The Boy who loved God’s Word more than anything

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Sermon for Epiphany 1

Romans 12:1-5  +  Luke 2:41-52

A blessed Epiphany to you! Epiphany was yesterday, January 6th, although we celebrated it on Wednesday—the visit of the wise men to find the One who had been born King of the Jews. There are only three Sundays in the Epiphany season this year. Each one gives us a little revelation of the divinity, the divine identity that lay hidden in that otherwise-normal-looking Man named Jesus. He was (and is) the God-Man, the Man who is also God. In many, many ways, Jesus was the same as us, but also different. And it’s both that sameness and that difference that make Him our Savior.

First, we learn something in today’s Gospel about the God-Man’s parents, Mary and Joseph. We’re told that they went to Jerusalem every year for the Passover. That may seem like a small thing, but it took about four or five days to walk from Nazareth to Jerusalem, plus the week spent there, plus another four or five days walking back. Factor in the loss of income for those two weeks, plus the expenses of the journey and the lodging for a family that certainly wasn’t rich. And it wasn’t for a family vacation or for sightseeing or for relaxation. It was to spend that week performing the religious rites and ceremonies God had prescribed in the Old Testament: acquiring a lamb, taking care of it for a few days, then slaughtering it and eating it, accompanied by time spent in the temple, prayers and hymns and a recounting of the history of how God redeemed Israel from slavery. Every year Mary and Joseph made that two-week journey to Jerusalem (with or without Jesus, we don’t know), and during the rest of the year, they would faithfully attend the synagogue in Nazareth on the Sabbath day. What a wonderful example they were for all Christian parents!

When He was twelve years old, we’re told that Jesus went with His parents to Jerusalem for the Passover, where He who was the Lamb of God first participated in the festival that was entirely designed to foreshadow Him, and His own death at a Passover festival, in the same city of Jerusalem, some 21 years later.

Jesus was a twelve-year-old Boy like any twelve-year-old boy. The same as us. At the end of today’s Gospel, Luke tells us that Jesus returned home with His parents, that He was subject to them, and that He grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. He had a family life. He had chores to do, and He did them. He had parents whom God the Father had placed over Him, and He loved and obeyed them, although He was the very Son of God. So He was the same as us. But different in that He always loved and obeyed His parents, from the heart. Never talked back to them. Never rolled His eyes at them. Never even thought badly of them. He was sinless, a perfect Lamb, without spot or blemish, and that qualified Him later on to be the sacrifice for our sins.

Now if Jesus was always so obedient, He must have had a very, very good reason to stay behind in Jerusalem when He was twelve years old. As His parents and the rest of the caravan from Nazareth got up early to start the long walk back to Nazareth, He stayed behind in Jerusalem. Not defiantly, as if He refused to go back. But for some inexplicable reason (maybe because He was so predictably obedient), Mary and Joseph just assumed He was with their relatives or acquaintances who were part of the caravan, and they walked a whole day under that assumption. But when they finally went looking for Him, they realized He wasn’t with them.

But it was already the end of day 1 by the time they realized that. So the next morning they got up and hurried back to Jerusalem. They made a quick search that evening, probably retraced their steps to where they had been staying, and still didn’t find Him. Finally, on the third day, they found Him, right there in the temple, sitting among the Rabbis, the teachers of Israel, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.

We see a bit of Jesus’ sameness and of His difference here. As a human boy, He learned. He was curious. He asked insightful questions, and He answered questions. He was respectful to His elders. He wasn’t snobbish or condescending. Just a humble student, truly interested in the things of God, who loved God’s Word and God’s house. The ideal catechism student. He loved being in the temple of God. The words of the Psalmist describe Jesus perfectly: O LORD, I love the habitation of Your house, the place where Your glory dwells… How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!  My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD; My heart and my flesh cry out to the living God…Blessed are those who dwell in your house…O God, our Shield, behold! And look upon the face of your anointed. For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. That describes—or should describe! —every Christian of every age.

The difference is that it described Jesus perfectly. No sinful flesh ever distracted Him from loving God first, putting God and His Word first. He loved God’s Word more than anything. That love for God’s Word would keep Him behind in Jerusalem, not to skip school, but to stay in school—that was an epiphany, a little revelation of the divinity that lay hidden in that Boy. His astonishing exchanges with the Rabbis were also little epiphanies. His love for Scripture, His understanding of Scripture and of God Himself were deep, not only for a boy, but for anyone. His questions and answers astounded the teachers of the Law, a hint that this Boy was different from other men.

That was also a foreshadowing of what the future held for this twelve-year-old boy. He wouldn’t be some great carpenter, or some politician, or some philosopher. He would be engaged in teaching God’s Word, discussing God’s Word, instructing the people of Israel in the things of God, with better understanding than any of the other teachers, or, for that matter, than anyone else who had ever lived. Because He was the Word made flesh. He had come from the bosom of the Father, as St. John puts in. He knew God the Father perfectly.

But His parents didn’t understand. They loved God’s house, too, but not like this. Why would Jesus stay behind and cause them to worry? Mary said, “Son, why have you done this to us? See, your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” And he said to them, “What do you mean, you were you searching for me? Did you not know that I had to be engaged in the things of my Father?” But they did not understand what he said to them.

It seems that Mary and Joseph had pushed to the back of their minds that, while Jesus was their Son, His true Father—His only Father, in the sense of where He came from—was God the Father in heaven. And while Joseph had certainly given Jesus chores to do, His Father in heaven had given Him chores of His own. One of those chores—which was a delight to Jesus—was being engaged in His Father’s things, namely, in the things that have to do with hearing, learning, and discussing God’s Word, the “chore” of spending time in His Father’s chosen house on earth, the Temple in Jerusalem.

It wasn’t a spectacular epiphany. But it was still extraordinary, and we’re told that His mother kept all these things in her heart. Luke says the same thing after the shepherds visited them and found Jesus wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. She noticed the sameness in Jesus, even as she noticed the differences.

The fact that Jesus was the same as us in His humanity and in His submission to God’s holy Law is essential for our salvation. If we were to be saved from eternal death, we needed a Substitute who was the same as us to die that death for us. As Scripture makes clear, animal sacrifices weren’t really good enough to atone for human sin. It had to be a Man, the same as us. But because that Man was also different from us—different in that His obedience was perfect and sinless and genuine, and different in that Jesus was God—His sacrifice would be enough to atone for the whole world’s sins. This is all part of what we call Jesus’ “active and passive obedience” as our Substitute. He did (actively) what we’re all supposed to do, except that we haven’t. And He suffered (passively) all that we deserved to suffer for our sins. This is what earned our salvation, that Christ was righteous for us, even as a Boy, and now the Father counts His righteousness and obedience to all who believe in Him, as if it were our obedience, as if we had been perfect parents, perfect children, perfect people.

Jesus became the perfect sacrifice for our sins. And now, as those whom God has saved, as those whom God has counted as righteous through faith in Christ Jesus, we have a holy calling, as St. Paul wrote in today’s Epistle, to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—not sacrifices to atone for sins anymore, but sacrifices of thanksgiving.

So parents, as your daily, living sacrifice of thanksgiving, be the fathers and mothers God has called you to be. As Paul writes, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord. Spend time with them. Teach them whatever you can. Teach them the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer. Keep urging them, by word and by example, to grow into godly men and women who don’t just attend church regularly, but who show a genuine interest in God’s Word, a firm commitment to sound doctrine, and zeal for knowing God and discussing the things of God.

Children, as your daily, living sacrifice of thanksgiving, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with a promise: “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.” Learn obedience. Learn to honor your parents, not just outwardly, but with your attitude and in your heart.

Christians of all ages, make it your goal to imitate Jesus in the ways you can. You can’t be God. But you can be good, honest, dependable, humble, caring, kind, generous, and submissive to those in authority over you. You can devote yourself to living as children of God in a godless world, who are eager to hear their Father’s Word, who love God’s Word more than anything, just like your Lord Jesus did, at twelve years old, and throughout His life. Amen.

Source: Sermons

Everything a boy should be


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Sermon for the First Sunday after Epiphany

Romans 12:1-5  +  Luke 2:41-52

There aren’t many accounts in the Bible of the early life of Jesus. Between the time of the holy family’s flight to Egypt, when Jesus was still just a baby, until the day of Jesus’ Baptism at age 30, we are told of exactly one event in the life of Christ—today’s Gospel about the 12-yr-old Jesus and the scare He gave to Mary and Joseph when He stayed behind in Jerusalem. We’d like to know more about Jesus’ childhood, of course, what He did, what He was up to, but the words of the Gospel really tell us all we need to know, as a summary of the whole childhood and adolescence of Jesus. Even as a boy, Jesus loved God His Father will all His heart, soul, mind and strength. He honored His earthly father and mother and was obedient to them. He grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. What else should a young man be up to? Jesus was everything a boy should be.

Let’s turn to the Gospel again and review this story. Luke tells us that it was the custom of Jesus’ parents to go to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. That was required of every Jewish male as part of the observance of the Law of Moses. The fact that Mary normally went along, too, shows us that this was no mere outward observance, going because they had to go. They gladly went up to the House of the Lord. They gladly celebrated the Passover feast given to them by God as both a remembrance of His past redemption of Israel and as a shadow of the great Redemption that their Son—the very Lamb of God—would one day bring about.

Whether or not Jesus went along with them before His twelfth birthday, we don’t know for sure. But it was (and still is) Jewish custom that at age thirteen a Jewish boy became responsible to perform all the ceremonies required by the Law, and that at age twelve, he started “practicing,” as it were, so that he was ready at age thirteen.

They travel from Nazareth to Jerusalem. They spend the days of the feast in the holy city. And then Mary and Joseph, together with all the company of relatives and neighbors from Nazareth, start heading back. But the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it; How could they not? I suppose because they just didn’t expect it. Jesus was always with them, always following, always obedient. He was wise—very wise for His age, not absent-minded, not one to go off and do His own thing.

They had already traveled a day’s journey. It took them another day to get back to Jerusalem. It wasn’t until the third day that they found Him in the Temple, where it says that He was 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 did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

We should be amazed, too, just as amazed as Mary and Joseph were. We should be amazed at the deep love and zeal that this twelve-year-old demonstrated for the Word and the works of His Father. We should be amazed that a twelve-year-old boy should be so in love with the Temple and with the Holy Scriptures that He doesn’t want to leave, that He wants to stay there, not to play around or sight-see, but to discuss the Word of God with the teachers of the Law.

Truly this is the ideal child. And there wasn’t a hint of defiance in Him or of superiority over His parents, even though He was far superior to them. He had no concern for His life, His works, His business, His pleasure, His future, His entertainment. Just the innocent love for His Father in heaven. Jesus is the perfect Child of God, who perfectly fulfills the words of the Psalmist: Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day. And again, LORD, I have loved the habitation of Your house, and the place where Your glory dwells. And again, Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.

Jesus, even at the age of 12, was fulfilling His task of being the perfect human being, the One whom you don’t have to command or coerce to go to church, to read His Bible, to be a student of Scripture. He is a willing student of Scripture, excited to learn God’s Word, eager to discuss it. And He does it all on His own, because He is absolutely devoted to His God. His will is perfectly connected to His Father’s will. As Jesus would later say to the Jews: Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.

After astounding the teachers with His understanding and after amazing His parents with His behavior, it says that 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.

There He is, the boy who loves God with His whole heart and who honors His earthly parents gladly and willingly. In all His actions, in all His attitudes, in all His behaviors, Jesus increased in favor with God and men. This was a Child, a Boy, a young Man, who never complained, who never grumbled, who was not self-centered, not a brooding teenager, but kind, thoughtful, considerate of others, and perfectly obedient. Of course He grew in favor with God and men. He was everything a boy should be.

Jesus’ perfect childhood, His sincere love for God, His obedience to His parents, His love for His neighbor—this is how it was meant to be, for all of us. This is how it would have been in the world, if Adam and Eve hadn’t fallen into sin. Instead, you children, you teenagers, and you who once were children and teenagers—you know that you have not loved God like that, that you have not been aching to stay at church and keep listening and studying Scripture, while your parents are already out the door. Sometimes it’s the exact opposite, isn’t it? And you know that you have not so willingly and gladly obeyed your parents, or lived your life for the benefit of your neighbor. Jesus’ childhood serves as a warning for young people and adults alike: the life  Jesus led is the life that God requires of all the sons of men. It’s not OK for you, even in your youth, to despise the Word of God, to get bored with it, to fail to pay attention to it, to wish you were somewhere else on Sunday morning. Nor is it OK for you to dishonor your parents, or to grumble against them, out loud or just in your heart. Nor is it OK for you to become so self-absorbed that you sit around doing nothing all day instead of serving your neighbor and growing in wisdom.

At the same time, Jesus didn’t lead a perfect childhood in order to condemn you for not doing it. He did it happily, so that you might be brought to repentance and faith in Him as your Substitute. He did it so that you might be able to call God your Father, not because you have loved Him with your whole heart, but because Jesus did, and you are bound to Him by Baptism. He was everything a boy should be, so that you could inherit from Him as a gift everything that a perfect son of a perfect Father deserves, even the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.

With the forgiveness of sins comes a new heart, a new purpose, to be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, to walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. With the mercy of God in view, you are to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God, as you heard in the Epistle.

So young people, and you who once were young, see your Savior working on your behalf in today’s Gospel. Repent and believe in Him, and see how your Father was working through Jesus as your Substitute, to bring you into His house. But also, learn from Jesus. Learn what it looks like to love God and His Word so completely, to be a willing student of the Scriptures. Learn what it looks like to be respectful of your parents at all times and obedient to those whom God has placed in authority over you. Learn what it looks like to devote your childhood, and your adulthood, and every breath of your life to God and to your neighbor. By faith in Christ Jesus, God now sees you as already being everything a child of God should be. Make it your goal to live that way, too, and you, too, will continue to increase in wisdom, and in favor with God and men. Amen.

 

Source: Sermons