Luke 2:41-49 - The Quest for the Historical Jesus

You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama.

Our passion is to experience and express grace. Join us.

And one of the ones that I quickly said was Jeff Hamm. You see some things about him,

about his biography there in your bulletin, but I won't refer to that. I want to give you

two pictures of his heart. Jeff and I have known each other for a long, long time. Jeff was,

grew up, we grew up in the same church. And when he was a sophomore in high school,

I had him and two other guys that met with me at our house every Tuesday morning at 6.30 a.m.

These are sophomore boys in high school. And being a parent of two boys, that doesn't happen very often.

And these were men who truly wanted to know God. And it was fun to be with them then.

And another part of that was, I taught a Bible study at the same church, and Jeff attended that.

And the thing I noticed about Jeff, more than anything, was his intense passion for the Word

of God. It was just incredible. And I want to liken it to, since we're in the bowl season,

I want to liken it to, you know, the two big schools in the state of Alabama. And the fan base

is just unbelievable. Not the obnoxious ones, the intense ones, okay? That's what Jeff is for the

Word of God. I mean, where, you know, if you talk to one of these fans of either of those two schools,

they could tell you some really, you know, inane facts about 1937 winner or 1945 winner or who ran

the ball here or whatever. And they can give you chapter and verse. Well, Jeff can do that from the

eternal Word of God. And it's so fun when I sit with him now, I leave the conversation going,

oh my goodness, this man has a passion for the Word of God. So I hope you'll see that. And thank you so

much again, Jeff, for being with us today. Indeed, I am in the awkward situation of speaking to those,

some of whom I've known since I was 14 years old. But for that, I truly do give thanks and glory to God.

It is good to see some of you that you are persevering with the Lord and that you are growing

and walking steadfastly with Him. But with that said, despite what Tim said, there would be undoubtedly

some of you here against whom I would have sinned in my youth. And for that, I truly beg your pardon

and forgiveness. By the grace of God, I'm not who I was. I'm not the same person that some of you

knew long ago. I'm not the same man, thankfully, that my wife married 24 years ago tomorrow.

And so by the grace of God, crazy as it sounds, I'm an ordained PCA pastor, having served two

congregations. And most recently, I was serving, had the distinct pleasure of serving as a moderator

of the Presbytery in South Alabama. But alas, the fathers and the brothers discovered very quickly,

I did not know what I was talking about. And so they took action and informed me that if I were

to continue in the ministry, then I'd have to go back to school for remedial education. And so that is

what I'm doing now. And so I've taken a sabbatical to do exactly that. And so we, my family, has moved here

to Huntsville, where my wife and I are both from, while I have descended below the radar to drop off

the grid to try to pursue the PhD in systematic theology in Aberdeen, Scotland. And so I go back,

God willing, next month for the last time to finish this final and third year of this crazy commitment.

With all that said, I would ask that you would now help me to glorify God and ascribe honor to Him

as we read together, most reverently, God's most holy, inerrant, and infallible Word. And I was

informed that you have the English Standard Version in front of you in your pew racks. I'll try to read

along in the same version. But let us do that as we come now to do exactly that for which we are

created. We confessed it together. If you did that sincerely, what is the chief end of man? In other

words, what is the reason that we are here? What is the purpose of life? And that is to glorify God

and to enjoy Him forever. And so we do want to begin that even now and renew that commitment and

confession that we've just made together. And so I'll be reading from Luke, the gospel according

to this Gentile convert. He never knew Jesus. He was not one of the twelve. He was the beloved physician

of the Apostle Paul, and he is from Troas, which is on the coast of the Aegean Sea in modern-day Turkey.

this convert. This convert from, of all things, this former fanatical terrorist, Saul of Tarsus,

turned apostle. Luke studied under Paul, was converted under his influence, and traveled with him,

and then back to Palestine to investigate the truth regarding this man, Jesus, about whom he writes.

And so listen very carefully. Luke 41 through 49. That's chapter 2, if I did not mention that.

Now, his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.

And when he was 12 years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended,

as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it,

but supposing him to be in the group, they went a day's journey. But when they began to search for

him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem,

searching for him. After three days, they found him in a temple, sitting among the teachers,

listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding

and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him,

Son, Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.

And he said to them,

Why were you looking for me?

Did you not know

that I must be

in my father's

house?

The word of God for the people of God.

Thanks and praise and glory

be to God.

Let's pray.

Father, we come before you and we confess

that in the very beginning, you

created everything out of nothing.

You called into being that which was not there by the power of your word.

And we do thank you

that it is by the same word that you have informed us and revealed unto us

who your son is, the infinite God-man.

And we do praise you for him and the redemption

that he has bought for us

and applied to us via the Holy Spirit.

And so we do ask again,

kind sir,

as we come down to this portion of the worship

that we seek

to give to you, we do ask

that you would once more fulfill

what John the Baptist told his disciples

about Jesus

when he was getting more attention than him,

that he would increase

and that I would decrease

and that you would use this beggar

to show other beggars

where I have found bread.

And we do pray this

for Christ's sake.

Amen.

Amen.

A decade ago,

a book was published

that immediately hit the New York Times bestseller.

Six million copies were sold.

It was translated into over 40 different languages

and spinning off of this,

a blockbuster movie was released.

And the story

rocked the faith

of many

evangelicals.

As you know,

the Da Vinci Code

opens with this murder

at the Louvre

and it spins off

into this quest

for

the Holy Grail

and we cannot cover

all the details

of that narrative,

but

the premise

of the narrative

is this,

that the historical

Jesus

of Nazareth

is not the same

as the Christ

of the church.

There is

a real historical man,

Jesus,

but the church

came along

in the fourth century

and it muddied up

the waters

through which he had

originally walked

and it added

all these dogmas

about the virgin birth,

the miracles,

and the resurrection,

etc.

and so there is

really not that much

that we actually know

about the man

in history,

Jesus of Nazareth.

We only know

that which we received

about Christ

of the church.

And so it goes

in the movie

that all this is encoded

in the book as well.

All this is encoded

in the artwork

of Leonardo da Vinci

and if you were

to study that,

you would see

that indeed

Jesus of Nazareth

had a lover,

Mary Magdalene,

by whom he fathered

a child, Sarah,

who is the ancestor

then of this bloodline

that exists in Europe

today,

really in the aristocracy

of Europe.

And so it continues.

Now, anybody

that's a student

of history knows

that this is totally bogus.

The premise of the plot,

I should also inform you,

was based upon the fact

that Constantine

in this great power struggle

to polarize

his political enemies

started this

conspiracy theory

and then he summoned

together then

these theologians

across the European continent

to Nicaea

at the Council of Nicaea

in AD 325

and there was invented

Christology

as we know it.

That's when it came

into being.

And as I mentioned,

if you're a student

at all of history,

you know the bogusness

of that because

on my shelf

are books

written by men

that assert

and subscribe

to the deity

of Christ

that are written

in the first century

and the second century,

long before Constantine

lived in the fourth century.

You've got Tertullian

and Ignatius

and Polycarp

and Clement of Alexandria,

etc.

All these men

that held to the deity

of Christ.

That was never questioned.

That was not the reason

for which

the Council of Nicaea

was summoned at all.

It's because this guy

Arius arose on the scene

that was teaching

that Jesus was

the first created being,

that he was not eternal,

etc.

But the Da Vinci Code

is also just bad theology.

The author,

Mr. Brown,

did not hypothesize

the premise

to his plot.

It's old theology.

Best summarized

in the title

of a book

that was published

in 1907

by a guy

with the name

of Albert Schweitzer.

And the title

of his book

was

The Quest

for the Historical

Jesus.

And Schweitzer

wasn't

initiating

this idea at all.

In fact,

he was summarizing

preceding centuries

of scholarship,

beginning with

these guys

named

Reimaris,

Vrede,

Kant,

Schleiermacher,

Hegel,

etc.

All these guys

that arose

during the Enlightenment

and saw,

look,

the universe

is governed

by the laws

of planetary motion,

etc.

There is no God.

We cannot believe in God.

Jesus wasn't divine.

The Christ,

the church,

must have invented

all this stuff

because it can't be true.

Therefore,

the Jesus of history

is actually

a distinct person

and therefore

began

the so-called

quest

for the historical

Jesus.

Because the Christ

of the church

is distinct

from the Jesus

of Nazareth

of history.

Well,

in our text today,

we have

a quest

for the historical

Jesus.

And it is conducted

not by

Da Vinci Code

detectives,

not by

Enlightenment

philosophers,

not by

liberal

critics,

liberal

theologians,

but rather

we see

that those

on this quest

for Jesus

are

Joseph

and Mary.

and when

we analyze

their quest

like we're

about to do,

then we learn

that if one

was to begin

a quest,

a sincere

and a genuine

and a wholehearted

quest for the

historical Jesus,

then you

will find

the person

who is no one

less than

human and divine

at the same

time,

the

Theanthropos,

the God-man.

Now let me

prove that to

you,

and let's

back up.

We're going to

pull some

things together,

just hold on

to them,

and then we're

going to bring

them all

together and

apply them

to our own

selves so that

we might know

therefore how

we shall live

in this dark

world.

Of the four

gospel writers,

the four evangelists

as they're so

called,

Luke is the

only one that

tells us anything

at all about

Jesus after

his birth and

before the

inauguration of

his public

ministry at the

age of 30.

And so I would

assume, I haven't

been here with

you during the

Advent season,

I assume that

this narrative,

this wonderful

and beautiful

and majestic

narrative has

been reviewed

where you had

the shepherds

and the wise

men and all

this glory and

mystery and

wonder and

this then is

the very next

thing that we

learn about

that person.

He's 12

years old

and he goes

to Jerusalem.

And Luke

informs us of

the reason.

Notice in

verse 41,

just follow along

with me in your

pew Bibles,

I'll pull out a

few things from

some of these

verses and I

want to draw

your attention to

these verses so

you know that I'm

not deceiving you.

But verse 41,

we read that

every year his

parents went to

Jerusalem for the

feast of the

Passover.

In the Old

Testament, there

are three

mandatory feasts

for the heads

of households

to observe and

of course it was

highly encouraged

that the family

participate as

well.

The Passover,

Pentecost, and

the feast of

booze.

So here is this

lovely family from

the highlands of

Nazareth.

They go to

Jerusalem for the

feast.

It is wonderful.

It is lovely.

Everyone has a

good time but

alas, school

begins again next

week.

We have to go

back to work and

you feel the

sinking dread in

your bones of

the future week.

And so everyone

has to leave and

they go home but

on the way home

there is a little

anomaly.

A child is

missing.

Notice verse

43.

After the feast

was over, while

his parents were

returning home, the

boy Jesus stayed

behind in

Jerusalem but his

parents did not

know it.

Now I know some

of you and I

know where you

vacation.

So imagine you're

on the Florida

Panhandle and

you're coming

back home after

vacation.

Or maybe you're

in Gulf Shores and

you're coming up

I-65 or from the

Florida Panhandle and

you're coming up

331 and it is

crazy and it is

stressful especially

on 331 when it's

two-laned and you're

in just bumper to

bumper traffic and

by the time you get

to Montgomery you're

not even fit to be

around.

You're unapproachable.

At least I am.

And so I'm a mess.

And so you can

imagine by the time

you make it to

Montgomery and you

discover that a

child is missing.

Now that's the

situation here.

Now I don't think

that this at all

implies that Mary

or Joseph were

negligent and

irresponsible parents.

For one thing

they do turn

around.

And I've been

tempted not to.

In fact we've been

in this exact same

situation if you

must know the

truth.

It was on a

Sunday.

I was a pastor

and we got home

after church and

we're kind of

assembling in the

dining room where

there is usually

this, in our

lovely dining room

there is this

lavish feast that

is usually prepared

by my bride.

And I just

quickly surveyed the

situation and

noticed we were

missing a child.

So I went back

to the church

unlocked the

sanctuary.

I had the keys

to the sanctuary.

I was the

pastor.

Went to the

front pew and

there he was.

Fast asleep.

Unconscious.

Oblivious to the

world and the

panic that he had

caused.

And so we went

back home merrily

and happily.

And so you see

this is an easy

mistake that could

happen to any of

us.

which has

happened to

some of us.

So it doesn't

imply that they're

irresponsible,

negligent parents.

But there's this

additional factor

that's involved.

We might notice

it when we

consider how

they travel.

Notice verse

44.

Supposing him to

be in the group

or another

translation would

read, the NIV

reads, in their

company.

They look for

him among the

relatives and

friends.

And so they

caravan together.

They do not

travel as

isolated,

compartmentalized

families in their

own vehicles to

their destination.

But it might be

more akin to

some of y'all on

a Friday night

football game and

you've got to go to

some place in the

boondocks of

Alabama that you

have no idea where

it is.

And so you might

follow other

people and some

others might even

tag along with you.

And as children, as

they are, they want to

go with their

friends.

And so your children

might be in a car

ahead of you and

then their children

might be with you in

the rear and there

might be several of

you traveling there at

the same time.

And so they travel in

a caravan.

They don't necessarily

travel as

compartmentalized families

knowing where every

person in the family

is at any given

time.

So they all go down

together.

But there's an

additional factor in

how they get there in

this traveling.

The children or

they're walking, if

you don't know.

They're walking.

They're not actually

traveling in their own

vehicles.

And so they're walking

and the children lead

out first.

They're followed by the

women and then the

men follow last.

The reason being it

would just be pointless

for the men to leave

because we're always in

a hurry and we'd

always be frustrated as

everyone is tagging

along and it would

just ruin everyone's

day.

And so the children,

being the slowest,

they set the pace.

And they lead first.

And then the women

fall along behind the

children.

And you can imagine

there they are talking

about whatever was

posted on Facebook,

etc.

And whose kids are

doing what.

And then the men

fall along behind

them and they're

talking about the

cotton ball or more

revelant things like

bow hunting.

And so they're all

kind of distracted.

And initially they do

not notice, you see,

that Jesus is missing.

But then there's an

additional complication

with respect to his age.

In verse 42, Luke

informs us that Jesus

is 12 years old.

And that's very

significant.

You see, at the age of

13, a Jewish boy at this

time becomes a bar mitzvah,

a son of the commandment.

Literally, that's what it

means.

And so the age of 13 is

when a Jewish boy is

recognized then as an

adult member of the

community.

It's when he is accepted

as a man, really.

And so you can imagine

the scenario then.

You can perceive what

might be going on.

Here's Jesus.

He's 12 years old.

He's walking along in

the caravan.

What is Joseph thinking?

Well, he's 12 years old.

He's up front with the

youth group.

He's having a good time

with his friends.

And then Mary is

somewhere along in the

middle of this cluster.

And she's thinking, well,

Jesus is almost 12.

He wants to assert his

manhood.

He wants to be respected.

He wants to be viewed as an

adult in the eyes of the

man.

He's back there with

Joseph with the men

somewhere and back.

And so there's all this

commotion going on as well.

There's all these people.

And so Jesus is initially

overlooked accidentally

at first.

And then upon realization

that they cannot find him,

that he is not in the group,

they begin this frantic search

which ultimately leads them

back to Jerusalem, you see,

because Jesus is missing.

And of course, we could stop

here and apply the passage.

We shouldn't take the time,

but this happens so often

to so many folk in churches

today.

Fine Christians,

they assume that they are

so close to Jesus,

they presume that he is so near,

they are so intimate,

and they go merrily along

in life one day

and realize

Jesus is not near them.

He is distant,

removed,

far away.

But we can't take time

to dwell on that.

Notice,

Mary and Joseph

return to Jerusalem

and where do they find him?

And this is tying us in

to this identity

and this quest

that I want to pursue.

Verse 46,

we read,

After three days

they found him

in the temple

sitting

among the teachers.

Now, beloved,

we should not think

these are our wonderful

teachers

and the preliminary

educations

that we enjoyed

from high school,

our math teachers,

our English teachers.

These are the experts

in the Scripture.

and I love

the rendering

that the King James gives

and I would not at all

want you to think

I'm one of these

King James only people.

I used to despise

the translation

in my youth.

I just thought it was archaic.

It's what my grandfather prayed.

It just didn't even make sense.

And now in my middle years

I've come to enjoy

the Old English

a little bit more

just because the majesty

and the formality

and the reverence.

And the King James

translates that he was

sitting among

the doctors.

The doctors

of the church.

And so here is Jesus,

you see,

he is with the faculty

of the departments

of theology,

the doctors of the church,

doctor so-and-so

and doctor this.

He is sitting there

with the chairs

of theology

from Heidelberg

and to begin

and Harvard,

etc.

And this is where

Jesus' parents find Him.

He is at the temple,

you see,

with the theologians.

And notice what He is doing there

in verse 46.

After three days

they found Him

in the temple,

He is sitting

among the teachers.

And I confess

that this initially

might seem insignificant.

But it's important

to realize

that at this time

in the history

of the world

and particularly

in this region,

of the globe,

the great teachers

sit down

to teach.

Even before Christ,

among your philosophers

in the Greek world,

whoever your favorite

philosopher is to read,

Thales and Eximines

and Eximander,

Heraclitus,

Pythagoras,

Socrates,

Plato,

Aristotle,

all of these guys

before Christ

sit down

to teach.

And so does Jesus.

You might remember

Sermon on the Mount.

What does Matthew record?

Matthew chapter 5,

Matthew 5:1

verse 1.

He went up

on the mountainside,

called His disciples

to Himself,

and He sat down

and began

to teach

them.

in His earthly ministry,

Jesus sits

to teach.

Now incidentally,

just in case you're curious,

this all changed

in the 4th century.

John Chrysostom,

he was the pastor

of the largest church

in Christendom,

St. Sophia's Cathedral,

in what was formerly known

as Constantinople,

but is now

Istanbul,

Turkey,

a former Christian sanctuary,

now converted

to a Muslim mosque,

preview of the upcoming

attraction

in all of our sanctuaries.

It's what exists

in Aberdeen,

Scotland today.

We won't go into that.

And because

of the bad acoustics

in this magnificent

cathedral

in which John Chrysostom,

the golden mouth,

preached

to the crowds

overflowing,

because the poor acoustics

in the cathedral,

Chrysostom,

at that point,

began to stand up

to teach,

and thereafter

it became tradition

in Western civilization.

Within Christendom,

pastors began

to stand

to teach.

And I don't think

that it all implies

we need to start a crusade

to go back

to sitting and teaching,

but that's just

the historical matter.

But here's Jesus,

you see,

in the Gospels,

and he sits down

to teach.

And again,

notice where he is sitting.

In verse 46,

the text says

he's sitting

among the teachers.

Another translation

says he's sitting

in the midst.

He's in the midst,

you see,

because he is

in the middle

of the teachers.

Jesus here

is the center

of attention.

Now, you can read

some fine commentators

and they say,

well, look,

you shouldn't make

too much of this,

but I think that is

the exact reason

that Luke records it.

And so notice now

the situation

I'm trying to draw

for you.

We have the great

theologians

of the Jerusalem Temple

and they are

in session.

Kind of like

the American Academy

of Religion,

maybe as we have

in Britain,

the Queen Society

for the Study

of Theology,

etc.

And that's the situation.

These great theologians

are in session

and a little boy

walks over

to the back edge

of the class

and sits there

quietly.

And as the lecture

continues,

he leans over

to the nearest professor

and he comments

on the lecture.

And these two

begin to talk

and then another

professor nearby

overhears their conversation,

perhaps unintentionally

at first,

but he begins to listen

to what they are discussing

and he's drawn in

to what they are talking about

and he nudges

the nearest professor

to him

and he points

to the boy.

And so it continues

and everyone

is looking

and staring

at the boy

and they are fixated

on the boy

and then one by one

everyone stops

and is silent

and they're looking

at the boy.

And so I'm reminded

of the old

and I'm dating myself

of the old

EF Hutton commercial.

Perhaps some of you

remember it.

Maybe some of you

young adults

don't even know it.

You can Google it.

It's a brilliant

marketing strategy.

So here we are

in this restaurant

and it is noisy

and we're trying

to listen

as the camera

zooms in

onto a particular

table in the corner.

We're trying to listen

to the conversation

between these two

dialogue partners,

right?

But we can't hear them

because the restaurant

is so noisy.

There's this clamor

of noise

in the background

with multiple

and various conversations

going in

and perhaps the camera

zooms in

to the wait staff

that's just dropped

a glass

and so you hear

the shattering

of glass

and then you notice

that someone

is cutting meat

on their plate

and there's that

scraping sound

and so there's

all this noise

in the background

but we're trying

and straining

to listen

to what these two

are discussing

and then one

of them drops

the name

E.F. Hutton

and the restaurant

is silenced.

Right?

Because everyone

is straining

to hear what

E.F. Hutton

the financial broker

has to say

about where

you should invest

your money

and you can hear

a pin drop

in the restaurant.

And I don't think

that that is dissimilar

to the situation

that we have here

in the temple.

Everyone

is straining

to hear

the boy

one by one.

They stop talking

and they look over

at this lad

and all eyes

are glued on him

and they are fixated

and they're straining

to hear what he has to say

and so notice now

the scene.

Here is this boy

in the middle

of the theologians

and he is sitting

which means

that the boy

now is the

great professor

and the professors

around him

are the students.

And this is verified

in what follows.

It's very important.

Notice in verse 46

again we read

after three days

they found him

in the temple

sitting among

the teachers

listening to them

and asking

them

the questions.

Jesus is asking

the questions

and giving

the answers

but it's important

to notice

that he is asking

the questions

which does not

at all imply

that we have

the case

of this naive

incompetent

ignorant

little boy

he doesn't know

so he's asking

the questions

because he's so curious

but rather

it is exactly

what we see

throughout

Christ's

earthly ministry

right?

Over and over

and over again

we see

Christ controlling

the conversation

by asking

the questions

time and time

again

you remember

he is attacked

he is accused

he is questioned

he's questioned

and he turns

the tables

and he responds

and he puts

the counter question

Jesus refuses

to allow

these

unbelieving

presumptions

control the

conversation

he will not

allow it

so he turns

the table

and controls

the conversation

by asking

the questions

good teacher

what must I do

to inherit

eternal life?

what does

the law

say to you?

in trying

to entrap him

teacher

do we have

to pay

taxes

to Caesar

whose inscription

is upon

the coin?

by what

authority

do you do

these things?

well I'll tell

you

John's baptism

from whence

did it come?

from heaven

or from men?

on and on

and on

attacking him

again

well then why

did David

say

the Lord

said to my

Lord

sit at my

right hand

till I make

your enemies

a footstool

for your feet

if David

is calling

him his

Lord

then in

what sense

is his

son?

over

and over

and over

again

Jesus will

not allow

the dialogue

to be framed

by these

unbelieving

presuppositions

but rather

he takes

control

of the

conversation

and he

turns the

tables

and he

puts the

counter question

and he

teaches

and he

forces people

to come up

to the

conclusions

that he

wants them

to reach

by asking

the questions

and so

it is

here

again

Jesus

you see

is sitting

and he's

asking the

questions

they don't

have the

answers

and so

he's

answering

them

for them

and notice

then the

reaction

of the

professors

in verse

47

everyone

who heard

him

was

amazed

dumbfounded

shocked

stunned

speechless

not

because

he's

a mere

lad

but notice

they are

amazed

at his

understanding

and that

is the

issue

this

colossal

understanding

that he

possesses

which would

be

extraordinary

for

anyone

this

unfathomable

knowledge

that the

boy

possesses

this

vast

comprehension

you see

his

profound

grasp

of reality

and that

is the

issue

you see

they are

amazed

because he

is leading

them along

in this

discussion

asking

them

the kinds

of questions

that makes

a person's

heart

skip

a beat

especially

for these

men

imagine

here's

this boy

in the

temple

and he

might ask

what is

the temple

for

what does

the temple

symbolize

oh

God's

dwelling

place

here on

earth

well then

what would

be

existentially

greater

for God

to dwell

among men

symbolically

in a

break

building

or for

God

to dwell

among

men

in the

flesh

and then

why the

continual

sacrifice

look at

the

worshipers

bringing

in

lambs

and goats

it's

unending

it is

repetitive

it is

continual

why does

this go

on

and on

would it

not be

better

if there

were one

lamb

of God

that would

take away

sacrifice

forever

that would

abrogate

sacrifice

and end it

once and for

all so that

it could be

publicly

declared

it is

finished

it is

over

the

sacrificial

system

has

ended

or what

did the

prophets

say about

the

Messiah

when

will he

come

is not

the time

drawing

nigh

and then

how

will he

come

in what

manner

do you

really

think

that he'll

come

riding

on a

war

horse

to

overthrow

the

Roman

army

or

rather

will he

arrive

as a

man

of

sorrows

and

acquainted

with

grief

and like

one

from

whom

men

hide

their

face

that

he

would

be

despised

and esteem

not

and they

are

amazed

at his

understanding

and so

you could

probably

already

connect

the dots

and see

why Luke

includes

this in

his gospel

remember

the context

to whom

does Luke

write

flip over

a page

two pages

notice chapter

one

verse

three

it seemed

good to me

also

having

followed

all these

things

closely

for some

time

past

to write

an orderly

account

for you

most

excellent

who

Theophilus

we don't

have time

to dig

into the

title

but

Theophilus

is a

high ranking

official

in the

Roman

Empire

arguably

a Roman

governor

not in

Palestine

that's

why Luke

goes to

Palestine

to do

the research

on the

behalf

of Theophilus

about which

after he

accumulates

it he

writes the

man two

different

volumes

this gospel

and the

book of

Acts

both

dedicated

to this

one man

that nobody

knows

about

to which

these

works

given to

him

consist of

over more

than a

third

of the

New

Testament

and so

Luke is

well connected

and he's

writing and

researching the

account of this

historical man

on behalf

of Theophilus

you see

Theophilus

is a man

that is on the

edge of

faith

or he might

be in the

faith but he's

had his world

rocked because

he's all of a

sudden been

introduced to

all these

accusations

about Jesus

that Jesus

was against

you see the

Old Testament

religion

he was on

trial for

teaching against

the law of

Moses and

the Jewish

religion but

now Theophilus

has the other

side of the

story now

he can see

through all the

rhetoric and

the propaganda

and the

political spin

Jesus was

not against

the Old

Testament

notice here

he is in

the temple

rather Jesus

is the

fulfillment of

the Old

Testament and

the temple

system destroy

this temple

I'll raise it

up again in

three days

you see and

therefore Jesus

studies the

Old Testament

scriptures and

he masters them

at the earliest

conceivable age

because the Old

Testament points

to him it is

about him it is

fulfilled in

him and

perhaps then

we can see

why they

hated him

so much

in his

earthly

ministry

because when

he is a

twelve year

old boy he

amazes them

and staggers

them and

forces them to

deal with

conclusions they

cannot cope

with and he

questions them

and he

questions them

but again they

cannot cope

with it but

at that point

you see he's

a twelve year

old child they

can pat him on

the head and

push him away

with his mommy

but eighteen

years later the

same Nazarene

shows up to

the same temple

asking the same

questions to the

same teachers and

again they cannot

cope with the

conclusions that he

is forcing them to

arrive at but this

time you see things

are different this

time he's no

child and so this

time they crucify

him

but this is where

Mary and

Joseph find him

in the temple

which then leads

us to the

most important

discovery about

the true identity

of the historical

Jesus of Nazareth

and it's embedded

here in this

dialogue between

the boy and his

mother notice

verse 48 they

were astonished

when they found

him there and

what does Mary

ask son why have

you treated us

so another

translation reads

son why have

you treated us

like this and

what does the text

go on to say you

see we have we

have we have been

searching for you

in great distress

the NIV reads we've

been searching for

you in great anxiety

the Greek text reads

we have been

searching for you in

pain you have

caused us all this

pain this heartache

we were traumatized

we did not know what

happened to you we

had thought perhaps

you were abducted or

you were dead in a

ditch or in the

street we did not

know and you've

caused us all this

pain and and why

have you treated us

like this

in her statement

you see is pregnant

with accusation

that he has

mistreated them

you see that he has

been disrespectful

disobedient

insubordinate

inconsiderate

and so here you have

the young mother

of a young child

that is emotionally

exhausted

physically spent

has not slept

in three nights

traumatized

worried to death

over her child

in a panic

and now she finds

them

first sensation

is instant relief

and it's transformed

into anger

and she unloads

not that I've ever

witnessed this

I've never seen a

young mother go

ballistic on a child

but

I'm assuming

that is the case

here

and so again

Jesus would not

allow

the conversation

to be controlled

by unbelieving

presuppositions

and so he

he gains control

of the conversation

by the counter

question

why

were you

searching for me

and then another

question

but first let's

pause

and let me forewarn

the students here

what we have

in the text

you should not

try at home

it is very dangerous

it could bring

great bodily harm

upon yourself

because here

Jesus

rebukes

his mother

he corrects

very respectfully

and of course

sinlessly

praise be to God

he kept the fifth

commandment

to honor your father

and your mother

for me

since I did

but he kept

the commandment

for me

to earn righteousness

for me

for you

for us

and he pushes

back

very respectfully

and here

he speaks

to her

not as her

son

but as her