Well, Christmas has come and gone once again, and tomorrow will be the first day of the year 2007.  Isn’t it interesting how time just keeps moving along, whether we want it to or not?

          Time worked the same way for Jesus, once he was born as a human baby.  We think of God as outside of our realm of time, but in the flesh, Jesus was subject to time, just as we are.

          Last Sunday, we talked about the birth of Jesus.  Today, we skip ahead to the only incident recorded in scripture concerning Jesus’ childhood and youth.  This is an interesting story that took place when Jesus was twelve years old.  One reason it is so interesting is that it tells of conflict in the Holy Family!  It’s amazing to think that Jesus’ mother got angry with him, but she certainly did.  I guess in some ways, this story should make us all feel better—if Mary had problems raising Jesus, the rest of us can feel better, knowing that things have not always been perfect in our families.

          In December, we focused quite a bit on Mary, the mother of Jesus.  In the story we are reading today, Mary plays an important part.  From this account, we gain more insight into some of the challenges Mary must have faced as the mother of Jesus.

          As we know, Mary and Joseph were observant Jews, and this story points out the fact that they went to Jerusalem annually to celebrate the Passover.  Keep in mind, as we read this, that Mary takes very seriously her responsibility of raising this very special child who was entrusted to her by God. 

          She must have wondered how to protect him and keep him safe.  In the story we are reading, the family makes a journey to Jerusalem.  Mary and Joseph would have traveled in a large caravan of families who they knew well.  In such a caravan, it would be natural for the older children to walk together.  Most likely, by this time Mary and Joseph had several younger children who kept them busy.  Perhaps Mary was wondering why Jesus was not coming around to help with his younger brothers and sisters, and she may have been just a little bit annoyed him with him.

          Probably all of you have had a similar experience.  Your child—or your spouse, or someone else close to you doesn’t show up when you expect them.  At first, you are annoyed.  Then, you start to worry.  Maybe something terrible has happened to them.  As time goes on, you go back and forth between being annoyed and worried, and you become more and more worried.

          If you have raised children, you know how easy it if for one of them to wander off, even though you intended to keep a close watch on them.  To have a child disappear and not be able to find them—even for a few minutes—is terrifying.  Notice in our story how long Jesus is missing—three days!

Luke 2:41-52

 ⁴¹Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. ⁴²When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. ⁴³After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. ⁴⁴Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. ⁴⁶After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸When 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?" ⁵⁰But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

 ⁵¹Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. ⁵²And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

          This is the second time in this chapter that Luke tells us Mary treasured all these things in her heart.  After the shepherds came to see the baby Jesus, Verse 19 says “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”  Here, after the incident of finding twelve-year-old Jesus in the temple, it says, “…his mother treasured all these things in her heart.” 

          I think the reason Luke makes this statement is that he is describing Mary as she was known later.  I think after Jesus’ death and resurrection, when his followers were trying to sort out the meaning of his life and death, Mary began to tell her stories.  Her stories of Jesus’ birth and early years helped the disciples understand more clearly who Jesus was.

          I think Mary showed herself to be a person who had thought deeply about the meaning of giving birth to the savior.  She must have had many things to ponder—perhaps most of which are not recorded in scripture. 

          It would be wonderful to know more details of Jesus’ early life, but we have to be satisfied with what we do know.  We do know that he lived in an ordinary, religious Jewish family.

          In the account we just read, the family goes to the temple in Jerusalem to observe the Passover, which, it tells us, is something they did every year.  The fact that Jesus was twelve years old may have some significance beyond just telling his age.  In Jewish communities today, around the age of thirteen, a boy celebrates his Bar Mitzvah.  It is partly a coming of age ceremony, and at that time he is considered to be a man.  While the actual Bar Mitzvah ceremony began later than the time of Jesus, there may have been a similar concept regarding coming of age at that time.  So either Jesus has reached the age when he is considered to be a man or, more likely, he has almost reached that age.

          Many of you have raised children.  I remember when our children were about that age.  As a parent, you want to encourage them to be independent and mature—yet you know they still have a lot to learn.  It becomes a balancing act for the parent to give their child all the independence they can handle while still being the parent.

          I think that’s what Mary and Joseph did.  They did not even notice for one whole day that Jesus was missing, probably because they gave him an appropriate amount of freedom.  But then, when he was nowhere to be found, they started to worry.

          By that time, they had traveled a day’s journey.  So Mary and Joseph leave the caravan and return to Jerusalem.  This takes them another day.  They begin searching, probably feeling frantic by now.  Finally, they locate him in the temple courts.  There he is, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.  And it says that “everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.”

          But at that moment, Mary and Joseph are not impressed with their son’s brilliance.  They are experiencing that horrible combination of relief at finding him and anger over what he has put them through.  So Mary says to Jesus, and I think she probably says it in anger, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

          Now, we might expect Jesus to apologize at this point.  Don’t you think that’s what Mary is expecting?  But Jesus is this boy-man; a boy on the brink of manhood, who has begun to seriously consider who he really is and what his mission will be.

          So he responds, and I can almost hear his boy-man voice cracking, “Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?”

          And then it says, “But they did not understand what he was saying to them.”

          Can you imagine what is going on in Mary and Joseph’s minds?  They are probably still angry.  After all, they have just wasted three days looking for this kid.  And now, he is not sorry at all.  He speaks to them more as a man than as a child.  And he reminds them of his true Father.

          Jesus is probably feeling very frustrated with his parents because they just don’t get it.  He has been talking about spiritual things with the religious leaders in the temple.  He is searching for the truth about himself.  And his parents want him to be a kid and do what they tell him to do.

          The Bible tells us that Jesus was without sin.  That, however, does not mean he does not experience frustration, unhappiness, fear—the whole range of human emotions.  In this story, Jesus does not sin, but his parents misunderstand him, and they may think he has sinned.  And, of course, all of us know how it feels when we know we have done what we know is right, but others misunderstand us.

          But Jesus, at that point, chooses to be obedient to his parents, even though he feels they don’t understand him.  It says, “He went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.”  Jesus knew that even though he had a higher calling, his responsibility at that time was to obey his earthly father and mother.

          This is a very good example of a situation where you might know that God is calling you to do one thing, but you know that there are expectations from other people that you ought to do something else.  I hope you struggle with this from time to time.  If you go through life always doing what other people want you to do and not listening for the guidance of the Holy Spirit, you will end up being ineffective.  I’m pretty sure this is something all pastors struggle with.  As a pastor, I am employed by this church, and I know there are certain expectations of what I should do—how I should use my time.  This is certainly reasonable.  On the other hand, there are times when God’s calling conflicts with the expectations of the congregation. 

          For example, I know that God wants me to spend time in prayer and study.  I also know that spending time in prayer and study may look, to the congregation, like I am not doing much of anything.  It is sometimes tempting for me to focus my energies on the busyness of being a pastor, which tends to make me look good in the eyes of the congregation, rather than spending time in prayer and study, even though I know that is God’s will and what I need most.  We always have choices to make, and most of the time, we can’t do everything. 

          As a twelve-year-old, Jesus is beginning to see the choices he will have to make between being in his Father’s house and fulfilling the expectations of his family.  This sort of conflict will show up later in his ministry, as well.  By the time we see Jesus in his active time of ministry, he is certainly not a people pleaser.  Jesus is a man with a mission, and he does not compromise his mission one bit in order to placate people.  This is something each of us needs to consider.  There will be times in our lives when it might be much easier to do what people expect us to do—what society might think of as the “nice” thing to do.  But if we are listening to God’s voice, we know that God is calling us to do something different.

          Finally, the passage goes back to Mary, and it says, “But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.”  So as they walked back to Nazareth, Mary simmered down and began to think about this son of hers who had been conceived by the Holy Spirit.  This son about whom she had prophesied.  This son whom the angels and the wise men had honored.  She continued to wonder what God was going to do in and through him.  I suspect that throughout Jesus’ life, Mary struggled with the conflict between her expectations for Jesus and his behavior.

          Then, the passage ends with this statement:  “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”  This is a reminder that Jesus, while he was the son of God, was also a fully human person.  Jesus had to grow in wisdom—he had to learn things.  Jesus had to grow in stature—his body grew from that of an infant to that of an adult.  

          Jesus was not some magical person who was born knowing everything.  He had to study and learn and grow just like any other child.  He even had to learn how to get along with other people, and to know God, his Father.  This Jesus was a real person, born to Mary, a real woman.  Yet he was truly the Son of God.

          Like Jesus, each of us has to work out our lives with respect to God’s will for us.  Sometimes, God’s will conflicts with what others expect us to do.  We need to develop good judgment, so we will be able to make the best decisions.  As we spend time in prayer, we will be better able to hear God’s voice and follow him in everything we do.

Prayer:

Jesus, we thank you that you are our Lord and our Savior.  Thank you for coming to earth as a human baby, and for growing up in a human family.  Thank you for doing all this so that you would understand us, and that we could know that you truly do understand us.  You were tempted as we are, yet you were without sin.  Help us, Lord, to see that you understand us even better than we understand ourselves.  Help us to come to you with all of our pains, our temptations, our frustrations, our anger, and our needs.  You have promised always to be there for us, and always to hear our prayers.  Thank you for your great love for us.   Amen