Luke 2:41-52

⁴¹ Every year his parents traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. ⁴² When he was twelve years old, they went up according to the custom of the Festival. ⁴³ When the days had ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it. ⁴⁴ Since they thought he was in their group, they went a day’s journey. Then they began to look for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵ When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. ⁴⁶ After three days they found him in the temple courts, 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 saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us this way? See, your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.” ⁴⁹ He said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be taking care of my Father’s business?” ⁵⁰ They did not understand what he was telling them. ⁵¹ He went down with them and came to Nazareth. He was always obedient to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. ⁵² Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people.  (EHV)

Dear Friends in Christ,

I’m pretty proud of my kids. They all turned out pretty well, I can honestly say. They all graduated college. They’re all in church with their kids every Sunday. Two of them are even pastors. And since both of those two talked about one or the other of their parents in sermons last week, it’s only fair that I talk about them for a second, if only to say, good as they are, not one of them was the perfect child. That’s fair for any of us to say about our children, because there is only one child in history that was ever The Perfect Child, and that was Jesus. That was only possible because He is not only the son of Mary; He is also the Son of God. He was born without sin. He had to be in order to be our Savior. He is our Stand-in, our Substitute. Since we couldn’t keep God’s commandments perfectly, and God demands that they all be kept, we needed Jesus to do it for us. Looking at our text this morning, the first thing we notice about this Perfect Child, is that He was totally at Home with the Lord.

The Perfect Child Was at Home with the Lord

If your childhood memories are good, it’s because of where and with whom you spent it. Our son Titus and his wife Stephanie have been serving as foster parents. They have taken in children who were born with drugs in the bloodstream and whose home life was a mess. And over time, these children have benefitted immeasurably from a stable home life. The transformation has been amazing. Their lives have been forever changed. Your childhood formed you. If you grew up like I did in a stable Christian home, don’t ever take that privilege and blessing for granted!

Jesus’ parents didn’t have a lot of money. Joseph earned what food and possessions he had doing hard manual labor as a carpenter. What he lacked in means, he made up for in love. He loved and cared for his adopted son, just as Mary did. Even more important than that, as believing parents, they taught Him God’s love in their home. Now that may sound unusual, since Jesus is God’s Son, but during Jesus’ time on earth He put aside the full use of His divine powers. He allowed himself to be taught and to learn like other children. And according to His humanity, He learned from the pious example of His parents. They set an example that all Christian parents should follow. They made meditating on God’s Word a part of their daily lives. They lived pious lives. They went to synagogue every week. They made their way to Jerusalem on the annual Passover pilgrimage. That’s just the kind of people they were.

Perfect Child that He was, Jesus learned quickly and thoroughly. That is seen in what happened when they got to Jerusalem. You can well imagine what Passover in Jerusalem must have been like, as pilgrims came from every nation where Jews had been scattered. The city was overflowing with people, bustling with activity, some of it, no doubt, quite exotic and foreign. And yet when Jesus got to Jerusalem, He wasn’t distracted by all the interesting things there, or by running off with the other children who’d traveled there together with His family from up north. No, Jesus went straight to the temple and spent the whole time there—even three days after it was considered time to go home by His parents.

Mary and Joseph had a lot of trust in their son. They didn’t worry about Him. It wasn’t until they’d made a whole day’s journey back toward Nazareth that they thought they ought to check up on Him, and finally discovered He wasn’t with the other young people—which means they were used to Jesus getting along with the other boys His age. But now they finally got nervous and headed back to the city. After two days of travel, they spent a good deal of the third day looking around the city for Jesus. When they finally found Him, He was in the synagogue on the temple grounds, in a deep discussion with the teachers there. Of course, that’s where He would be!

Why did it take Mary and Joseph so long to figure that out? Jesus had absorbed what His parents had taught Him by their words and example. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸ When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us this way? See, your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.” ⁴⁹ He said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be taking care of my Father’s business?” ⁵⁰ They did not understand what he was telling them.

God’s house is the place for every child to be totally at home. What about your children and grandchildren? What about you? There is no more important weekly appointment for families to keep, than the one in God’s house to hear and learn His Word! Not that the church building is the only place to be at home with the Word. We want our Christian homes to be what Jesus’ home was—a place to learn God’s truth by example, and by devotion to the Lord’s Word. Remember, Mary and Joseph weren’t perfect parents. Therefore, following their example is not beyond your reach. Like Jesus Himself, our children and grandchildren can and need to be brought up in a pious home, “in the training and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4).

The Perfect Child Was Obedient

The second thing we notice about this Perfect Child, is that He was totally obedient. Mary and Joseph knew their child was special. They remembered what the angels had said at His birth, and pondered all that had happened, yet it was still difficult for them to fully grasp what this all meant.

Put yourself in Mary and Joseph’s sandals. On the one hand, having a perfect child has its advantages! But on the other hand, it must also have been somewhat disconcerting, especially in how inadequate they must have felt at times. They probably felt that inadequacy, embarrassed that they didn’t know where to look for Jesus—but should have! ‘Of course He was in His Father’s house!’

Despite their imperfection, Jesus was perfectly submissive and obedient to them, honoring them as His parents and guardians. ⁵¹ He went down with them and came to Nazareth. He was always obedient to them. Jesus followed His parents home. He did not disrespect them, even when they were not perfect parents. They weren’t perfect in their faith and wisdom, or they would not have scolded Jesus. But Jesus didn’t roll His eyes at them. Like parents everywhere, they were sinful—they fell short of God’s standards, but Jesus didn’t mumble under His breath against them.

Mary and Joseph didn’t deserve to have the Perfect Child. That’s why it’s so important and comforting that God sent His Son Jesus to be the Perfect Child in our place. He kept all of God’s commands perfectly in Mary and Joseph’s place, in our place, in order to earn salvation for fumbling sinners like you and me. He’s the one who made it possible for sinful children to be saved. And He’s the one who made it possible for us inadequate parents to be forgiven. That’s what makes us want to strive to be better parents and better children, knowing God forgives us and eagerly sends us the Spirit and all His gifts so we can do better, just as Mary and Joseph sought to do.

The Perfect Child Grew Up in the Lord

We get a small glimpse in the final sentence of our text of what the rest of Jesus’ perfect childhood was like, of which we have not another word in the rest of Scripture. ⁵² Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people. What a mystery! —not that Jesus grew in stature, but that He grew in wisdom. While we believe from Scripture that Jesus is true God, we’re reminded here that Jesus was also true man. And we can take comfort in that. It’s another needed reminder that Jesus really is our human brother. He’s been here! He’s lived in our world! He had to put up with all the difficulties of living in this world. He grew just like any other boy. He went through puberty. Maybe He even got acne. He got hungry. He got bruises and cuts. His feet got dirty.

That Jesus was fully human means that He really was under the law, that He really was tempted by the devil, and that He really had to work to keep the commandments as our Substitute. He earned our salvation.

And it’s equally comforting for us to remember that Jesus is still our human Brother up in heaven. That’s what enables Him to really listen to our prayers, understand them and look down mercifully on our needs as He intercedes for us at the right hand of the Father.

That Jesus grew in wisdom means Jesus had to study, read, learn, watch, and listen. He helped His Father in His woodshop. He learned how to use a plane and a chisel and a hammer. When Jesus was in the Temple talking with the teachers, He was asking questions as well as providing answers. He was seeking to deepen the knowledge He’d gotten from His Rabbi at Sabbath School in Nazareth.

That Jesus grew…in favor with God means He grew in His obedience, without ever being disobedient. By the day of His baptism which we’ll remember in two weeks, God could say “This is my Son whom I love. With Him I am well pleased.” With each passing day and month and year, Jesus fulfilled more of His role as our Substitute, refusing more temptations, getting closer to the goal of crossing the finish line with His holiness intact. Remember that Jesus earned our salvation by living for us, and then by dying for us.

Even though Jesus is our perfect Substitute, and our salvation is complete, we want nevertheless to keep on striving ourselves to grow in favor with God and with man. We can’t “grow more forgiven.” But we can grow in godliness and grow closer to God.

Far too many children grow up in sad circumstances because of drugs, war, famine, disease, and poverty. That’s truly sad and a call to help when and how we can. But—just as sad—there are a lot of wealthy, healthy children that get no spiritual upbringing at all! That’s truly a sad tragedy! That’s not the way God wants it!

Like Mary and Joseph, let us do everything we can to help the children in our lives learn about their Savior and grow up in faith. Jesus came because He wants all of them and us to live with Him in heaven. Amen.