PENnED

The Boy Jesus in the Temple

⁴¹ Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. ⁴² And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. ⁴³ When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it.⁴⁴ Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵ When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. ⁴⁶ After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸ When his parents^[a] saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” ⁴⁹ He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”^[b] 50 But they did not understand what he said to them. ⁵¹ Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.

⁵² And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years,^[c] and in divine and human favor.

Today is “Holy Family Sunday.” But today is also called “Sunday after Christmas.” So Christmas is over… well, except of course if you are Filipino. You see, for us Pinoys Christmas does not only begin early, in September, but it also goes on until January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany or The Feast of the Magi or Wise Men or “The Three Kings.” So even after New Year’s Day, Pinoys keep their Christmas decorations in their front yard or they still go out caroling even if the rest of the world think they’re nuts!

We may enjoy extended holiday celebrations but as they say it, “Even good things must come to an end.” The question that I think you and I should ask is, “What must we do then?” Should we just go back to a hum-drum existence and wait until something special comes and live again?

Happily we don’t have to do that. The reason is because each day can be lived to the full. Yes, we can celebrate each day—not just special days—and we can wake up each day excited. Why? Because each day can be a new adventure if we are willing to go and grow with Jesus!

Have you been wanting to grow more mature in your faith but you seem to be facing a high wall and you’re stuck? If so, then perhaps the word of the Lord to us today would help jumpstart your spiritual growth.

Our Gospel reading is quite a big leap from last Christmas Day’s reading: the birth of Jesus. Now Jesus is twelve years old—just one year short of the age of manhood in the Jewish culture then. Technically Jesus is just a child but what the narrative tells us is that at twelve—when kids just play around—Jesus appears to have already begun to act and think like a grown man. He does what he thinks he is supposed to do and speaks wisdom and his words are as, if not more, intelligent than those of the teachers of the law. At the end of the scene Luke, the narrator, describes to us how Jesus grows by leaps and bounds!

What lessons can we learn from Jesus? What does the life and words of the only perfect man who ever walked on the face of the earth can teach us? If we are to imitate him as the Apostle Paul did and said we ought to, what are some of the things that we must do or become?

Breaking away from the motions of religion (41-43)

One of the things we immediately notice—or what you are about to see if you haven’t seen it yet—is how Jesus breaks away  from the motions of ritualistic religion.

No, Jesus does not see religion or its rituals as necessarily bad or evil as some perhaps do. As we see, he goes through the motions of religion just as you and I probably have with ours.  If his religion’s rituals are bad, would Jesus participate in them? Of course not!

Indeed, I imagine that the annual pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, one of the most important Jewish pilgrimage festivals, must be a lot of fun! Perhaps just as, if not more, fun than our Christmas rituals and celebrations. So what kid wouldn’t look forward to this yearly march with family and friends to Jerusalem? I could just imagine Jesus’ wide-eyed excitement whenever he and his family get ready to join the caravan. He’s excited because he would not just boringly march but play and socialize with like-minded people all the way from Nazareth to Jerusalem! In Jesus’ world where there are no smart phones and tablets and phablets, the pilgrimage is definitely a lot more fun than just riding “in a one-horse-open sleigh”!

Jesus must have been very happy to just go along with family and enjoy the company of friends and playmates… until now. This this time—at the age of twelve—he’s no longer content with just going through the same ritualistic motions as he’s done over the years, and over again! So he breaks away from the rituals. He breaks away from them not because he despises them or wants to have nothing to do with them. He breaks away from them because he wants to make sense of them… to understand their significance and meaning. The fact that he asked the teachers of the law questions is I think a telltale sign that points toward that direction and explanation.

What do you call a man who does not just keep on mindlessly going through the rituals of religion? I think that man is a wise person. He stops and thinks about them. He seeks to understand them. He asks the question, “Why am I doing what I am doing?” And that’s what Jesus, the wise man, does. He breaks away from the rituals, and he does it big time! While his family and friends and town folks ritualistically march home and do the same things all over again, Jesus stays in Jerusalem and gets lost!

Getting “lost” in order to find and be found (44-47)

Jesus intentionally and purposely gets lost. The so-called “purpose driven life” is really a nothing new.  Jesus does not write about it. He does it better. No, he does it perfectly… and powerfully. He lives and shows it!

To sometimes get lost from family, friends, and other people who are usually with and around us is a very good thing.  If we want to find answers to our questions, indeed, if we want to find ourselves and give other people the opportunity to find our real selves, you and I may need to get away from them. Yeah, for a while.

No, it’s not easy to get away from people and the fun associated with them. But we’ve got to do it if we want to grow as individuals. To be in community is good. Indeed, very good. But to be a good part of the community we may need to get away from people we love or hang out with. If we do, we may not only find ourselves but also find answers to not only our questions but also the questions that people in our community may have been asking and wanting answers for.

That’s what Jesus does! I’m sure it’s not easy for him to let his mother, father, family members and friends leave him. He’s not only letting go of fun, he’s also letting go of protection and provision. And now he’s got to fend for himself. This is something that only adults and mature people usually do. So obviously Jesus has grown very fast.

This day, when Jesus stays behind in Jerusalem and asks and answers questions, marks a pivotal point in his growth as a person.  This may be a troublesome day for his parents because his action made them understandably anxious. But this day is also important to their own growth, especially his mother’s, because the momentary trouble he’s caused them has served its purpose. It allows them to rediscover who their son really is—that he is not just their son but that, more importantly, he is the Son of God!

Letting God be God in your life (49-50)

What a day this is for Jesus and his parents! For the past twelve years or so, Mary and Joseph have been used to their role as parents to Jesus. But today they get the shock of their lives. But shouldn’t they have expected for this day to come? If so, why get anxious about him? Have they forgotten what the angel told them about their son? Maybe, because after Jesus reminds them of his other Father and that he’s supposed to be in his house, “…they did not understand what he said to them” (v. 50). But what makes it a real shocker is that those strange and enigmatic, if not disrespectful, words comes from Jesus, a mere child, and, more important, their child.

Doesn’t Mary’s relationship with Jesus also pictures our relationship with the Lord? Maybe for some, sometimes. Isn’t it true that when we get familiar and comfortable with the Lord we are also tempted to think that we can domesticate him? That we do everything for him? That we can take care of him, rather than him taking care of us? And perhaps that’s why we’re tempted to say to him,

Lord, I thank you for making me a great person. Now you just sit back and relax and let me do things for you… I will preach, I will sing, I will dance, I will lead, I will feed people, and I will do whatever is necessary.  I can handle this, Lord. Just let me take full control. And oh, and that guy who wants to share the scene with me? I can handle him too. And you know what, with me, Lord, nobody messes with the way we do things. We do it right. You know why? We have you and, of course, nobody else possesses you the way I do! You’re mine, Lord, mine and mine alone.

I’m sure we have not really said those words but if we are to be honest with ourselves we have desired something like those words express. We have desired, in one way or another, to domesticate Jesus, or keep him in our house when he’s supposed to be in the Father’s house, where he is accessible to all!

Let me remind ourselves that a domesticated Lord is not Lord at all! That’s why Jesus also reminds his parents who he also is and what God his Father expects him to do. And that’s why when Mary complained about how Jesus has treated them he said to his parents, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (v. 49).

I think it is a sign of God’s love and care that when you and I forget to let God be God, the Lord sends us a shocker. Today it comes to us in the form of the message of this Gospel narrative! And you and I should take it positively. Yes, even if it would hurt our ego. Or, even if it would hurt the ego of the people we love.

Jesus is young person who does not want to displease his parents. But he is also a young person who does not want to displease God.  As we see in this narrative, he obeys his parents. But in doing so he sees to it that he does not disobey God. Inasmuch as he loves and wants to obey his parents, Jesus lets God be God and live his life according God’s will and according his calling as the Son of God. And I believe it would help us grow in a noticeable way if we do the same.

Being a treasure to be treasured (51-52)

I think it’s quite remarkable that although Jesus is wholly committed to the will of the Father yet he is able to live a life that is pleasantly attractive. He may be wise but he does not allow his superior wisdom to get into his head. Instead, it appears that his wisdom has successfully reached the hearts of people so that, as Luke reports, Mary treasured Jesus’ being a nice and obedient boy (v. 51) and also that he “increased… in divine and human favor” (v. 52). So even though nothing is written about Jesus until he shows up again as a grown man in his early 30s, we kind of know him because of this day at the temple and what Luke tells us about him.

What a well-balanced life! What is Jesus’ secret? He really has no secret. If you’ve been listening to (yes, even if you’re reading it!) this message, then you know by now how he’s able to live a life that is both pleasing to God and people. The things we have observed in Jesus—his breaking away from people and the usual motions of religion, his getting lost to find answers to life’s important questions, his letting God be God—all add up to make him the person God wants him to be.

In other words, Jesus has grown to be a treasure to be treasured, both to his parents and the rest of the people. He does good because he is good. Jesus’ life reminds us, spiritual growth is not primarily about doing things but about becoming. Indeed in Christ we become new persons. As the Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation…” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

When you and I put our faith in Jesus, we become like Jesus. Then we do good things. But the good things you and I do are not forced performances because doing good things come naturally out of a person who has been born again and made new.

So what do you think? Do you think that walking with and following Jesus can jumpstart your spiritual growth? Well, how would you really know unless you do? How would you know unless you put God’s word into practice? So go… walk with Jesus… follow him.