Are You Still Seeking Jesus? :: Luke 2:40-52
And [Jesus] said to them, “Why were you seeking me? Did you not know that it is necessary for me to be in the things of my Father?” And they did not understand the word which he spoke to them (vv 49-50).
This is the Word guiding our meditation today.
Our Gospel reading from Luke is quite fitting for the first Sunday after the Feast of Epiphany, which was yesterday. Today we have begun a new journey to Jerusalem for the week of Passover, when our eyes will be opened to know Jesus.
After hearing that the child [Jesus] had grown and became strong, filled with wisdom, and [that] the grace of God was upon him, we learn that his parents journeyed to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover (vv 40-41). They did this because Passover was the most important celebration of the year. In Exodus 12, when God instituted the Passover, he told Moses, This month shall be for you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year for you. The Passover was ancient Israel’s celebration of a new beginning.
Throughout his childhood, Jesus celebrated this feast regularly with his family. There is no better way to begin a new year than to do this ... returning to God’s temple to hear and learn God’s Word. There is no better way to be reminded of how God delivers to you the forgiveness of sins ... how God unifies the body of Christ There is no better way to receive the promises of salvation and redemption that come to us from the blood of the lamb.
Like the resolutions that people make every year, we forget why we need to make this journey. That’s because we struggle in faith. We cannot by our own reason or strength believe in Jesus or come to him. We then find ourselves in an agonizing search for answers to problems ... a constant search for meaning ... a constant search for calming distress, anguish, shame, and sin.
Though you know the answer to your sin and anguish is Christ, you still search constantly for a better way, a better you, a better resolve. Though you come to worship and hear that Jesus is the one who died for sin and rose again to grant certain peace and resolution to death ... like the rest of the world ... all too often ... we forget where we find Jesus.
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When Jesus is missing you can search all day long and never find resolution.
We read ... When the weeklong feast ended, as they were returning (home), the boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem, and it was without the knowledge of his parents (v 43).
We should give Mary and Joseph a bit of a pass here for not knowing where Jesus was. It is perfectly reasonable that Jesus would be among family and friends as they journeyed between Nazareth and Jerusalem. These journeys were no small feat. These journeys took planning, in part because everyone was expected to go. So these journeys often were done with lots of family and friends. They did this for safety reasons. They did this in part because it was a 70 mile walk from Nazareth to Jerusalem. So they journeyed with a trusted group.
Then (Luke tells us) having thought him to be in the company, [Jesus’ parents] went a day’s way, and [then] they began to seek him among their relatives and [the people] they knew (vv 44). The more Mary and Joseph sought Jesus ... the more they looked for Jesus ... the more they couldn’t find Jesus ... the more stress and anguish they felt. Only finding Jesus would resolve their agony. They would not find resolution among family and friends.
Many people look for solutions and resolutions ... and even Jesus ... among family and friends. There can be great joy in meeting your family and friends every week. There can be great joy in talking with family and friends about what bothers you. You might even feel secure among family and friends. But family and friends are not the answer’s to your distress.
Jesus is the only answer. Receiving Jesus should be our only resolution.
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When Jesus is not in your conversation, then all you have are sinners seeking answers among fellow sinners. Without the presence of Jesus, the search continues without resolution. Unless your family and friends know Him who has promised to be your peace and salvation, you won’t find resolution ... you won’t find Jesus.
When Mary and Joseph did not find Jesus among their family and friends, they returned to Jerusalem and continued their diligent search for him (v 45).
The answers must lie in a special place ... because after three days of searching ... Mary and Joseph came up empty again.
Searching for answers in special places is another common mistake. Some take a hike in the woods to clear their mind, to think things over. Some like to sit in a boat in the middle of a lake, quietly watching the movement of the currents. Still, others think a shopping spree will solve their problems. We look for resolutions to our problems in all the wrong places. Why would we expect to find Jesus in a place that has been overrun with covetousness and pollution? Why would we expect to find Jesus among family and friends?
These places are not bad in and of themselves, but searching for resolution to sin apart from Christ’s Word and sacraments is a futile search. Special places are corrupted places that groan under the weight of sin. Searching ends when one looks for Jesus where he has promised to be.
And it came to pass, after three days, they found [Jesus] in the temple, sitting in the midst of those teaching, both hearing them and asking them questions. And all those hearing him found his understanding and his answers were outstanding (vv 46-47).
Brothers and sisters in Christ, repent from looking high, low, and everywhere for answers to your distress. Repent of seeking Jesus in all the wrong places.
YOU WILL FIND JESUS WHERE HE HAS PROMISED TO BE ... IN HIS HOLY TEMPLE THROUGH HIS WORD AND SACRAMENTS ... THE MEANS OF GRACE HE CHOSE
God has resolved to give you peace through these means.
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Please now turn to page 321 in your [Lutheran Service Book] and join me in confessing our faithful doctrine on the Ten Commandments.
What is the Third Commandment? ...
What does this mean? ...
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When his parents saw him [in the temple] they were out of their wits. And his mother said to him, Child, why have you done this to us in this way? Behold, your father and I were agonzing while seeking you (v 48).
And Jesus said to them, Why were you seeking me? Did you not know that it is necessary for me to be in the things of my Father? (v 49).
Our search for peace ends when you are found alongside Jesus ... when you are found listening to Jesus ... hearing Jesus ... receiving Jesus. Your search for peace ends here. This is the place where you hear how he lived for you, doing the will of our heavenly Father. This is the place and the time when you recognize that Jesus bled and died for you, that Jesus rested on the Sabbath for you ... that Jesus rose from the dead for you, and ascended into heaven so that he will always be with you. This is the place where you are reminded that your sins ... including those of looking for Jesus in all the wrong places ... are forgiven on account of Jesus.
It was necessary for Jesus to be in the things of his Father, doing the will of God. And it is necessary for you to be in these things as well. The search for the answer to your sin and anguish are resolved only when Jesus’ opens his Word to you and delivers to you his means of grace ... baptism, absolution, and the Lord’s Supper.
That’s what the Emmaus disciples discovered on the first Sunday of the new life in Christ (Lk 24:13-35). Like Mary and Joseph, they were sad because they thought they had lost Jesus. But their anguish was overcome as Jesus opened up to them the necessity of his suffering, dying, and rising again. Their eyes were opened as they recognized Jesus in the breaking of the bread.
This is the place Jesus also gives you the peace which surpasses all understanding through word and sacrament. This is the place where ... in Christ ... you also will increase in wisdom and in stature and in grace with God and man. Jesus offers you the forgiveness of sins ... which is his grace ... in his means of grace.
You can be certain ... that from this pulpit ... you will always hear the Gospel ... that Christ alone brings an end to your search for what is missing ... that Christ alone brings resolution to your search for comfort.
Therefore, resolve yourselves this year always to end your search where Jesus has promised to be ... in his temple, his church, where his Word is taught purely and his Sacraments are distributed rightly. Resolve yourselves to end your search for answers to sin, shame, and anguish by hearing Jesus took your sin, exposed himself to shame, and felt your anguish on the cross. Resolve yourselves to end your search for new life by hearing about the resurrection. And as Paul tells us in our epistle reading from Romans, resolve yourselves, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship (Rm 12:1-2).
Jesus is the resolution to all your problems ... in his name.