Luke 2:41-52
Just a reminder. The whole point is that we read the Bible, THEN we talk. If you don’t read the passage before we dive in, this is pointless. Here’s a place to read the story if you don’t have a Bible handy:
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%202%3A%2041-52&version=NIV
Well this is one of those stories we all like to joke about, but I’m sure at the time it was a nightmare. I’m hoping these days when Joseph and Mary bump into each other, they have learned to laugh about the time they lost God. I’m sure Mary has more than once said, “We had to leave that story in eh? Like, nothing from birth to 30 made it in except the time we lost him. Nice!”
Still, there are a couple things that stand out from my perspective as a mom. I’ve been there myself. The absolute worst was the day I lost Keirsten for fully two to three minutes in the lobby at Great Wolf Lodge. If I think about it for more than a minute or two I can still feel the waves of panicked nausea sweeping over me as I scanned the room for her. I swear her hyper-independence was branded into her with finality that day. I’m not sure either of us has fully recovered.
If you’ve never been there, be thankful. When you don’t know where your kid is, your brain goes in one of two directions. 1. Look for him where he is most likely to be. Call friends, check the candy store, send someone to look in the park. Or 2. Freak out because something terrible has undoubtedly happened.
The latter is kind of the “we’ve been searching frantically” scenario that I’m reading in this passage. To be fair, at first they assumed he was just travelling with others in the group, but when a twelve year old boy doesn’t show up for dinner, clearly something terrible has happened. I can’t fault them for making that assumption. Still, they would have done well to “check the candy store” first.
Where was Jesus? Exactly where he would want to be, the closest place on earth to the presence of his father. He would be discussing the things he loved most with the people who knew them best. I’m guessing he figured out his parents had left and did what you are often told in wilderness survival scenarios. Find a safe spot. Stay there, and stay visible.
When his mom said, “We have been losing our minds trying to find you,” I think his response was an honest question. “Why wouldn’t you start looking at the temple? You must have known that’s where I’d want to be.”
At twelve Jesus knew where he belonged. Yes, he was something special. Everyone at the temple could see that. He had insight well bey0nd his years. But he wasn’t there to lecture. He was listening. He was asking questions, also responding with surprising discernment, but he was learning from the teachers at the Temple. Even Jesus had to grow in wisdom while he grew in stature. As we proceed through this book of the Bible it will become very apparent that Jesus is in fact God himself, but we can clearly observe in moments like this that he was also truly human. If you want to tell me that’s tough to wrap your head around, thanks for being honest. This belief that Christians hold that Jesus is both fully God and fully human is (as far as I can tell) impossible to completely understand. But we CAN observe, as we read, that both are clearly indicated as we read the accounts of Jesus’ life. So ya, just because you and I can’t really figure out how it works, doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. That was a confusing sentence to deal with a confusing topic and I stand by it. 🙂
