Deo Gloria
Sermon for December 26, 2021
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: Luke 2:41-52
Theme: The Boy Jesus Lived An Obedient Life!
- Obedient to his heavenly Father
- Obedient to his earthly parents
Have you ever noticed that when adults reminisce about their childhood days, they often give the impression that they never did anything wrong? They were the most obedient, well-behaved children in the whole neighborhood. Why, they were practically little angels. If you go and talk to their parents, however, you tend to get a different story. “Oh, they were good kids all right, but little angels? I wouldn’t go that far. I remember that one time when Randy and his buddies got an idea to pull a little prank. And well, I’ll let Randy’s mother tell you the rest of the story.”
This morning in the gospel of Luke we hear a story about Jesus’ childhood, one of the few stories in the Bible from that period in Jesus’ life. In fact, other than the story of Jesus’ birth recorded in Luke, ch. 2, and the story of his family’s flight down to Egypt found in Matthew, ch. 2, this is the only story concerning Jesus’ childhood we find recorded in all of Scripture. It’s not a sanitized story either, one that has been “cleaned up” for public consumption, like some of the movies they show on TV. No, this story is a true story; and one that teaches us a valuable lesson. It teaches us that as a boy Jesus lived an obedient life. He lived in obedience to his heavenly Father. He also lived in obedience to his earthly parents.
A few years ago my mom told us a story about her youngest sister, my Aunt Geraldine. It seems that when she was little, she could be a little dickens sometimes. She never wanted to hold on to people’s hands and she liked to run off on her own. Well, one time they went to the state fair. And while they were looking at the displays in one of the buildings, suddenly they noticed that Geraldine was gone. Quickly they made a search of the building, but she wasn’t there. They went outside and searched the street right in front of the building, but she wasn’t there either. How were they ever going to find her in such a mass of people? They did the only thing they could think of: they went and reported it to the fairground staff. They gave them a description of Geraldine and what she was wearing. And then they resumed their frantic search. It wasn’t too long after that that it was announced over the PA system that a little girl had been found on machinery hill. So they made their way to machinery hill as fast as they could and sure enough—that little girl turned out to be Geraldine. Apparently, she had been playing on some of the tractors and other farm equipment. Naturally, they were relieved that she had been found, but they were a bit upset with her too that she had wandered off on her own. So after that, whenever they went to a crowded, public place, they put a shoulder harness on little Geraldine along with a leash, so she wouldn’t get lost again.
If you can relate to my mom and her parents, frantically searching for Aunt Geraldine, then I’m sure you can relate to Mary and Joseph too. Imagine how they must have felt when they finally realized that Jesus was missing! As they were accustomed to do, Joseph and Mary had gone up to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover, an annual celebration which commemorated the deliverance of the Children of Israel from slavery in Egypt. After the week-long celebration Joseph and Mary, along with the rest of their friends and relatives from Nazareth, set out for home. The only problem was Jesus wasn’t with them. They assumed he was, probably chumming around with a group of his friends or cousins. You know how those 6th grade boys tend to be. It wasn’t until later that day, probably after the group they were traveling with had stopped for the day and begun to settle down for the evening, that Mary and Joseph began to get concerned. “Joseph, have you seen Jesus? It’s not like him to miss supper and be out so late like this?”
“No, I haven’t seen him. Maybe he’s still hanging out with some of his friends.” So they began to look for him. They checked with their friends and relatives. “Aaron, Elizabeth, have you seen Jesus? We thought he might be over here with you. You know what good friends he and Jacob are.”
“No, we haven’t seen him.” In fact, no one had. Finally it dawned on them that he must have been left behind.
Without delay Joseph and Mary made their way back to Jerusalem. But where do you even begin looking? How do you find a small, 12-year-old boy in such a large city? He could be anywhere. For three days they looked, and they looked, and they looked. Couldn’t find him anywhere. Can you imagine how awful Mary and Joseph must have felt? Here they had been entrusted with a son, and not just any son, but the Son of God, the Savior of the world; and they had lost him. Finally they decided to go up to the temple. We aren’t told why. Had they talked to someone who had seen a young boy milling about in the temple courts the past few days? Or did they go there perhaps to request a prayer of one of the priests, a special prayer to help them find their lost son? Whatever the reason they found what they were looking for. There, sitting among the teachers of the law, listening to them and asking them questions, was Jesus.
Relieved, but probably a little bit miffed as well, Mary said to Jesus, “Son, why on earth have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been looking all over for you.”
To which Jesus replied in a calm and matter-of-fact sort of way: “Why were searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house? Jesus’ answer was in no way intended to be disrespectful. It was not some sort of smart remark on his part. No, Jesus was simply stating what seemed to him to be quite obvious. “Why were looking for me, mom? Didn’t you know this is where I would be? This is Dad’s house. I love it here.” At the time Jesus’ answer went right over her head, but Mary never forgot what he said. It was one of those things that she pondered in her heart. And the more she thought about it, the more I’m sure it brought back to mind what the angel had said to her twelve years before: “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High”(Luke 1:31+32).
Yes, Jesus was Mary’s son, but he was also God’s Son. And as the sinless Son of God, Jesus always put God and his will first in his life. Whether it was the 1st Commandment or the 2nd or 7th or the 10th, Jesus was always ready and willing to obey his heavenly Father’s will. And when it came to spending time at the temple, his Father’s house, and listening to God’s Word as it was being read and taught in the temple courts, Jesus couldn’t get enough. He loved it there. He loved to spend time with his heavenly Father in worship and prayer. He loved to listen to God’s Word as it was being read and taught by the teachers of the law. He loved to talk with them about God’s Word and what it meant and how it applied to every day life. He absolutely loved it. There wasn’t any other place he’d rather be.
Just like you and me, right? Well, sometimes. “Sometimes I like coming here to God’s house and spending time with my heavenly Father in worship and prayer. Sometimes I like listening to God’s Word as it is being read and taught. Take Christmas Eve, for example. With the church so beautifully decorated and our singing all of those familiar Christmas carols, I like coming to church then. But other times I’d just as soon be someplace else: at home in bed, or maybe at the Vikings’ game, or maybe catching up on a few things at the office. Yeah, I know it’s Sunday morning and I probably should be in church, but sometimes I just don’t feel like it.”
You know, you’re right. As children of God, you and I should be in God’s house on Sunday mornings. Where else would God want his children to be? As children of God, you and I should put God first in our lives and in our weeks and take time to come to God’s house and worship him and hear his Word. You’re absolutely right. We should, but sometimes we don’t.
Sometimes we let our sinful nature get the better of us. Instead of listening to our new self, we listen to our old self, our old Adam, and we don’t take time for God. We skip coming to God’s house and we do our own thing instead. And that’s just plain wrong. It’s wrong when God has to take a back seat to other things in our lives. It’s wrong when we don’t take time to come to God’s house, to worship him and listen to his Word. It’s wrong when we can’t find time in our daily schedules to read and study God’s Word for ourselves and spend a little time with our Father in prayer. That’s not how God would have his children live.
Thank God for Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Substitute, the one who did things right! As our Savior, Jesus not only died on the cross to atone for our sins, including our failure to make time for God and his Word in our busy lives. As our Savior, Jesus also lived a holy and righteous life in our place. It’s what we refer to as Jesus’ active obedience. Jesus was born under the law, as Paul states in Galatians, ch. 4, so that he might obey the law for us. Unlike you and me, Jesus obeyed the Father’s will. As the sinless Son of God, Jesus always had time for God in his life. Jesus always had time to go to God’s house, whether that was to the temple or to a local synagogue. On the Sabbath, you would always find Jesus in the same place, in God’s house. Likewise Jesus always had time to listen to God’s Word and to discuss it with others. Jesus always had time to pray, even if that meant in the middle of the night or getting up early in the morning. When it comes to the 3rd Commandment, Jesus obeyed his Father’s will perfectly.
The same is true of the 4th Commandment. Jesus didn’t just listen to his heavenly Father, but then tell his mother and dad to take a hike. No, Jesus obeyed his earthly parents as well. Luke highlights this in v. 51: “Then he [Jesus] went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.” Yes, Jesus was the perfect child. He always obeyed his parents. And again, he did so in our place, as our substitute. Where we talked back to our parents, Jesus listened and obeyed. Where we lied to our parents, Jesus always told the truth. Where we grumbled and complained about having to do our chores or clean up our room or make our bed, Jesus did so gladly and willingly. “Sure, mom, sure, dad, I’d be happy to.” Jesus obeyed the 4th Commandment too.
He obeyed all of God’s will. He kept every commandment perfectly. And what Jesus has done God now credits to us. He is our righteousness. Through faith in Jesus Christ, the one who lived a holy and righteous life, you and I are holy and righteous in God’s sight. We are his holy, precious children.
As God’s redeemed children, redeemed by the life and death of our Savior Jesus, let’s do our best to follow the example set by our big brother. Like Jesus let’s strive to obey our heavenly Father’s will. Let’s be sure to take time each week to come to God’s house to worship him, to hear his Word and to receive his sacrament. Let’s take the time to read and study God Word’s on our own at home or together with our family, that we may continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Savior Jesus. Let’s take time out from all of the chaos and commotion of every day life and spend time with our Father in prayer. And when it comes to our earthly parents, let’s honor, serve and obey them and give them love and respect, as our Father in heaven would have us do.
Already as just a young boy Jesus our Savior lived an obedient life. And how grateful we are that he did! His perfect obedience God now credits to us so that we might be his holy, perfect children. So whether you’re 12 or 22 or 42 or 82, let’s make it our goal, as God’s children today, to do the same, to live an obedient life out of thanks to Jesus. Amen.