Where Is Jesus?

B.L.U.F

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Today we will look at the story of Jesus when he was 12 years old. He was in Jerusalem with his parents for the Passover celebration and the parents went back home forgetting Jesus and they had to go back to find him. They found him in the Temple and they brought him back home.

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We will look at this story and apply some principles of our walk with God and how easy it is to leave Jesus behind too.

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Going to the Feast

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Luke 2:41 (NRSV)

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41 Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover.

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Many of you have heard about the Passover feast. It is one of the feast days that Israel celebrates to remember the “Passing Over” of the 10th plague in Egypt which led to the Exodus from Egypt.

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It’s their 4th of July

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It’s a national holiday. People come from all over to celebrate. Every Jewish male was expected to show up. It wasn’t just a one-day thing either.

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It wasn’t a “come in the morning leave at night” kind of trip.

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This required travel arrangements. Transportation, lodging, food preparation, etc.

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Preparations were made in the Joseph and Mary household.

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Jesus would be attending this feast as he approaches his Bar-Mitvah (Son of the Commandment).

?Luke 2:42 (NRSV)

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42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival.

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So this verse gives us Jesus’ age. A 12-year-old boy going on a trip with his parents. He must be excited.

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Luke 2:43 (NRSV)

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43 When the festival ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it.

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Nothing is said of the experience during the time in Jerusalem. This feast last 7 days. So for 7 days what was Jesus doing in Jerusalem?

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What were the parents doing? What places did they visit? Who did they see? What restaurants did they eat at? How many ceremonies did they attend? Did anything special happen that year during the feast?

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How many people were there?

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Did Jesus go to the Temple every day?

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Did Jesus befriend the rabbis and priests?

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Jesus saw for himself the ceremonies and began to see how the ceremonies have so much meaning.

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The link between Passover is not only to the past but also to the agricultural link. The Passover feast was immediately followed by the feast of unleavened bread, followed by the feast of first fruits, where people gave thanks to God for the barley harvest by setting aside the first fruits from the crop and dedicating it to the Lord.

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So many questions between verses 42 and 43. But I guess Luke didn’t think it was necessary information. He just talks about how they went and that they left.

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Luke gives us the background, the setting, and sets the stage for the main point of the story.

?Luke 2:44 (NRSV)

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44 Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends.

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“Assuming” - making assumptions. Now tell me about making assumptions.

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“To take for granted or true” - Webster’s Dictionary.

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So, Joseph & Mary took for granted, they believed as a matter of fact that Jesus was within the group of travelers.

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Question: How can you go one full day without knowing that your son is not with you?

How would Joseph and Mary not know that their own son was not with them?

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One must think that Mary and Joseph were not traveling within the group. They went a whole day thinking that Jesus was hanging out with the other kids.

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If they went a whole day without realizing Jesus’ absence, it must have been at night, when they stopped for the night. When they expected Jesus to show up and spend the evening with them and get ready to sleep.

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How easy it is to go ONE DAY without Jesus. How? Assuming that he’s “in the group.”

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Let’s say, this worship service is the last day of the Passover feast and right after the service we begin our pilgrimage back home. You assume Jesus is somewhere in the car or that he went with his friends in the other car. That night you wonder why Jesus hasn’t checked in with us only to find out that he’s not in the group after all!

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How could that be? He was with us at church this morning. You ask around and everyone says, “I don’t know. I thought he was with you.”