Daily Devotional For Saturday, June 29, 2024

It’s Saturday. Time to watch Bugs Bunny and the gang. Oops, sorry. I went back to my childhood here. It is the weekend and if you have been following these devotionals, you know we have been looking at questions asked in Scripture either by people or the Lord. Today, we come to two questions. One is asked by Jesus’ earthly parents and the second is asked by Jesus as a response to His earthly parents. So, let’s go to Luke 2:41-52 and see this for ourselves:

“Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. (42) And when He was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. (43) And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, (44) but supposing Him to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for Him among their relatives and acquaintances, (45) and when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching 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) And when His parents saw Him, they were astonished. And His mother said to Him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for You in great distress.” (49) And He said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” (50) And they did not understand the saying that He spoke to them. (51) And He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And His mother treasured all of these things in her heart. (52) And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (ESV).

As you can tell, I underlined the two questions for today. So, let’s look at the first question asked by Jesus’ mother to Him. When parents correct, they do so with the intent of helping their children be better, obedient and compliant children. Sometimes, they use guilt to do it. It seems that Mary, due to her fear of not knowing where her 12-year-old son was, was terrified that some kind of harm may have come to Jesus. Yes, Jesus by Jewish law was now considered an adult. So, legally, Jesus did not owe her an explanation. 

Since our children are not considered an adult until they reach the age of 18, some of us understand her fear and anxiety. It is not uncommon for adult parents to ask questions of their adult children that attempt to load guilt on them. Up to this point, Jesus’ behavior in this situation out of character for Him based on His past behavior. What Jesus did was what every Jewish son did at 12 – start making a break with his parents to establish that he was soon to be an adult. Jewish boys were considered to be an adult when they reached their 13th birthday. 

Jesus had not intentionally defied or hurt his parents. Jesus would later say this in John 6:38, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will but the will of Him who sent Me” (ESV). Jesus had not shown any disrespect or dishonored His earthly parents. They should have known this break was coming. Jesus said in John 4:34, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work” (ESV). Jesus said this in John 5:30,  “I can do nothing on My own. As I hear, I judge, and My judgment is just, because I seek not My own will but the will of Him who sent Me” (ESV). Now that break would not come for another full 18 years. 

Pastor and author Chuck Swindoll writes this:

“According to Jewish law, only men were required to make the journey to Jerusalem for the three great feasts (Deut. 16:16): Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles. Nevertheless, particularly devout families made the journey together, and for Joseph, Mary, and Jesus, that would have required a three- or four-day journey from Galilee. Traveling in large caravans protected the pilgrims from robbery during their journey and added to the joy of the celebration” (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary, “Luke,” p. 83).

A Jewish document called the Mishnah says this about Jewsih boys beocomiing Jewish men;

“At thirteen, young men were considered full-fledged “sons of the covenant,” complete with all the rights and responsibilities of adulthood, and were fully responsible to know and follow the Law of Moses” (Source: Jacob Neuner, The Mishnah: A New Translation, Pirqie Avot, “Ethics of Our Fathers, Division 6, p. 21).

Today, Jewish boys are welcomed into full manhood through their Bar Mitzvah. In either case, Jewish religious leaders drill or test the boy for his knowledge of the Old Testament Law. In Jesus’ day, Jews traveling for either Passover, Pentecost or Tabernacles, traveled in large caravans so that they would have group protection from robbers and thieves. This journey was about 80 miles by foot. 

After this Passover was over, and Jesus’ family began the 3-4 day trip back to Galilee, Jesus decided to assert His independence. He remained behind to engage in theological discussions with the religious leaders. Sometime on the journey back Jesus’ parents realized He was not in the caravan. After 3 days of frantically searching for Him, they finally found Him in the Temple, sitting with the nation’s foremost experts in the Jewish law. 

Luke describes that these experts in Jewish law were “amazed” by Jesus’ knowledge. The Greek New Testament word used is [ἐξίστημι, existemi], which literally means “ to remove oneself, to figuratively “to lose one’s wits,” “go out of one’s mind,” “be terrified out of one’s wits.” Pastor and author Chuck Swindoll writes this:

“We would say, “They were beside themselves.” This term is common in the Septuagint when describing a person’s response to a manifestation or act of God. Luke uses this term in Luke—Acts almost exclusively for supernatural activity (such as resurrection [8:56; 24:22]; activities of the Holy Spirit [Acts 2:7, 12; 10:45]; and the work of Simon the magician [Acts 8:9, 11, 13]). The NASB translates no fewer than four other Greek terms as “amazed.” Luke could have chosen any one of those, but he selected the most theologically loaded term available. So, “amazed” barely does justice to the utter astonishment and excitement Israel’s most gifted teachers experienced upon meeting Jesus. They reacted as we might if we were to hear a five-year-old give a lecture on quantum gravity and string theory and then banter with today’s leading minds in particle physics. The priests and leading teachers had encountered a child-savant. The boy theologian was making logical connections to arrive at insights that should have been far beyond any twelve-year-old mind” (Source: Charles R. Swindoll, Swindoll’s Living Insights New Testament Commentary, “Luke,” p.84).

The world at times has been amazed at child prodigies such as Amadeus Mozart, Jean Louis Cardiac, John Stuart Mill, Truman Henry Stafford, William James Sidis, and Christian Friedrich Heinecken for example. These are the only words we have from Jesus’ childhood and Luke recorded them for us because they are monumental. Why? Pastor and author John MacArthur writes this:

“Jesus’ identity as the Son of God incarnate was not something thrust upon Him by Jewish messianic expectations, or invented by His followers. Nor was it something He assumed for Himself when He began His public ministry. It was His true identity, which He had become aware of by the age of twelve—eighteen years before His public ministry began. According to Exodus 23:17; 34:22–23; and Deuteronomy 16:16, all Jewish men were required to attend the three major feasts. But by the first century, the dispersion of many Jewish people outside of Palestine had made that impractical. Consequently, many Jewish men came to Jerusalem only for Passover. Women were not required by the law to attend (though some rabbis strongly encouraged them to do so); for a woman to attend the feast was considered a sign of unusual spiritual devotion” (Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Luke,” p. 187).

Upon Jesus’ family arrival into Jerusalem, they would have seen the city packed with thousands of pilgrims coming for Passover to celebrate the Passover meal and purchasing animals for their sacrifice in the Temple. We know from other sources at that time, two other groups came: Beggars and Roman soldiers. Luke did not give us any details of what this Passover meant to Jesus or His parents. He simply states they went, Jesus’ parents left when it was but Jesus stayed behind. Pastor and author John MacArthur writes this:

“Jesus’ staying behind was not an act of disobedience to His parents, nor was it irresponsibility on their part. They had never before known Him to do anything other than what they had expected Him to do. He was responsible, obedient, sensitive, thoughtful; in every way sinlessly perfect. This act, however, marked a transition. Jesus was moving from responsibility to His earthly parents to responsibility to God” (Source: John MacArthur, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, “Luke,” p. 187).

Finally after 3 days, they find Jesus in the Temple with the experts in Jewish law. Jesus’ behavior in this incident was totally unlike anything Joseph and Mary had ever experienced and thus to them inexplicable. Jesus’ response to His parents is the first time in Scripture any individual claimed God as his person Father. Jews claimed God as “Father,” but only in a general sense. No Jew would do what Jesus did - claim God as His Father in a personal, intimate sense because of the implications. Jesus made it clear that His first priority was to do the will of His Father. He was no longer Joseph and Mary’s son. 

Questions To Consider

1. Have you ever “lost” one of your children? If so, what did you do? How did you feel? How did you react to your child when you found them?
2. How do you think Jesus already knew at age 12 what His purpose was in life to do? At your age, do you know God’s purpose for your life? Why or why not?
3. Has your relationship to Jesus Christ ever come between you and your family? How and how did you handle it?
4. We can understand Jesus’ parents’ fears and anxiety. We as parents panic when we do not know where our children are. Take your Bible and read Luke 2:22-35. The priest Simeon told both Joseph and Mary God’s purpose for Jesus. Why do you think they failed to take this into consideration, especially his words to them in Luke 2:34-35?
5. How do you think the church can help parents help their children be instilled with a purpose for God and then find it?

Scripture To Meditate On: Matthew 10:34-36, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. (35) For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. (36) And a person's enemies will be those of his own household” (ESV).

Prayer To Pray: “Dear Jesus, I want to do Your will and purpose for my life. I never want anything or anyone to come between me doing what You want me to do. I understand and accept that my family, friends, co-workers, school friends, and neighbors might not accept this nor understand it. But I commit today to seek first Your kingdom and Your righteousness in my life no matter the cost. I love You Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”

I love you Southside!--Pastor Kelly