Luke 2:41-52: Home Alone

APC: 28 Jan, 2024

One of the movies that seems to come on TV around Christmas is “Home Alone”. Do you remember it? Starring the cute Macauley Culkin. His crazy family leave him behind in the rush to make it to the airport for their Christmas holiday. And he’s left at home, where he has all sorts of adventures on his own.

It’s a movie that reminds me of what happens here for the boy Jesus. Home Alone. It’s the only story in any of the gospels from Jesus’ childhood. Mark and John begin with Jesus as an ADULT. And Matthew jumps straight from him as a baby to an adult. But Luke chose to include ONE EVENT from his childhood. THIS ONE. And his reason is to teach us about Jesus. Especially about his FATHER and about HIS HOME. But not about his EARTHLY father and home.

You see, Jesus, even at this young age, realises he has ANOTHER Father. A HEAVENLY Father. And it’s HIS family business he’s going to follow in. Right back in Ch 1 v2 Luke the author tells us he’s carefully investigated all the events he’s included. Which probably means he spent time talking to Mary. We’re told at the end of today’s story, v50, that Mary TREASURED UP ALL THESE THINGS IN HER HEART. So when Luke comes along years later, doing research for his biography, THIS is probably one of the stories Mary tells.

She probably ALSO told Luke about her ANGEL VISIT. (Luke records that in Ch 1 v26.) And just ONE of the extraordinary things the angel says to Mary (Chapter 1 v32) is that her baby will be called THE SON OF THE MOST HIGH. Not just MARY’S son, but God’s son. And it’s likely Mary told Jesus about that as he grew up.

However it happened, by the time Jesus is twelve, he knows that God’s his Father in a very SPECIAL way. A way that’s different from how OTHER Jews think about God. They’d call God “OUR Father”. In the sense that he’s the father of EVERY JEW. Or that God’s the father of THE WHOLE NATION. But there was little understanding of a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP. But Jesus, at 12, calls God MY Father. In a PERSONAL and INTIMATE way.

And Mary’s stored away THIS PARTICULAR STORY about Jesus the boy. Because of what it says about his IDENTITY. And about his MISSION. (Who he is, and why he’s come.) And so Luke INCLUDES it for US. So we’d know the CERTAINTY of the things we’ve been taught. Especially the incredible truth that Jesus is BOTH GOD and MAN.

A family holy-day

V41. It begins when the family head off to Jerusalem for the Passover. Same as they do every year. A regular family Holy-day. They’re part of a GROUP. Relatives and neighbours. Pilgrims, all travelling from Nazareth, in the north. South to Jerusalem. They travel for COMPANY. And they travel for SAFETY. They arrive at the temple, and celebrate the feast.

At the end of the festival, the group packs up, and they all head out of town. Well, not QUITE everyone. The woman and young children are at ONE end of the convoy. The men and OLDER boys travel at THE OTHER END. And so Jesus, at TWELVE, could be with EITHER. Which is what both Mary AND Joseph assume.

But the REALITY is he’s with NEITHER. He’s been left behind – just like the MOVIE. And they only realise it when they stop for the evening. They ask their RELATIVES. They ask their NEIGHBOURS. But no one’s seen him. Any parent who’s lost a child knows the sinking feeling.

So the next morning they travel back the way they’ve come. And stay the night back in Jerusalem. AGAIN. No doubt, worried the whole time. The THIRD day, bright and early, they start looking.

Now, my mother always said to me when I’d lose something, which, growing up, I did quite a lot, “Where do you last remember seeing it?” And it’s good advice. Mary and Joseph head back to the temple, where they’d celebrated the Passover. Where they’d last seen Jesus. And that’s where they find him. One commentator says “the holy FAMILY/ left the holiest PART of the family/ back at the HOLY OF HOLIES!”

And, when they find Jesus, like MOST parents, they’re relieved AND upset. To be honest, v48 sounds like they’re more UPSET.

48 When his parents saw him, they were ASTONISHED. His mother said to him, "Son, WHY HAVE YOU TREATED US LIKE THIS? Your father and I have been ANXIOUSLY SEARCHING for you."

They’ve been worried SICK for the last couple of days. And travelling half way across Judah. And when they finally FIND Jesus, he’s sitting among the teachers of the law, discussing the Scriptures, making himself right at HOME. As if nothing’s happened.

The Spirit of wisdom and understanding

And they’re not the ONLY ones astonished. Because Jesus isn’t just listening and ASKING questions. Which is what you’d EXPECT of a twelve year old. He’s ANSWERING questions TOO. V47. And everyone who HEARS him is AMAZED at his understanding and his answers. He’s got WISDOM BEYOND HIS YEARS. Which isn’t surprising when we remember what God had PROMISED about the Messiah through the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 11.

Isaiah 11 chapter mention

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. 2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him-- the Spirit of WISDOM AND OF UNDERSTANDING,

(A promise that God would give his Spirit to his promised king / so he’d have special WISDOM and UNDERSTANDING.) And that’s exactly what Jesus is showing. Even at TWELVE. In the temple, God’s HOUSE. Learning even MORE from the experts.

Two fathers

And as Jesus answers his parents, we find out WHY. Jesus’ first recorded words. Which makes them pretty significant. Here’s his answer. V49.

49 "Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I HAD to be in MY FATHER'S HOUSE?"

Mary had said, “YOUR FATHER and I have been looking for you.” But Jesus replies that he’s got ANOTHER Father. V49 “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be in MY FATHER’S house?” TWO fathers. But very different from any other sort of complicated step-family.

We know the background. The angel visit to Mary. The promise of a baby, even though she’s a VIRGIN. That the Holy Spirit himself would come upon her, and she’d be with child. In a unique way, GOD would be his Father. Beyond anything we can understand. And over in Ch 3 Luke refers to that parentage, when he traces Jesus’ ancestry all the way back to Adam. He begins, v23, with his father (well, ONE of them ANYWAY). He describes him: “Jesus. He was the son, SO IT WAS THOUGHT, of Joseph.” TWO fathers. An EARTHLY Father who’s looking for Jesus. And a HEAVENLY Father, who Jesus is looking to learn more about.

This is REALLY the CENTRAL TRUTH of Christianity. The DEFINING truth of Christianity. That Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, eternal and omnipotent, became a human being, was born of a human mother, and adopted by a human father. You can deny all sorts of truths about the Christian faith, and still be a Christian. But deny THIS truth, and you’re no longer Christian. This is what separates mainstream Christianity from cults, and sects, and other religions. No matter WHAT they say about how they revere his life, or follow his teaching. It might seem like a fairly insignificant story. But it teaches us about WHO JESUS IS. Not just what he looked like. Or how he acted. But WHO HE WAS. At the core of his identity. Fully God and fully man.

In the things of my Father

Jesus says, v49, “Didn’t you know I HAD to be in my Father’s house? It should have been OBVIOUS. I’m my Father’s SON, it’s necessary to be doing HIS things. So you shouldn’t be SURPRISED to find me in the temple learning ABOUT him.”

But even THEN, v50, his parents don’t understand what he’s saying. It probably doesn’t help that Jesus’ actual words aren’t quite as clear as our translation suggests. A more literal translation says something like, “Don’t you know that I must BE IN THE THINGS of my father.”

That COULD mean in my Father’s HOUSE. Or it could be MORE GENERAL. “I must be about my Father’s BUSINESS.” That’s how the King James translates it. Which I prefer. Because it means MORE than just Jesus has to be in a certain PLACE. He has to be IMMERSED in the things of his father. His plans, and purposes. His character and his way of doing things. His WHOLE LIFE is governed by those things. Which means his job at the moment is to be learning more about what his Father’s business INVOLVES.

And so, v51, the family heads home. AGAIN. THIS time with Mary and Joseph keeping a closer eye on Jesus. Especially as they try to understand what it means for Jesus to be IN THE THINGS OF HIS FATHER. And, v51, Mary treasured up all these things in her heart. She stored them away as precious memories. She did the same thing back when the shepherds had visited the baby Jesus. Back in Bethlehem. And they’d told them all about the army of angels singing songs of praise to God. For HER LITTLE BOY. And we read, ch 2 v19. “Mary TREASURED up all these things, and PONDERED them in her heart.”

You see, Mary’s not treasuring the memories like a family photo album. More like PIECES OF A PUZZLE. A puzzle that can’t be solved in one attempt. So every so often, as the years go by, she brings them out again, and thinks some MORE about them. And tries to fit the pieces together. Tries to understand WHO THIS LITTLE BOY IS she’s raising. This little boy who’s “the son of JOSEPH, so it was thought”. AND the Son of the MOST HIGH. God’s Son. A little boy learning to be God’s AGENT, doing God’s BUSINESS.

Who is this Jesus?

And it’s the same question Luke wants US to ask. WHO IS THIS JESUS? Son of the Most High God. Come to bring SALVATION. Come to REIGN over a kingdom that will never end. And, in particular, Who is this Jesus who’s so full of the Spirit of WISDOM and UNDERSTANDING? Who, even as a BOY, spoke about God as if he KNEW HIM PERSONALLY. Because that’s someone who’s really worth KNOWING. Worth LISTENING TO.

Here’s someone who gets living the human life RIGHT. Who lives WELL. Because he gets GOD right. He knows PERSONALLY the God who MADE us. (Understands HIS purposes and perspective and priorities.) See how the section FINISHES? They went home to Nazareth, and Jesus was OBEDIENT to his parents. Here was God’s son, going about his Father’s business. Rightly connected to his HEAVENLY Father. But also rightly connected to his HUMAN parents, too. V52 says he grew in wisdom and stature, and IN FAVOUR WITH GOD AND MEN. There was a BALANCE to his life. Living WELL is about being connected HORIZONTALLY to your fellow man. And connected VERTICALLY to your God. BOTH directions are important.

We can LEARN from Jesus how to live WISELY. And live WELL. How to know and relate to GOD. And to PEOPLE. We’ve seen, over the last three weeks, how PROVERBS teaches us how to live WISELY. God’s instructions. How to live in the FEAR of the LORD. But THIS IS EVEN BETTER. Because it’s not just God’s INSTRUCTIONS we’re to OBEY. But God’s EXAMPLE we’re to FOLLOW. He doesn’t just TELL us. He SHOWS us.

It’s wisdom we need ESPECIALLY at the moment. The world is full of confusion and fear. Wars with no end in sight. Rising interest rates. Mortgage stress. Crippling cost of living. Climate change and growing hopelessness. Greater immorality and pride, and refusal to listen to God’s wisdom. Australians feel HELPLESS and HOPELESS in the face of it. We want ANSWERS. We want WISDOM. We want to know how to live life WELL. With insight and purpose and perspective.

And Luke introduces us to someone who, as the unique Son of God, has God’s Spirit of WISDOM and UNDERSTANDING. Someone who lives life WELL. And calls us to FOLLOW him. Even at TWELVE, Jesus is living life well. Answering questions from people decades older.

But look at how Luke goes on to describe him. In the chapters that follow. In Ch 4, he’s now A GROWN MAN. He resists temptation in the wilderness. He lives by the Word of God, and worships him ALONE. That’s WISDOM.

In Ch 5 he calls disciples to FOLLOW HIM. And teaches them NEW PRIORITIES. Gives them a new heavenly agenda. How to catch MEN, not FISH.

In Ch 6, he teaches about a DIFFERENT REALITY. A different kingdom. God’s kingdom. He teaches that the POOR are blessed - for the Kingdom of God is theirs. And that when people CURSE you because of Jesus you are BLESSED. (Blessed because your reward is great in heaven). That’s putting the things of THIS life in perspective, when the future is uncertain. (Employment, or climate or interest rates.) That’s WISDOM.

And, 6:35, he teaches “LOVE YOUR ENEMIES, and turn the other cheek.” That’s the wisdom you need in the face of fear and death and hatred.

Jesus had been living that wisdom for DECADES. Since he was a BOY. Growing in wisdom and stature. And in FAVOUR with God and man. And he continues, in 6:35, those who FOLLOW his wisdom. Who love their enemies.

Then your reward will be great, and YOU will be SONS OF THE MOST HIGH,

Did you catch what he said? Love your enemies, and your reward will be great, and YOU WILL BE SONS OF THE MOST HIGH. Who ELSE was a Son of the Most High? Jesus! That’s what the angel Gabriel had promised his mother Mary. And it’s what Jesus himself UNDERSTOOD as a 12 year old in the temple. Learning to be about his Father’s business.

But here, Jesus says that WE, TOO, are God’s sons, when we FOLLOW THE WISDOM OF HIS UNIQUE SON. We bear a family resemblance. We imitate GOD when we love our enemies. Because (v35)

because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36 Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Our heavenly Father does that every day. To people who don’t DESERVE it. To people who ignore him. And who live in rebellion and independence from him. Who decide their own morality. He gives them life and health. Children and shelter and food and jobs and peace. He sends rain and sun. To his enemies AS WELL AS his children.

And WISE people do the same. They love their enemies. When death and terror rattles them, they CHOOSE TO LOVE, instead. When the temptation is to hate or fear, they CHOOSE TO LOVE, instead. When uncertainty and fear unsettle us, wise people point their friends and neighbours and work colleagues to God’s wise son, Jesus. Who had an eternal perspective on wealth and family and employment.

He’s got answers for life. And answers for DEATH. Wise answers for how to make life WORK. To make it rich and real and right. How to live without fear or worry. How to live content and blessed.

WISE people follow God’s WISE SON, Jesus. Make 2024 a year when you focus MORE on listening to HIM. And LESS on listening to what the WORLD says.

1