1 Kings 3:4-15 Ephesians 1:3-14 Luke 2:40-52
Grace, mercy and
peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our text today is from the Gospel lesson just read, especially these
words, “they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and
worshiped him.” Thus far our text.
Dear friends in
Christ. It happens all the time. You
misplace your kid. He wanders down an aisle at Toys-R-Us; she goes off on her
own in the mall. Kids have a tendency to do that. But when the kid you misplace
is the Son of God, the Savior of the world, the stakes go up considerable. When
the Word becomes Flesh and dwells among us things are never quite “normal”
again.
Mary and Joseph
were required by Jewish law to go to Jerusalem 4 times a year, for different
feasts and festivals. And once Jesus was
12, and was confirmed, he needed to go to the feasts as well. (Please note that when he was confirmed, i.e.
a man, he went to more church, not
less!) So Mary, Joseph and Jesus head
for Jerusalem for the Passover feast.
Jerusalem at the
time of the feast was packed. The small
town of 25,000 people swelled with some estimates putting over a million people
in Jerusalem for the feast. It is no wonder
then that 12 year old Jesus gets separated from his mother and father, twelve
year old boys don’t hang around with their mother’s especially when they’re in
their father’s house.
So on the way
home, Mary and Joseph discover they don’t know where Jesus is. Now, don’t think that Jesus has been
disobedient, or that he has broke the 4th commandment. He hasn’t.
In fact, his staying in the temple was in obedience to his Father in
heaven. He listens there, in the courts
to the teachers of the law – he hears gladly hears God’s word and keeps
it. He is the Wisdom of Solomon made
flesh. In fact he stays and begins
teaching the teachers. The student
becomes the master; he is the one who understands God’s word clearly – and
what’s more who obeys it perfectly. And
he boldly proclaims the truth of God’s Word, even at the young age of 12.
But Jesus’ earthly
mom and dad are still searching for him.
And when Joseph and Mary find him, they are frustrated. Where have you been? Why have you been disobedient? But Jesus’ answer is true – I wasn’t
disobedient. I must be in my Father’s
house. I must obey God. I must listen to the word of my heavenly
father, and I must proclaim it, because that word is the most important things
in my life. I must do my heavenly father’s
will, not my own. It’s a truth that
Jesus will fulfill 20 some years later, when he enters the temple for that
great Passover of Good Friday.
So what do we make
of this text? Why importance does it
have for us? Dear friends, the truth is,
we are the opposite of Jesus. We are not
obedient of our heavenly father. We
don’t spend enough time in his house. In
fact, we run the other way as Jesus.
Instead of running away to God’s house, we run away from God’s
house. Instead of obeying God our
Father’s word, we disobey.
Think of yourself,
and your attendance in church weekly, or even more so in bible studies. Are you present as often as God’s word is
proclaimed? Or are there other
“important” things to do, things like NFL playoffs, and holes in the ice to
pull fish through. Are there children to
take care of and beauty sleep to accumulate? Is it too hard to get out of your pajamas on
Sunday morning?
And while those of
us who are in church smile and nod about those we know who aren’t here each
week, remember that we are that much more guilty. Yes, each week we hear God’s word and yet
still give in to our sinful nature each week.
We hear that we should not murder, but hate all the same. We hear that we should not commit adultery, but
still look at others with lust in our hearts.
We should know better! We’re here
after all, we are in our Father’s house.
But we still fall short in all ten commandments, we still fall short in
our thoughts words and deeds. We sin,
just as much as the unchurched.
And in our
disobedience to God, and in our sin, we deserve eternal death and
damnation. We deserve the rod of
punishment from our heavenly father.
Unless we are as obedient as Jesus, the eternal chastisement of hell
waits. It is eternal death. It is the place where the worm does not
die. It is the place with weeping and
gnashing of teeth. And in our
disobedience we deserve it.
But what we
deserve and what we receive are different.
For in our baptism, we switch places with Jesus. What I mean is that his obedience became your
obedience, and your disobedience became his disobedience. He took your place in suffering and
punishment, and you took his in the eternal reward of heaven.
That’s why Jesus
returns to Jerusalem – to the Passover – years later. To go to the cross, and suffer, bleed and
die, in your place and for your sake. It
was the ultimate obedience to God the Father.
To die to save you – the people whom God loves. To take away your sins. To make you holy and righteous for his names
sake. And since you belong to Jesus in
baptism, you share that obedience.
You have kept all
of God’s law, not in yourself, but in Jesus.
You have been in God’s house hearing and believing God’s Word, not in
yourself, but in Jesus. You are holy and
righteous in God’s Sight, not in yourself, but in Jesus.
Dear friends in
Christ. In our text today, Jesus is
obedient to God, and its all for you.
It’s the reason he’s come in Christmas to make you obedient to the
Father, by his obedience. And that
obedience is seen in our text, and it is seen in his loving death for you on
the cross. You are saved, because of his
obedience in your place. In the name of
Jesus. Amen.
