Jesus in the Temple 2 (Luke 2:41-51)
In 1:80, Luke summed up the story of John’s infancy be telling us he grew, developed spiritually, and lived in the wilderness until his public prophetic ministry. Now, at the end of Jesus’s infancy, we get two similar statements (2:40,52). However, Jesus is clearly greater, and destined for more.
One way we see this clearly is in the glimpse into the story of Jesus in the temple at 12. His parents have clearly raised Him in obedience to God and the traditions of God’s laws. On this journey, Jesus disappears and is not with the travelers on the way home. When Mary and Joseph return to Jerusalem to seek for Him, they spend three days (surely in a panic!) until they find Him in the temple. He is there questioning the teachers. Everyone is amazed at His insight and His understanding. He clearly knows more than He should at His age. His statement to His parents (His first words in the gospel) indicate that He knows who He is and what He is to be doing in life. Gabriel had announced to Mary that He would be named Jesus, He would be holy, and He would be the Son of God. We have now seen all of this come to be in these infancy stories.
And yet, Jesus returns in submission with His parents to Nazareth. He will grow up in obscurity, in obedience, and presumably with a lot of normalcy. We won’t see Him again unitl decades later when He too begins His public ministry…
One way we see this clearly is in the glimpse into the story of Jesus in the temple at 12. His parents have clearly raised Him in obedience to God and the traditions of God’s laws. On this journey, Jesus disappears and is not with the travelers on the way home. When Mary and Joseph return to Jerusalem to seek for Him, they spend three days (surely in a panic!) until they find Him in the temple. He is there questioning the teachers. Everyone is amazed at His insight and His understanding. He clearly knows more than He should at His age. His statement to His parents (His first words in the gospel) indicate that He knows who He is and what He is to be doing in life. Gabriel had announced to Mary that He would be named Jesus, He would be holy, and He would be the Son of God. We have now seen all of this come to be in these infancy stories.
And yet, Jesus returns in submission with His parents to Nazareth. He will grow up in obscurity, in obedience, and presumably with a lot of normalcy. We won’t see Him again unitl decades later when He too begins His public ministry…
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