The Boy Jesus in the Temple
Download MP3My name is Jeff. For those of you that know me, I I know that there are a lot of, guests here tonight, so welcome. We hope that you feel welcome here. I am the associate pastor here. Joel is the pastor.
Collin Hansen:He was the one that was up here before. He's usually the one that that is teaching, but I am very excited to be continuing this study of Luke that we've been doing. This is the 5th sermon on Luke and so hopefully, you're getting a sense of of Luke's voice, his tone, what he's trying to accomplish in this gospel, and we are gonna be continuing in in Luke 2. So, if you wanna go ahead and start flipping to Luke 2. Last week, we celebrated Christmas together.
Collin Hansen:I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas, that you're gearing up for this new year. I feel like it's gonna be a good one. Today, I actually began fulfilling my new year's resolution of going to the gym, so that act so let's all just start over. Christmas was last week, here was New Year's now, and it's gonna be good. But if you would, look in Luke 2, we're gonna be, reading verses 41 through 52.
Collin Hansen:41 through 52, Luke chapter 2. Let us listen carefully. This is the word of god. Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was 12 years old, they went up according to custom.
Collin Hansen:And when the feast had 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. After 3 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.
Collin Hansen:And when his parents saw them, 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?
Collin Hansen:And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he 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. Would you pray with me?
Collin Hansen:Father, we thank you for your word, and we thank you that all of us were able to come here tonight. And we ask that through your spirit, you would teach us tonight. That we would actually hear from you and that in hearing from you, that we would be challenged and that we would be changed to be more like your son or savior, Jesus. And we ask all these things in his name, and we we ask all these things for his name, for the glory of his, his name among all the nations. Amen.
Collin Hansen:So this is the, the one boy Jesus story that we have. In all of the canon of scripture, this is the only boy Jesus that we get. This one glimpse, we get all of this, birth narrative where he is a baby, and then 30 years later, we get all of this adult ministry of Jesus, but there's this big blank spot except for boy Jesus, which is actually what, what it calls him. Child Jesus, boy Jesus. Someone under the age of 13.
Collin Hansen:And so we have this one glimpse at boy Jesus. Now, and this is the only one that's in the canon of scripture, there were others that were written though. And those others are very different than what we just read, because we what we just read is actually kind of ordinary boy Jesus. Ordinary, common, not all that different, but the ones that we find in the apocryphal writings, these writings that were hidden, these writings that were purposefully hidden because they they did not seem reputable or there wasn't an author that was known. For very good reasons, these were put away, and, and such as like the infancy gospel of Thomas, and why Thomas is always attributed with the craziest writings.
Collin Hansen:They're like, they turn over a stone, and they're like, hey, Thomas must have written something else, and it's always crazy. And, but this there's one particular story that I want to read to you from the infancy gospel of Thomas. It's not in your bible, so don't turn there. So here we go. It's at verses 14 is where I'm gonna start, just in case you care.
Collin Hansen:So here we go. When Joseph saw the child's aptitude and his great intelligence of his age, he again resolved that Jesus should not remain illiterate. So he took him and handed him over to another teacher. And the teacher said to Joseph, first, I'll teach him Greek, then Hebrew. This teacher, of course, knew the child's previous experience with a teacher and was afraid of him.
Collin Hansen:Not sure what happened there. Still, he wrote out of the alphabet. He wrote the alphabet out and instructed him for a while, though Jesus was unresponsive. Then Jesus spoke, if you're really a teacher, and if you know the letters well, tell me the meaning of the letter alpha, and I'll tell you the meaning of beta. And the teacher came exasperated and hit him on the head.
Collin Hansen:Jesus got angry and cursed him, and the teacher immediately lost consciousness and fell down on the ground. The child returned to Joseph's house, but Joseph was upset and gave instructions to his mother, Mary. Don't let him go outside because those who annoy him end up dead. So, that's that's a wonderful little glimpse at the, boy Jesus. And what's funny about all these stories, the the kind of wild fancifulness of of these stories of Jesus, they they make him do useless marvels, these these really unnecessary miracles.
Collin Hansen:They make him out to be this little boy wonder that makes a little dove out of clay, and then it takes off. And and or, there's one time where he he goes into this dye maker's house that dyes cloth and everything, and Jesus pours all of it into one color. Jesus is always very mischievous in all of these stories, and so he pushes them all into one thing, and the guy's like, you've ruined you've ruined my business, And he's like, well, you tell me what color you want, and I'll pull it out. It's very magician Jesus, which a part of me doesn't mind, except for that's not true. But, you know, this David Copperfield, David Blaine Jesus, as interesting as he is, it's not true.
Collin Hansen:We we only have this one story in Luke. This one glimpse of boy Jesus. And there are so many amazing things in this story. And and, I'm gonna read through it. We'll we'll look at a couple parts, but there are 3 particulars that I want us to kind of land on.
Collin Hansen:That's Jesus and his mystery, Jesus and his necessity, and Jesus and his father. Jesus and his father. Now, the first part of the story, Jesus and his parents are making their way to Jerusalem for a feast. There are 3 pilgrimage feasts, during the year. The first one being Passover, then Pentecost, and then the feast of booths or tabernacles.
Collin Hansen:And with these, at 13, you might have heard of a bar mitzvah before, that the formally didn't start happening until after, Jesus, but but what's happening here is becoming a son of the law, a son of the commandments. And so Jesus at 12 would have been taken there to learn about the particular rituals and and and and the way that, it's celebrated, to learn about the feast. He would have been taken there at 12. And so they're making their way there, and and verse 40 41 says, his parents went to Jerusalem every year. I mean, this highlights how serious and respectful of believers, Jewish believers, Mary and Joseph were.
Collin Hansen:And it says that according to custom, they did these things. And so Jesus would have gone at 12 years old to learn. And as they made their their way there, they would have gone with their family, a large group of people in this family. They were very communal then, even more so than, even a lot of the cultures that we see today. But they would have traveled and the, the men probably would have been in the back and then leading up to the women and the children in the front, And they would have traveled about 80 miles.
Collin Hansen:They would have traveled together and they went up there and Joseph probably took Jesus around the city, showing him different aspects of the festival and, and telling him about that. And this is where we get the first glimmer of this tremendous incarnation of God in flesh. You know, in in a sense, it's even more mysterious than creation itself. The concept that God, the creator, would become human, a creature. That that really is a mind blowing thing.
Collin Hansen:And we see this great mystery presented here at the temple, That God would empty himself out and take upon flesh. God in a human body, where he would experience growth, Where he would experience hunger, and thirst, and tiredness. All these human things, And that's where this particular story is very different than these other writings of Jesus as a child. Because with those, they're trying to trump up the idea of a man being god, and this particular story is wondering at the ability of god being man. The normalness of god in flesh.
Collin Hansen:You see, that that speaks to the genuineness of this gospel. That god would learn to think and speak and read. It's mind blowing that he would be learning how to spell the things that he created. Take that one for a little while. I mean, studying for this is there have been so many times where you just come to that point where, like, I just I don't this doesn't make sense anymore.
Collin Hansen:That's a good thing. The emphasis is that god became human. This isn't man trying to become God. And so we, we have to step into this. And, and first Colossians, 15 actually, Colossians, there's not a second one.
Collin Hansen:So it's just Colossians chapter 1. If you can find a second Colossians, don't read that one either. Another one of the apocryphal writings. You can make some money. Probably a bad idea though.
Collin Hansen:But in the first chapter of Colossians, starting with verse 15, speaking of Jesus, it says that he is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him, all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible. Whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities, all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things and in him, all things hold together. The one who was created, he created these things and holds them together with a word of his power, Hebrews 1.
Collin Hansen:He crawled. He became a toddler. He cried and he nursed. God in Christ emptied himself out of this supreme magnificence. Let me read to you from Isaiah 53.
Collin Hansen:Who has believed what he has heard from us and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed for he grew up before him, like a young plant, like a root out of the dry ground. He had no form or majesty that we should look at him and no beauty that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And as one from whom men hide their faces, he was despised and we esteemed him not. And he sat there in the temple with men whose minds and bodies were created and held together by the power of this little boy's word.
Collin Hansen:And he asked them questions. This is Jesus and his mystery. How the magnificence of God became normal. And that brings us to the, to the next point I want us to, to meditate on, and that is the necessity of Jesus. He says here, when when he is found after these 3 days go by, that means the the they traveled away, then they came back, and then they searched for a day.
Collin Hansen:3 days where they are searching for Jesus. And when he is confronted by his parents, when Mary and Joseph find him, as he's sitting there listening, asking questions, and giving answers, He says in verse 49, why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my father's house? That he must be. This echoes back to another time when Jesus is lost.
Collin Hansen:When Jesus is missing for 3 days. And there are 2 people in the gospel of Luke, chapter 24, on a road to Emmaus. There are 2 other people that are traveling, thinking about their loss of Jesus. And Jesus says something to them in verse 26, Jesus says, was it not necessary that the Christ should, should suffer these things and enter into his glory? Was it not necessary that the Christ would do these things?
Collin Hansen:Jesus is seeing the necessity of his task. It must be done. It must be. The same word is used, in in the story of the prodigal son. When, the father is talking about how they must celebrate.
Collin Hansen:This must happen. It is bursting forth. This is required. And so Jesus says to them, I must be in my father's house. It can sometimes be translated, because it's it's kind of a tricky little phrase there.
Collin Hansen:I must be about my father's business. I must be about the task of my father And see, Jesus is is explaining that his work is necessary. That he must do this. This is why he took on flesh. This is why he emptied himself out.
Collin Hansen:Not that he will become a good teacher of morality or a new philosophy. Not that he would be a revolutionary, that he would bring in, this this new wave, to just take over against Rome. Not in that sense. He did these things because he must be a redeemer. He must take on this flesh.
Collin Hansen:He must become the sacrificial lamb. Sacrificial lamb, which he probably watched with Joseph being sacrificed. There is a necessity that is highlighted in this story. A necessity that he probably felt all the more as he walked around Jerusalem with his father. Which leads us to that third thing, Jesus and his father.
Collin Hansen:Now, when Mary and Joseph find him, when they find him in the temple, Mary says, son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress. In great distress, there's a lot of pain that Mary is feeling. And could you imagine one day's journey away, the journey back, searching all around the city, which was bustling at this time. I mean, it's it's a feast time, and so all of these people running from place to place.
Collin Hansen:And this is where a really interesting aspect of the story comes out. I talked to my mother today. She always tells this story, about me when I was about 2 years old. I'm from Paducah, Kentucky, quote, capital of probably the world, but at least the United States. I think they claim that.
Collin Hansen:Maybe the world, I don't know. Something like But, but there's a lot of fabric stores and things like that. The biggest one is Hancock's fabric. If you know about that, I feel a little bit sorry for you, but there there's this big fabric store, and and, we went in there one time. If you know, like, the fabric that's in, like, in the round kind of thing, well, my mother was paying for something, and I had somehow slipped away and gotten inside one of those.
Collin Hansen:And I was just cool just hanging out inside there as they got on the little intercom system and started calling for Jeffy to come out. I just chilled. I just said, no big deal. I'm just gonna hang here. And my mother, I asked her to tell me the story today, and she told it, and really I haven't heard it since I was a kid really, but she had all these different details that she was talking about.
Collin Hansen:One of the things that she kept coming back to was being terrified, turning around, and the little guy wasn't right there. She was scared to death. And and a part of the story that I hadn't heard until today was that she didn't even take what she purchased with her, she just grabbed my hand, we ran outside, she drove home, and she just cried. The distress of a mother. She is so fearful, and she says to Jesus, why have you treated me like this?
Collin Hansen:Why have you made me go through this? And he says, it's necessary. I must? This hearkens back to to something that was said earlier in chapter 2 when Jesus was presented at the temple. And when he was presented and dedicated at the temple, Simeon, a prophet said, in in verse 35, talking to Mary, prophesying about the life of Jesus, said to her, and the sword will pierce through your own soul also.
Collin Hansen:She's starting to see that this boy, she's been raising for 12 years, this is gonna hurt. And she's seeing that begin for the first time. And that's what makes me think, and this is this is me, commentary of me. Alright? I think that this story is coming from Mary.
Collin Hansen:I think that Luke has gone to her and he's asking her for stories. And she talks to him about the birth of Jesus. And before he moves on to start talking about the, the ministry of Jesus, the, the years that lead up to him being crucified and being raised from the grave. I think that she told him about this one very special story Where Jesus said that it is necessary that I do these things, and that I be about my father's business. It's another unique thing for a 12 year old in that culture.
Collin Hansen:He would have been trained up at that point, beginning the education of carpentry, as he learned to be be about his father's business, his father's trade. And now he is saying, just like Mary said, I have been searching with your father. He says, Didn't you know that I would be about my father's business? And just as his father, Joseph, was taking him around the city and showing him parts of the festival, That his father in heaven was instructing him as well. It says the lamb that's being sacrificed, these offerings at the temple, which is the dwelling place, This is you, and this is being revealed to him in time.
Collin Hansen:Now it gets really complicated here. Very complicated here. What did Jesus know when? They call it the the dawning of the messianic, understanding, or the consciousness. And it's a very complicated thing.
Collin Hansen:When did he learn different things? Did he always know some things? Did he grow in different ways? And after reading about 10 or 12 commentaries on this, and and people coming up and scratching their heads and not really knowing exactly, that's that's the mystery. That is the mystery.
Collin Hansen:But Jesus recognizes who his father is. Why have you treated us so? 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?
Collin Hansen:Because I knew. Did you not know that I had to be here? Do you not know the task that is before me? Because I know. And the year before he becomes a man.
Collin Hansen:Jesus understands these things. Now in verse 50, it says, and they did not understand the things that he spoke to them. He they didn't they didn't understand these things. And I think that's an amazing point, Because we try to make Jesus very understandable. You see, Jesus is still mysterious.
Collin Hansen:And so when it comes to the application of this, what's the application? Don't lose Jesus. And if you do, you can always find him at church. No. Absolutely not.
Collin Hansen:That's not that is not the application. Although, a mighty good one. No. No. The the application is the fact that Jesus is still mysterious.
Collin Hansen:Now, just as much as he was when he was 12 years old. He is still mysterious, and we can try our best to make him more entertaining, like the Gnostic Gospels and and like the Apocryphal writings, where they try to make him more entertaining, more fanciful. We can try and make him more useful, like the peddlers of the false gospel, the prosperity gospel. We could make him more reasonable. Like many theologians and philosophers and scholars, we could try and make him more marketable.
Collin Hansen:But the deal is, the reality is, that Jesus is just as astounding and uncontainable today as he was when he was 12 years old. And so the way that we apply this truth to our lives is that we worship a mysterious Jesus. One that is not easy to accept and easy to disregard. Not just this, Jesus that is a vending machine of tickets to heaven, but that we would worship him as God in flesh. Going out to do the task that he must do, to be the ransom for many, to die on the cross, to suffer, to pay the penalty of sin for us.
Collin Hansen:And that we would not try to demystify Jesus and make him much more acceptable, not only socially, but to ourselves. That we would praise him for who he is. That we would follow him wherever he goes. That we would trust in him and that we would humble ourselves before the one who humbled himself, for the glory of the father. And that's what we're going to do as we move into this time, where we celebrate in a very mysterious way.
Collin Hansen:And we remember proclaiming the death and the resurrection of our redeemer. Will you pray with me? Father, please open our minds. Open our minds that we might dare to think about the mysterious things. That we would dare to worship a mysterious king, who is holy, who is other than us, yet came in the form of a child who walked the way the way that we walk.
Collin Hansen:Down roads of joy and suffering. Through times of acceptance and rejection. Father, in this time, we, we seek to honor you And we we just pray that you would be glorified as we move into this time. We pray these things in the name of Christ, our redeemer. Amen.
