THE FIRST SUNDAY AFTER CHRISTMAS December 27, 30, 31, 2000
St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church – Watertown, WI
We Continue To Grow Luke
2:40-52
“I just wish they would remain little babies.” That’s what a great-grandmother said to me recently about her great-grandchildren. She liked to be able to hold and cuddle them. She didn’t want them to be squirming and trying to crawl. But babies don’t remain babies. They grow up. They become children, then teenagers and finally adults.
The Word of
God before us today records the only event in Jesus’ life as a young boy. The evangelists tell us about the birth of
Jesus and then the next major event in his life was his baptism and the
beginning of his public ministry at the age of 30. Luke, however, does tell us about this one
incident when Jesus was twelve years old.
As we examine this incident we would like to focus our thoughts on this
truth – WE CONTINUE TO GROW. Today six days after Christmas it is good for
us to remember that I) Christmas Is Not
The Beginning and the End. There is much more to Jesus Christ than his
birth. Just as there is much more to
your life and mine than our birthdays.
We continue to grow and II) This
Growth Is A Lifelong Process.
For many people the birthday of Jesus is as far as they ever get. They remember that he was born and they are forced to remember that. Our society puts so much emphasis on Christmas that you can’t help but note that this is someone’s birthday. However, two years ago I met a young lady who grew up in our community who asked me, “Does Christmas have something to do with Jesus?” So it is possible to grow up in Watertown and not know that Christmas is the birthday of Jesus Christ. That is a sad commentary on the outreach efforts of the Christians in our community.
However, for many more people all they remember about Jesus is that he was born in the little town of Bethlehem. That’s as far as they ever get in knowing about Jesus or in having any type of relationship with him.
God’s Word to us reminds us that Jesus progressed beyond his birth. He grew up. As Luke writes, “And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon him.” (v. 40) We are told that Jesus’ parents were devout Jews who followed the laws of Moses. Every year they would go up from Nazareth to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of the Passover. This festival commemorated God’s delivering his people from their captivity in Egypt and bringing them to the Promised Land of Canaan.
Twelve years after the birth of Jesus, Luke tells us about one of those journeys to Jerusalem by Joseph, Mary and Jesus. This must have been an exciting trip. Many people from your hometown would travel with you to go to the temple in the holy city to worship and praise God. When the Feast of Passover was over Mary and Joseph began their journey back to Nazareth. When they had traveled a day they were ready to settle down for the night, they looked for Jesus and he wasn’t among the children in the caravan traveling back to Nazareth.
What kind of parents were these? Would you embark on a trip without checking to make sure that your children were along. Remember that this was a great number of people, family members and friends all going back to Nazareth. Often the younger children would be out in front with their mothers and the older boys would bring up the rear with their fathers. Since Jesus was 12 years old and in another year he would become a son of the covenant, Joseph may have assumed that Jesus was in front walking with his mother Mary and the other young children. Mary, on the other hand, may have assumed since Jesus would soon be 13, he was traveling with the older boys and men in the back. When it came time to camp for the night, the parents suddenly realized that their son was not with them. Panic. Have you ever lost a child? If you have, you know the fears that run through your mind. Has someone snatched my child? Are they all right? Are they still alive? Will I ever see my child again?
It took Joseph and Mary three days before they found their son. They had traveled a full day from Jerusalem. It took them a second day to travel back to the city. On the third day they found Jesus in the temple sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. His parents were astonished. Everyone else was also amazed as they listened to Jesus having a dialogue with the teachers of the Law. They marveled at the insight and depth of knowledge that Jesus demonstrated. This was not a helpless baby lying in an animal feedbox. This was not a smart Alec pre-teen challenging his elders. This was a young man who was growing in his wisdom and understanding. This was no ordinary pre-teen. Remember what the angel had told Mary, “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.” (Luke 1:31-32a) Mary had been told that this would not be an ordinary child. She was learning this as time went on. At Jesus’ birth the arrival of the shepherds was an event that surprised Mary and Joseph. Those men told Jesus’ parents what the angels had told them. Then on the 40th day after Jesus’ birth when they went to the temple in Jerusalem, she remembered the prophet Simeon coming up to them and taking the baby Jesus in his arms and saying that he was now ready to die because he had seen God’s salvation. Then when Jesus was about two that caravan of men from the Middle East who came to worship their young child and brought those extravagant gifts of gold, incense and myrrh. Raising this young child was an experience. This child was different. He is the Almighty God.
We need to remember also that there is more to life than just being born. We don’t remain babies forever. We grow up. As we grow up, we need to grow in our wisdom and understanding just as our Savior Jesus did. Our Lord did this as he studied and read the Scriptures, as he talked with the teachers and priests, questioning them and answering questions. As Christians it is vital that we continue to be in God’s Word. Daily Bible reading and meditation on God’s Word is just as important as getting proper nutrition and sleep for ourselves physically. Unfortunately, many people never get beyond Christmas. They never go beyond the birth of Jesus Christ. They never learn who this child is, what his purpose in life is and what he is still doing for us today. They remain babies in their knowledge and understanding. Mary and Joseph were forced to continue to grow as their son grew up. They continued to learn new things about this special son that they were raising. For this was not an ordinary child. This was the Christ, the one chosen by God to rescue the human race from sin and death.
Jesus’ growing didn’t stop and neither did the growth of his parents. It was a lifelong process for all of them.
Mary and Joseph went through this as parents raising Jesus. He was a perfect child. He was obedient and subject to them. Yet they had to learn what this all meant that he would be the Savior of the world. They went through the harrowing experience of losing him when they had gone home from the Passover. They heard him say to them when they finally found him in the temple, “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house.” (v. 49) These are the first recorded words spoken by Jesus. His parents didn’t catch on to what he was talking about. In fact, Luke writes, “But they did not understand what he was saying to them.” (v. 50) But Mary treasured all these things in her heart just as she had pondered all the events that took place when Jesus was born. The Lord’s mother mulled these things over in her mind and continued to think on them. As more things happened in her son’s life she began to understand more and more what this was all about.
Those of us who are parents go through similar things as we raise our children. It is a learning process. Only one difference. Our children are not perfectly obedient and subject to us. They are infected with the same disease that we have. In fact, they inherited it from us. It’s called sin. That shows itself in the way our children speak what they think and the words that sometimes come out of their mouths. So it is a growing process for us as we raise our children, disciplining them when they do wrong, praising them when they do right and continuing to teach them about their Savior Jesus and what he means in our lives.
Not only do we grow as we parent, but our entire life is one of continuing growth and maturing. Just as Mary and Joseph did not understand everything about their son and what his mission was in this life, so we are continually learning about Jesus Christ and what his mission means for our daily lives. Oh, we know that he was born as a helpless infant. We know that he died an innocent death for our sins. We know that he rose from the dead to announce to us our forgiveness and eternal life. But there is so much more. Daily we see how God is directing the affairs of this world and getting everything ready for Jesus’ final return. Daily we see how God uses us to share his Word with others. For remember God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. So he uses us his followers to continue to spread the good news just like the shepherds did that first Christmas.
We also continue to grow in our own faith and understanding of the Lord and His Word. How does that happen? It happens here in worship services. It happens as we read our Bibles. It happens as we join with other Christians for Bible studies.
The more we are into God’s Word, the more we are talking about the Lord and proclaiming his love and forgiveness to others, the more we grow. And that’s what it’s all about. Jesus’ coming is not just about his birth in Bethlehem. It is about his growth as the God-Man. It is about his death and resurrection. It is about his ruling in our hearts to this day. It is about his triumphant rule at the end of time.
People of God, grow, grow, and grow.
Amen.