About My Father's Business: A Meditation on Luke 2 for the 2nd Sunday after Christmas

And the child grew,

and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom:

 and the grace of God was upon him.

 

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year

at the feast of the Passover.

And when he was twelve years old,

 they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.

And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned,

the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem;

and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.

But they, supposing him to have been in the company,

went a day's journey; and they sought him

among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.

And when they found him not,

they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.

 

And it came to pass, that after three days

they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors,

both hearing them, and asking them questions.

And all that heard him were astonished

at his understanding and answers.

And when they saw him, they were amazed:

and his mother said unto him,

Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us?

behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.

And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me?

wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?

And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.

And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth,

 and was subject unto them:

but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.

 

 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature,

and in favour with God and man.

 

There are several enigmatic aspects to this story at the end of Luke’s second chapter, all of which are worthy of meditation.  For example, the declaration that Mary and Joseph were faithful in their keeping of the Law, particularly in their annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem; that the timing of this particular visit coincided with Jesus being 12 years old, on the brink of being counted a man in the religious life of the synagogue; that Jesus tarried in Jerusalem after his parents and family departed, to have dialogue with the most respected teachers in the Temple; that his parents went from general unawareness to panic in their search for him; that Jesus humbly returned to Nazareth with his parents, after astounding the Pharisees and Sadducees.  Yet what strikes me for meditation this Christmas season is the opening and closing of this passage related to how Jesus grew in wisdom and strength with God’s grace and Spirit upon him, and his central response to his blessed mother that he must be about his father’s business.

 

Scripture does not record much of what transpired between Jesus’ birth and his 12^th year, but I think it is safe to assume that he was being raised as any other child.  Being fully human and fully divine, we know that even as he grew in his human nature, his divine nature was still the fullness of Almighty God—he was still without sin, and despite having laid aside the exercise of his divine attributes of omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence, he did nothing that contradicted them.  He was likely apprenticed with his earthly father Joseph, learning to work as a carpenter, perhaps with his elder cousins in attendance.  We also hear nothing of Joseph after this trip to Jerusalem, leading many to surmise that not only was Joseph much older when he took Mary into his protection and adopted her divinely begotten Son, but that he most likely died before Jesus came to the fullness of his public ministry at about age 30.  This small vignette that Luke records, most likely from the reminiscence of Mary who kept all these things in her heart, does not indulge all our curiosities about the human maturation of Jesus between his birth and his baptism by John in the Jordan, but it does tell us something very important about him:  he was always about his Father’s business.

 

To my mind, that is a great comfort.  Jesus did not come to be frivolous, to indulge his own fantasies or to play the trickster in Jerusalem.  Instead, Jesus came with a purpose which he intended to fulfill, and there was nothing that was going to stop him.  As the very Logos or Word of the Father, his will was in perfect harmony with the Father and the Spirit to accomplish the promise of salvation made to Adam and Eve at the dawn of our fallen race; this is why he was born of the blessed Virgin Mary, why he took on a full human nature into his divine Person as the only begotten Son, why he taught in the Temple, the synagogues, and the streets, why he would eventually die and rise again, giving the grace of his victory over sin, death, hell, and the devil to all who would turn and trust in Him.  This is why he would ascend into heaven to sit at the right hand of the Father, why he sent the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to empower us, and why he is interceding for us all until the end of days, when he will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, in a Kingdom that has no end.  This mission was always in his mind and his heart, as in the eyes of all around him he grew in grace, in the power of the Spirit, in wisdom, and in stature.  He did most certainly grow to adulthood, submitted himself in his humanity to the rule of his parents in accordance with the Law of Moses, even as he kept all the Law perfectly… not just in the view of others through external works, but in a heart that was always in accord with the Word and Will of God, never succumbing to evil intentions, desires, or disordered passions.  While even his blessed mother wrestled with fear, confusion, and anxiety, Jesus never diverted from his path.

 

As I reflect on myself, the wanderings of my own mind and the weakness of my own heart, I know that what Jesus did, I could never do.  There was never a time of which I am conscious that sin and selfishness did not press upon my young or older mind, and of the times I am not in conscious memory, I’m sure my parents or others around me then would attest to my own failings—and even if there was no one else around to see my fallen works or corrupted thoughts, the Lord God Almighty is never deceived, his perfect knowledge bearing witness through His Law to my own imperfection.  I was certainly no more pure at the age of my birth than I was when I was 12 years old, nor across any of the decades of my life, for like David wrote by inspiration in the Psalms, I also was conceived in sin, born in sin, and lived as a slave of sin by my own fault, and by the fault of my whole human race.  I know that I, like all men who have come before me and all who will come after, could never hope to be what Jesus was, and is, and ever shall be:  the perfect god-man, the Lamb of God, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords.

 

At this transition between the festival season of Christmas and the revelatory season of Epiphany, it is the grace, wisdom, Spirit, strength, love, and truth of the Lord Jesus Christ toward which our hearts and minds must turn, for only in Him is the mission of our salvation accomplished, and only to Him is all honor, glory, and praise rightly given.  We who sat in darkness have seen His great Light, which has reached out through His Gospel of forgiveness, life, and salvation to heal every heart, to cleanse every mind, to quicken every soul who puts their trust in Him.  Thanks be to God for the gift of Jesus our Messiah, who has come to make all things new for all who would walk with Him by grace through faith.  Merry Christmas!  Amen.