Saturday, May 7, 2022

Where Did He Go?



Bobservations Column
Pastor Bob Lawrenz

Happy Mothers’ Day! Where would we be without them? And to reveal their importance to us, God’s Word tells of their many roles in the scriptures!

From Genesis 2 with the creation of Eve, to the Proverbs 31 woman (Proverbs 31:10-33), to the stories of many women in the Bible, we see that God honors them repeatedly with their names and their accomplishments recorded in the text.

Though the genealogies of the Old Testament honor the fathers with the “begats” and “begottens,” it is truly the bloodline of mothers that bring the next generation into the world to fulfill God’s promises. Nowhere in God’s Word does this become more evident than when we read the two genealogies of Jesus in Matthew and Luke, one from Mary’s family and another of Joseph’s.

Whether our mothers are alive, or if they have passed on to receive their reward, their presence in our lives today is clear as we hear their voices yet.

They have loved us, nurtured us, taught us, and offered us correction. Their role in our lives has been huge, and Mothers’ Day is a day to honor what they have accomplished in us.

Not every mother is God’s ideal Mom, and indeed every “Mom” is a sinner, but many are sinners-saved-by-grace. We recall Paul’s Epistle to Timothy, reminding him to think about the unfeigned faith that was in Timothy’s grandmother, Lois, and his mother, Eunice. Paul goes further, and says he believes that unfeigned faith is in Timothy also! “When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.” -2 Timothy 1:5

Just as bad habits can be passed from one generation to the next, so too can good Godly traits and a life of faith! How many of us are assembled together this morning because of the basic lessons of faith that we learned at home?

Let’s celebrate our mothers today and give honor and praise to the Lord God Who gave us to them!

“Train up a child in the way he should go; and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” - Proverbs 22:6


Today's Audio Message:
Luke 2:40-52 - "Where Did He Go?"

Summary/Notes:

In today's teaching we get a brief glimpse into one occasion in Jesus' childhood. We will see the devotion of parents, Joseph and Mary. We will see their devotion to God.  We will see how much they loved this Son, Jesus, their Messiah.  We are inspired by their obedience and their faithfulness to do all that God's Word instructs them to do. And even when they don't fully understand what the Lord is doing, they trust, and His mother kept all these things, all these sayings in her heart.  

We will also see the child Jesus, who understood at the age of twelve the fullness of the truth of God as He grew into manhood. He was full of wisdom. He could see the Passover, the sacrifice, and could see Himself in it. He knew His mission. This child who was God, MUST BE about His Father’s business.

Today we are in Luke 2:40:52, and we will take a look at one of the only childhood events that scripture reveals of Jesus' young life. There just isn’t much information in the Bible about His childhood or teenage years. We know what happened the first eight days of life, that He spent a short time in Egypt with His parents when King Herod was out to kill Him. We know that He grew up in Nazareth but other than that, we know nothing about that time period except for what we are going to learn today from Luke chapter 2. These are known as the silent years of Jesus.

We might be wondering why the scriptures don’t reveal much about this time in Jesus’ life, but we are given a clue as to why in verses 40 and 52. Luke gives us a glimpse of the child who was God. 

Jesus knew that He was God. He knew exactly who He was, and He knew exactly why He came. From birth to twelve “the child continued to grow, He became strong, He increased in wisdom and the grace of God was upon Him" (Luke 2:40). This is normal childhood development except for one thing, Jesus was sinless, never sinning, without the stain of sin on His life, and without the effects of sin in His life. So, during His growing years we understand that Jesus is growing and developing like any child, but is pure and sinless, and thus living a sinless life.  It's important to understand this because, in this story, some confuse what Jesus did as bad behavior, or disobedience to His parents.  When Jesus lingers behind, it was a natural result of His knowledge that He must be about His Father’s business.

Joseph and Mary are on their way to Jerusalem, probably with family in tow. It is the Feast of the Passover and scripture reveals that they observed this feast every year. Parents, children, extended family and friends all heading towards Jerusalem together. Parents teaching their children to be observant of God’s law, and of God’s promise to redeem His people.

They had gone to the feast of the Passover, they had fulfilled the days there, and now they are returning home, that is everyone except for the twelve-year-old Jesus. Scripture tells us that He tarried behind. His lingering was not disobedience or irresponsibility. Jesus was without sin, obedient, thoughtful, perfect. But there is something going on here…a break. Something that Mary will observe and keep in her heart.

After a day's journey heading north out of Jerusalem, they realize that Jesus is not with them, and they cannot find Him anywhere.  We can all sympathize with this couple, perhaps some of you have had similar experiences. Through all the hustle and bustle, and the confusion of travelling they lose sight of Jesus, and they probably left Him behind. A parent's worst nightmare. The panic in their hearts. 

Joseph and Mary did what every parent would do, they worried, and then made haste back to Jerusalem to search for Jesus. Scripture reveals that it took them three full days to find Him. They found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking questions.

This sets the stage for the most dramatic, profound and penetrating statement from the mouth of Jesus, indicating that He knew exactly who He was, and why He came.

“I MUST BE ABOUT MY FATHER’S BUSINESS.”

Jesus uses the word MUST.  "I must be about my Father's business."  

Pastor Bob encourages you to do a word study on this word must.   See: Luke 4:43; Luke 9:22.  


































WhitestoneCF Media - Web TV

WhitestoneCF Media - Web TV
CLICK TO VIEW