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Luke’s Gospel Lesson 7

THE BOY JESUS IN THE TEMPLE

Luke 2:40-52
Key Verse: 2:49

“‘Why were you searching for me?’ he asked. ‘Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’”

The pathway from childhood to adulthood is marked by a long transitional period known as adolescence, which begins with puberty at age 11 or 12 until the late teens or early twenties. In ancient society, however, there was no concept of adolescence; children entered the adult world when they matured physically. Today’s more industrialized and complex society requires longer periods of education or vocational training before a young person can assume adult responsibilities. Adolescence is full of opportunities for physical growth, emotional change, cognitive and psycho-social development. There are many risks to healthy development as well. Today’s passage is an interesting episode about the boy Jesus in the temple during the Jewish Passover. In his young age, Jesus was fully aware that he was the Son of God, saying to his parents, “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” The author Luke emphasizes Jesus’ normal development as a human being.(40,52) Why was Luke the historian and evangelist interested in Jesus’ human development? It’s because Jesus is fully divine and fully human. Why is it important that we understand the full humanity and divinity of Jesus? Let’s think about what we mean when we say Jesus is fully human and fully God. Let’s also learn God’s wisdom from what Jesus who said, “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”, about how we can start the New Year.

First, the boy Jesus remained in the temple (40-47)

Look at verse 40. “And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.” This verse summarizes what happened to the child Jesus between his presentation in the temple and his return there when he was 12 years old. According to Matthew’s account, sometime after the birth of Jesus, Joseph took his wife Mary and the child Jesus and escaped to Egypt, testifying that their escape to Egypt was the fulfillment of messianic prophecy based on Hosea 11:1. (Mt 2:15) But Luke the historian and evangelist was not interested in the fulfillment of prophecy. Instead, he was more interested in how Jesus grew as a human being. Probably, Luke must have heard many stories about the child Jesus from Mary if she were still alive, which was very possible. Yet, Luke chose only one episode to be included in his record. (41-50) In this episode, Luke emphasizes Jesus’ wisdom and his awareness that he was the Son of God.

Look at verses 41 and 42. The law required every male Jew to attend three annual festivals in Jerusalem each year; Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacle. (Deut 16:16; Ex 23:15-16) Since Jews were scattered through the Roman Empire in Jesus’ time, most people went to Jerusalem only once a year. Women were not required to go, but they often went with their husband or parents. Customarily Jewish parents took their young sons with them for a year or two before the boy was officially considered an adult, which was usually at age 13, like the “Bar Mitzvah” of today.

During the time of the Passover Feast, which lasted for a week, Jerusalem was overly crowded with at least two or three million pilgrims. Since it was their first visit to Jerusalem, Jesus could have been very excited about many things in Jerusalem, with its great buildings and a huge crowd of people from all over the world who had come there to celebrate the Passover. However, what impressed Jesus most could have been animal sacrifices in the Temple. All the pilgrims of the Passover brought goats or lambs without defect to be slaughtered by priests in the temple courts. Blood was sacrificed and meats were eaten. This tradition is to remind them of God’s great salvation from their slavery in Egypt.

We find a detailed account of the original story of the Passover in Exodus chapters 11 and 12. God’s last plague upon Egypt was called the “Plague of the first born.” The Lord told Moses that he would go throughout Egypt and strike down all the first-born males, so each household should prepare a year-old-lamb without defect, slaughter it and paint its blood on the doorpost and upper doorframe in order to avoid the deadly plague. This lamb was called “the Passover lamb” or “the Pascal lamb.” Those who believed in the lamb’s blood, not just the people of Israel but also Egyptians, did exactly what the Lord instructed on the day, slaughtering a year-old lamb without defect and painting its blood on the sides and upper doorframe. In fact, as the Lord promised, the plague of death didn’t hit but passed over those households with blood marks. The Lord commanded the people of Israel to celebrate the Passover in order to remind them of His great salvation.

No other events in history better foreshadows why God sent Jesus Christ his Son to this world to die on the cross by shedding of his blood. Perhaps the boy Jesus, who was just twelve years old at the time, might have been aware that he would be the one to make the ultimate sacrifice as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world someday. He must also have remembered what the Prophet Isaiah spoke about the ultimate sacrifice of the lamb many hundred years ago, “Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, … he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed… He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouths.” (Isaiah 53:4-7) We cannot be sure if Jesus was fully aware at that time that he would be the one to make the ultimate sacrifice. Yet, we see that even after the feast was over and everyone was leaving Jerusalem, Jesus couldn’t just leave. He stayed behind in Jerusalem. Obviously, growing Jesus had a lot of questions in his mind.

Look at verses 43-45. We don’t know if Jesus told his parents about his staying in Jerusalem. But his parents left Jerusalem without him, thinking that Jesus was in their company. They didn’t realize that their child was not with them until after a day’s journey. When they found their child was missing, they were terrified. At first, they tried to look for him among their relatives and friends who were traveling with them. But he was not found among them. We can imagine how terrified they could have been, remembering that they had to escape to Egypt in order to avoid the massacre in Bethlehem only twelve years before. Their search for Jesus was frantic, “Jesus, where are you?”

They decided to go back to Jerusalem, which took another day. When they reached Jerusalem, where did they find Jesus, and what was he doing? Look at verses 46 and 47. Although it said “after three days”, it may be the third day since they left Jerusalem. “After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.” Children’s intellectual development in their adolescence is so rapid that they tend to think that they know everything and that they know more than their teachers. And many of them think that their parents don’t know anything.

In verse 40, Luke described that Jesus grew and became strong and he was full of wisdom. In verse 52, Luke describes that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.” It seems that at the age of twelve, Jesus’ understanding of the Scripture and of the things of God and men had grown mature enough to exceed everyone in the world. Considering that Jesus is God, it’s not difficult to accept Jesus’ superior knowledge. However, it’s interesting to see that Jesus’ wisdom was not just given by God through filling the memory files in his brain cells, like a CD-Rom. Instead, Jesus was made just like us to grow in wisdom and stature step by step through the process of learning. Luke described that Jesus was sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Why did he particularly mention about Jesus’ listening and asking questions? It’s because listening and asking questions are two of the most effective ways of learning and a very vital process of human development.

It’s true. Those who listen very carefully and ask many questions during class generally make more progress than those who don’t. In his adolescence, Jesus had a deep desire for knowledge and a learning mind, so he had many questions and listened to the teachers very carefully. Obviously, the teachers asked him many questions as well. And everyone was amazed at the level of his understanding through his answers. We are created as seekers of God even after we are born again because God is an infinite being. We cannot put God into the box of our old understanding. We need to constantly ask questions and learn about him throughout our lifetimes. If we stop listening and asking questions, we stop growing, like old wineskins.

During Jesus’ earthly ministry, a great crowd of people followed and heard him speaking the secrets of the kingdom of God. Yet, Jesus taught them many things by parables. Then he said to them, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mk 4:9) He also told them, “The secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those who on the outside everything is said in parables, so that, they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.” (Mk 4:10-12) What Jesus said here may sound puzzling and mind-boggling. But what he meant is that although the kingdom of God is open to everyone, the mystery of God’s kingdom will be given only to those who listen to God’s words with a humble, learning mind. To those who think they already know enough, what they have may be taken away from them. On the other hand, those who eagerly seek to know will be given even more.

We wish that only good things may happen to us in 2009. But that’s an unrealistic expectation. We know that 2009 will not be easy. We will be challenged in many ways. But whatever happens to us, the key to the happiness and ultimate success is God’s words. Psalm 1:2-3 says that a man who meditates on the word of the Lord day and night is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither, and whatever he does prospers. It does not mean that when we meditate on the word of the Lord, nothing bad or unfortunate will happen to us. It rather means that through God’s words we will have enough strength and wisdom to overcome our day to day challenges and be able to grow and bear good fruit in our lives. But how can we meditate on the word of the Lord day and night living in a very demanding and competitive world? It does not mean that we should only study the Bible. In fact, in Bible study, we need to listen carefully and ask questions continually. In other words, an open mind is essential to a better and deeper understanding of God’s truth.

No doubt Jesus, the incarnate God, had superior knowledge and understanding. But what Luke was trying to emphasize about the child Jesus is not necessarily his superiority in knowledge but the commonality between Jesus and us as humans. Although he is fully divine, he is also fully human. He grew in wisdom and stature. This Jesus is our perfect example. Jesus being fully human does not mean that he stopped being fully God. Jesus as Jesus is fully human so he is also fully God. Jesus has all the divine attributes and all the human attributes. Jesus was even tempted just as we are – yet was without sin. (Heb 4:15) If Jesus is only divine, we cannot relate to him much. But the fact that Jesus is fully human means a lot to us. Jesus shared humanity with the entire human race, being made like us in every way, so that he might become our big brother and a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God to make atonement for the sins of the people. (Heb 2:17)

Second, “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (48-50)

Look at verses 48-50. “When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said, ‘Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you. “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what he was saying to them.” In what Jesus said – “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” we notice that at the young age, Jesus was already fully aware that he was the Son of God. Didn’t Mary and Joseph know about this? Of course they did. No doubt, they must have told Jesus about what had happened at the time of his conception and all the stories surrounding his birth. But Jesus, being fully human, needed to realize step by step for himself who he really was. At the time of his adolescence, Jesus not only grew in wisdom and knowledge but also came to his self-awareness that he was the Son of God. So he said to his parents, “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”

Most children struggle to know who they are in their adolescence. Some struggle with identity crises or identity confusion. It’s not easy to know who we are. “Do you know who you are?” “Do I know myself?” It’s a very difficult question to answer. But unless we know who we are, we are not living our lives. How can we know ourselves? There may be many possible ways. But one of the best ways I believe is that we need to understand ourselves in relationship to God our Father, the Creator of heaven and earth. We are created in relationship with God, others and the world. According to Genesis chapter 2, when the Lord formed man out of dust from the ground, he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life (the spirit of life) and man became a living being (a living soul). So we are spirit, soul and body. We have spirit so that we can be conscious of God who is the Spirit and have fellowship with Him. We have souls so that we can be conscious of ourselves and have relationships with ourselves. We have bodies so that we can be conscious of the world and have relationships with the world.

When Jesus said, “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” we can see what kind of life he would live. He would not live just a self-centered life. Most people live a self-centered life, where they are the center of all things. Surprisingly, most people live this kind of one dimensional life. They want to be the center of people’s attention, thinking that this will make them happy. But soon you are disappointed. Some people adopt two-dimensional living. This is a kind of contract relationship – if you do your part, then I will do my part. Basically this kind of relationship is very stressful. Most people suffer from bad relationships and are bound by them. They have no freedom. However, Jesus from his young age lived a spiritual life, which is a three-dimensional life, fully recognizing God as the core of everything and every relationship in the world, including his relationship with his parents. This reminds us of Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.”

Look at verses 51 and 52. Jesus went down to Nazareth with his parents and was obedient to them. Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. When we acknowledge God the Father as the sovereign over all things, we can have freedom, peace and joy in all circumstances. We can be free from unnecessary fear, worries and anxieties in life. We can also continue to grow in wisdom and in favor with God and all other people. Jesus said that if we know the truth and the truth will set us free. What is the truth that we can easily ignore in our day to day living?

It’s the living God himself. It’s the fact that God is sovereign over all things. If we ignore this truth, we become ignorant of all things. In other words, we should exercise our faith in the living God every day. That’s what Jesus meant when he said to his parents, “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” May we have a deep awareness of God our Father in every step of our lives this year and live a three-dimensional life, trusting and acknowledging Him as sovereign in all our relationships and affairs, so that despite many challenges our paths may be peaceful and successful, and we may grow as beautiful and loving people in the eyes of God and others.