Jesus grows up
Series: Simple. Quiet. Present. | Bible text: Luke 2:41–52
Luke 2:41–52 contains the only account of the youth of Jesus himself. The religiously independent «boy» travelled with his parents to Jerusalem for the Passover. To his parents» dismay, however, Jesus remains in Jerusalem after their departure and impresses the teachers there with his understanding and wise answers. After three days, his parents found him again and were outraged that he had simply left. For Jesus, however, it was clear: «You should have known that I am in my Father’s house.» Jesus went back with his parents and was an obedient son and grew in wisdom.
When I was about 14 years old, I used to go skiing on my own in the afternoons during my skiing holidays. The ski resort, Lauchernalp, made it easy for us children to ski alone as we rented a house right next to the piste. The area is also not particularly large and our parents gave us a lot of confidence, so it was possible. I was very enthusiastic about cable cars and always wanted to be there when they serviced the cabins in the evening. So towards the evening, I decided to simply ask the cable car operator if I could help out and he was happy to let me help. I ended up coming home quite a bit later in the evening and it hadn’t occurred to me to inform my parents. My parents, who had already been in contact with the piste patrollers, were very relieved that I had suddenly turned up.
A similar story can be found in Luke 2:41–52 in the Bible about the boy Jesus.
At the age of 12 or 13 – today it is 13 – a Jew was a so-called bar mitzvah, which means «son of the commandment». From now on, he is responsible for the fulfilment of the commandments and for his entire religious life.
The Swiss state is giving us a little more time. In Switzerland, we are of religious age from the age of 16 and should therefore be able to decide for ourselves what we believe independently of our parents. Our church association, Viva Kirche Schweiz, has the same rules. From the age of 16, you can become a member without your parents» consent.
As seetal chile, we would like to honour this milestone and celebrate and bless you for your life’s journey with the Teens Blessing. We hope that Jesus Christ may play a central role in your lives, because we are convinced that this is the best thing that can happen to you.
We come back to the boy Jesus, who had the maturity and therefore also the responsibility for his life of faith. In this responsibility, Jesus decided to stay in the synagogue instead of going back with his parents. He stayed there and listened and asked questions. Everyone who heard him marvelled at his understanding.
Faithful
In the meantime, his parents are already on their way back and only realise in the evening that Jesus has disappeared. So Mary was not a helicopter mother who controlled Jesus and always had to know where he was. So they gave their son his freedom early on. But when they realised that he wasn’t even in the travel group, they became very worried. And it took them three days to find him again.
All parents here will probably sympathise with Mary and Joseph if they were beside themselves with worry. Even I can imagine how terrible it must be when your own child simply disappears for three days. They were looking for Jesus and when they found him they reacted as follows:
«His parents didn’t know what to make of it. «Child,» his mum said to him. «How could you do this to us? Your father and I were terribly worried. We looked everywhere for you.» (Luke 2:48 NLB).
Now it gets exciting, because I think Jesus» reaction sounds almost a little arrogant. Jesus says: « «Why were you looking for me?» he asked. «You should have known that I was in my father’s house. But they didn’t understand what he meant» (Luke 2:49–50 NLB).
I can take two thoughts from his answer.
In a more literal translation, Jesus» answer is «Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?». I don’t think the «Father’s house» means the temple, but that he must be with his Father. He should be where his father wants him to be. Apparently it was important for his relationship with the Father that Jesus stayed and questioned the teachers, so he decided to stay.
I am 22 years old and have been travelling with Jesus my whole life. Spending time with him is not something that I have to do, but something that I really need and love to do. This is evident in my everyday life, where I take time out first thing in the morning and again in the evening before I go to sleep. I also like to take time throughout the day to walk and admire creation and enjoy time with the Father. There are many moments when I have to say, I have to be in what my father is because it serves me best.
At the end of February, I had to go to the WK for 4 weeks. This was a completely different environment than I am used to and it was no longer so easy for me to take time alone with God. A completely different daily routine and an environment that doesn’t understand this make it quite difficult. Suddenly I had to fight a lot more to have this time with God and was confronted with the question: how important is this really to me? Do I do it because I really need it or just because it suits me?
And that is what Jesus did with this action. He had to be in what is his Father’s.
Worldly expectations vs. God’s calling
For me, however, the question still remains: why did Jesus simply say nothing and stay? Yes, he was only 12 years old and you could put that down to his immaturity, but the people in the synagogue marvelled at his wisdom and understanding. He must have known that his parents would be worried if he simply stayed behind. He could have simply informed his parents that he wanted to stay and explained everything to them so that they wouldn’t worry. But he didn’t do that and I think he deliberately didn’t do it.
Mary’s reaction shows that perhaps she has not yet fully accepted that Jesus is now growing up. She had trouble letting go of Jesus and that is something that is difficult when you are allowed/need to let go of your children.
Growth of Jesus
If you look closely, you realise that Luke, the author of this Gospel, formulates it very deliberately and precisely. In the previous section, he calls Jesus an «infant», then a «young child» and now he is a «boy», a «youth». In his account, Luke focussed on the development and growth of Jesus.
So Jesus was no longer a child but a boy. Mary clearly addresses him as: «Child» or «My child».
In the father’s house
Jesus replies: «You should have known that I am in my Father’s house.» I believe that Jesus was deliberately signalling his independence here. He is no longer primarily the son of Mary and Joseph, but the Son of God. That didn’t just happen, he had to fight for it a little.
I’m not calling for rebellion against your own family, quite the opposite, but I’ll get to that later. But I think there is a general challenge that we should not allow ourselves to be determined by what others say about us. Jesus had to make a decision that triggered a conflict with his parents so that Mary would learn that Jesus was no longer a «child» but already an adult and therefore responsible for his own religious life.
With this point, I would like to encourage you to walk your path with God and to be a child of God first and foremost, because that is our calling. That takes courage.
Being a child of God
I come to the last point of my sermon and also the most important one! What exactly does it mean to be a child of God and how do we learn this? If you misunderstand what I said earlier, it can cause great damage. If a family man turns his back on his wife and children and justifies it by saying that God is the first priority, then he has completely misunderstood the message of Jesus. Giving God first priority must not be misused as a justification for one’s own selfish decisions.
Here it can help to examine difficult decisions with someone and ask whether this is really God’s intention or to read the Bible and ask whether the decision is not contradictory.
In the following verses of this story we see how Jesus understood this. It says: «And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and he was subject to them. And his mother kept all these words in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and man» (Luke 2:51–52 ELB).
This story promises us that if we learn to be children of God, our Father in heaven can fulfil all our needs, just as a father looks after his children. And from this position – cared for by our Father in heaven – we can submit to other people and serve them. If an adult is to honour his parents – and we should – he must first leave his parents.
As children of God, we increase in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and people. If we take Jesus as our role model and become children of God, it will lead to us submitting ourselves out of love and serving other people. If we live this way, it is always the best thing for those around us!
And I find that really exciting again, because what we read here about Jesus is the only account of what Jesus did until his public ministry at around 30 years of age. That would be about 18 years in which Jesus did nothing earth-shattering, but simply stayed where he was and was faithful in the small tasks. He did not boast about his knowledge or wisdom, although he could certainly have preached great sermons.
I invite you to be where our Father in heaven is and to trust that his promises will come true.
Possible questions for the small group
Read Luke 2:41–52 together
- Have you ever experienced a situation in which you – like Jesus – had to make a decision that others did not understand? How did you deal with it?
- Where do you specifically find it difficult to prioritise God in your everyday life (e.g. school, friends, leisure time)? What could help you to still find time with God?
- In which areas do you allow yourself to be strongly influenced by what others think or expect about you? What could it look like to walk more courageously with God in these areas?
- How can you tell whether a decision really comes from God’s will – or rather from your own desires? What specifically helps you with this?
- What does it mean for you in practical terms to be a «child of God»? Where could you consciously act out of this identity this week?
