Hello my “Walking with Jesus” friends,
So the New Year of 2022 begins. . . what do you HOPE this year will be for you, my friends? Where will you seek the wisdom you will need for making wise choices? Who will be those people with whom you will develop relationships which will help you become an even better person in ’22? How will you develop the courage and the strength of character which you will need to withstand wave after wave of darkness, of every type, which will attempt to draw your mind and heart into places of despair? Now please don’t rush past those three questions as we begin a new year together, for your answers may have a profound effect on what happens in your life over this next year!
This transition weekend, as we step into a New Year, let’s look at the one event recorded in the Bible which takes place during the boyhood years of Jesus. It’s a transition event. I think I see some important things which might really help you and me as we transition into this new year. Dr. Luke is the only Gospel writer who gives us any insight into what happened after Joseph, Mary and child Jesus return from their time living as refugees in Egypt, to build their lives in Nazareth. Luke 2:41 says: “Every year His parents [Joseph and Mary] went up to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover.” This is significant. It means Joseph and Mary were deeply committed to building a home for Jesus which would nurture him in understanding his rich heritage as a Hebrew and would also challenge him to develop his personal relationship with God.
You’ll recall God had told Moses, when giving the Hebrews all the instructions for living as a unique people of God, that three times per year the people should gather together, to celebrate their identity as God’s people, and the unique work of God in their nation. (Lev. 23 & Deut. 16) The most important of these festivals was Passover, and it appears Joseph and Mary took this very seriously, attempting to make this long pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Passover each year. When they did that, I wonder if they often spoke of that Christmas journey which first brought them on this road all the way to Bethlehem?
Of course almost everyone from Nazareth would want to go to Jerusalem for Passover, so I’m sure discussions were held among the adults, who would remain at home in Nazareth to watch over their town and those who were not able to make the pilgrimage? As Joseph and Mary’s family grew, I’m sure there were years Mary could not go as she had babies to care for at home. Mark 6:3 describes their family: “Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joses, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters with us?” So it appears Jesus grew up with several younger siblings. While it is not stated, we presume Joseph was father to all of these siblings mentioned.
Luke takes special note of the fact that Jesus accompanied Joseph and Mary when he was 12 years old. That age was a significant transition time for all Hebrew boys, for it was then they would begin to be viewed as young Hebrew men and no longer children. Up to that time their parents were held responsible for their actions, but from age 13 on boys were expected to know God’s laws well enough to be held accountable to live by them.
What is more significant, however, is what happened after that Passover celebration as Joseph, Mary and their friends with whom they were travelling, began their journey back to Nazareth. Unlike previous times, it appears Joseph and Mary made no attempt to make sure young Jesus was with them as they left Jerusalem. He was becoming a young man now and responsible to make wise choices. But when they stopped for the night, Jesus was nowhere to be found! Concerned, worried, frustrated, they returned a full day’s walk back to Jerusalem and began searching through the overcrowded city. Luke reports: “…they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” (Luke 2:44-48)
Do you feel the tension? Look around, can you see the frustration? Expectations unmet leave us with questions, sometimes deep, difficult questions. Practically Joseph and Mary had been greatly inconvenienced, having to leave their travelling caravan and walk all the way back to Jerusalem in search of 12 year old Jesus. Relationally, Joseph and Mary were trying to balance being mentors, caretakers of this child miraculously born to them, while also being respectful of who Gabriel the angel had said this boy would be… the Son of God, Immanuel! My guess is this was not the only time this became really complicated! 12 year old Jesus’ response shocked everyone present: “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49) Luke captures the confusion in this moment with one brief statement: “But they did not understand what he was saying to them.”
How many times are you and I going to find ourselves in situations like this in 2022? Conversations or political speeches or business transactions or things on social media that we simply do not understand? What should be our response in those moments? Luke doesn’t tell us what more was said, but he does give us two very important insights into what was happening deep in their hearts: “Then he (Jesus) went to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.” (Luke 2:51) I wonder what God the Father and God the Holy Spirit were saying to Jesus in His heart and mind at this time? What’s the lesson here for millions of young people all around us who have more to learn before they are ready to step out into adulthood? What should be their appetite for learning wisdom and responsibility from those older than them?
But look around your town… how many of those young people are growing up in families which have no ambition to honor God with their lives? How many of them have absentee fathers or derelict parents or don’t even know where their parents are? Could it be God is calling you and me to have a significant mentoring influence in the lives of some young people this next year, who desperately need older men and women of Godly wisdom, to help them become God honoring adults? Are you willing for the Spirit of God to lead such young people to you? Are you ready for God to teach you, so you can teach them?
Luke also writes this about Mary: “But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.” You may recall Luke wrote almost the very same words about Mary, 12 years earlier, at the time of the shepherd’s visit to that Christmas manger scene in Bethlehem? (Luke 2:19) So what does it mean for you and me as adults to treasure every opportunity for God to teach us; speak His truth into our minds and hearts; guide us in all His ways? That’s what David said in Psalm 86:11,12 and what Psalm 119 is all about! What will you treasure in your heart and mind this year? How will you protect your heart and mind from all the junk that pours out of our TVs and radios and computers and cell phones? The word that comes to my mind here is DISCERNMENT! Mary, I believe, was spending lots of time talking with God, asking that He help her understand God’s perspective on it all! Do you remember that is why young Mary went to spend 3 months with Zechariah & Elizabeth when she was informed by Gabriel of her virgin pregnancy? She sought help from those she felt knew God well enough to help her find God’s wisdom. Have you considered seeking wisdom from God in His Word every day? The book of Proverbs is a great place to start, my friends!
Finally the result of both young Jesus and Mary’s attitudes and actions is this statement from Luke: “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” (Luke 2:52) Oh my how that is my hope for ME, my wife, my daughter and son-in-law, my 5 grandgirls…and all of you, for this year of 2022. That we would ALL grow in wisdom, stature and in favor with God and people! Do you see the secrets Luke shows us in this experience with 12 year old Jesus? It’s the product of what we treasure in our hearts and ponder with our minds. It’s the product of our obedience to God’s truth and our hunger to know God more and more each day! Now I urge you my friends to hold tightly to that, and begin today by taking your 2022 journal and writing some objectives, some New Year’s resolutions for yourself, that will result in Luke 2:52 being true of you this year!
I have no song for us today… simply time for reflection starting with the three questions I opened with today write down what God is saying to you, in your journal. . .
Today’s Scripture is Luke 2:41-52.
Choose below to read or listen.
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Bible images provided with attribution to www.LumoProject.com.
Have a comment or question about today’s chapter? I’m ready to hear from you, contact me here.
Pastor Doug Anderson 262.441.8785
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, with our eyes fixed on Jesus…” (Heb. 12:1,2)
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