age. And so it was with Jesus. He was born into the family business, and here He is, at age 12, sitting in the temple just after the Passover, learning from and, in fact, teaching the Rabbis through His questions and answers. Teaching them, no doubt, about the heart of God and the mission of the Messiah. And perhaps, even learning Himself about who He was and what exactly He came to do. For Scripture says that Jesus grew in wisdom and knowledge, as hard is that is for us to understand. It is impossible for us to know how and when Jesus was made fully aware of His mission and His true identity. But we see by the age of 12, He was confident enough to state that God was His Father, and that His Father had given Him a job to do.

This is the only story of Jesus from just after His birth until the start of His ministry, so it is a perfect text for this bridge between Christmas, in which we celebrate the birth and coming of Jesus – Jesus as the Son of Mary – and Epiphany, in which we celebrate the ways in which Jesus was revealed to be the Son of God. And in this passage, we see the first recorded words of Jesus – “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” And the phrase there is really more ambiguous than that. It doesn’t say specifically house – literally Jesus says “Didn’t you know I must be in the things of my Father.” NIV translates in my father’s house, since that certainly fits the context since Jesus was in the temple – which would be a location His parents should check, but other translations, like the King James, translate it “about my Father’s business,” or others simply “concerned about my Father’s affairs?” But no matter how it is translated, it is obvious that Jesus assumed His earthly parents – Mary & Joseph – would know that He would be busy with the things of His true Father – God. After all, it’s a family business.

1. The Work of His Family

But God had also given Jesus’ earthly family, Mary & Joseph, work to do. They were given the responsibility of raising the Son of God. And the most difficult part of that was perhaps the normalcy of it. Jesus was still a child. He did the things other kids did; He had the same needs. Even though He was sinless, He still was physically needy. It seems that He still had things to learn from an earthly perspective. And it was probably easy to treat Him just like a normal child.

So when He was missing, they worried as any parent would. And we might wonder how something like that could happen? It is almost a scene out of the movie, “Home Alone.” How could parents leave on a trip without realizing one of their children were not with them? But like the movie, this, too, was a story about a large family – and perhaps a caravan from their whole community – leaving during a frantic time. Passover was a huge festival, and it was common for them to travel in groups. And, no doubt, Mary & Joseph had just assumed Jesus was with other members of the family or close friends, and it seems that only when they stopped for the night did they realize Jesus was missing. And they immediately returned, anxiously searching for Him, wondering where He was and what He was doing. Just like ordinary parents.

One of the more popular songs during this season is “Mary, did you know?” And it asks a series of questions wondering how much Mary really understood about the mission of Jesus – the things He would do. And of course, I also like the response, “Yes, of course she knew, Gabriel told her.” Now it’s true, Mary did have a sense of the greatness of the things Jesus would do, and she was told that this work would bring grief to her own soul, but it isn’t revealed if she knew the details, how much she understood “how” He would accomplish His work.

But what is clear is that when these seemingly normal parents couldn’t find their child, they had normal concerns, they were normally anxious, and they were normally upset that Jesus would just seem to wander off, seemingly not concerned about their state of mind.

However, Jesus’ response was basically, why did you have to search for me? Don’t you know me? Didn’t you know what I’d be doing? Didn’t you know I must be in my Father’s house? Don’t you realize that I must be about the business of my Father?

It is interesting, and probably not a coincidence, that this ordeal took 3 days. 3 days of searching for Jesus, anxiously, uncertain of where He was and what He was doing. For there would be another time, when Jesus would be separated from Mary for 3 days, and she would probably, naturally, be filled with worry as to where Jesus was, and what He was doing. And of course, this second time would be as Jesus was lying dead in the tomb. And these words, perhaps, were a source of comfort and hope to her, “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I must be about the things of my Father?”

Now it says in verse 50, that at the time Mary & Joseph did not understand what Jesus was saying to them. But those things said were remembered, for the end of verse 51 says that “his mother treasured all these things in her heart.” And Mary seems to be the source of this account. And it probably was truly a treasure for her, not just as Jesus lay in the tomb, but also enduring the separation after Jesus’ ascension. For then, she no longer had to seek out her Son, for she knew where He was, and she knew what He was doing. He was in His Father’s house and He was going about His Father’s business.

III. The Work of His Disciples

And this is comforting to us as well. For we, also, don’t have to wonder where Jesus is. He has told us where we can always find Him. 1) We find Him in God’s Word. He is the Living Word. And we, too, should wrestle with this Word. For Jesus as a youth surrounded Himself with teachers, He asked and answered questions, He listened, and He learned. And if the very Son of God, if the Word incarnate, felt it necessary to engage in that work, how presumptuous is it of us to feel like we know enough. May we never tire of God’s Word. For when we come to it as a learner, when we endeavor also to be a teacher to others, we really meet Jesus. We grow in our knowledge of Him, and our relationship with Him. Take the time to sit with Jesus in His Word.

2) We Find Him in His Father’s House – we need fellowship, we need to spend time in the Church and time together as the Church. For Jesus has promised that where we gather together, He is there in the midst of us.

3) We Find Him doing the Family Business – Jesus has called us to join Him in that endeavor. When the disciples, on their final night together, asked Jesus to show them the Father He replied in John 14:12, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”  Later that same last evening He tells them, “¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” Jesus has invited us into the family business. And whenever we are working in that business, He is there to give us the strength and the wisdom to carry it out.

Do you want to feel the presence of Jesus more in your life? If so, get to work. Contribute to the family business. And may the work that God has called us to never be seen as tedious or drudgery. May it always be a source of joy to us. And it is a family business. We are not meant to do this alone, we are meant to do it together. And this is the importance of church as well. We are to find Jesus together. We are to be in His Word together, we are to gather together in His name together, We are to work together. For we are not just a family, but we are in business together as well – and not just any business, but the family business. Amen.