Skip to main content

38. I Must Be In My Father's House


Isaiah 53:2 & Luke 2:43-52
Key Verse: "Why were you searching for me?"  He asked.   "Didn't you know that I had to be in my Father's house?"
Luke 2:49

The Passover is now over and the Holy family is supposed to be headed for home.   The plan is to go back to their ordinary lives in Nazareth to take up an ordinary existence.   Suddenly, the part of the family that sets them apart is missing!  I sometimes wonder what kind of panic Joseph and Mary experienced when the realized that, not only their son, but God's son, the promised Messiah was lost!  

 As a parent, I've experienced that horrible panic of a lost child.   I can't imagine how much worse it must have been for them.   They had been entrusted with this precious life from God Himself and now, it appeared that they had failed!  Without cell phone or any other form of technology or friendly policeman to help, they had no choice but to return to Jerusalem and walk the streets looking for their son. 

When they find Him at the temple, Jesus asks, "Where else would I be?"  My heart still goes out to Mary at this point.   The relief must have been incredible.   No, Mary, this is not the sword that will pierce your heart.   Jesus is simply speaking truth here that may be a bit hard for a mother to grasp quite yet.  In fact the elders and priests surrounding him in the temple, questioning him and discussing things with him had been astonished at his understanding of truth! 

Jesus' whole life was devoted to doing the Father's will.   Jesus had no plan of His own.   He had no personal ambition.   From the first words that we hear Him utter in our reading today, to His prayer in the garden, "not my will, but Yours be done," to His final words on the cross, “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit," Jesus' life was completely focused on obedience to His Father God and fulfilling His Father's will. 

The Father's will was to redeem us.   Jesus came to bear witness to the truth, that the only way to be redeemed was through Him.   The only redemption that the Father could accept is through the blood of His Son.   The only way to be redeemed is to believe in Jesus and allow Him to help us surrender to God as completely as He did. 

In the covenants that we reviewed in the Old Testament, God was always seen as either bearing both sides of the commitment, or, at least bearing the majority of the responsibility of what the covenant called for.   As Jesus walked this earthly life, we continue to see Him bearing the major portion of the consequences of our sin, even though he participated in none of it. As the God/man, he perfectly upheld both sides of the covenant. God's righteous decrees faithfully obeyed.

Today, we see Him aware of His commitment and total devotion to commit himself to His purpose.   He visited His Father's house.  He is setting an example of how a child can lead us.   He kept His focus pure.   May Jesus help us to have such single-minded devotion to seeing God's will being done here on earth, as it is in Heaven. 

Hymn:  "Child of theLight"

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

October 27 Save the Glaze for the Bunny

Like a coating of glaze over earthenware are fervent lips of an evil heart. A malicious man disguises himself with his lips. But in his heart, he harbors deceit. Though his speech is charming, do not believe him, for seven abominations fill his heart. His malice may be concealed by deception, but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly. If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it. If a man rolls a stone, it will roll back on him. ~Proverbs 26:23-28 For there are many rebellious people, mere talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision group. They must be silenced, because they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not teach—and that for the sake of dishonest gain. Even one of their own prophets has said, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith and will pay no attention to Jewish myths or to the commands of those who reject the truth. T...
Post a Comment
Read more

July 16 Thick Skinned Love

Whoever covers over an offence promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. ~Proverbs 17:9 If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault, just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you have won your brother over. ~Matthew 18:15  The end of all things is near. Therefore, be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. ~1 Peter 4:7-8  Being offended seems to be the battle cry of the day. Instead of freedom of speech, everyone has the right not to be offended. If one is offended, then one has the right to exact vengeance on the offender because, of course, the offender KNEW that he or she was being offensive and just didn’t care. Is that how you see much of society behaving today?  There seems to be all of this offending and finger pointing that just keeps growing and growing. Nothing is being resolved, just more blame that grows louder a...
Post a Comment
Read more

January 24 You’ll See, He Remembers

The wise inherit honor, but fools He holds up to shame. ~Proverbs 3:35 “Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.” ~Isaiah 3:10 “God is not unjust; He will not forget your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them. We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised.” ~Hebrews 6:10-12 “The sins of some men are obvious, reaching the place of judgment ahead of them. The sins of others trail behind them. In the same way, good deeds are obvious, and even those that are not cannot be hidden.” ~1 Timothy 5:24-25 “But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned.” ~Matthew 12:36-3...
Post a Comment
Read more