Forgetting Jesus Luke

Good morning, brothers and sisters. It is wonderful to be able to open the Word of God before you today.

I am pleased to acknowledge that we have gotten to the end of chapter 2 in Luke, and we have a passage today that Luke has given us that's not given anywhere else in the scriptures, in the gospels, and an episode in the life of Jesus when he was becoming a young man, when he was 12 years old. We're in Luke 2.

We'll look at verse 40 to 52. If you look at verse 40 and verse 52, you really see two bookends, two bookends that hold the passage together. If you recall in verse 40, the child, that is Jesus, the child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom and the grace of God was upon him. And when we get to verse 52, and Jesus kept increasing in wisdom.

We have two bookends of the real humanity of Jesus. Last week, we looked at the humanity of Jesus and how important it is for us to understand both the humanity and the deity of Christ and how that tension that's held between the two in scriptures, but how important this is to err in either one of these can lead us into heresy. and a real wrong understanding of what God has done. Let's read the passage together, or you can read along as I read. Hear the word of the Lord.

The child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he became 12, they went up there according to the custom of the feast.

And as they were returning after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents were unaware of it, but supposed him to be in the caravan and went a day's journey. And they began looking for him among their relatives and acquaintances. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for him. Then after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When they saw him, they were astonished.

And his mother said to him, son, why have you treated us this way? Behold, your father and I have been anxiously looking for you. And he said to them, why is it that you were looking for me? Did you not know that I had to be in my father's house? But they did not understand the statement which he had made to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth And he continued in subjection to them. And his mother treasured up all of these things in her heart. And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.

Amen. This is the reading of the word of God this morning. Let's pray. Father, I thank you for Your word. Your word that reveals to us your son, that reveals to us yourself. I pray that we would receive it as such, as the word of God. And Lord, that you would implant it upon our hearts. Lord, that you would do heart surgery upon us. That you would expose us. And Lord, you would draw us to yourself. by your grace alone and through your son alone. In his name I pray, amen. Well, there's much to learn in this passage. There's much to be drawn out and I will warn you, I will not get all of it. Show you things in the scriptures that are maybe even not spoke about today.

But what we have here and it's interesting as we heard from brother Bob as he was. about the Passover and actually the three feasts that every male was required to go to in the Old Testament. Now, I did not plan for us to be in Deuteronomy 16 to end this passage where Jesus is going to the Passover as prescribed, but it so happens in God's providence. As we looked at the providence of God in Genesis in our Sunday school, how God has so worked that we read from that passage today to where we are today in the New Testament. No coincidences, but I hope that that prepared you and maybe you need to go back and look at that again this evening in Deuteronomy 16. So Jesus is going to Jerusalem.

Before I even get to the setting here, I do want to acknowledge some things that we think about, especially, I think, young people who are here today. If you are 12 years old, or you are nearing 12 years old, or a young person not yet to that, or an old person who has been 12, have I put everybody in the category? This is much applicable for us, I think, because several things are acknowledged here.