The Gospel of Luke
Chapter 2:41-51
Today is our second message in a series on the Gospel of Luke
The word “gospel” literally means “good news”
So, you could say that this series is about “The good news of Luke”
What exactly is this good news?
Simply put, it’s the life story of Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is, without a shadow of a doubt, the most influential person who has ever existed
Even if you’re not a Christian, or even a particularly religious person, you cannot deny this fact
No one life has affected the whole of humanity more than Jesus Christ
Since He has affected the world so deeply you would think that all of us would know a lot about Him, but unfortunately that is not true
Many claim to know about Jesus, but in reality few people really do
The Gospel of Luke details the events of Jesus’ life from His birth to His death on the cross and subsequent resurrection
But why did I pick Luke?
There are 4 Gospel’s in the New Testament, all presenting the life of Jesus in a unique way
What makes Luke stand out?
There are a couple of things –
Luke is the longest book in the New Testament
Luke is written by a Gentile to a Gentile audience
Since the vast majority of us listening to this message are Gentiles I think it’s very appropriate that we study this Gospel
And finally, because Luke is my favorite Gospel
A bit of trivia before we start – did you know that Christ is not Jesus’ last name?
The word Christ literally means “anointed one,” so when we say “Jesus Christ” we are literally saying “Jesus, the anointed One”
Let’s jump right into the life story of this anointed One
Last week, being Christmas, we talked about the birth of Jesus
Unfortunately, virtually nothing is mentioned about the life of Jesus between His birth and the beginning of His ministry somewhere around the age of 30
I’m not exactly sure why this is the case, but apparently God had His reasons
We do, however, have one story from the childhood of Jesus
If you have your Bibles turn with me to Luke chapter 2
Luke 2:41-52 Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. 42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. 43 After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 44 Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you." 49 "Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?" 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them. 51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
Pretty interesting story! Let’s take a look at what’s happening
This passage opens up stating that every year Joseph & Mary went to Jerusalem for the Passover feast
This was not an unusual thing for most Jews in this era, and in fact was something that Jews were required to do if able
It was during the Passover celebration that they were to offer their annual sacrifice for sin, so being a Godly family the fact that Joseph and Mary did this every year does not surprise me
We are told that this particular event took place when Jesus was 12 – I don’t know if there’s anything significant about the age or not
Apparently this Passover celebration went along as expected because we don’t hear anything unusual about it
It was on their journey home that Mary and Joseph experience something that no parent wants to experience –
43 After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 44 Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.
Now before anyone thinks that Mary and Joseph were bad parents let me explain
It’s obvious from the text that Mary & Joseph were traveling in a large group.
Jesus was 12 years old and certainly old enough to travel with others in their group
In fact, at the age of 12 Jesus had probably already experienced His bar mitzvah, and was therefore considered almost a man in His society
For Mary & Joseph to assume that Jesus was traveling with friends or relatives would not have been unusual or out of place
Mary & Joseph were experiencing every parent’s worst nightmare – their child was missing!
Have you ever had this happen?
Illustration – Sarah at 2 hiding in the house
As a parent I can only imagine what was going through the minds of Mary & Joseph
And to make matters even worse, they lost the Son of God!
God put them in charge of His Son, the Messiah, and now He’s missing
Can you say “holy stinking cow?”
So Mary & Joseph went back to Jerusalem to look for Jesus
46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.
So it took Mary & Joseph 3 days of looking to find Jesus
I’m sure they were searching for Him the entire journey back to Jerusalem, and then were combing the city
This would have been no easy task as Jerusalem was fairly large
It took them 3 days to find Jesus – can you imagine how they must have been feeling? How frantic they were?
They truly were living every parent’s nightmare!
Then they finally found Him in the temple “sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions”
48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you."
Again, I love how Luke writes this
If I was 12 years old and my parents were searching for me for 3 days I can pretty much guarantee that when they found me they would not have said "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you."
But there was more happening here than that
Jesus was sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions
This is not that unusual – there are plenty of 12 year olds that would be doing the same thing given the opportunity
What’s unusual was the fact that Luke says the teachers were “amazed at His understanding and answers”
In fact, Luke says that when His parents found Him they too were astonished
What was so amazing and astonishing?
Scripture doesn’t tell us specifically so we can only speculate
But think about it for a moment – God in the flesh is sitting with the teachers of the temple listening to them and asking questions
That would be like Jesus showing up at a Bible college and sitting in on one of the theology classes
Can you imagine the discussion that must have been taking place?
I don’t know if Jesus was doing any teaching – my guess would be no, at least not directly
Why do I say that? Because He was 12 years old and would not have been recognized as a teacher
Although there was plenty that He could have taught them directly, if there was any teaching going on it would have been indirectly, through the asking of questions
As a teacher myself I have found that asking questions is a great way to teach at times
The right questions can really get people thinking about things that they never considered before
I think that is part of what Jesus was doing here
I also think that there is another thing that was happening
Jesus was listening to the teachers and responding – they were clearly astonished
For the teachers in the temple to be ASTONISHED, I do wonder if His answers to their questions were too good. Too grownup. Too well thought out for a boy of 12.
I wonder if he was able to explain the meanings and usage of words like atonement, or maybe how animal sacrifices worked to cover sins and/or other difficult concepts.
Whatever it was that was happening Jesus made quite the impression on the teachers and His parents
After Mary & Joseph found Jesus and confronted Him He responded in an unusual way
49 "Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?" 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
Jesus basically said “Why were you looking around for me? You should have known I would have been here!”
Mary & Joseph had no idea what Jesus was talking about when He said what He did – although they should have
51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
This is a great story, but there are some very practical things we can take away from it for ourselves
Misplaced Jesus
How far would you have traveled before you realized that you had misplaced Jesus?
Or should I ask are you sure Jesus is still with you in your travels?
Are you sure you have not misplaced him?
When is the last time you felt that you really needed him?
When was the last time you had to call on him?
There are some here this morning you really don’t feel like you need Jesus.
Maybe you feel like you are smart enough on your on or strong enough on your on.
You’ll save Jesus for the BIG stuff you say.
There are others that have such a shallow relationship that you think Jesus is with you but really you have misplaced him and have not realized it yet.
The needs in your life have not necessitated it yet.
How does it happen? How do we misplace Jesus?
Indifference and hurry
"Life in the fast lane"
2. Taking him for granted
"Joseph and Mary lost a whole day of fellowship with Jesus because they supposed him to be in the company. They took for granted something of which they should have made sure."
3. We drift
b. Where he is not
1. They did not find Jesus in their company.
Your Corporate worship of Jesus doesn’t negate Your intimate worship of Jesus.
2. (v.48) Your company is not responsible for your precious possessions.
c. Where he is (vs. 46-49)
To often we want Jesus
to be where we are at
instead of were he is.
As Christians we are responsible for maintaining and developing our individual relationship with Jesus.
III. Rediscovering Jesus
For Mary & Joseph nothing else mattered except finding Jesus
Their schedule didn’t matter, the time didn’t matter, the money didn’t matter
Without Jesus nothing else matters!
[portions of this message are taken from a sermon found here at Sermon Central. I do not remember the author or the sermon title - sorry!]
