Where do you expect to find Him? A Meditation on Luke 2

In the Gospel reading for Sunday, January 5^th, we have the familiar story of Jesus in the temple, and His parents searching for Him.  Much hay has been made by commentators, wondering why Jesus ditched His parents, whether Mary and Joseph should have known where He was, and just what it might have felt like to be the parents who lost the Son of God.  What strikes me as I read this passage again this year, is not so much the hunting, the anxiety, and the eventual finding, but rather, what Jesus is doing and where He’s doing it.

Jesus at this time is 12 years old, which is getting close to when a young Jewish boy would be expected to learn the Torah, receive his instruction, and take his place as a “man” in the synagogue community.  Naturally, no one expected the average 12 year old boy to be fully conversant in the Holy Scriptures, or to have the wisdom and insight of men who spent their entire lives, now gray and bent with age, whose entire time on earth was likely lived in or around the Temple.  Of course, if you meet the average 12 year old, he may think he knows more than all the grey haired teachers (a delusion that engulfs many, well into their 20’s…) but the reality is quickly unveiled when real life crashes in.  That 12 year old who can figure out video gaming systems like nobody’s business, seems infinitely perplexed by the challenge of keeping a small room clean, or the idea that a full belly is linked to hard work…

But Jesus is no average 12 year old boy.  He is the Son of God made flesh.  In His divinity He knows all things, and is Himself the Word who inspires the Holy Scriptures.  And even in His flesh, He is sinless, without corruption or vice.  Jesus is not in the Temple, talking with the elders, Pharisees, and Sadducees, in order to trick them, or play teenage games of sophistry.  The whole point of the Jewish Temple, or the smaller synagogues that peppered the countryside, was to be the place where the Word of the Lord was read, heard, believed, obeyed, and lived.  The sacrifices and the ceremonies emerged from the Word of God, and delivered the promises of the Covenant to the faithful people.  At the center of the people of God, as at the center of all creation, the Word of the Lord endures forever.  Why is Jesus in the Temple, asking questions, listening, and teaching the Holy Scriptures to the elders?  Because this is where He has always been, and shall always be.  Where else in all creation should we expect to encounter the Word of God more clearly, than in the Temple where His Word is calling and gathering His people to believe and live in Him?

And so, this begs the question in our day, as well.  Where exactly did we expect to find Jesus?  It is true, that as the eternally begotten Son of God, He is ever present, all powerful, and all knowing—there is no place in heaven or earth, or under the earth, where He is neither present nor aware of all things.  We can find Jesus at the top of the local mountain range, or in the depths of the sea; if we travel to the loneliest deserts, or the murkiest swamps, He is there; we can find Him in the highest heaven, and the lowest circle of hell; He is everywhere.  But this doesn’t mean we should seek Him everywhere.  Jesus does not command us by His Word to seek Him in the deserts or the wilderness, in heaven or in hell, though He is certainly there.  He sits at the Right Hand of the Father, with all authority given to Him.  His Word and His authority extend to every corner of creation, and His Law continues to speak judgment against all those who try to find holiness in themselves.

But unlike Jesus’ general presence in all creation, He is and has always been present in a special way, where He has gathered His people through His Word.  In the Old Testament, Jesus’ Word called the people together around altars of sacrifice after the Fall into sin, and this call continued through the Tabernacle of Moses, and the Temple built under Solomon.  Around His altar, Jesus called His people to hear His Law and believe His Gospel promises, so that they might repent, be healed, and live in Him forever.  In the New Testament, a different kind of altar becomes the place where Jesus calls His people—an altar where He continues to make present His one great Sacrifice for the sins of the world.  Around this altar, the people of God find the fulfillment of the Law in Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection.  Around this altar, the people of God hear the good news, that through Jesus their sins are forgiven, their lives are restored, and their fellowship with God has been made complete.  Around this altar, the people all become priests through the grace of their One High Priest, offering their prayers, praise, and thanksgiving for the salvation they have received by grace through faith in Jesus.  Around this altar, the people hear the Word of Jesus through His anointed messengers, who preach the Law and Gospel to them, and administer the mystery of His Sacraments to them, in the place and by the command of Jesus.  Around this altar, the Word Made Flesh dwells among us, full of grace and truth, where we behold His glory, and receive His free gift of salvation.

In a world full of heresies and apostasies, where sects and schisms seek to rend the Word away from the Church of God, sending people back out into nature or into themselves to find God on their own, Jesus is still right where He has always been:  in His Temple, gathering His people around His altar by the power of His Word, that we might receive the gifts He has purchased for us through His Holy Cross.  This is the Church of God, wherever Jesus is present in His Word and Sacraments, and His people gather around Him to receive His grace, by faith in Him and His Vicarious Atonement for the sins of the world.  This is where Jesus can always be found, speaking His Word of grace and mercy, forgiveness, life, and salvation.  He does not call us to seek Him in the wind and the rain, the mountains and the deserts, the heights of heaven or the depths of hell.  Rather, He comes to us here and now, through His Word, calling and gathering us to Himself, that we might live through Him.

Are you struggling to find Jesus, or to understand what He is saying to you?  He is where He has always promised to be, in the communion of His saints, who are gathered around Him in His Word and Sacraments.  From here He calls to you, and invites you to know Him, to believe Him, to receive His Holy Absolution, to be washed in His Holy Baptism, and to be fed with His Holy Body and Blood.  Here he calls to you through His Word preached in the clarity of Law and Gospel, that you might hear, repent and believe—that you might be born from above by Water and Spirit, and live in Him forever.  Seek Him, where He seeks you:  through His Holy Church, which guards and gives His Holy Word, just as freely as she has received it.  Only here will you find the solace and peace you so desperately need, and the grace to live a new year in faith, hope, and love eternal.  Here He calls to you, and seeks you, because it is you for whom He has died and risen again.  Hear Him.  Believe.  Live.  Amen.