January 2 – Luke
Luke 2:40-52
New Years is a time we look back at the year or years gone by; a time to reflect on the progress we’ve made and to make new plans for the coming year. The New Year always brings about thoughts of making a “New Year’s Resolution.” One year I resolved to floss my teeth every morning and evening. It lasted about 6 weeks. I usually make at least a mental note to lose weight every year and you can all see how that is going. My guess is that most New Year’s Resolution don’t make it more than a month or two.
Can you guess what the top New Year’s Resolution is? Yep….Losing Weight! Let me share a little story with you. A woman walked into her bathroom at home. As she did, she saw her husband weighing himself on the bathroom scales, sucking in his stomach. The woman thought to herself, “He thinks that he will weigh less by sucking in his stomach.” So, the woman rather sarcastically said to her husband, “That’s not going to help.” To which her husband replied, “Sure it will. It’s the only way I can see the numbers.”
Perhaps Mary and Joseph’s New Year resolution so many years ago involved making sure that Jesus was with them when leaving to go anywhere. As a parent, have you ever lost one of your children, even for a few minutes? I know I have, and when I think of those times, I can still feel my heart pounding and the anxiety bubbling up. So, I can imagine, just a little bit, what Mary and Joseph must have felt after a full day, when they discovered that Jesus was not with the group.
Maybe you are wondering, how could this possibly happen? The answer is really a quite simple one. Families and friends traveled together for protection. As we often say today, there is safety in numbers. The group would have gathered at a certain time and spot in Jerusalem and left as a large group. Perhaps Mary thought Jesus was with Joseph, and Joseph thought he was with Mary, or maybe they both thought He was with other family members or friends. They really would not have had any reason to think that Jesus was not in the group as they left the city, that is until they stopped for the night to camp and prepare food for their supper.
You can also imagine how long a day’s walk must have felt as Mary and Joseph headed back to Jerusalem to search for Jesus, a search that we are told took three day, and their great relief when they found Him in the temple.
There Jesus was, sitting in the temple court with the teachers, and we are told they were astonished at Jesus’ questions and comments. Now I think we can all relate when Mary says to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” I don’t know about you but along with the relief of finding him, I hear just a tinge of underlying anger. I know I would have been angry. Jesus’ reply does not help the situation at all. “Why were you searching for me? He asked. Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”
As we have seen as we study the New Testament, to do the will of God was the most important priority of Jesus’ life. The priority of Jesus is His Father’s house, His Father’s business. It is a must that Jesus do what the Father wants Him to do! And as we know, Jesus did His Father’s will even to dying on the cross for our sins. How can we ever forget His cry from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsake me?”
Notice that we are told that Jesus’ parents did not understand what he was saying to them. Jesus was now 12 years old and the world was just getting a first glimpse of what made Him exceptional. Before that and about 18 years after that until Jesus started His ministry, His life was pretty mundane. Jesus would have been like every other young child, even going through the terrible twos, as we call them.
What we learn today is exceptional though! Before this, in all of the gospel accounts the Jesus has not spoken a single word. Of course, he spoke before age 12, but none of His words are recorded. Most likely those words were just the ordinary words that all young boys spoke.
“Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” In those short phrases Jesus revealed to his parents and those listening who He is and His purpose. Mary and Joseph should have understood, but their weariness and frustration about searching out the boy got the better of them. Had they forgotten his miraculous conception announced by the angels and that indeed Jesus would be called the Son of God? Of course, they remembered, but they still did not understand exactly what that would mean. Already, Mary was learning what Simeon meant that her soul would be pierced as a result of this child. She’s learning that her child doesn’t belong to her alone, that though a faithful child, his fidelity to God will always take precedence and he in fact belongs not just to her and Joseph, but the entire world. Indeed, he was beginning to show them he is the only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Over the past several weeks we prepared for Jesus’ coming in Advent, then celebrated His birth at Christmas and now we celebrate the New Year, looking to the future. As we leave here this morning, I pray that God will help each one of us focus on making God the center of our life. Just think what we can accomplish together if like Jesus we say to ourselves, “I must be about our Father’s business.”
Let us remember that just as Jesus’ parents did not understand, not everyone is going to understand when we start making sacrifices to do God’s will. As God’s disciples, we have to decide at times whether we are going to please God or please man! May the peace of God, our Father, which transcends all understanding, guard your hearts and minds. May you enjoy many blessings in the upcoming year, and may we work together to further God’s Work! Amen