Father

Luke 2:41-52 (The Message)

Every year Jesus' parents traveled to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up as they always did for the Feast. When it was over and they left for home, the child Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents didn't know it.

Thinking he was somewhere in the company of pilgrims, they journeyed for a whole day and then began looking for him among relatives and neighbors. When they didn't find him, they went back to Jerusalem looking for him.

The next day they found him in the Temple seated among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions. The teachers were all quite taken with him, impressed with the sharpness of his answers. But his parents were not impressed; they were upset and hurt.

His mother said, "Young man, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been half out of our minds looking for you."

He said, "Why were you looking for me? Didn't you know that I had to be here, dealing with the things of my Father?" But they had no idea what he was talking about.

So he went back to Nazareth with them, and lived obediently with them. His mother held these things dearly, deep within herself. And Jesus matured, growing up in both body and spirit, blessed by both God and people.

The Nicene Creed begins:

"We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made..."

At the very heart of Christianity is the assertion that Jesus Christ is "fully God, and fully human."

That statement is a faith proposition. It's not something easily understood by our limited minds.

He is of "one substance with the Father by whom all things were made," and "light of light, very God of very God."

And he is also Joseph and Mary's little boy.

Even at the tender age of 12 years old, we can see the miracles and the tensions that the reality of this absolutely unique human being brings into the lives of those around him.

As we will see throughout our study of Luke, this instance of miracle and tension would not be the last.

His parents are worried sick when they realize that he's missing. Our hearts go out to them, and we can almost feel the panic that they must have experienced in those moments.

When they find him, back at the temple, they are not amused.

"You knew I had to be here," he says, "dealing with the things of my Father."

The passage tells us that they didn't understand his meaning. Perhaps they had some notion, but they couldn't easily open up to the idea of all that this could mean...or that they were charged with raising a child whose mission was beyond their control.

As the years went by, Jesus grew stronger both physically and spiritually. He was obedient. But Mary remembered...and perhaps began to realize who this young man would be. She "held these things...deep within herself."

Eventually, those things would surface. At the cross, and after the resurrection. She would one day understand all that God had planned, and how her life was forever changed by the baby she carried, and the young man that she raised.

The same challenge is there for all of us who would follow Jesus. We can never control him. His life changes ours.

Throughout history, Christians have been tempted to mold Jesus in their own image. The challenge is to allow his image to become our own. We would do well to be like Mary...holding these things deep in our hearts...and bringing them to the surface of our lives as we live in relationship with the living Christ.

Prayer: God our Father, may we be about your business today as the life of Christ becomes our own.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. World without end. Amen.

Tomorrow's Scripture: Luke 3:1-9