Bibles, if you would, to Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2. Luke introduces already here the theme of the lost son that he picks up again at much greater length in chapter 15, the parable of the prodigal son that we just read. Starting at verse 39. So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, They returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom. And the grace of God was upon him. His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem, according to the custom of the feast. And when they had finished the days, as they returned, the boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and his mother did not know it. But supposing him to have been in the company, they went a day's journey and saw him among their relatives and acquaintances. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him. Now, so it was that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. So when they saw him, they were amazed. And his mother said to him, Son, why have you done this to us? Look, your father and I have sought you anxiously. And he said to them, Why is it that you sought me? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business? But they did not understand the statement which he spoke to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them. But his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men. The grass withers, the flower fades, the word of our God stands forever. Let's pray. Father, show us your beloved Son this morning, we ask. Free our hearts from distraction. Fix our minds on the truth as it is in Jesus. Help us to see Him as the Son of God, in His Father's house, with His Father's people, doing His Father's business. Lord, we need Your help. Help me to preach boldly and powerfully. Help all of us to listen, to be transformed by the sight of the glory of the Anointed One. We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, Luke has given us some 130 verses of the infancy narrative, as it's called. Jesus as a child. Jesus as a baby in a manger. And now one scene from childhood, but this is not a scene from childhood. This is a scene from manhood. You'll notice the text is framed with growth. Verse 40, the child grew and became strong. Verse 52, and Jesus grew in wisdom. Luke is telling us this is the moment when he grew up. This is when Jesus grew. The story is framed by growth. It's also a climax of the infancy narrative. There's one title left dangling, as we'll see, the title Son of God. It's been mentioned and hasn't been picked up again. Here, Jesus shows us what it means that he is the Son of God. We'll see that God's lost son, found alive after three days, grows up. And in growing up, he distances himself from his earthly parents in order to pursue his father's business. God's lost son, found alive after three days, grows up, distancing himself from his earthly parents in order to pursue his father's business. Jesus grew and became strong, and he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. Jesus grew. God does not grow. Jesus grew. He's a true man showing us what true humanity looks like. You start small and you grow. Children, you're growing. That's a good thing. But we all know, and especially those of you who have the privilege of working in the school district, know that physical growth does not equal growth in strength, in wisdom, or in grace. There's plenty of very large people. who are not as strong as they should be, and a lot more foolish than they should be, and lack the grace of God in large part. We see again the contrast with John the Baptist. The child grew, chapter 1, verse 80, John the Baptist grew and became strong in spirit, whereas Luke recounts of Jesus that Jesus grew and became strong, period. Not just in spirit, Jesus is strong in every way. Strong enough, obviously physically, to do the work of the carpenter shop. But also strong mentally, strong emotionally, strong spiritually. Strong enough to deal with our sin. Strong enough to deal with the sins of the whole world. Strong enough to rule the cosmos. Strong enough to be the omnipotent God who judges and saves. Strong enough to sleep in the boat. during the storm, strong enough to rest and to tell the disciples, that's enough ministry. Let's go find a quiet place. Jesus grew in strength. Paul tells us that we need to grow in this way as well. Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Often it is in our weakness that His strength is best seen. Our strength is not the same as Jesus' strength. We learn, rather, to draw on His strength to do what He calls us to do. Christian life is a life for weaklings in one sense, but we have to be strong in that we learn to use, to wield His power. Jesus is strong, and He grew as well in wisdom. Growth in biological capacity does not automatically mean growth in wisdom. As we all know, there's no fool like an old fool. But Jesus grew in wisdom. He delights in the fear of the Lord, as Isaiah tells us. You are called to wisdom. Children, this applies especially to you. Again, if you can hear that Jesus grew in wisdom, you can't find, certainly not at the door of our church, a sign saying, must be this tall to fear the Lord. There is no such sign. Jesus feared the Lord from the beginning. Jesus was wise from birth, but he grew in that wisdom as he grew in strength and size. And children, Adults all of you God is calling you to grow in wisdom to learn to fear the Lord more We don't want to be naive simple Christians Christians who are surprised and shocked by the events of life by the evil of the world By the depravity of our own hearts and our children's hearts How sad? To be a Christian who ought to know better, who has all wisdom in a book, but no wisdom in your mind. Jesus grew in the fear of the Lord so that he could be wise. You and I are called to the same thing. Solomon actually wrote a whole book telling us how Jesus thinks. It's a book called Proverbs. It's about the wise son. That's who Jesus is. He's the wise son. He learns wisdom from his father through the whole book of Proverbs. And if you learn to think like Proverbs speaks, you will be wise like Jesus. Jesus also grew in grace. The grace of God was upon him. God made all grace abound to him so that always having all sufficiency in everything, he had an abundance for every good deed. 2 Corinthians 9.8. That sounds like Jesus. That is like Jesus. He had an overwhelming amount of the grace of God. That's what enabled him to do all of the things he did. But I would point out to you that that verse from 2 Corinthians is not talking about Jesus. It's talking about the ordinary Christian in an ordinary church exercising the ordinary grace of giving generously. If Jesus had all grace abound to him, Paul says, the same is true of you, Christian, in Christ. All grace abounds to you. Again, there's no sign saying, must be this tall to have grace. Must be this tall to be favored by God. Children, seek the favor of the Lord. Parents, seek it for your children. And give thanks to the Lord for the grace that they have, that you have. Did you build this building in which we worship? No, you're surrounded by the grace of God. Did you have to write the Bible? Or the Constitution? Did you have to survey the land and build the city of Gillette? Or plant this church? And do all the ministry that happens in this church? No, we just share that load. We minister to one another and Christ by His Spirit ministers to each of us. If you're here this morning, grace abounds to you. Grow in it. That's what Jesus did. The grace of God was upon him. If you are graced, don't be ungrateful. Don't complain about what you have. You have grace. It's all grace. The car is 25 years old and likes to break down. That's God's grace that you have a car. house is not what you would want it to be, that's God's grace that you have that house. Your children aren't as obedient as you would like, that's God's grace that you have children and that you are their parent and able to discipline them and teach them about the grace of God. Jesus grew in grace. One of the most tremendous graces that Jesus received and the children you are receiving too is the grace of being part of of a godly family. His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. When he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to their custom. If anyone was to write the story of your family, and they were to say the family was in church that day, as usual, should always come afterwards. Joseph and Mary went to the Feast as was their custom. They didn't skip Passover. They didn't skip church. If there was an opportunity to worship the Lord, they were there worshiping the Lord. Jesus' parents cared enough to include him in the weekly and yearly rhythms of worshiping God. In chapter 4, Luke will tell us, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, as was his custom. Jesus was in every Saturday Jew and every Sunday Christian. And that is what we are called to be too, to imitate Him, to show this same grace, to possess this same grace of life in a godly family. Parents, give your children this grace. Don't just bring them here. Train them on how to profit from it. Train them to listen on the way home at the lunch table. What did you hear in the sermon? If the answer is there was a sermon, You need to train your child to access and to appropriate the gifts of God that are here, the grace of God that is here. Train your children to listen, to take notes, to apply what they hear to themselves, to sing the hymns and the psalms that we sing in this place. Train your children in the grace of God. Train your children to build friendships with their elders, with their peers, with their juniors. Church is a place to meet and to know, to love and to be loved. And that is what Jesus experienced. His parents went to Jerusalem and they supposed him to have been in the company. The text doesn't get into this, but what is the company? The company is all their friends and relatives from Nazareth who travel to Jerusalem as a group and spend the week there as a group celebrating the Feast of Unleavened Bread and then the Passover all together as a group. Brothers and sisters, this is a joy that is virtually unknown to anybody in modern America. This kind of togetherness, this knowing God, not just you and your family, you and your immediate family, or you and a few cousins and aunts and uncles, a few grandparents here and there, this is not just an extended family unit, this is an entire village, an entire community, traveling to Jerusalem together, and there, worshiping God together, to the point that Joseph and Mary traveled for an entire day before they even noticed Wait a second. Is Jesus here? We thought he was with his cousins. We thought he was with our neighbors from across the street. We thought he was with his grandparents. We thought he was with the neighbor's grandparents. We thought that he was part of the village that's going home. Where is Jesus? Jesus is missing because Jesus has grown up. Jesus deliberately stays in Jerusalem. Why does He do that? Well, Luke gets into this. He's told us earlier in the chapter, unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior who is Christ the Lord. Simeon and Anna, pick up on those titles. My eyes have seen your salvation. This is God's anointed. This is the Lord's Christ. This is the Lord. They picked up on those titles, but what about from the Annunciation when Gabriel said, the one to be born of you will be called the Son of God. The narrative hasn't mentioned that again in chapter 2 until this point. Jesus himself utters his first words in the Gospel of Luke. And those words disclose to us what it means that He is God's Son. The divine Sonship of Jesus of Nazareth is affirmed by Jesus Himself, as it would have to be. There's no DNA test that can look for the DNA of Jehovah God. Mary, of course, is not a witness. She's not able to say, yes, God is His Father. She can say, No man is His Father. And an angel told me God was His Father, but of my own knowledge, I do not know who the Father is. Only Jesus can testify to God as His Father. No one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. And so, Jesus chooses to reveal the father, first of all, to his earthly parents. He calls God, my father, and he calls him that, not directly, not in prayer, oh God, my father, but instead he's talking to Joseph and Mary. Leading some of the commentators to say, well, whoever wrote this story of Jesus in the temple forgot about the virgin birth, earlier in the chapter. Because Joseph and Mary are obviously a little bit blindsided by this claim. You said God is your father, right? In first century Jewish society that statement is a shocking blasphemy. Everybody from the high priest on down is ready to stone the person who says God is my father. Let's just say that Joseph and Mary are not prepared to find Jesus in the temple and then hear him utter that kind of blasphemy. I mean, yes, they remembered what they had been told about him, but did they remember it? In the busyness of family life, if you have a stepchild, an adopted child that's lived with you for 12 years, do you say, my son, does he call you dad or mom? Or do you just always remember every time you think, oh, that's, somebody else is his biological father. Somebody else is his biological father. Obviously, Joseph and Mary aren't thinking in those terms. 12 years of life in a busy family, later on, Mark tells us that Jesus had four brothers and two sisters. There was a lot going on at this home in Nazareth. And they thought of themselves as Jesus' parents. So for him to say, point blank, to Joseph, you aren't my daddy, is a major slap in the face. The son is perfect in everything he does, but suddenly, in this story, he runs away from home, and when they catch up to him, he's not sorry, and he utters this shocking blasphemy, as Joseph and Mary would think of it at first. So not like Jesus. He's strong. He's wise. He's full of the grace of God. What is happening? They go to Jerusalem. They're there eight full days. Seven days for the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Then the Passover is the climax on the eighth day. They pack everything up. They're headed back home. And Jesus deliberately stays. Because He wants to reveal His Father. He's 12 years old. He's grown. The frame has told us that this story is about his growth. Jesus has grown. He's a man. He's free to make that call. He can decide to stay in Jerusalem, and he does decide to stay in Jerusalem. The narrator stays with Joseph and Mary, and it's a tribute to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ that we always think of this story as some kind of triumphant declaration on his part. It is. But when you look at the story, you think, why do I identify so strongly with Jesus' perspective here? Yes, that's right, Jesus, we think. You definitely should be in your father's house. Joseph and Mary definitely should have recognized that. But in one sense, the narrator stays with Joseph and Mary, who don't know it, but instead get in the caravan to head back to Nazareth. They and all their friends and relatives and neighbors And they're on the path to Nazareth. And it's not until they pitch camp at the end of the day, and Jesus never shows up, and never shows up, that finally, they're thinking, it's awful late. Man, where is Jesus? And they start asking, where is Jesus? Nobody's seen him. I thought he was with you. Well, I thought he was with you. Well, I thought he was with you. Well, he's not here. Where is he? Jesus is gone. Well, it's 11 p.m. It's midnight. It's too late to do anything. Can't find anybody in the dark. And so they just go to bed. They don't go to sleep because where is Jesus? All of us who are parents in the room know how badly we would be freaking out by this moment. The kid is very responsible. The only possible explanations are a medical emergency or foul play. Neither one of those is a pleasant explanation. Where could he be? I am so going to kill him when I see him. So they get through the night. Now, in the morning, they've got six younger children. What do they do? Well, either put all the kids with Grandma and Grandpa, say, here Grandma and Grandpa, you take the six kids and the baby home. Or, take the six kids back to Jerusalem. Either way, They're not planning to be back in Jerusalem. It's more money, more time away from home, an unplanned extension on the trip. Well, of course, they had walked away from Jerusalem for a whole day. Now it takes them a whole day to walk back. That's a second day. By the time they get back to Jerusalem, again, it's nighttime. There's no chance of finding anybody in the city. So they camp a second night. This time with some very grumpy children. or else missing the children who are with their grandparents. The third morning, they finally get up. It's light. They're able to go look for Jesus. And where do they find him? He's in the temple. Joseph and Mary are pretty upset. At least as upset as you and I would be. Possibly more upset. Good kids from good families don't run away from home. They just don't. Jesus is a good kid. He's from a good family. Why is he doing this? It makes absolutely no sense. And of course, when they catch him, it's obvious there's been no medical emergency. There's no foul play. He's just having a good time in the temple, talking theology with the R.C. Sprouls and John MacArthur's of that era, the doctors of the church, the people who know scripture inside and out. and they're all amazed at his understanding and answers. Joseph and Mary are thinking, where did Gabriel predict this? Simeon, Anna, you're prophets, why didn't you tell me he was going to do things like this? It's the same for us, brothers and sisters. We know that Jesus is God. We know that God doesn't answer to us. And yet all too often, we allow ourselves to think, oh God will follow my plan this time. He has to. My plan makes so much sense. Come on God, I know you're not dumb and therefore I know you're going to follow my plan. And when he doesn't, we can get really upset. Mary is upset. None of the announcements, none of the portents, none of the angels, none of the prophets gave the slightest hint that Jesus would be the kind who would actually be grown up at 12. that he would be independent, that he would be his own man, that he would be able and willing to step away from his parents and toward maturity. We're not surprised that his asking questions and listening to the doctors in the temple. Clearly the man who could deliver the Sermon on the Mount at 30 years old was already one of the greatest biblical expositors in history by the age of 12. I'm sure he was asking hard questions like, why does David say, they pierced my feet and hands in Psalm 22? And I'm sure he could explain to them why Deuteronomy says obedience is blessed and Ecclesiastes says obedience is not blessed. He could tell you exactly where Bildad, Zophar, and Eliphaz were right and where they were wrong. He could explain whether Micah was quoting Isaiah in the text about swords into plowshares and spears into pruning hooks. Or vice versa, if it was Isaiah quoting Micah. He could definitively answer where God is in the book of Esther, or why secular history doesn't mention Darius the Mede. He knew the tradition, he knew the text, he knew the history of the world, and he knew the God who wrote the text. He's the great doctor of the church, the teacher to end all teachers, the father's final Job puts it this way, men listened to me and waited and kept silence for my counsel. After I spoke, they did not speak again, and my word dropped upon them. When Jesus answered, there was nothing more to say. No man could withstand the wisdom and the spirit by which he spoke. Joseph and Mary get to see this, and surely they're extremely proud of him as a doctor of the church and a teacher of Torah. But they're extremely disappointed in him as one who grew up and did not ask their permission to do so. Mary experiences her boy's growth as one of loss. Son, why have you done this to us? Look, your father and I have sought you anxiously, and that word anxiously means with pain. That hurt. That hurt a lot. Why did you do that to us? Her son, like the prodigal of Luke 15, or the beloved Messiah of Luke 24, is a lost son. He's gone. Luke 24, of course, he's gone entirely out of this world. He's died. Luke 15, he's gone into a far country. Wasted his father's living with harlots. Son, don't you love me? Why would you be the lost son? We thought better of you. Mary testifies to the pain of her mother's heart. You have hurt us, beloved little boy. We have been the running father, searching, looking, hoping. We had to drop our life and our plans and our duties and drag your brothers and sisters for three extra days down here to find you. Surely this is a failure to honor father and mother. Surely this was not right, son. What does Jesus say? To use the buzzword, it seems to me that he has absolutely no empathy for his mother at this moment. He doesn't say, sorry mom. He doesn't even say, I understand why you would feel that way. He's already a true rabbi. And he answers a question with a question, with two questions. Why have you done this to us? And what is his answer? Why were you looking for me? Mom, I'm a grown man. I can decide to make the call. I don't have to travel with the family. I'm a man. My business, my decision, my dad needs me. Did you not know that I must be about my father's, and there's different renderings here, business, house, people. The Greek is very open-ended. He just says, about my father's things. And you can translate that, specify that a little further. My father's house, my father's things, my father's people, my father's business. Business is the most open-ended translation, which is why I like it. Jesus tells her, Joseph is not my daddy. And Mary has that moment, that sickening moment that every mother in the room has experienced on a much lesser scale. When you look at your son and you say to yourself, he's just like his father. Mary sees that, Jesus reveals, God is my father and I am just like him. I am the express image of His person, the exact imprint of His nature. I am His final word. Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. And what do we know about God? That He gives no account of Himself. He doesn't answer to us for what He's done. He doesn't explain why He makes the decisions that He makes. Or fill us in. Jesus' correct judgment is that he is old enough and responsible enough to stay in Jerusalem on his own and that he doesn't need to tell his family. He doesn't need his parents' permission. That should bother us a little. Jesus, you're 12. You're a grown man. The Son of God has all the rights, privileges, and skills appertaining to being the Son of God. Gabriel said he would be the Son of God. Somehow, in Joseph and Mary's mind, that didn't translate into, he will act like God, he will baffle and enrage you, test you and bless you, and above all, he will never, ever give an account of himself. Maybe they should have gotten it, but they didn't. We should get it. And how often do we fail to get it? This is who this book is going to be about. Luke is giving us this clear signal. This book is about Jesus, the Son of God. And the Son of God does things like this. Walks away from his parents and leaves them scrambling for three days to pick up the pieces of his decision. And doesn't say, I'm sorry. Doesn't say, I understand that that was unpleasant for you. But simply says, I'm right. And you must adopt my perspective because I am God Almighty. Jesus is not accountable to you. He's not accountable to me. He doesn't answer to any human authority. Including his own mom and dad. In history, there have been monarchs who claim the divine right of kings and said, I answer to no one but God. Kings have said that. Popes have said that. Presidents have said that. It's not true. Actually, here on Earth, we the people are the final political authority, and it is our job to check and to correct political excesses. Jesus is not a political monarch. He doesn't rule by the consent the governed He doesn't have to build capital with his parents or with his church He made the call and stayed in Jerusalem because he answers only to his father That's part of what it means to be the Son of God Every Christian has struggled mightily with the ways of God at one time or another and many of us are struggling mightily with the ways of God this very morning. God, why did the deal fall through? Why did I lose my job? Why did I get kicked out of my church? Why did she say no and dump me? Why did my parents' marriage fall apart? Or my loved one die? Why did you take that thing, that ministry, or that person or that part of my health, you know, the ability to walk, the ability to talk, the ability to travel. How could you do this to me, God? And does God ever come to you and say, I'm sorry, I understand that that's difficult for you? Of course not. Someone once told me, I feel like God tricked me. I feel like he pulled the bait and switch. What Christian has not felt that feeling? God, how could you trick me like this? Mary says it. Son, how could you do this to us? And what is his answer? Mom, I do it because I am God Almighty. Everything in you rises up and screams, that's not fair. But it is fair. because He is God Almighty. He is in charge and you are not. He knows best and you do not. Your ignorant intuitions do not outrank His omniscient wisdom. Joseph and Mary loved Jesus, but they couldn't figure Him out. They could not understand these questions. It didn't jive with their paradigm. In our paradigm, which is a good, universally recognized paradigm, good kids from good families don't run away from home and then say, I did nothing wrong. What's wrong with that paradigm, Jesus? And Jesus simply says, you didn't need to come look for me. You should have gone about your business, mom and dad. You could have been home in Nazareth right now working in the carpenter shop and I would be fine. Which was perfectly true. But they couldn't get their paradigm to His paradigm. It's true of every Christian as well. Christian life is about learning to adjust our paradigm to match His. Jesus is just like His Father. They both have about 30 packs of aces up their sleeve. Things that we never saw coming. He has a plan about which we can guarantee only one thing. It's not our plan. My thoughts are not your thoughts. Neither are my ways your ways. Yes, we have correct and substantial theological accounts of what it means that God is Jesus' Father. what it means that the temple is his father's house. It took the church nearly 500 years of titanic effort to work those out. But what we do not have and will never have is a quick and easy guide to knowing what Jesus is going to do in any given situation. Jesus walks away from the family and says, I'm a man now. He doesn't give his mother an inch. But at the same time, and just as challenging to our cultural paradigm, he does not reject obedience. He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them. This is the same verb, by the way, this was subject to them as wives submit to your husbands in Ephesians 5. Jesus obeyed his parents. Wives, do you want to see what your calling is? Look at this verse. Was Jesus saying, I'm lesser than you by submitting to his parents? Was he perpetuating harmful stereotypes about boys and their ignorance when he was actually mature enough to be a grown man? Was it his duty to throw his perfect humanity and perfect readiness to be his own man into his parents' faces and making a sort of bargaining chip? Well, I'll do what you want in area X if you'll do what I want in area Y. Let's make a deal, mom and dad. Not how Jesus does it. He went down to Nazareth and was subject to them. He voluntarily obeys them. Submits himself under them. Not because they're smarter, wiser, godlier, more knowledgeable, etc. He obeyed as a child, though he was a man, though he was their God. Sisters, do it. Submit to your own husband. Brothers, do it. Submit to Christ as your head and Lord. Children, this applies to you as well. You know your parents' imperfections. You know our imperfections better than anyone else does. You're not called to obey us because we're perfect. You're called to obey your parents because God has placed us over you just as God for that time placed Joseph and Mary over Jesus. Jesus obeyed imperfect parents. And when you see who he is and learn to adjust your paradigm to his, you will be able to obey imperfect authorities as well. Jesus grew. in wisdom, stature, favor with God, and man. This growth is something for us to admire, something for us to worship, the Christ who grew from perfection to greater perfection through his human life. It's also something for us to imitate. If anyone has ever said to you, grow up, the good news is that Jesus grew up. If anyone has ever said, you're unpopular, you're not wanted, The good news is that Jesus was popular. Jesus was wanted. He grew in favor with men. People loved him. The best news of all is that he offers all of it to you. His perfection in exchange for your imperfection. His growth in wisdom in exchange for your folly. His favor with God and man in exchange for your unpopularity and rejection. You don't have to envy him or be mad that he has these things because he not only has them, he shares them. He freely gives them to everyone who asks. All of it is yours if you are his. He is with his father's people in his father's house, giving us the peace that passes understanding. Let's pray. Father, help us to see who you are because we see who your Son is. You give no account of any of your matters. You do it your way and you ought to do it your way because you are God. Father, we submit to you. We understand that your way is for humans to submit to their Creator. for men to submit to their Savior, women to their wives, to their husbands, children to their parents. Father, help us. Help us to see the glory and perfection of your Son and to grow more and more like Him. We pray these things in the glorious name of Jesus, the Son of God. Amen.