A Study of the Book of Luke
Sermon # 5
“The Boy Jesus”
Luke 2:39-52
Initially when we look at the story recorded in the last section of the second chapter of Luke, there seems to be little of consequence, a part of the story of the life of Jesus which if we consider at all we see as merely an interesting anecdote. Since it is the only incident in the biblical record of the growing up years of Jesus, it must be important. Out of all the things that Luke must have heard from Mary, he has chosen only this one incident, perhaps because it reveals so much about the boy Jesus.
“So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. (40) And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him. (41) His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. (42) And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. (43)When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it; (44) but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. (45) So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. (46) Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. (47) And all who heard Him were astonished at His under-standing and answers. (48) “So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously. (49) And He said to them, Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” (50) But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them. (51) Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. (52) And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”
Between verse 38 and verse 39 of the second chapter of Luke there are crucial events that transpire in the life of Jesus that only Matthew in his gospel account tells us about (chapter one). We are told that the family returns to Bethlehem and during the next year or so a group of Magi who had followed a guiding star arrived to worship the infant Jesus (1:1-12). Not long afterwards, King Herod in paranoid jealousy had all the baby boys of the region two years old and younger slaughtered (v. 16).
God, however, had sent an angel to warn Joseph and the young family fled to Egypt (vv. 13-15). Upon Herod’s death, an angel again appeared to Joseph to tell him that it was safe to return home (v. 19). Joseph and Mary traveled back through Judea, to Galilee and settled in Mary’s hometown of Nazareth (vv. 22-23).
Luke picks up the story after the family has settled in Nazareth. So little is know about the childhood of Jesus that they are sometimes referred to as the “hidden years.” Lets look again at verse thirty-nine, “So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. (40) And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him. (41) His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. (42) And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast.”
There are some rather fantastic tales about the boyhood of Jesus. Stories that Jesus tapped his divine powers to create birds from clay and to command trees to bear fruit, but they are just that fanciful stories. The Bible gives no such record. One of the things that this text does is help us understand that Jesus grew up in an absolutely normal family. After his miraculous birth, there is nothing supernatural recorded about him until begins his ministry at the age of 30.
There are three things I would like for you to see with me today.
1. GOD DEMONSTRATES THE VALUE OF THE FAMILY
Mary was an ordinary mother and Joseph was an ordinary father to Jesus. God himself ordained the family and He demonstrates that it was good enough for the upbringing of Jesus.
Luke helps us to understand that Jesus had a normal childhood. Luke’s statement, in verse 40, helps us to see that Jesus was gaining knowledge by observation and growing as any normal child. Jesus had voluntarily laid aside his godhood when he took human form. Philippians 2, verse six through eight reveal, “who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, (7) but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. (8) And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.” Jesus lived life as any normal young boy.
When the feast of the Passover was over, his parents as well as most of those who had come to the city for the ceremony began their journey home. Verse forty-three, “When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it; (44) but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances. (45) So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him.”
When the family of Jesus joined the thousands of other pilgrims who were leaving the city of Jerusalem, Jesus was not discovered to be missing immediately. They had gone a day’s journey from Jerusalem when they discovered that Jesus was missing. People often traveled to feasts in caravans, the women and children leading the way and setting the pace, the men and young men followed behind. Each of the parents my have assumed that Jesus was with the other parent.
This happened to us when our daughter was about four. Since I arrive at church around 7:30 on Sunday Morning for some reason my wife does not feel led to ride with me. So we have always taken two vehicles to church. One particular Sunday when I arrived home after the morning services, Debbie met me at the door and said, “Where is Nikki?” I answered, “ I thought she was with you.” “ No,” she said, “She was suppose to be with you.” Well as it turned out, obviously she had been left behind at the church. Then we got scared. Is she there alone? Is she scared because she can’t find us? This story has a happy ending because when we arrived back at the church a dutiful church member had remained until Nikki’s forgetful parents could reclaim her.
In like fashion the situation found in verses 43-45 is every parent’s nightmare. As parents we all know the trauma of not being able to find our child, at a shopping mall or a ballpark. Even if it is only momentary, you know the feeling that almost over power you. The palpitating heart, the frantic searching, the calling of their name in ever more shrill tones, and feeling of fear, dread, and embarrassment. The questions that surge through our minds: Are they safe? What could have happened to them? There is guilt, shame. We should have kept a better eye on them! We should have been more careful! Multiply those feeling by one hundred and you still could not match that of Joseph and Mary, after all they had been entrusted by God with Jesus, the Son of God.
The text tells us that it was three days before his parents found him. The text is not clear if they were looking for Jesus for three days in Jerusalem or if he was missing for a total of three days, (one day out with the caravan, another day back, and one day looking for him). But after all the searching and anxiety, Jesus’ parents eventually found Him in the temple. Verse 46, “Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. (47) And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.”
The Greek tense suggests that the teachers of the law were amazed over and over again at Jesus insight. The sense of the verse also suggests that the teachers knew they were not just in the presence of an unusually brilliant young student. They recognized the wisdom of God upon the boy. It is not necessary to see Jesus as a genius here, although he may have been. Jesus was not some precocious quiz-kid straightening out His elders. Rather what we see is a sinless twelve year old, well studied in the Scriptures and illuminated by his Father in heaven.
His parents were likewise amazed when they found him. Verse forty-eight, “So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” But once they got over the amazement they were just plain irritated. Just place yourself in the place of Jesus’ parents at this point. You need to be honest! Imagine your growing sense of alarm as the time passed, and the child has not be found. Consider how your fears must have intensified as you recall how absolutely trustworthy Jesus has always been. And then you find him in the temple, seemingly unmoved by any concern for the anxiety His actions had caused. Admit it now, you would be angry with, just as they were. You would react as any parent would react to a missing child who was finally found and who in their eyes, had been insensitive to their feelings. There was joy, relief but also frustration and confusion. A frustrated mother now addresses her adolescent son and asks how could he have behaved this way, leaving his parents with a major anxiety attack. The term “sought you anxiously” refers to deep mental anguish and pain. The reproach came from hurt feelings.
2. JESUS INTRODUCES THE CONCEPT OF A HEAVENLY FATHER
Mary’s loving rebuke brought a respectful but astonished reply from Jesus. Verse 49, “….Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” Jesus was essentially saying, “Mother based on your own experience of the confirmation given you, you have to know who I am and why I have come to the earth.” Jesus reminds his parents that He was, first and foremost, the Son of Go, in obedience to Him, and called to carry out His “Father’s business.” He introduces the concept that he has a heavenly father who had an agenda for him that will not always concide with that of his earthly parents. Jesus does not seek to run ahead of God. or drag his feet behind his timing; rather he seeks only to do what God calls him to do, when God calls him to do it. The best timing is God’s timing. We too must be about God’s will, seeking his timing.
Jesus for the first time introduces us to the concept of God as a father who is present, someone that you can call “Abba” which means father or daddy. Today we have a hard time understanding how radical this understanding was, in the thirty-nine books that make up the Old Testament, God is referred to as Father only fourteen times and then, never in a personal sense. But when Jesus came on the scene he referred to God as his Father and he never used any other term. When he began his public ministry his awareness of God as his Father became the trademark of his ministry.
I also want us to notice that the word “must” was often used by the Lord: “I must preach” (Luke 4:43); “The Son of Man must suffer…” (Luke 9:22); the Son of Man “must be lifted up.” (John 3:14). Even at twelve he was moved by a compulsion to do the father’s will.
Verse fifty tells that, “But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.” Joseph and Mary were not able to grasp what Jesus had said. The incident ends with his parents perplexed at the events that had just transpired in their lives.
The text tells us that Jesus went back with them to Nazareth. Verse fifty-one, “Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart.” They both failed to understand and appreciate the full significance of his statement. Mary added this to the list of things that she ponder about her son. It was only after his death and resurrection that Mary truly understood the significance of many of the things that Jesus had said.
Luke summarizes in verse fifty-two the eighteen years, from the age of twelve until he begins his public ministry at the age of thirty. Verse fifty-two, ”And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” The whole matter is summarized when it says that he “increased” the word can also be translated “advanced.” This is an entirely different from that found in verse forty were it says that the child Jesus “grew.” This passage is implies more than just the passage of time and the natural physical development, it implies development toward maturity.
3. GOD EXPECTS US TO GROW
Verse 52 tells us that Jesus grew in four dimensions, each essential to a well-balanced person. First, he advanced intellectually, it says that he “increased in wisdom” but the wisdom here is more than mere knowledge, just an understanding of facts. We should be making progress in gaining wisdom all of our lives!
Second, he advanced physically, - “in stature, ” which suggest both maturity and physical growth. The word that is translated “grew” can be understood to mean “advance.’ Jesus did more than just grow physically, he advanced in maturity.
Third, he advanced spiritually, - “in favor with God and men. ” Favor is literally “grace”. The idea here is not that as he grew up that he became more and more in favor with God and men. He exhibited grace in his dealing with both God and man. As God has gracious dealt with us we should extend that same undeserved grace to each other.
Application – So what does all this mean to me?
We have to be struck by the importance that God place on the family. How could God have demonstrated the value of family any more than by placing his only son to the safe keeping of a human family.
As parents we need to recognize that God may lead our child in a way that we do not understand, that may even be painful and costly to us, but is nevertheless His will for their lives. As such we should never stand in the way of our children following God.
It should make us think about the fact that you and I respond to God at work in our lives the same way that Joseph and Mary responded to this event. Whenever our lives are touched by inconvenience or delay, much less, pain or distress, we all to often become angry. We want God to explain His reasons and his purposes to us, just as Mary and Joseph expected Jesus to justify his actions.
If spiritual growth was important to Jesus, shouldn’t our spiritual growth be important to us? There are some wonderful things that God had provided for our spiritual growth, if we do not allow other things to crowd them out.
Some of those things are; the Scripture, involvement in a body of Christ, Prayer, and Obedience to what we know is the will of God. Nothing should ever be allowed to keep us from these vital means of spiritual growth.
