Jesus:
The Defining Moment From Boy to Man
? When did Jesus realize that he was different than other children? Did he always know that he was the Son of God? Did he speak even as a baby… did he just have the knowledge?
? We know that baby Jesus was consecrated to God after his birth….But we never hear a word about his childhood until Luke 2.
? Luke 2:40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.
? Scripturally – he had to learn just like the rest of us. He was filled with wisdom.. (difference between knowledge and wisdom?)
? Knowledge is what we learn. Basic facts, information and truths.
? Wisdom is using knowledge (above) to make wise decisions
Notice: He was strong…I take that to mean physically. He was fill with wisdom… making good decisions and God’s grace was on him..
41 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. 42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom.
What is the festival of the Passover?
1). The tenth Plague of death went over Egypt and killed the first born son and male animal to everyone except those doors that were marked by the blood of the lamb.
During the Passover, scripture is read. USUALLY they read the story of Moses. Jesus hears about the Messiah.
43 After the festival 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.
A. Do you remember how old was Jesus at this time? 12
Some questions:
B. Was Jesus unaware that his parents were on their way home? No look at the verses… the BOY JESUS STAYED BEHIND IN JERUSALEM. He made a decision.
C. ? Is this the moment that Jesus realizes that he is not like the other kids? When does he realize that He was of heavenly origins? He had a human side and a God side??
D. When do boys become men? What age? I think it is important for us to do the same thing to our boys becoming MEN.
? According to Jewish law, when a Jewish boy is 13 years old, there is a ritual called Bar Mitzvah. It is when the boy becomes accountable for his actions as a man. The young man is examined for his knowledge of the Biblical laws. A celebration occurs and he become a man
? In our culture to do the same thing. If our government says that an 18 year old can fight a war at 18. I think we need to also be preparing our teens to leave the house. They have cooking skills, laundry skills and a job…with banking. Yes. Still a teen..but they need to become men and women.
So I want us to look at this event from 2 perspectives. Parent perspective and Jesus…the boy who becomes a man.
Luke 2
43 After the festival 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
Jesus was missing! How did that happen?
Remember back in this time/era… people travelled together because of thieves.
For one whole day… Mary and Joseph and family ( with 4 other kids) started off together…were walking back home with a bunch of people. The men would travel together in groups and the women would be following behind with their children in a group. Boys that were Jesus’s age 12 years…they could wander between the 2 groups.
(assumption he was with the other parent) At the end of the day… families would come together and prepare food and to sleep outside. The realization that Jesus was not in either group.. caused fear and panic…. So the next day… they travel back to Jerusalem. (all day) 2 days. Where do they even begin to search for him in the metropolis of Jerusalem.???
How do you think Joseph and Mary felt?
Luke has interviewed Mary for this story. There is not any other story that Luke puts in about the childhood of Jesus. Only this story is given Why? Defining moment for Jesus and for Mary. Let’s continue the story
46 After three days they (Mary and Joseph) 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.
Where was Jesus?
He was talking to the smartest teachers and Rabbis of the day Listening and asking them questions.
But I want you to understand the culture. The Greek way of learning. The TEACHER would ask a question and force the students to draw logical conclusions with connections and insights. . This helped the student to develop reasoning skills.
Fallacies… things that are said to be true but aren’t.
Name calling. WHEN Name calling begins…Look at what they are doing… they are covering up something.. because they are not able to argue logically…they are throwing name calling. To get you off the target.
Greek teaching… teaches this logically and with reason.
BUT (Jesus) sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. He knew the answers and was sharpening the theologians to think. (blew them out of the water)
So when Luke describes47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.
amazed is actually…they were “out of their minds” Another modern way of saying it is, “They were beside themselves!” How did this punk – 12 year old have this grasp of scriptures!!!
Now let’s go back to the parents… 2 days traveling – and this 3rd day..they have spent looking for him…. How do you think they would act?
If it were me… I would be mad at myself.. WHY?… they are the parents… they should have made sure that he was with the group. But they were mad at him too. Exasperated. He was twelve years old. He knew they were leaving. He should have been with the group! So when they find Jesus. There was relief and exasperation.
“Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”
Her remark was appropriate but mildly suggesting insensitivity or even selfishness on the part of Jesus. Remark was from Swindol).
Mary’s angle: Jesus has always been the good son. SO why did he do this?
But what did she forget? He was born to be the Messiah. To save people from their sins.
Also notice the second sentence….
Your father and I.. Did Jesus just become aware that Joseph was not his birth father?
49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”[f] 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
At first response… you might think that he was disrespectful to his parents. But it would depend on his inflection… can you hear the genuine confusion? (Swindol)
Where else would Jesus be? But in His Father’s house..
WHAT DID THEY FORGET???
• Angel’s announcement of pregnancy
-Joseph’s dream telling him to marry Mary and that the child was God’s.
-Miraculous birth
-Shepherds seeing angels
-Maji came.
-Herod trying to kill Jesus and the angel’s intervention for Egypt.
• THEY FORGOT Jesus’s PURPOSE.
The last 11 years have been normal. More children. Nothing unusual… they forgot the PURPOSE of Jesus. THE CALLING.
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 man.
Mary and Joseph did not “get it”. But something changed…she remembered this story and told Luke.
It was a turning point in Jesus’s life as well. Purpose. Change. Jesus. now was increasing in wisdom. He was aware of His Identity. His relationship with his parents changed. He was obedient to them.. But she no longer viewed him as a boy, but a man. (Greek words changed from boy to man)
1. As I was reading this story… I thought how similar I was to Mary and Joseph. They were going home after a trip. Living their lives and not even realizing that Jesus was missing.
Let me put it to you this: Have you ever been so busy in your life that you left JESUS OUT OF IT?
b. We can get caught up in our culture. Appearance, Achievement and the Almighty Dollar.
We also get caught up with Technology.. How mu time do you waste on FACEBOOK or YOUTUBE. Or computer games….(Helpful…timewaster!)
d. But like Mary and Joseph - at the end of their day…. They realized they were missing Jesus. What did they do? They went to find Him.
We need to prioritize Jesus…
2nd point that struck me is the DEFINING MOMENT… Jesus realized that he had to be about his father’s business.
I’ve started this past week. With Grant church… talking to people who want to become members. I sits down with them and ask a question:
If you were to die today… where would you go? (Most the time I hear heaven, I don’t know know, and sometimes I hear Hell)… When I ask why heaven? I find it interesting that some of my parisheners don’t know why. They don’t remember the day they chose Jesus. You see…. That defining moment is important.
So today I want you to remember (if you have had a defining moment where you got saved…. You chose Jesus. Because he is the solid foundation on which you build your life.
Both of these are important.
#1 Daniel took time to pray 3 times a day. To pull his focus back to God.
Devotions every day…helps. To pull you away from work and home and focus on Him.
#2. If you have a defining moment… learn to say it when you witness to someone. One of the ladies at grant finally defined hers:
LINDA BERGAN: My life was forever changed when… my husband was dying and we both realized… we wanted to be sure that we knew God… because he was dying and I was searching… And we both found Jesus at 60 years old, even though we had gone to church…I never really made a choice to follow Jesus. I started having devotions….
It took me 15 minutes to find her defining moment.
What’s yours? And if you don’t have one? Come to the altar and make it right with Christ. Ask forgiveness of sins so that your name is written in the Book of life. So that when you DIE… your name is there.
So we are going to sing THIS SOLID ROCK. Let us sing with our heart… that we have a solid rock for our foundation.
