1 Kings 8:6-13; Romans 12:1-5; St Luke 2:41-52
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Dear saints in Christ,
Don't let the trees fool you. We’ve made the move. Advent to Christmas and now, Epiphany. Epiphany means manifestation, revealing. And this Season of the Church Year is marked with texts that reveal to us who Jesus is: the God-Man who, for us men and for our salvation, has come down from heaven.
Last night we heard of the visit of the magi to the home of the Christ Child and the Holy Family. This is Gentile Christmas. It is where all the mysterious prophesies are fulfilled and the Gentile kings come to worship the Messiah who was born not only once in David’s royal city, but also Savior of the nations, come.
Ordinarily the Sunday after the Epiphany is the Baptism of our Lord, as your bulletin cover shows. But in just things that are neither commanded nor forbidden, we are observing the First Sunday after the Epiphany. If you were expecting Jesus’ baptism, you may be wondering, “did I come to the right place?” That’s also what the Magi asked last night. The came from the east to worship He who was born king of the Jews. You and I have been gathered here this morning to worship the same Jesus.
But have we come to the right place? Where are we to find Jesus? This is the question of Epiphany and the question our Gospel text puts before us this morning. The text also answers this question; listen for it. So we consider together the account of the Boy Jesus in the Temple.
Jesus is twelve years old and the Holy Family has gone from Nazareth south to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, that great feast of Israel. The Passover commemorates the Lamb’s blood on the door posts and the slaughter of the substitute first born in all the bloodless Israelite homes in Egypt. It gives thanks for the escape through the blood stained door and across the Red Sea on the dry path, leading to the base of Mt Sinai and the giving of the Ten Commandments.
If you’re Jewish then Passover is really something. It was one of the feasts at which able bodied men were required to be in Jerusalem. Woman were encouraged to attend. Jesus was still a boy, twelve. He had not yet reached the age of legal manhood, thirteen, but still He and His mother were found in the company of those going up for the feast. May God in His grace grant to all fathers the faithful perseverance to instruct their households in the faith as St Joseph, the guardian of our Lord, has done for his.
And the company of those traveling must have been great. I don’t know about you, but when I hear the accounts of Scripture, my imagination often fails to supply the people and crowds. I simply see the people named in the texts as if the villages and cities and even country sides were sparsely populated. But more often than not Jesus is in the midst of a crowd, a big crowd, and this is certainly true of the Holy Family’s pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The band started out from Nazareth and more and more would join as they got closer to the city. Jesus was off with the other children doing all the things that children do. Perhaps He and His cousin John had a favorite game they would play together on road trips.
They went to Jerusalem, offered up a lamb, ate the Passover meal, and after two day of liturgy were finished, Mary and Joseph and the rest of their companions packed up and headed north back to Nazareth. They were not at all worried about Jesus, being accustomed to His perfect keeping of the Fourth Commandment and how, for twelve years, He has honored his father and mother. They presume Jesus is on His way home with them. But look, Jesus as already home, sitting in the Temple.
As the sun is setting on their first day of travel Mary and Joseph go looking for Jesus. “Elizabth, Zacharias, have you seen Jesus?” “Simon, Mary have you seen your nephew Jesus anywhere?” “Joanna, have you seen Jesus at all today?” “Heli, has your Grandson been with you?” All of you parents know that feeling of panic that comes all of a sudden. You think the kid is here, no, they must be there, well if not there, then . . . oh, no, I’ve lost them!
And then the worry, the dread, running through the crowd, “Jesus! Jesus!” How long did it take them to go through all the crowd? To be sure He wasn’t there? And then the running back up the mountain to Jerusalem, to the inn where they stayed, through the market. A night and day and night of looking. You don’t think Mary and Joseph slept, do you?
And how, on top of all the other troubles, this must have cause Joseph and Mary, especially Mary, the great grief, the thought, “Will God still let me raise this Boy?”
Finally He is found, perhaps in the last place they thought to look: in the Temple, sitting with the doctors, learning and teaching the Scriptures. This is an astonishing scene. After three days they found Him in the Temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him where amazed at His understanding and His answers. And when His parents saw Him, they were astonished. And His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us so? Behold Your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.
Mary’s hair is frazzled, clothes dirty, both she and Joseph must have been exhausted - two days without sleep exhausted - and upset and anxious and worried and then . . . amazed. Like everyone listening to Him dispute with the doctors, amazed. Amazed that this Boy had such wisdom and understanding and insight into the Holy Scriptures.
I think that many Christians have this view that Jesus, because He’s God, knew the whole Bible by heart from the moment He was born. This picture that He was sitting at home teaching Mary and Joseph the Torah. That’s not the indication here, though. Joseph would have taken the fatherly role of instructing Jesus and His siblings along with Mary. We’ve already had glimpses into her devotional piety. St Luke tells us that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man. This means, in part, that He learned and studied and meditated upon the sacred texts. That He applied Himself to them, not unlike our catechumens reciting their memory work. So that when He sat with the teachers, He could keep up with their questions and answers and ask questions of His own. That’s how the rabbis taught. They answered questions with questions. They were amazed and astonished at His answers. There it is in verse forty-seven.
But the Holy Spirit has not recorded for us any of these amazing answers of Jesus. But the most amazing one we are given to hear. Mary asks her Son, Why have You done this to us? And Jesus answers - and mark this carefully dear saints, these are the first recorded words of our Lord Jesus preserved for us by the Holy Spirit in St Luke’s Gospel - Jesus said to them, Why do you seek Me? Did you not know I must be about My Father’s business?
And they did not understand the saying that He spoke to them. Part of the reason may have been because its ambiguous. The ESV renders it, I must be in My Father’s house. And that’s fine. Another way is, about My Father’s business. Or even more obscure, I must be about the things of My Father. So it is only natural they didn’t understand Him.
Father’s house makes sense. We know that. It’s the Temple. The presence of the Most High God is there, the Glory of the Lord. Its the same reason we call the Church the House of the Lord. Or the Table of the Lord.
But, My Father’s business? What does that mean? It’s as if Jesus answered them, “Of course I’m here, in the Temple, My Father’s house, in the midst of Holy Things, about My Father’s business.” Jesus is there, the true Ark of the Covenant of the Lord placed in the sanctuary of the house. He is the Most Holy Place, not hidden under the wings of the cherubim, but out in the midst of the people, hidden in flesh and blood. Soon the poles of His Cross will be seen, but for now, He recites the Torah and takes His rightful place among the Altar and incense, the basin and showbread, as the true Passover Lamb.
Jesus is not the Son of Joseph. He is the Son of His Father who art in heaven. He is the Son of the Reign of Heaven, the one and only Sole Begotten. He is God in the flesh. He is sent to do His Father’s will, to work in the family business. And what is that business? To save His people from their sins. To be their sacrifice. To shed His blood.
Jesus expects Mary and Joseph to know this. Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business? They should have known that He would be in His Temple, that He would be in the midst of the sacrifices and the holy things. But they were exhausted and angry, conformed to this world, not transformed by the renewal of their minds. They were not thinking with sober judgment, but thought more highly of themselves than they ought.
And, dear saints, this is the point of this text for us this morning. Jesus expects us to know where He is. He expects us to know where to find Him. He appeals to us, dear brothers, by the mercies of God to present our bodies (and minds) as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship.
There is great confusion about this, isn’t there? Most people don’t really care about Jesus to begin with, like the rest of the crowd with Mary and Joseph, they are just trudging their way back to Nazareth without a thought of Him. But then there are those, outside the church as well as inside, who are looking for Jesus in all the wrong places. “Jesus, Jesus? Have you seen Jesus anywhere?”
Some are searching for Him in the historical revisionism of popular books and magazines. Some are searching for Him in their own fancy, thinking that Jesus is in their emotions and approves of whatever they like or want. Some expect Jesus to be found in their good works, “Surely, He must be happy with me for this . . .”
But look, Jesus is to be found in the Temple, that is, doing His Father’s business. And it is a bloody, redeeming, sanctifying business.
Look, Jesus is found in the Jordan River, doing His Father’s business, taking the place of sinners.
Look, Jesus on found on the Cross, doing His Father’s business of redeeming sinners.
And then, He is found and then not found in the tomb, but in the garden and on the road and in the upper room and the mountain top, doing His Father’s business.
He is found enwrapped in the clouds, ascending into heaven, doing His Father’s business of preparing a place for sinners.
And now He is in His Word, in the Scriptures, carried there by the Holy Spirit, still doing His Father’s business of forgiving sinners. He is found where His Name is, doing His Father’s business. He is found with His Word and Body and Blood, in this Bread and Win, doing His Father’s business, that is, saving His people from their sins.
Why did you seek Me. Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business? Dear saints, rejoice, for we know where Jesus is to be found, and we know what He is doing: forgiving you all your sin.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.
Dear saints in Christ,
Don't let the trees fool you. We’ve made the move. Advent to Christmas and now, Epiphany. Epiphany means manifestation, revealing. And this Season of the Church Year is marked with texts that reveal to us who Jesus is: the God-Man who, for us men and for our salvation, has come down from heaven.
Last night we heard of the visit of the magi to the home of the Christ Child and the Holy Family. This is Gentile Christmas. It is where all the mysterious prophesies are fulfilled and the Gentile kings come to worship the Messiah who was born not only once in David’s royal city, but also Savior of the nations, come.
Ordinarily the Sunday after the Epiphany is the Baptism of our Lord, as your bulletin cover shows. But in just things that are neither commanded nor forbidden, we are observing the First Sunday after the Epiphany. If you were expecting Jesus’ baptism, you may be wondering, “did I come to the right place?” That’s also what the Magi asked last night. The came from the east to worship He who was born king of the Jews. You and I have been gathered here this morning to worship the same Jesus.
But have we come to the right place? Where are we to find Jesus? This is the question of Epiphany and the question our Gospel text puts before us this morning. The text also answers this question; listen for it. So we consider together the account of the Boy Jesus in the Temple.
Jesus is twelve years old and the Holy Family has gone from Nazareth south to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, that great feast of Israel. The Passover commemorates the Lamb’s blood on the door posts and the slaughter of the substitute first born in all the bloodless Israelite homes in Egypt. It gives thanks for the escape through the blood stained door and across the Red Sea on the dry path, leading to the base of Mt Sinai and the giving of the Ten Commandments.
If you’re Jewish then Passover is really something. It was one of the feasts at which able bodied men were required to be in Jerusalem. Woman were encouraged to attend. Jesus was still a boy, twelve. He had not yet reached the age of legal manhood, thirteen, but still He and His mother were found in the company of those going up for the feast. May God in His grace grant to all fathers the faithful perseverance to instruct their households in the faith as St Joseph, the guardian of our Lord, has done for his.
And the company of those traveling must have been great. I don’t know about you, but when I hear the accounts of Scripture, my imagination often fails to supply the people and crowds. I simply see the people named in the texts as if the villages and cities and even country sides were sparsely populated. But more often than not Jesus is in the midst of a crowd, a big crowd, and this is certainly true of the Holy Family’s pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The band started out from Nazareth and more and more would join as they got closer to the city. Jesus was off with the other children doing all the things that children do. Perhaps He and His cousin John had a favorite game they would play together on road trips.
They went to Jerusalem, offered up a lamb, ate the Passover meal, and after two day of liturgy were finished, Mary and Joseph and the rest of their companions packed up and headed north back to Nazareth. They were not at all worried about Jesus, being accustomed to His perfect keeping of the Fourth Commandment and how, for twelve years, He has honored his father and mother. They presume Jesus is on His way home with them. But look, Jesus as already home, sitting in the Temple.
As the sun is setting on their first day of travel Mary and Joseph go looking for Jesus. “Elizabth, Zacharias, have you seen Jesus?” “Simon, Mary have you seen your nephew Jesus anywhere?” “Joanna, have you seen Jesus at all today?” “Heli, has your Grandson been with you?” All of you parents know that feeling of panic that comes all of a sudden. You think the kid is here, no, they must be there, well if not there, then . . . oh, no, I’ve lost them!
And then the worry, the dread, running through the crowd, “Jesus! Jesus!” How long did it take them to go through all the crowd? To be sure He wasn’t there? And then the running back up the mountain to Jerusalem, to the inn where they stayed, through the market. A night and day and night of looking. You don’t think Mary and Joseph slept, do you?
And how, on top of all the other troubles, this must have cause Joseph and Mary, especially Mary, the great grief, the thought, “Will God still let me raise this Boy?”
Finally He is found, perhaps in the last place they thought to look: in the Temple, sitting with the doctors, learning and teaching the Scriptures. This is an astonishing scene. After three days they found Him in the Temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him where amazed at His understanding and His answers. And when His parents saw Him, they were astonished. And His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us so? Behold Your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.
Mary’s hair is frazzled, clothes dirty, both she and Joseph must have been exhausted - two days without sleep exhausted - and upset and anxious and worried and then . . . amazed. Like everyone listening to Him dispute with the doctors, amazed. Amazed that this Boy had such wisdom and understanding and insight into the Holy Scriptures.
I think that many Christians have this view that Jesus, because He’s God, knew the whole Bible by heart from the moment He was born. This picture that He was sitting at home teaching Mary and Joseph the Torah. That’s not the indication here, though. Joseph would have taken the fatherly role of instructing Jesus and His siblings along with Mary. We’ve already had glimpses into her devotional piety. St Luke tells us that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man. This means, in part, that He learned and studied and meditated upon the sacred texts. That He applied Himself to them, not unlike our catechumens reciting their memory work. So that when He sat with the teachers, He could keep up with their questions and answers and ask questions of His own. That’s how the rabbis taught. They answered questions with questions. They were amazed and astonished at His answers. There it is in verse forty-seven.
But the Holy Spirit has not recorded for us any of these amazing answers of Jesus. But the most amazing one we are given to hear. Mary asks her Son, Why have You done this to us? And Jesus answers - and mark this carefully dear saints, these are the first recorded words of our Lord Jesus preserved for us by the Holy Spirit in St Luke’s Gospel - Jesus said to them, Why do you seek Me? Did you not know I must be about My Father’s business?
And they did not understand the saying that He spoke to them. Part of the reason may have been because its ambiguous. The ESV renders it, I must be in My Father’s house. And that’s fine. Another way is, about My Father’s business. Or even more obscure, I must be about the things of My Father. So it is only natural they didn’t understand Him.
Father’s house makes sense. We know that. It’s the Temple. The presence of the Most High God is there, the Glory of the Lord. Its the same reason we call the Church the House of the Lord. Or the Table of the Lord.
But, My Father’s business? What does that mean? It’s as if Jesus answered them, “Of course I’m here, in the Temple, My Father’s house, in the midst of Holy Things, about My Father’s business.” Jesus is there, the true Ark of the Covenant of the Lord placed in the sanctuary of the house. He is the Most Holy Place, not hidden under the wings of the cherubim, but out in the midst of the people, hidden in flesh and blood. Soon the poles of His Cross will be seen, but for now, He recites the Torah and takes His rightful place among the Altar and incense, the basin and showbread, as the true Passover Lamb.
Jesus is not the Son of Joseph. He is the Son of His Father who art in heaven. He is the Son of the Reign of Heaven, the one and only Sole Begotten. He is God in the flesh. He is sent to do His Father’s will, to work in the family business. And what is that business? To save His people from their sins. To be their sacrifice. To shed His blood.
Jesus expects Mary and Joseph to know this. Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business? They should have known that He would be in His Temple, that He would be in the midst of the sacrifices and the holy things. But they were exhausted and angry, conformed to this world, not transformed by the renewal of their minds. They were not thinking with sober judgment, but thought more highly of themselves than they ought.
And, dear saints, this is the point of this text for us this morning. Jesus expects us to know where He is. He expects us to know where to find Him. He appeals to us, dear brothers, by the mercies of God to present our bodies (and minds) as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship.
There is great confusion about this, isn’t there? Most people don’t really care about Jesus to begin with, like the rest of the crowd with Mary and Joseph, they are just trudging their way back to Nazareth without a thought of Him. But then there are those, outside the church as well as inside, who are looking for Jesus in all the wrong places. “Jesus, Jesus? Have you seen Jesus anywhere?”
Some are searching for Him in the historical revisionism of popular books and magazines. Some are searching for Him in their own fancy, thinking that Jesus is in their emotions and approves of whatever they like or want. Some expect Jesus to be found in their good works, “Surely, He must be happy with me for this . . .”
But look, Jesus is to be found in the Temple, that is, doing His Father’s business. And it is a bloody, redeeming, sanctifying business.
Look, Jesus is found in the Jordan River, doing His Father’s business, taking the place of sinners.
Look, Jesus on found on the Cross, doing His Father’s business of redeeming sinners.
And then, He is found and then not found in the tomb, but in the garden and on the road and in the upper room and the mountain top, doing His Father’s business.
He is found enwrapped in the clouds, ascending into heaven, doing His Father’s business of preparing a place for sinners.
And now He is in His Word, in the Scriptures, carried there by the Holy Spirit, still doing His Father’s business of forgiving sinners. He is found where His Name is, doing His Father’s business. He is found with His Word and Body and Blood, in this Bread and Win, doing His Father’s business, that is, saving His people from their sins.
Why did you seek Me. Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business? Dear saints, rejoice, for we know where Jesus is to be found, and we know what He is doing: forgiving you all your sin.
In the Name of the Father and + of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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