December 31, 2006
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Dec 31st Luke 2,41-52 Where is Jesus? There is a mild reprimand in this question from the 12 years old Jesus: Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house? As where else should he be? But Luke tells that Joseph and Mary didn’t fully understand what he meant. They were not aware that Jesus had to be in his Father’s house. But Mary treasured all these things in her heart. And I’m sure she pondered them too, as we also heard that she did a week ago. Here is enough to ponder for us too. The boy Jesus is12 years old now. By that age, Jewish boys start their studies of the Law of Moses, the "Torah". They become "Bar Mitzwa" which literally means "Son of the Law." From now on, the boy is not a child any more, but a man who is responsible for his own life and choices. At the Temple, Torah lessons were given. Just as in all synagogues. The only difference might be that in the Temple, the best educated teachers were found. The lessons were taught by questions and answers. The boys could ask and get an answer, and they themselves were to answer, too. In that way the young ones got a deeper knowledge of the word of God. It is such a situation of teaching Luke tells about in our text. In a way it is an everyday story: A boy is allowed to ask the scribes about difficult Scripture verses, and he himself also is to answer questions from the teachers. But from another viewpoint, this is quite a unique situation. As here stands He who in a unique way is the Son of God. Here the scribes converse with Him who is Lord over the Law of Moses. But who of his free will had committed himself under the law. Here they converse, without being aware of it, with Him who is both God and man! Not to wonder that all who heard him, were amazed at his understanding and his answers (v47). Jesus valued the Temple of Jerusalem very highly. It was his Father’s house. That’s why he later on cleansed the Temple and threw out those who did business there. The temple belonged to God. It should be a house of prayer, and not a den of robbers (Luk 19:45). At the same time, no one knew better than Jesus that the time had now come when the temple in Jerusalem soon would lose its special position. The Father was not to be worshipped neither on Garizim nor in Jerusalem but in spirit and truth (Joh 4:21). The day was approaching when not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down Mt 24:2). Jesus himself was above the temple. He was going to replace it in his own person. So what did Jesus mean as he said that he needed to be in the house of his Father? Just that he needed to stay where God is. In the holy house of God, he felt at home. So if they were looking for him, they had to start in the temple. That was the place they could expect to find him. Now we have to remark that the word "house" is not in the greek text. The translators have added that, and it is hardly a misunderstanding. But Luther renders as follows: did you not know that I must be in my Father’s? Let us keep this in mind, to understand better what Jesus means: " I need to be close to God, as God is my Father". But this nice story, which is the only event of Jesus’ childhood recorded in the Gospels, also contains more. By this first quotation we have from Jesus’ mouth: did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house, he declares that God is his Father. At the age of 12, he apparently knew that his relationship to God was a special one. A Jewish Midrash (text commentary) says that the Messiah will know God directly, without any help from a human being. But here Jesus claims something that goes beyond that. His relationship to God is unique. He is God’s only begotten Son, and Joseph and Mary didn’t understand that yet. This is a Bible text that helps us to keep our eyes on Jesus. What we read about him here, is that he always is near God. (Except when he is hanging on the cross.) He felt drawn to the House of his Father. So what does this mean for us? Simply that if we stay away from God’s house, we easily lose our contact with Jesus. Back to the question: Where is Jesus? I think Joseph and Mary were a bit careless on this pilgrimage, by just assuming that Jesus was among the travelers. And then by looking for him among their relatives and friends. Perhaps we can learn something from this. Some people have a faith that isn’t sufficient. They look for Jesus at places where they are not going to find him. So they find surrogates in stead. Either in the horoscopes or in the mystics from the far East, or in materialism or the culture of entertainment. Very often people get influenced by family and friends! "I gave them my little finger, and they took the whole hand," a lady said to me recently, - she had stopped coming to worship some years ago. We need to look for Jesus at the right place. Many people do wrong here, they look for him among their friends and family. Or in the "Cathedral of the Outdoors" as some people say, in stead of looking for him where he has said that he is to be found. Where people are gathered in His name! You might have heard a church critical story about an old black man passing a church together with another black man in a South state city. The old one says that he many times had tried to come into that church to attend worship, but he was turned down every time. "Bad for you" said the other. "Not at all," the first one replied, "I talked with God about it. He also had tried, but he had not had access to that church for years." Anyway, the text for today is a resounding YES to the Father’s house and the fellowship among believers. Let us in the year to come look for Jesus where we can expect to find him, and let us invite others to come with us. Glory be to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit now and forever. Amen |
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