ABOUT HIS FATHER’S BUSINESS

Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on October 16, 2019 under AM Bible Study |

AM Bible Study Group: October 16, 2019 from Luke 2:39-52

Theme: The ‘infancy stories’ of our Savior in the temple declare to us that He was the long-expected Messiah.

(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).

How was it that God in human flesh grew up into adulthood? What was that ‘growing-up’ like?

There have, of course, been many speculative stories written—fantastic tales about Jesus as a young boy. But they are simply products of human imagination; and they are not worthy of our time or our trust. The only story that we can rely on is the one we find in the Gospel of Luke. And that story is told to us in only a few verses. But in just those few verses, we’re told all that we need to know about our Savior’s early life to understand the character of His whole life from then on—and to trust Him as our all-sufficient Savior.

Let’s jump ahead in our thinking to the kinds of things He said near the end of His life on earth. To His disciples, He said; “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work ” (John 4:34). And to those who misunderstood Him, He said; “I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me” (John 5:30); and “… I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me” (John 6:38). And to those who opposed Him, He boldly declared; “The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him” (John 8:29). Even when obedience would mean suffering at the cost of His life, He nevertheless said, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day …” (John 9:24). And in prayer—just before going to the cross for us—He told the Father, “I have glorified You on the earth. I have finished the work which You have given Me to do” (John 17:4). Even in the garden—before His arrest—He prayed, “not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39).

Jesus’ whole ministry on earth was a ministry of perfect obedience to the will of the heavenly Father. He never sinned against that will. He always only did what the Father wanted Him to do. He testified that this was so before His enemies—and no one would speak a word against His claim. His opponents could not charge Him with sin. And now, in this morning’s passage, we see that—even as a boy—our Savior was always about the business of the Father.

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First, we see that …

1. THE GRACE OF HIS FATHER WAS UPON HIM.

Luke had told us—most likely from the stories hidden in the heart of His mother Mary—the things that were said of Him in the Temple when they brought Him as an infant to be circumcised. And then, we’re told;

So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him (Luke 2:39-40).

Here is all that we’re told about the Lord’s life from the time He was a circumcised infant, all the way through this childhood, and until the time when He was twelve years of age. Notice that at the time of His infancy, we’re told that nothing was left undone for Him in terms of the Father’s will. The requirements of the law were fulfilled for Him. His parents did what all good parents must do for a child that cannot take initiative for themselves; and that is that they kept the infant Jesus in reverent conformity to God’s will. We ought to praise God if we had parents that did this for us—who took us to church, and taught us about God’s goodness, and raised us to honor Him.

But it wasn’t because of this that the grace of the Father was upon Him. Jesus was—from the very beginning—the Word become flesh. The Holy Spirit has not seen fit to tell us all the stories we wish we could know about His childhood on up through His pre-adolescent years. What we can know is that He grew up like any other small boy would have grown; but He grew strong in spirit. He was never a foolish child; but was filled with wisdom. Clearly, the grace—or we might translate it, “favor”—of God was upon Him. He didn’t have any childhood sins to repent of—as we all do. He didn’t misbehave—as we all have. When we’re told in the Bible that He was “in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin,” (Hebrews 4:15), we can absolutely believe it. From the very beginning onward, He was the sinless Lamb of God.

Note also that …

2. HE WAS RAISED IN REVERENCE TO HIS FATHER’S LAW.

We’re told that Jesus’ growing-up years were characterized by regular faithfulness to the commandment of God to remember the Passover Feast. We’re told;

His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast (vv. 41-42).

Even though they lived in far-away Nazareth of Galilee, His mother and adopted father took Him regularly with them to the observance of the Passover in the place where God commanded them to go. If by this point, He had younger brothers and sisters, we can be sure that they went too. Jesus would have had the childhood memories of those times. They would have been precious to Him.

Proverbs 22:6 says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” And of course, we would think of this of being true of any child. But it was certainly true of our Lord. What we can know for sure about our Lord’s growing-up years, then, was that He was raised to have a reverent love of His Father—and of His heavenly Father’s commandments.

But He demonstrated more in His early years than just the reverence that would come from parental nurture and training. We next see that …

3. HE MANIFESTED ASTONISHING WISDOM IN THE FATHER’S WORD.

In this twelfth year of our Lord’s life—His twelfth visit to the Temple—at the threshold of His beginning to become a man—just before the time of life when He would be considered of age in the rituals of the Jewish religion—we’re told;

When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it; but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances (vv. 43-44).

We all probably have stories of times when our parents had to go chasing around to find us. Those stories came about because of our negligence, or because of our disobedience, or because of our childish absent-mindedness. And because those days were quite a bit different from ours today, Jesus’ parents might have assumed that He was safe among family and friends … and have not thought much more about it. But after a day’s journeying—after a while of not finding Him—just like our parents would have done, our Lord’s earthly parents would have grown terribly anxious for Him. They sought for Him; but couldn’t find Him.

It must have been with very anxious hearts that Mary and Joseph turned around and went back to look for Him. They would have traced their steps two-day’s backward; and would have concluded that they must go back to the place where they left—hoping that they would find Him still there. They may have been praying very much, the whole time long, out of fear for His safety and well-being.

So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him (v. 45).

Imagine how it must have been that, even after they came to the city where last they had Him with them, they still couldn’t find Him. We’re told that they were still seeking Him there. It may be that they spent a whole day searching the city for Him. How terrifying it must have been for them! Would they have even thought about who they were told by God that He was? Would they even have feared that they had somehow lost track of the Child they were told was the Christ? Would they be concerned that they had lost the most precious gift God had ever given to humanity?

It’s then that we’re told;

Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, 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 (vv. 46-47).

This is just a guess; but it could be that, as they were looking for their lost Child, they heard people talking about the remarkable young man who had been sitting in the Temple for the past three days, and that was astonishing the teachers in the temple—and knew that they had found Him.

Jesus was obviously far more than just a precocious child. And it would be impossible to imagine Jesus being—in any way—disrespectful to the teachers of Israel. Instead, we’re told that He was asking them questions; and they were asking Him questions in return. All were astonished at His wisdom—literally, His ‘intelligence’—and no doubt along with it, at His profound reverence for the Father and His word. Many years later, after He rose from the dead, we’re told that He was found walking with the two men along the road to Emmaus; “And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself” (Luke 24:27). His wisdom in His Father’s word was manifest early! Later on, even those who went to arrest Him while He taught would come back to the officials and say, “No man ever spoke like this Man!” (John 7:46).

And notice that it wasn’t all just a matter of ‘intellect’ for Him. We go on to see that …

4. HE WAS COMPELLED TO BE FOCUSED ON THE FATHER’S CONCERNS.

What a relief it must have been when Mary and Joseph found Him. But just like our parents would have been; as soon as they were relieved to have found Him, they were immediately ready to scold Him … except that, in their case, their readiness to scold was mixed with a sense of wonder.

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?” (vv. 48-49).

He not only knew the word of His Father in heaven; but He was also compelled to do the Father’s will. Literally, He said, “Did you not know [as if it was expected that they should have known] that in the things of My Father I must be?” Joseph and Mary were clearly told about Him from the very beginning. The angel declared who He was. Even Simeon in the temple said, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of Many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against … that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed” (Luke 2:34-35). And so, even at this early age, Jesus was declaring that God was His Father and that He must be doing the Father’s will. It was as if our Lord was asking His earthly parents what else they would have expected Him to be doing but seeking the business of His Father. Where else would they expect to find Him but in His Father’s house—seeking the Father’s will?

We’re told,

But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them (v. 50).

But given all the ways that He would later declare His complete, perfect obedience to the will of the Father, we now can understand.

Now; a Child such as He was—the Son of God in human flesh—wiser as a youngster than even the seasoned and trained teachers of Israel and experts in the law—might have been expected to think that He was above the need to be obedient to His parents. If anyone would have had a right to be an independent child, it would have been Him. But we’re next told that …

5. HE SUBMITTED TO HIS PARENTS IN OBEDIENCE TO THE FATHER.

The fifth commandment of God’s law says, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12). And our Lord was obedient to every commandment of the Father—including this one. We’re told,

Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them … (v. 51a).

It wasn’t that He had been—in any way—disobedient or unsubmissive to His earthly parents before then. But now—having shown something of the majesty of His being as the true Son of the heavenly Father—in manifest obedience to the Father’s command, He was submissive to them. Now, His submissiveness was shown to be the truly remarkable thing that it was. This, by the way, ought to be a lesson to us all. If our Lord—who, by all right as God’s Son, had no need to submit to anyone else—was submissive to His parents, how much more should we be submissive to those whom God puts in authority over us!

And when we’re told,

… but His mother kept all these things in her heart (v. 51b) …

we’re being told that the report of Jesus’ behavior is a reliable one. She thought about it all … and remembered it for the telling of it all later.

And finally, notice something else remarkable about Jesus; and that is that …

6. HE INCREASED IN THE BLESSINGS OF HIS FATHER.

There’s a great mystery to the incarnation; isn’t there? Our Lord was the Son of God in human flesh. And yet, in His full humanity—as one of us—He grew and matured. We’re told,

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men (v. 52).

If we can say this reverently, it must have been a kind of agony for the Son of God—the eternal King of Heaven—to have undergone “growth” and “maturation” and “increase”. He made all things; and yet, for a time on this earth, He submitted Himself to being taught the basic things of life. He had possessed all power; and yet, for those brief years, he submitted Himself to the experience of being weak and gradually increasing in strength. And though it is hard for us to grasp, He even “increased” in favor with God and men. He went through the process that we all must go through. As it says in Hebrews 2:17-18;

Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted (Hebrews 2:17-18).

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A lot of years are covered in verse 52. The next thing we read of is the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry. But in it—and in the few verses that precede it—we’re told all that we need to know about Jesus to trust Him as our Savior. He always did the will of the Father—and is fit to be our Substitute upon the cross.

EA