Luke 2

Discussion Questions

1. Review the Bonhoeffer quote. As Christians, we can become desensitized to the incarnation as we get lost in the busy Christmas season, which, at its worst, takes the focus from Christ and on materialism. While reading the story of Jesus’ birth in Luke are there parts that seem strange or supernatural? Pastor Jim said, “Some of us have gotten so bored and dull we’ve lost our sense of wonder.” How can we refresh those perspectives to be more like Mary, Simeon, Anna and the Shepherds?
2. God turned the tide against fear when Jesus spoke for Himself and clarified His mission. “Why are you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my father’s house” (Luke 2:49). Pastor Jim said, “Jesus wants you to know God as Father.” Do you see God as your father and if so, how does that affect your worldview and mission?
3. Jesus is at the same time more exalted and more humble than human expectation. How do we see examples of both on display in Luke 2, and what does it mean for our salvation that we have this paradoxical savior (born as a baby from a poor family in a lowly manner while also being King of the universe)?
4. Why would God reconcile himself to man by coming to us as sinless? How does this contrast to Adam’s relationship to humanity? (Hint: Romans 5:12-21)

Transcript

We study through books of the Bible here at The Village Chapel. And we have some extra copies. If you didn’t bring one with you and you’d like one to follow along, raise your hand up real high and somebody will drop one off at your row. Real important, I think, to have the text in front of you today. I also want to thank the folks who joined us online within the last week. Some from Imus, Cavite, Philippines; Metro Manila, Philippines; Greensboro, North Carolina; Adelaide, Australia; and a whole bunch of folks from Orlando, Florida area as well. Greetings to those folks.

We’ll be in Chapter 2 of Luke. I’ve got the QR code up on the screen, if you’d like the notes and quotes in advance, feel free to grab those with your camera. I think you just put your camera up there and click on whatever comes up on your camera, and you’ll be able to grab those notes and quotes. I want to say a prayer for us as we get ready to read the Word. This is somewhat familiar, at least part of this. About half of this chapter will be really familiar to almost all of you. And the rest of it is a bit more of a couple cameos, a couple short stories about the childhood life of Jesus. So that may also be of curious interest to some of you as well.

Before I read though, let me borrow this prayer from Benedict of Nursia to be our prayer for illumination: “Gracious and Holy Father, give us diligence to seek You, wisdom to perceive You and patience to wait for You. Grant us also, God, a mind to meditate on You, eyes to behold You, ears to listen for Your word and a heart that loves You. Lord, give us a life to proclaim You.” We pray this through the power of the Spirit of Jesus, our Lord, amen and amen.

So, our sermon today will be called “The Turn of the Tide.” Some of you will know the idiomatic phrase, it’s often used when talking about everything from sports to politics to personal relationships to career advancement, and yes, even in speaking about the course of redemption history. We’re reading from Luke and our four gospels at the beginning of the New Testament. Each have their own sort of characteristics. You find Matthew presents Jesus as the fulfillment of Scripture. He uses that word fulfillment, I think it’s 18 times, connecting the dots between Jesus, the person that Matthew, formerly known as Levi, knew personally. Matthew had eyes on Him, heard Him speak, all that. And he connects the dots between the Old Testament Scriptures and Jesus some 18 times.

Mark seems to present Jesus as the Servant King. Luke presents Jesus, and this is the book we’re studying right now, as the Savior of the world. Perhaps that’s because Luke, as far as we know, is the only Gentile writer of a New Testament book. He writes both Luke and Acts. Together the volume of material in Luke and Acts is actually greater than the volume of any other New Testament author, including the apostle Paul.

John, the fourth gospel, presents Jesus as the Word made flesh. God’s Word of salvation, God’s Word of hope, God’s Word of His great love for you and great love for me. All of that made flesh. That is, He came and lived among us and dwelt among us. And so, today we’ll talk about the turn of the tide that the incarnation of Jesus was. You’re familiar with these first 20 verses. There are 1,151 verses in the Gospel of Luke. We have it in 24 chapters in our English Bibles. Then these first 20 will be ones that you know, but I think it’ll help you to look at them as I read them. So, it goes like this:

“It came about in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.” Caesar Augustus was the first of the Roman emperors. He ruled from 27 BC until 14 AD. So, before the time when Christ was born and then about halfway through the earthly life of Christ, Caesar Augustus is the Roman emperor. And yet this story is not about Caesar Augustus so much, it’s just Luke wants us to set this in space-time history to maybe even to get a contrast for the best thing the world can offer us in terms of the world leader and the really wonderful thing God can offer us in terms of a savior. All right? So, watch the contrast between somebody like Caesar Augustus and Jesus.

Verse 2. “This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria…”  And notice, by the way, it’s set in space-time history. Again, you have got a couple triangulation points there. You’ve got the emperor. You’ve got the regional governor. You’ve got the event of the census. And then yes, there was more than one. And yes, it’s likely perhaps even that Quirinius was governor more than one time. But this Luke is working so hard to make sure we understand that what he’s writing isn’t just a fable or a fairy tale; it’s actually history.

He writes much like a historian and a theologian, even though the apostle Paul, in Colossians, Chapter 4, tells us that by trade he’s actually a physician. So, he is a man of science who loves detail, and he loves history, and he also loves theology. Now, he’s writing to his friend Theophilus, which means “lover of God.” And I hope that’s you, I hope that’s me as well by extension, that we’re people who are curious about God and want to love God.

So, all of this is happening in space-time history, and while everyone was proceeding to register for the census, verse 3, “…everyone to his own city, Joseph also went up from Galilee from the city of Nazareth to Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem.” Bethlehem means “house of bread.” Interesting that Jesus, who’s the Savior of the world, who will be called the Bread of Life, is born in a city called Bethlehem, house of bread. And isn’t it interesting too that this world event of this census is all happening at this exact time because the Old Testament prophets actually predicted Jesus the Messiah would come and he would be born… Where? In Bethlehem.

So, Caesar Augustus doesn’t know that that’s all connected. Quirinius doesn’t know that either, but all of this is happening at the direction of a sovereign God who’s in charge of human history and says, “Let’s do the census now and let’s make sure Joseph gets to Bethlehem because when Mary has this baby, it needs to be there as predicted in the Old Testament.” Joseph went up from Galilee from the city of Nazareth to the city of David Bethlehem. That’s about a 70-mile walk, by the way.

That’s like all of us deciding after church today to walk to Cookeville. And if anybody wants to go, hey, have a great time. Really want you to enjoy that. But that’s a long walk and that’s how they got there. It’s because Joseph was of the house and family of David. They went there in order to register, verse 5, “…along with Mary who was engaged to him and was with child.” By the way, that’s an odd verse because you don’t usually say they were engaged, and she was pregnant. Very odd that that would be the case. But who’s writing this? A doctor. A doctor who understands how things happen and how things work. A doctor who’s investigated everything very carefully. He’s actually talked to people, and you can tell from Luke, Chapter 2 especially, he must have spent some time talking with Mary herself.

Verse 6. “It came about that while they were there [Where? Bethlehem.] the days were completed for her to give birth.” So now she’s ready to deliver. “She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in cloths, laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.” This may have been the first floor of a multi-two-or-three-floor house. Some of us who have been over there in that part of the world before, you can get a sense for the fact that animals might’ve been kept in the first level, and that the people would’ve lived maybe the next level up. But she’s there, they have the baby there, and she lays them in a manger there because there was no room for them in the upstairs part of this house or this room that wasn’t available for them in the inn, so to speak.

“In the same region,” verse 8 begins, “there were some shepherds staying out in the fields keeping watch over their flock by night. And the angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terribly frightened. And the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid.’” And this is the most often-repeated command of God or one of God’s messengers throughout the entire Bible. It’s the one thing that if you were to wonder what is it that God would say to us, He often begins with this message, “Don’t be afraid. Don’t fear.” Jesus will say it many times Himself.

The God of the Bible doesn’t want you to be afraid of Him, even though the Bible teaches you to fear the Lord, that it’s the beginning of wisdom, that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, that the fear of the Lord leads to life. “That one may sleep satisfied, untouched by evil” the Book of Proverbs tells us. So, the fear of the Lord is a good thing. You don’t need to be afraid of anything else. And the angel is making that clear to these shepherds who were probably startled out of their sleep. They’re on the hillside. They’re watching over flocks, and probably one of them was put in charge of staying awake and maybe they took shifts through the night. But all of a sudden, big flash of light, some angel starts speaking and Eddie, or whatever his name is, that’s the guy on watch, is nudging everybody. “Wake up guys, wake up guys.” And they all start paying attention to this angel who’s talking.

And what is this angel saying? “Don’t be afraid. Behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which shall be for all the people.” You can circle the word “all” there. It’s a three-letter word in English. It’s a very important word, as I’ve said over and over again as we study our Bibles. “This is news that will be for all the nations,” not just the people of Israel, but for all the nations. And that good news will actually be because of this baby, this child, this baby king that’s being born here in Bethlehem. “Today in the city of David,” verse 11, “there has been born for you, a savior who is Christ the Lord.” There’s so much Christology in that verse. We could stop and we could probably do an entire Sunday just on that. But when Jesus is born, He’s not born to just be an example. He’s not born to merely be a tragic hero figure that dies on a cross. Oh no, one more good man down. That’s not why He came.

By the way, there’s no finer example. I’ll agree to that, but Jesus came to be the Savior. And the reason is because that’s exactly what I needed, and God knows that. And that’s exactly what you needed, and God knows that as well. As a matter of fact, I get frustrated by examples. Maybe you do too. I find that I can’t even live up to some of the crummy old human examples that aren’t Jesus on the planet. So, I’m just frustrated by examples all the time, even though I need Him, and I need good role models and all that sort of thing. What I’m really glad about is that I’ve got a savior that’s been provided by God for me, the guy who can’t live up to all of the examples. And the angel says to these sleepy shepherds, who are startled awake, that this one who’s born in Bethlehem and lying in a manger now is going to be the savior in Bethlehem that’s been long promised. And by the way, He’s Christ. He’s the great version of the Hebrew Messiah. He’s the long-promised Messiah.

He’s the one that God would send, the anointed one who would deliver God’s people from sin, and shame, and guilt of their sin. And He’s also the Lord. And so, there’s so much there in verse 11. Again, I can’t unfold or unwrap all of it for us. It’s so rich. Now, verse 12, “This will be a sign for you,” shepherds as you’re awakening and as you’re sort of listening to me say these things. “You’ll find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Now the birth of a baby is not a big deal back then or even now. Babies are born all the time. Thousands of them are born every single day. Why is it this one? How are they going to tell if they even go to Bethlehem? There’s probably multiple babies in that little village. And the angel says, “Look for the one who’s wrapped in these cloths lying in a manger.”

Feeding trough. It’s probably a stone feeding trough. You can go online and look it up yourself if you want to see what it looked like. Ancient feeding trough, ancient manger. And it’ll look just like a little trough, a little place where water or feed or something could be in there. And the top of this little stone thing, it’s got a little top with a little cup scooped out of it. And you can see the animal eating from that. Well, that’s where they’re laying the straw, the hay, whatever cloths they have for this baby, and they lay Him there. Suddenly though, as this angel is talking, ‘…suddenly there appeared with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying…” And it’s interesting, I’ve always wanted to know what multitude means. I’m pretty sure it means more than I think it means.

I love it when our choir sings right here. I don’t know about you. I totally love it when our choir sings. It’s awesome. But I think multitude might be bigger than that. I think multitude could be thousands. And so, the one angel is talking and as he’s talking, all of a sudden whoever’s running lights in heaven goes, “Turn them up.” And then there’s this vast multitude of angels standing on risers up in the sky, these sort of black risers with these white-robed beings I suppose, and they burst forth into song. And they sing this, “Glory to God and the highest,” or as we sing it so often, “Gloria in Excelsis Deo”. Wouldn’t you love to have been a part of the choir rehearsals for this night?

I would love to have been there. It’s a really important gig, you guys. We need to get this right. Choir masters sing. We need to get this right. And surely, they’ve sung before for the Lord. But this was such a unique opportunity. What a night to be pronouncing the arrival of the King Himself, right? “Gloria in Excelsis Deo and on Earth, peace among men with whom He is pleased” came about when the angels had gone away. And so here Luke is writing, he’s just saying kind of fade to black, and they’ve gone away.

The shepherds begin to talk to one another. And how do they respond? Here’s what they say. “Let us go straight to Bethlehem then and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” So, their curiosity is aroused. They’ve been given some information. The information is good news, and they respond to it. It’s not that they were sitting out on the side of the hill themselves. We have no indication. They were sitting on the side of the hills going, “Let’s make sure we get out here and look up into the night sky and try and get in touch with God.”

I think God intruded. I think God invaded their night. I don’t think they were looking for that. Maybe that happened to you at one point. Maybe you weren’t looking for Him, but He came looking for you. Some of you would raise your hand if I said, “Was that you?” Perhaps that would be the case. And so, the Lord shows up by way of his angel and his angel choir, and gives the good news, and their response is, “Let’s go check this out.” And so, they immediately run, and they want to know about this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us. They came in haste. They found their way, verse 16 says, “…to Mary and Joseph. And the baby as he lay in the manger.” So, the manger was the sign that told them they had found the right one. “And when they had seen this, they made known this statement which had been told them about this child.” Who did they make it known to? Likely to anybody who was hanging out right there and then, including Mary and Joseph. “You won’t believe what happened to us. We’re just a bunch of smelly old shepherds. We’ve just come from the field, but we have come on the run because…” And then they tell their story about the angel appearing.

How long has it been since the angel appeared to Joseph? How long has it been since the angel appeared to Mary and said, “You will have this child, and you will call his name Jesus.” And maybe did Joseph at some point along the nine-plus-month period of time wonder to themselves if they had gotten it right or missed something. And here comes the Lord, making sure they’re reassured that this is all part of God’s plan. So, the shepherds tell the story that’s fantastical about angels appearing and singing and preaching good news. “…and then all who heard it [verse 18, things which were told them by the shepherds] they all wondered.” Oh, I love the word “wonder.” We were designed for it. We were created for it. And yet some of us have gotten so bored and so dull that we’ve lost our sense of wonder.

In part, I think it’s because we don’t quite pay attention, and we’ve lost a little bit of that edge. Maybe that’s because we look at screens all the time. I don’t know. Maybe that’s for any number of other reasons; we’ve just grown dull. But good grief, this is not dull. Do you realize what the claim is here? That the God who created everything out of nothing has become a human baby, a little tiny baby. And before that, he was actually a baby in the womb of a mother, a very specific person, a peasant girl who was actually a virgin. And it’s to this couple who now live in a pass-through town of a completely insignificant nation. And all of this is part of God’s plan somehow. And now He’s sent His angels to appear to these shepherds who are of lowest state. They’re socially on the bottom rung of the ladder. They’re not wealthy. They’re not educated. And so, this king, this baby king who’s born is born for the lowest of the low as well as he’s the king of the universe. We need to know that as well. So that’s not dull, people. That’s amazing news.

Mary treasured all of these things up, and verse 19 says, “…pondering them in her heart.” She’s a ponderer and she’s one that treasures things like this in her heart. I want to be a little bit more like the shepherds and a little bit more like Mary as well. Verse 20: “And the shepherds went back.” As they returned, where did they return to? They went back to work, okay? Because that’s what they’re going to do, but they go back different. They go back to their boring everyday ho-hum, what some people might consider meaningless, purposeless job. And yet they go back different for having experienced what they experienced as God invades their life, speaks to them, leads them to the person of Jesus, and that encounter has changed them. They go back glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen just as had been told them. And that my friends is the true meaning of Christmas right there, right?

But there’s more. There’s more about Jesus’ early childhood and I want to read this. “When eight days were completed before His circumcision [this was the Jewish tradition] His name was then called Jesus.” That’s when they made it official. His name is this, and circumcised. And this is “the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.” Remember the angel had spoken to Joseph and said, “This is what you’ll call him.” And it’s because, Jesus, His name means “God is my salvation.” So, Jesus, His very name, it’s a New Testament version of the Old Testament name Joshua.

But he’s essentially walking around with the name being the constant reminder that it’s God come in the flesh to save His people. “When the days for their purification according to the law of Moses were completed…” So, in verse 21, we got the circumcision in verse 22, it’s time for Him to go be presented in the temple. It’s 41 days past His birth. “So when the days were for the purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought him [Jesus] up to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord (as it is written in the law of the Lord ‘Every first-born male that opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord’).” You can check that out in Exodus, Chapter 13, if you’d like to later. “And to offer a sacrifice according to what was said in the Law of the Lord, ‘A pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.’” Now you can check that out as well in the book of Leviticus, which I know is that portion of your Bible where the pages are all still stuck together.

But you can occasionally dip into that book, and you can find things like this there. And what is really interesting about these two pigeons, or these turtle doves, is that this is the sacrifice of the poor. I mean, there’s all kinds of sheep or some goats, all kinds of different instructions about sacrificial animals. But when it comes to the poor, the ones who cannot afford the sheep, the ones who cannot afford the goat, no, they still have an opportunity to come to the Lord and offer an animal of sacrifice. Mary and Joseph are poor. They’re peasants. They don’t have anything, and yet God still makes a way for them to come as well, even in His law in Leviticus. And so, Luke, who’s a Gentile, has explored all of this, and he’s explaining this to his Gentile reader, Theophilus, and to us by extension as well. Look how much detail he’s giving us. This historian, this theologian, this doctor.

Well, “…behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous, devout looking for the consolation of Israel and the Holy Spirit was upon him.” Verse 25, you can mark 1, 2, 3, 4. That’s this man’s resume in the margin right there. You can put 1, 2, 3, 4, and you have Simeon’s resume. The four items are, he was righteous, he was devout. his heart was toward the Lord. Thirdly, he was looking for the consolation of Israel as God unfolded His plan of redemption in space-time history, this man… Unlike the shepherds, this man is sitting up straight looking for this, waiting for it to happen.

So, he’s a complete contrast to the shepherds, and yet the Lord is showing up in both places. Right? And so fourthly, the Holy Spirit was upon him. Great resume, he had. “It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.” And so, he has a sense of urgency as he gets older and older and older. Is this going to happen? I don’t know, but I’m going to be faithful. I’m going to be responsive. I’m going to be proactive. I’m going to sit in the temple. I’m going to be watching for what God might say, how He might manifest and reveal Himself to us and His salvation to us. I got my eyes wide open. And that’s a great challenge to me, perhaps a great challenge to you. When we walk into the door here to gather with the people of God and the house of God, do we come eagerly looking to encounter God or are we just checking the southern box or the cultural box or maybe the religious box? I don’t want to do that. I want to be a little more like Simeon here. Not perfect, but as I get older, I certainly want to be eager about encountering the Lord and hearing from the Lord and watching His salvation unfold not only in my own life, but in the life of those I fellowship with at this church.

“He came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, he [this guy Simeon] took Jesus into his arms and blessed God.” And he sort of said, “You know what, people, give me that baby. Give me that baby.” And so here he has this amazing song he sings. “Now Lord, Thou dost let Thy bond-servant depart in peace. According to Thy word…” In other words, “According to Your promise to me, that I’d see the Christ before I die. I’m so excited. Thank You for this, Lord.” And he’s holding this baby, maybe shaking the baby like this little baby Jesus. And he is excited for Him.

Maybe Jesus is drooling all over. I don’t know, but he’s a real baby. And Simeon is very excited to see Him, and he says, “For my eyes have seen Thy salvation,” verse 30, “which Thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles.” Notice it’s for all people, “the glory of thy people, Israel” as well. All right? Verse 33. “And His father and mother,” Luke says, “were amazed at the things which were being said about Him.” And the Him there is reference to Jesus. So, parents are always proud of their babies, but there’s something way beyond normal proud there, because all that God had said to them through the angels that appeared to them and spoke to them, all that they’d just been reminded of by these shepherds who came on the night of His birth or just shortly thereafter, they’re now 41 days later. And it’s like, “Okay. This is prophets that are now saying this thing.” And one more time driving it home that God’s salvation is all wrapped up in this one particular human person who has now come onto the scene.

“And his father and his mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. And Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, ‘Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed – and a sword will pierce even your own soul.’” She has no clue right now what that might mean. We do. Those of us who’ve read the four gospel records and understand that her heart will be pierced. Such a deep cut to see Jesus die on the cross, I’m sure. But “to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed,” Simeon says. And then another person comes into the scene right there in the temple “and there was a prophetess. Her name was Anna, the daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher.” We can triangulate specifically which person named Anna this is because she’s of that tribe and her dad is named that. And so, Luke has really examined everything carefully because Anna may have been quite a common name at the time. Which Anna? That one.

And she was advanced in years having lived with a husband seven years after her marriage and then as a widow to the age of 84. So, she’s been a widow for a long, long, long time, and she has never left the temple serving night and day with fasting and prayers. And at that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God and continued to speak of Him. That means to speak of Jesus to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Is there anyone in the temple area? I’ve been there before, and some of you have been there. I mean, you can put about 60,000 people on the Temple Mount area. It’s huge. It’s massive. And if this was one of those kind particular times when there was just a whole lot of people there and she’s saying this stuff out loud, “Is anyone looking for the redemption of Jerusalem? Here it is, this little baby, this tiny little baby.” Well, verse 39, there’s another change of scene.

“When they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. And the child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.” Now, the other gospel records will talk about a trip where the couple has to leave and go to Egypt because Herod is looking to kill all of the babies in Bethlehem that are two years and younger.

So, there’s other things that go along. That’s why it’s really helpful to be able to read all four gospels and the two that have birth narratives, Matthew and Luke. It’s really helpful as you’re seeking to triangulate all this stuff and harmonize it all. But here we get this kind of a summary from Luke, and he’s known for summary statements. So, throughout Luke, we’ll be getting those. This one is the child continued to grow and become strong, increasing wisdom. The grace of God was upon him.

Now we go through 12 years all the way. He’s pre-adolescent. He’s not quite a teenager, but he’s 12. And here’s what happens. “His parents used to go to Jerusalem every year to the Feast of the Passover. And when he became 12, they went up there according to the custom of the Feast; and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. And his parents were unaware of it.”

In other words, they got in the caravan. And because He’s 12, he’s like a pre-teen, and you know how preteens know everything, right? They just assumed He was in the caravan, and they were unaware of it, but “supposed Him to be in the caravan, and went a day’s journey; [out of Jerusalem, headed back toward Nazareth] and they began looking for Him among their relatives and the acquaintances. And when they did not find Him, [verse 45 says] they returned to Jerusalem looking for Him. And it came about that after three days they found Him.”

Raise your hand if you’ve ever been lost before. Anybody? Anybody? As a little kid ever get lost in a grocery store? Okay. Any parents here ever lose a kid in a grocery store? Couple of you. Or a mall, or a church or whatever it is. Wait, I know people that this has happened to. I’m not a parent, but I know how panicky the parents get. Oh, my goodness! Can you imagine Mary and Joseph on the walk back to Jerusalem? “I thought you were watching Him.” “No, you had Him.” “I had the others… You were watching Him.”

Can you imagine just the marital fuss that was going on on the way back? The day’s journey, the two of them to make it, to spend yet three more days looking for Him? “Where is He? Where could He be? I think He’s in the candy store. Where could He be?” “I don’t know. I think He’s hanging out at the arcade,” or whatever it is in the ancient days. Whatever that would’ve been. Where is Jesus? Twelve years old? Where is He? It’s really fun. This is just fascinating to me.

“It came about that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them, and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.” Now you got to know just a little bit about what that might’ve looked like. The temple. This is the central locus of religious activity. This is an important place. This isn’t just one of many of the synagogues that you hear about in the New Testament. He’s in the temple, and He’s sitting with the teachers.

He’s sitting with some really knowledgeable, sharp, theologically, grounded and trained. I mean, it’s possible. I don’t know. I’m speculating. But Gamaliel might’ve been sitting there. Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus are members of the Sanhedrin. We find out later, they might’ve been younger and sitting there. Annas and Caiaphas who will have many, many dastardly deeds ahead of them as regards the person of Jesus. They might’ve been sitting there – I don’t know. I don’t know who’s sitting there. I just know that He’s sitting there as a 12-year-old asking questions and answering some questions, and He’s blowing their minds as it says right here in verse 48. And all who heard Him, verse 47, were amazed at His understanding and His answers. He’s literally a prodigy theologian. It’s almost as if He was the living word of God or something.

It’s almost as if He was a part of the inspiration of Old Testament scripture or something. “And when they saw Him, [the parents] they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, ‘Son, why have you treated us this way? Behold, your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.’” It sounds like they’re chiding Him in a way. Golly, you got to give her a break, man. She and Joe have been at each other’s throats about whose fault this was. “We didn’t just lose our son, we lost God. We lost the Messiah. The whole salvation thing is going down the toilet because of us. You should have kept your eye on Him. I was watching the younger ones. You were supposed to be…” On and on.

She’s still a little, whatever, mom says this. “Behold, your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.” Verse 49, first recorded words of Jesus in the Gospel of Luke. “Why is it that you were looking for Me?” He’s 12. “Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” In other words, “This is my mission. This is why I’m here. And it’s bigger than you can possibly even imagine. And My father isn’t actually Joseph, by the way. My Father is God the Father, and He sent me here to do something, and I’m now at this turning of the tide. I’m now at this place where I am going to start doing some things.”

You’re going to see a lot of strange things as we go through Luke that He does as well. “They didn’t understand the statement which He had made to them,” verse 50. I can understand that. Verse 51. “And He went down with him and came to Nazareth.” By the way, when you’re in Jerusalem, you’re always going… If you go anywhere from Jerusalem, you’re always going down, even though we all know Nazareth was north of Jerusalem. But you’re always going down from Jerusalem and you’re always going up to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is the Holy City for Jews and so you’re always going up to the Holy City.

So, they go down to Nazareth, “he continued in subjection to them.” This 12-year-old continues to live with them and in subjection to them. And here it is again, “…his mother treasured all these things in her heart.” I want to have that kind of heart. I want to treasure the things of God. I’m sure she did, because she’s the one that later tells Luke this. There was that one time when we lost Him and the thing He said to us when we found Him, He said, “Didn’t you know I had to be about my Father’s business?” And that just was written with indelible ink in her heart and her mind. And she knew that was from God. And so that’s what she remembers to tell Luke. And Luke writes that down as the first statement from Jesus. Well, Jesus keeps increasing in wisdom. Verse 52 tells us “in stature.” Another one of Luke’s summary statements and “in favor with God and with men.”

The turn of the tide is because the savior has come after 400 years of silence, 400 years of God not saying anything through a prophet, through an angel or anything. And the people of Israel living under the oppressive Roman Empire, as I say, Israel, somewhat of a pass-through nation run over top of by empire after empire, Greek Empire, Roman Empire. And before that Seleucids. I mean over and over and over again. And you just have a group of people that feel like the entire world is dark and despairing, and it’s into that 400 years of that that God breaks through one night with… He just splits the heavens, sends one angel through with a message, and God turned the tide against darkness through the proclamation of the angels.

I think that’s really, really important for us to know and to maintain, to understand that God is in that kind of business. That’s the kind of thing He does. Secondly, God turned the tide against silence and spoke the hope of redemption through the aged prophet and prophetess. That’s so important too. Here are these people that might’ve thought to themselves, “My life is over. I’ve been looking for a long time.” God keeps not doing what He said He would do. How many times do we get impatient with God? But all I can tell you; I’ve been on the planet long enough that I’m just starting to get a glimpse of this truth, that God is never early and He’s never too late. He knows exactly what He’s doing. And while I’m waiting, I don’t want to waste my waiting. While I’m waiting for Him, I want to be eagerly anticipating whatever it is He has planned.

I don’t know about you, but I’m so often not anticipating what He wants to do but prescribing what I want Him to do because I think I know better. I think the outcome would be so much better if it was this outcome at this particular time. And yet God, who knows the end from the beginning, who knows way more than I know, way more than you know if you’re willing to admit it and humble yourself before Him – He is who we are actually waiting for. Not just what He can give us, but Him. He’s the one that we’re actually waiting for. And so, these two, Simeon and Anna are just thrilled. And it’s the Holy Spirit that speaks to them. Why? Because their ears were tuned to the voice of the Lord. And I’ve got to do the same thing in my own spiritual life and in my own walk with the Lord. God also turned against this tide of fear by clarifying his mission, the fear the parents have really, I think perhaps represent what a lot of us struggle with, that the fear that we might not get it right.

And maybe even as a believer, you’re afraid that whatever you’re doing might shut down the process of salvation. I wonder if they thought that. I actually wonder about that. We lost the Messiah. So, the whole salvation thing isn’t going to happen, I guess. Maybe you think I have got to share my faith with this person here and that you’re responsible for the outcome, but you’re not. No, you’re just the messenger. I’m just the messenger. We get to be messengers. This is awesome. And God is responsible for the results. And you know what? That’s awesome too.

In our preaching prep team, we sit around a table every Tuesday morning. We talk through these passages. We remind ourselves that we’re always looking for: How God does reveal Himself? How is human vulnerability and need of redemption on display? How’s the Gospel being shown here? And fourthly: What response of faith is this passage?

Look, if you can do that with any passage in your Bible, it always will lead you to some of the riches of the Gospel. Old Testament, New Testament – doesn’t matter. The Lord has turned the tide against fear by clarifying His mission, His purposes, His Gospel for us, and in this case with the parents, “I’m supposed to be here and be about My Father’s business.” And I think for parents that was quite helpful.

Fourth, God continues turning the tide of redemption history by speaking through His Word, the Holy Spirit and the church. And church, that’s us, man. If you just keep this to yourself, you’re really missing out on one of the great joys of what it means to follow Jesus. To follow Jesus actually means that we actually go out into the world and lay down our lives for others, that we go out and we preach the Gospel of the good news. And we do that in word and in deed, just like Jesus. He did it in word. He spoke. And then He also did it in deed. He healed people. His teachings were so brilliant; Sermon on the Mount, etc, etc. But His deeds backed up His words. His deeds showed that words were words of life. They were words of freedom. And so, we continued to look to Jesus as the One who’s not only our model, but who calls us to follow Him to be missional, if you will.

The apostle Paul spoke about it this way in 2 Corinthians 5:20, he said,

“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ as though God were making an appeal through us. We beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”
2 Corinthians 5:20

He’s not sending us out into the world to preach religious rule following or behavior modification. “Stop doing that. Start doing… Stop.” No, we have Good News! Christ has done everything necessary for your salvation, for you to be reconciled to God. Are you interested in being reconciled to God?

I have got great news for you. Christ has done everything necessary for you to be reconciled to God. Who wouldn’t want that? Why wouldn’t we turn then to Christ? Why don’t we speak of Jesus? Bonhoeffer said this,

“If we want to participate in this Advent and Christmas event, we can’t simply sit there like spectators in the theater and enjoy all the friendly pictures. Rather, we must join in the action that’s taking place and be drawn into His reversal of all things ourselves.”
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God Is In the Manger

In other words, the Lord indeed is turning the tide in redemption history and continues to do that. You get to be a part of it. I get to be a part of it as well. Bonhoeffer was an amazing part of it in his life. I encourage you to read his biographies. I think there’s an upcoming movie or two with his story in it as well.

Lewis saw the incarnation as,

“The central miracle asserted by Christians. They say that God became man. Every other miracle prepares for this or exhibits this or results from this.”
C.S. Lewis, Miracles

I mean, it’s so remarkable that God who created everything out of nothing became a human being. That’s just amazing to think about. Keller:

“Immanuel means the ideal has become real, the absolute has become particular, and the invisible has become visible. The incarnation is the universe-sundering, history-altering, life-transforming, paradigm-shattering event of history.”
Tim Keller, Hidden Christmas

That’s how important this is. Merry Christmas!

I mean, it’s that important. And it’s not just a holiday. For us, it’s a holy day. You’re not going to find us around here bashing Christmas trees or any of that sort of. That’s fine. Enjoy that. Get me something big if you’re going to get presents. That’s awesome. That’s all good. It’s fine. But add to that the best efforts of humanity to be kind to each other for just a moment or two, and then go back to hating each other in January. Man, the best efforts that we can make, that’s it. They fade. I mean, how many have already seen Christmas stuff in the stores? Come on. I was going to do a promo for the sermon in one of the big box stores standing in front of all the Christmas things, but I didn’t want to do that. I just thought, “Nah, it’s too… Get off my lawn-ish. I don’t want to do that.” I’m just trying to make fun, but this is really good news that God has done this. We should never grow tired of talking about it and becoming involved in it and being stirred to participate with the Lord Jesus and the mission that He has in this world.

“Luke has told us in the angel’s words who Jesus is, [Christ, He’s the Savior. Right?] and in the prophet’s words who may benefit from his message; [All people. This salvation is on offer to all of us] and now, in the words of the Child himself, we learned that to grasp the fullness of this message of salvation, we shall need to follow the one who already knows God as his Father as he prosecutes his father’s plan through the whole gospel story in order to bring us into the same relationship.”
Michael Wilcock, The Message of Luke

Great commentary on Luke’s gospel.

In other words, Jesus wants you to know God as Father. As a matter of fact, in Matthew’s gospel, it’s chapter six where this prayer right here, the Lord’s prayer that we say every single week, you’ll find that there in that very chapter, Jesus teaches His disciples to think of and refer to God as Father – 12 times in one chapter. The way we’ve divided our English Bibles. That’s massive. A complete change in the direction of the way that Jesus wants us to think about God as our father. All right. So, Merry Christmas! This is an amazing, wonderful thing to talk about in August to get us really ready for the next season as it comes along the next Advent season. But what do we do? I mean, do you have friends that get nervous when you start talking about angels that speak, angels that sing, that break into the night sky?

Do you have friends that get nervous when they hear the stories about prophets or prophetesses? There are eight prophetesses mentioned by name in your Bible, by the way, and then there are even more that aren’t named throughout the text. For some people, some of this stuff sounds a little bit weird. I’m okay with that. Wouldn’t you think that if the God of all creation actually did something to step into our world and to invite us to His kingdom, don’t you think it would be a little strange? I think it would certainly have some strange characteristics to it. And I’ll close with this quote from one of my favorite books this past year has been The Surprising Rebirth of Belief in God. “Embrace mystery, expect the supernatural, and keep Christianity weird.” Somebody say amen. Amen.

Lord, we want to be Your sons and daughters. And not just conceptually, not just sort of as an idea or doctrine, but Lord, put all of the drama that goes with that dogma into our hearts, right into our hearts, that we are we who have trusted Jesus. We are Your sons and daughters, not just Your property. I know You own everything in the universe by right of creation, but Lord, we want to know You as Father. And maybe somebody in this room hasn’t thought of that before for themselves, but I pray, Holy Spirit, that You indeed would call them by name, call them to Yourself. Help them to see Jesus and what He has made possible for each one of us as the Savior who came into the world to save us. Praise in Jesus’ name, amen.

Songs, Readings & Prayer

Songs:

“This Is My Father’s World“ by Maltbie D. Babcock, Mary Crawford Babcock and Franklin Lawrence Sheppard
“Lord I Need You“ by Daniel Carson, Matt Maher, Christy Nockels, Jesse Reeves and Kristian Stanfill
“Here Is Love (Unto Christ)“ by William Reese, Keith Getty, Kristyn Getty, Matt Boswell
“Come Behold The Wondrous Mystery“ by Matt Boswell, Matt Papa and Michael Bleecker
“Doxology” by Thomas Ken and Louis Bourgeois

All songs are used by Permission. CCLI License #200369

Call To Worship: Eternal God

Eternal God, you set Jesus Christ to rule over all things and made us servants in your kingdom. By your Spirit empower us to love the unloved and to minister to all in need. Then at the last bring us into your eternal kingdom, where we may worship and adore you and be welcomed into your everlasting joy. We offer this prayer through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Confession: Our Salvation

Leader: How does God save you?
People: God forgives my sins and reconciles me to himself through his Son, Jesus Christ, whom he has given to the world as an undeserved gift of love. “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Leader: Why does God save you?
People: Because he loves me, God saves me from sin and judgment, so that I may love and serve him for his glory.

Leader: Who is Jesus Christ?
People: Jesus is the eternal Son of God, the Savior of the world. Fully divine, he took on our human nature, died on the Cross for our sins, rose from the dead, ascended into heaven, and now rules as Lord and King over all creation.

Source: ACNA, Questions 6, 7, 8

Classic Prayer: Matthew Henry, 1662-1714

You are the King eternal, immortal, invisible. Before the mountains were brought forth or you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. You are the same yesterday, today and forever. At the beginning of time you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They shall perish, but you endure. All of them shall age as though they were articles of clothing. You shall treat them as a change of garments, and they shall be discarded. But you are the same, and your years shall never end. You are the same, yesterday, today, and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

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