The First Sunday after Epiphany – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. Luke 2:41-52 “Found in the Temple”
January 12, 2025 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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Lord God, heavenly Father, in mercy You have established the Christian home among us: We beseech You so to rule and direct our hearts, that we may be good examples to children and those subject to us, and not offend them by word or deed, but faithfully teach them to love Your Church and hear Your blessed Word. Give them Your Spirit and grace, that this seed may bring forth good fruit, so that our home life may advance Your glory, honor and praise, our own improvement and welfare, and give offense to no one; through the same, Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen. (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary, by Veit Dietrich, p. 149)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
The sermon text for today is taken from the 2nd chapter of the Gospel according to St. Luke. We read selected verses in Jesus’ name:
Now [Jesus’] parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing Him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for Him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for Him.
And He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And His mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)
In Christ Jesus, who lived your entire life, from infancy, to youth, to adulthood and is with you in His Word and temple, dear fellow redeemed:
If you remember from this spring, we had a Bible study titled, what is Lutheran worship? We learned why we do the things we do in our worship service and why we have the things we have in our worship service. The biggest thing we learned is that in this service, this is where God comes to us, and because He comes to us lowly sinners who only deserve His wrath and punishment as we confessed, we give thanks, praise, and pray in reverence and awe. Already at the age of twelve years old, we see our Savior dwelling in His temple. We know how children act, especially at the age of twelve. How does this twelve-year-old know, this is where He needs to be? How does He know He has His Father’s work to do? While we most likely had no idea what we were going to do with the rest of our lives at the age of twelve years old, this is no ordinary twelve-year-old. This is the perfect twelve-year-old and at this age He knows where He will be found. He will be found in His Father’s house.
For twelve-year-old Jesus to get to His Father’s house, He must get there like any other twelve-year-old. Mom and Dad must take Him there. Now [Jesus’] parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. Now we know this feast as the main feast for Israel. It is well known because of when God institutes it. He commanded “at the place that the LORD your God will choose, to make his name dwell in it, there you shall offer the Passover sacrifice, in the evening at sunset, at the time you came out of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 16:6). We see how Mary and Joseph not only care about their faith, but they care about their son, and they want Him to observe the law as well. Even though it is only required for the men to go, the family makes the trip for the great celebration. Now the boy Jesus remains after the feast, and He remains because He must be there to do His heavenly Father’s will. It’s hard for us to wrap our heads around twelve-year-old Jesus preparing for His exodus.
Since Jesus is working, and in the exodus from Jerusalem with the family, His mother and father lost track of where their son was. His parents did not know it, but supposing Him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for Him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for Him. For Mary and Joseph to not be worried about Jesus when the caravan leaves, reveals how behaved Jesus was at twelve years old. Certainly, better behaved than any other twelve-year-old who has ever lived. Very quickly after realizing their error, as caring and worried parents, they go to find their child.
Well, Jesus had not hidden Himself away because He didn’t want to go home, He was right where He knew He needed to be. After three days they found Him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers. And when His parents saw Him, they were astonished. When you lose your child shopping, usually you can find them in the toy aisle. Mary and Joseph did not expect that they would find their child in the House of the Lord asking and being asked questions by the teachers they learn from when they go to Jerusalem for the feasts. Now we know children are capable of learning as we have all experienced learning through our youth, we know there are some areas that were lacking in our youth. There were days we didn’t pay attention. This twelve-year-old is special. He does learn, but even at twelve, this is God in the flesh and Isaiah writes, “And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD” (Isaiah 11:2). He is in His temple with fear for His heavenly Father.
This is exactly what He tells His parents correcting their worries as we see them come to Him like any worried parents. And His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us so? Behold, Your father and I have been searching for You in great distress.” Even though Mary and Joseph knew their son was special, they still hadn’t grasped how special He was. Like any parents, they were worried about their child, but Jesus was not to blame for their worrying. He had done nothing wrong. Mary and Joseph still had much to learn when it comes to Jesus and the Father’s plan of salvation. We can at times lose sight of God’s plan of salvation. There are times we can flip the script and think that we are the ones who contribute to the plan. We can’t have fruits without the tree. If at any moment we think that we can contribute, no matter how small it may be, and we have lost sight of Jesus. It will look as though Jesus will do what we want Him to do. He doesn’t do what we want, He does what His Father has commanded. Something we fall flat at doing. When there are times where we have lost sight of Him, then we go back to where we find Him and where He comes to us.
At the age of twelve years old, Jesus knew where He should be. And He said to them, “Why were you looking for Me? Did you not know that I must be in My Father’s house?” And they did not understand the saying that He spoke to them. While Jesus’ knows that He belongs in His heavenly Father’s house, carrying out His heavenly Father’s mission, we see that this was something His parents didn’t understand yet. As they were making a search for Him, we see that in Jesus’ ministry, many will search for Him. Even today people will continue to search for Jesus, except now something is changed. While the people of His day did not understand Jesus at the beginning of His ministry, clarity would come to them when they would see His Mission for His heavenly Father is completed. After Jesus’ death on the cross and resurrection from the dead the world now understands the plan of salvation. The plan that saves the world from sin.
The people find the mission of Jesus in the same place He learned it. They find the plan of salvation in the Word preached in the temple. He stayed right in contact with His heavenly Father. As He answers questions that perfectly line up with the preaching in the temple, the people are already witnessing at the age of twelve this is the Son of God. Only the Son of God can learn and know the plan of God, and only the Son of God can carry it out to completion. The people would also soon witness how God’s will would be accomplished.
The accomplishment of God’s will mean for the Son to follow all of the Father’s commands. And He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And His mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. Getting the command to come home with His earthly parents, He willingly went, and He perfectly obeyed them. In Jesus’ life, He truly reveals to us that He has indeed lived out our life. He was born as a baby, He grew up, being a young boy, growing into a teen and then an adult. Mary couldn’t just watch and ignore it. She was raising the perfect son and He knew the command to listen to her as St. Paul writes, “For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).
You have tried in your youth and as an adult to have this perfect obedience. As you have learned that it is impossible to do, here is the twelve-year-old Son of God. He understood the blessings of, “Honor your father and your mother, that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.” God gives you a family to take care of you and with your family you see a commandment with a promise. God reveals the blessings for those who follow authority. Yet, the perfect obedience you don’t have, you find in Christ. Who followed his parents at the age of twelve, and who followed the commands of the government as they put Him to death. The life He lived from infancy on, was a life that takes away your sins and life that counts as yours.
This life and obedience of Christ is found in one place. The world will search for Him or try to make their own plan of salvation, but this will of God that was carried to completion is found and taught in the Word and the temple. To find it in the temple happens in two ways. You first come together remembering the Sabbath Day as you gather with your church family. As the Hebrew writer writes, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25). It is here the Word of God is brought to you, and you see the sacraments distributed to you. When you receive this precious gift because of the knowledge you now have of the plan of salvation, the Holy Spirit puts the Word and life of salvation in you. “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?” (1 Corinthians 6:19). You have the blessings, knowledge, and teaching of your Savior and because of His life, you are in His temple and favor. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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