#17 Lu.
2:41-52; JESUS
IN THE
Introduction:
In our previous text Luke told us about the life of
Jesus from the time that He was forty days
old until He was
twelve
years old. In out text today He tells us
about a
special
event that took place while He was twelve years old
and then moves quickly through teh teen years of Jesus into
adulthood.
I.
The annual trip of Joseph and Mary to
observe the Passover
V. 41, "Now his parents went to
the feast of the passover."
Actually under Jewish law, both
parents
were not required to go. The mother was
not required
to go. However, every Hebrew male twelve years old
and up
were required to go. Those who could not travel because of
old age or because of sickness
were, of course, excused from
going.
There were actually three times each year that every
male twelve years old and up
were required to go to
stay for the seven days of
unleavened bread which followed.
They were required to go back to
Pentecost, which was just fifty days from
the Passover.
Then
they were to return later for
the Feast of Tabernacles.
Luke tells us that even though Mary was not required to
go, it had been her custom to
go with Joseph to the Passover.
Women were permitted to go. They were just not required to
go. Luke says nothing about he
going to the other two events
during
the year, but she did go to the Passover.
Luke does not tell us whether or not Jesus was carried
with them on those earlier
trips. Some believe that He was
carried
with them annually. However, it was not
required of
Him to go until He was twelve years old
and if He ever went
with them prior to the age of
twelve, the Scripture says
nothing
about it. There is a strong probability
that He had
always
been left at home with some of the women kinfolk who
did not go and that this is His
first trip back to
and to the temple since He was
forty days old.
II. When Jesus was twelve years old
V. 42, "And when he was twelve years old, they went up
to
went not only for the Day of the
Passover, but for all seven
days of the celebration which
followed. During this seven
day period the people ate unlevened bread.
There is more thatn just this trip to
need o obsere. When an Israelite boy became twelve years
old, his father began to train
him to take on adult
responsibilities. He did not take on full adult
responsibilities
at twelve, but that is when his formal
training
began. He started wearing certain
garments that he
had not been permitted to wear
in earlier life. These
garments
signified that he was nowa responsible person under
the Hebrew law. The father also began to train the twelve
year old in a trade so that he
could earn a livelihood. He,
of course, did not take on the
responsibilities of earning a
livelihood,
but he did enter into that training.
Almost
without
exception, the father trained the young man in the
same trade that he had
followed. Since Joseph was a
carpenter,
he began to train Jesus in doing carpenter work at
the age of twelve.
If I understand it correctly, the young man spent the
whole
twelfth year in being taught about his father's trade
and about the responsibilities
of adult life before he
actually
launched out to undertake to do the work.
In other
words,
beginning at the age of twelve, Joseph would carry
Jesus with him to his work every day. He would show Him how
and give him a chance to ask
questions. Then, beginning with
that thirteenth year, He was
expected to begin doing some of
the easier chores and would
eventually be expected to learn
to do even the hardest of
them.
It was a big event in that twelfth year of a boy's
life for him to go to
Passover for his first time. It was a big event for both the
boy and for his family. He was going there to learn so that
when he became an adult, he
would be able to take a
responsible
position in family worship as the head of a
Hebrew family.
So now that Jesus was twelve years old, it was a big
event
for Joseph Joseph and Mary carry Him with tehem on this
trip to
this is His first time to go,
but it was require of Him to go
this time. Jesus and Joseph and Mary and their kinfolk
in
the area got together with a
whole lot of other folk from
III. Starting home without Jesus
V. 43, "And when they had fulfilled the days, as they
returned,
the child Jesus tarried behind in
Joseph and his mother knew not of
it." After the eight days
of celebration were over, the
whole crowd of people that had
traveled
together to
place
and left together to go back to
that Jesus did not leave
Joseph nor Mary knew that He was not with
them.
At first, I wondered how this could be.
How could they
have failed to know that Jesus
was with them? He was their
responsibility. It would seem that they would make it their
business
to know that He was with them.
However, after learning more about the customary way in
which
the people traveled to and from
feasts,
I can see how it could very easily happen.
The
custom
was that the women did not actually travel with the
men. The women and the children got together and
traveled
ahead
of the menfolk.
They were not reuired to go at all,
but the ones who did would travel ahead of the men. The men
then got together in a group and
followed after the women and
children. Since Jesus was still pretty much a child the
age
of at twelve, Joseph would
just assume that He was with Mary.
However, since Jesus was nowt twelve years old and in
training
for His adult years, Mary would just assume that He
was with Joseph and the menfolk. Either that
or perhaps He
might
be with some of the other kinfolk who had children
about
His age. So when it came time to head 'em up and
move'em
out they did not hesitate a moment. They
both joined
right
in with the others and headed toward home.
IV. Turning back to search for Jesus
V. 44, "But they, supposing him to have been in the
company,
went a day's journey; and they sought him among
their
kinsfolk and acquaintance." It was
only after the end
of the first day's travel that
Joseph and Mary got together
and discovered that Jesus was
not with either one of them
then they began to inquire among
their kinfolk and
acquaintances. All along this long procession of people the
word of inquiry traveled. "Has anybody seen Jesus, the son
of Joseph and Mary?" Pretty soon Joseph and Mary had their
answer. Jesus was not in the procession anywhere.
I am sure that you who are parents can understand the
panic
they felt. Perhaps you have had some
experience that
helps
you to understand. At first there was
apprehension.
Then when it was confirmed that Jesus was
not with them,
panic
set in. They probably did not get much
sleep that
night. I suspect that they spent a great deal of the
night
in prayer. "Oh, dear God, please let Him be
safe."
The next day Joseph and Mary left the procession and
started
back toward
some of their kinfolk or friends
went back with them to
assist
in search. V. 45, "And when they found him not,
they
turned
back again to
V. Finding Jesus in the temple
V. 46, "And it came to pass, that after three days they
found
him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors,
both hearing them, and asking
them questions." I am not sure
whether
this verse is meant to say that they did not find
Jesus until three days after they started
searching or three
days after they departed without
Him. I do not suppose it
makes
much difference one way or the other, but what I think
it means is that they traveled
without Him one day before
they missed Him. Then they traveled back toward Jerusalem
one day and they spent one day
searching for Him in
before
they found Him. This makes a total of
three days.As I
said, I really do not know for
sure.
When they did find Him, He was in the temple sitting in
the big middle of a bunch of
rabbis discussing the things of
God with them. Here was this twelve year old boy sitting in
the middle of a bunch of men
with doctor's degrees and
discussing
religion with them. And He was
discussing it on
their
level. They did not have to talk down to
Him so that
He could understand. He was discussing it on their
level.......and.......and
beyond their level.
Luke said that in much of the discussion Jesus was
hearing
them. That is, much of the time He was
just
listening. Now let me remind you of something right here
which
we learned in our previous text. Jesus
was not born
with His human brain knowing all
that His Deity mind knew.
His Deity mind knew all things. But His human brain had to
learn. And to at least to some degree, Jesus was
learning
from these teachers of Jewish
religion. But somehow I have
my doubts that He needed to
learn much from these men. I
think
He learned so much about God's truths
from His godly
parents
and from the Word of God, and from God the Father
Himself
that there was not a lot that these men could teach
Him. Furthermore, if theese
Jewish rabbis were as warped by
the traditions of the fathers
as the scribes and Pharisees
tht
Jesus had to contend with in later years, then they were
not qualified to teach Him very
much.
What He could learn from them and, no doubt did, was
their
views of what God had said in Scripture.
He learned
that the Jewish leaders had many
erroneous views of the
things
of God.
Luke said that He not only listened to the rabbis, but
He asked them questions. Jesus did not just set out to
give them a lecture nor to teach
them a lesson. I'm sure
that He could, but He
didn't. Instead, He asked them
questions. Then He would sometimes respond to what they
said
by giving His own view. I feel sure that one of the things
He questioned them about was the meaning
of the Passover that
they had just observed. He would want to know if they
understood
the real meaning of the Passover. Did
they
understand
why the Passover lamb was slain. Did
they
understand
why in the
Passover lamb was sprinkled on the door
posts? Did they
understand
who the Passover lamb represented? Did
they
understand
that this was a picture of One whose blood would
be shed? Did they understand that a man's eternal
destiny
hinged
upon applying that blood to the door posts of his
heart
by faith?
V. 47. "And all that heard him were astonished
at his
understanding
and answers." The rabbis were
fascinated. It
was not often that they would
find a twelve year-old as
interested
in the great truths of God as this one was.
And
they had never before in all
their lives seen or heard one
who was as knowledgeable about
the Scriptures as He was.
They had not seen any grown men with the
insight into the
things
of God that this young boy had. They
were fascinated.
They would not be as fascinated with Him
in later years when
they would meet with Him in
Bible discussion. But right now,
He was a boy and they were fascinated with
Him as a boy.
VI. The exchange
between Mary and Jesus
V. 48, "And when they saw him, they were amazed..."
This verse speaks not of the rabbis, but
of Joseph and Mary.
Even Joseph and Mary were amazed at the
knowledgeable way in
which
He was discussing the Holy Scriptures and the
traditions
of the fathers with the rabbis.
Apparently He had
never
discussed these things with them in such depth and with
such great understanding at
home. As dedicated parents they
had taught Him about God and
had taught Him much of the word
of God, but they had never
taught Him on such high level of
understanding. Even Joseph and Mary were amazed.
The latter part of verse 48 deals with the a rebuke from
Mary.
Mary rebuked Jesus for failing to be in the group when
they left for home. She primarily rebuked Him for allowing
her and Joseph to go through
the worry and anguish of not
knowing
what had happened to Him. (V. 48),
"...and his
mother
said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us?
behold,
thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing."
Now note carefully the answer that Jesus gave to Mary.
Take a look at what He said. Then take another look at it
and see if there is not more to
it than first meets the eye.
V. 49, "And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me?
wist ye not that I must be about
my Father's business?" I
think
that Jesus must have astounded them again with His
answer.
Now, let me first point out that Jesus was not trying to
be a smart aleck kid with His
response. But this woman was
upset
because He had lingered behind. She asked, "Why have
you caused your father and me
this sorrow?" She knew that
Joseph was not His father. That is, Joseph was not His real
father. Joseph was His foster father and thus His
father
from the legal point of
view. But Joseph was not His real
Father. Just as Joseph was teaching Him and training
Him to
be a carpenter and to be a
responsible adult citizen, even so
God, His Heavenly Father, was teaching Him
and training Him
to do the work that He had for
Jesus to do. God the Heavenly
Father had kept Him behind. God was training Him to meet
with the very top men in the
nation of
with them on matters pertaining
to His real Father's
business. He was not attempting at this young age to
step
out into the ministry that God
the Father had sent Him to the
earth
to perform, but He was in training. He
was learning.
He was getting some firsthand experience.
Joseph and Mary should have understood this. They might
not have known that God would
keep Him behind to meet with
the Jewish rabbis and to have a
training session with them.
They should have known His special
interest in spiritual
things. When they discovered that He was missing they
should
have known that He was not off
somewhere else involved in
other
things. They should have at least known
where they
could
find Him. They should have known that He
would be in
the
of God and about the present
leaders of God's people. They
should
have understood, but they didn't. V. 50,
"And they
understood
not the saying which he spake unto them."
VII. The chief message of the passage
The chief message of this passage of Scripture is that
Jesus is the Christ, the very Son of God. He came to this
world,
not to learn to be a carpenter and to build good
houses. True, He did learn to be a carpenter and I am
convinced
that whatever He built, His customers got their
money's
worth. But Jesus did not come to this
world because
people
needed a better carpenter on the scene.
Jesus came to
this world because people need a
Savior. People are going to
hell and God the Father sent Him
here to be a Savior. God
sent Jesus Christ to this world
so that whosoever will may
turn to Him and trust in Him and
be saved.