The Boy Jesus In The Temple

We hear at Christmas that Jesus is Immanuel—God with us—and we say: Of course! We picture the baby Jesus lying in his manger, with a halo around his head and a kind of golden glow in the background and we wonder to ourselves why everyone doesn’t believe in Jesus. But of course, that scene was not how it was at all.

Mary and Joseph were just two regular people-- and Jesus looked like every other boy born in that day. It took the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the parents and the shepherds and the wise men to bring them to faith—just as it takes the same work of the Holy Spirit to bring us to faith. After the angel choirs went back into heaven and the Wise Men returned to the east, things went back to normal for Mary and Joseph --and Jesus grew up just like every other boy his age.

Except of course, he wasn’t like every other boy his age—he was God. That is the witness of Holy Scripture. That is the confession of the Church. And that is what we believe. But it is still a mystery that can only be known by faith. Part of that mystery is laid bare before our eyes today as we see Jesus in the temple at the age of twelve—already at that young age doing his Father’s business. Luke writes:

The child [Jesus] grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him. 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.

Mary and Joseph were pious and devout. The regular cycle of synagogue and temple worship—of Sabbaths and festivals-- was faithfully observed. This was certainly nothing extraordinary among believers of that day-- and it is only unusual to us because of the large number of people today who consider themselves believers and yet never really make worship a priority. But Mary and Joseph were ordinary, pious believers.

From the Baby of Bethlehem, Jesus grew into a young man of twelve. Working in Joseph’s carpentry shop had made him strong and fit. But Luke also says something remarkable: that already at age twelve he was filled with wisdom. I remember Jacob and Zachary and Henry at twelve. They were bad kids by any means-- but certainly not wise. Jesus was--and not just because he was smarter or more intuitive than other boys his age—but because the favor of God rested upon him.

The hand of the Lord’s blessing was upon Jesus in a special and mighty way. Jesus at twelve was ordinary—but he was also extraordinary.

Children then were no different than children today. Even good kids talked back every now and then or at least grumbled beneath their breath. Even good kids had to be told twice to do something. Even good kids did dumb things. Jesus didn’t.
When we consider the sins of our youth it is a comfort to know that Jesus’ perfect life as a child—perfectly avails in God’s sight as our own righteousness—in place of the sins of our youth.

The Lord’s hand of favor and blessing rested upon him and he was already recognized as being wise at this young age. This is important for us to remember as we hear what happens next. Luke writes:

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.

It was customary in that day for religious pilgrims to travel together for safety and fellowship. And so when the Passover was complete and Mary and Joseph were heading out of Jerusalem with their friends and family, if they saw Jesus head back into the crowd of pilgrims-- they would not have give it a second thought.

And when they stopped for that night-- they would have thought that he was with Aunt Elizabeth or Uncle Zechariah or playing with Cousin John. But when they couldn’t find him—well you can imagine how they must have felt. As a parent I have a great deal of sympathy for Mary and Joseph. But it’s not as if they had not been warned. Simeon promised Mary’s heart would be pierced with a sword—she would have heartache as the Messiah’s mother.

Twelve uneventful years passed between that prophecy and her frantic search. Yes there was the time in Egypt-- but there were lots of Jewish settlers in Egypt in those days. Mary and Joseph hadn’t had forgotten about Jesus’ miraculous birth or angelic announcers or the visit from the wise men—but things had settled down to normal.

And that’s Good News for us! Jesus lived through and redeemed each part of our lives! From his conception within the Virgin Mary to each stage of prenatal development—from his birth and childhood—to his death on the cross—Jesus lived each part of human life—for us—perfectly re-making what sin has destroyed.

The failures of our childhood—the burdens of family life—the monotony of day to day work—Jesus lived and redeemed by his perfect righteousness and obedience—the new Adam who got right-- what we so often get wrong.

At the beginning of the sermon we talked about how difficult it was for the people of Jesus’ day to see the extraordinary in his very ordinary life—how it took a Spirit-worked faith for them to believe in Jesus as Lord and Savior just like it does for us. That was even true for Mary and Joseph who were eyewitnesses to it all. Luke writes:

After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

I can picture Mary recounting these events to Luke with a look of chagrin on her face. “Three days! What was I thinking? We should have known where that boy was! Where else would Jesus be BUT in the temple? That is where he had to be!”

450 years before, Malachi closed out the Old Testament by promising that God himself would come to his temple. And you can imagine what the people of Israel were expecting! The Glory of the Lord—Mt. Sinai—Thunder and Lightening!

But what they saw when God came to his temple was a baby being circumcised-- and a twelve year old boy asking and answering questions. And yet Malachi was exactly right in his prophecy! God was in his temple! You see, that tension between what is seen and what has to be revealed is the mystery of the incarnation and it elicits amazement then and now.

The scene in the temple is ordinary. This dialogue between rabbis and students is still a common feature of Jewish life. But what is amazing, is the answers Jesus gave- and the questions he asked-- and the insights he had. Wisdom is from above.

The Word which was from the beginning, the Word through which the world was created, the Word who spoke by the prophets-- had taken on flesh and blood and come to his temple to instruct those whose job it was to bear witness to him. It was the beginning of Jesus being about his Father’s business. Luke writes:

And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress." And he said to them, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?" And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them.

There are Jesus’ first recorded words. His last recorded Words were: “Father, into your hands I commend my spirit” and these verbal bookends capture the whole purpose of Jesus’ ministry: to do his Father’s will—to speak his father’s Words—to accomplish his Father’s saving mission. Already at twelve, that single-minded, saving purpose is clearly seen in Jesus’ life and even if other had forgotten--he had not.

When Mary and Joseph caught up with Jesus they were astonished rather than angry and I think that moment was like a lightening bolt from heaven-- reminding Mary and Joseph as to who Jesus really was and what he had come to do. We can see them in our mind’s eye watching from behind one of the pillars as the truth slowly sinks in. Mary says, “Son, don’t you know how worried your father and I were”? And Jesus answers her kindly but pointedly: “I am here to do my Father’s business and you should know that.”

That single-minded devotion to our salvation was seen throughout his life. It was there at his birth in the name he was given—Jesus—the Lord saves. It was there at his circumcision where he fulfilled the law and shed his blood. It was there at his baptism when he was anointed with the Holy Spirit to be our Savior. It was there throughout his ministry as he healed the sick and raised the dead and set his face towards Jerusalem—to a rocky hill and cold tomb where our salvation would be won.

This is the last biblical picture we have of our Lord’s life until he is baptized by John. But we know what his life was like in the mean-time. Luke writes that Jesus:

…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 in stature and in favor with God and man.

Next Sunday we will see that the One who steps into the waters of the Jordan River to be anointed for his work as Messiah is no usurper of a position not his. He is the Savior of the world and the only way that we can be reconciled to God.

Mary knew that day what all the prophecies had meant—what Jesus had come to do—and she treasured it up in her heart. The next time we hear from her will be at the wedding at Cana where she points the people to her Son and says: Listen to him and do what he says! I pray that God would grant us the same obedience of faith! Amen.