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Luke 2:41-52

⁴¹ Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. ⁴² And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. ⁴³ And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, ⁴⁴ but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, ⁴⁵ and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. ⁴⁶ After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸ And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” ⁴⁹ And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” ⁵⁰ And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. ⁵¹ And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. ⁵² And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

The last two weeks, my wife and I have commented to each other several times how nice it is to have children that behave decently enough that we can trust them to do the right thing when we aren’t looking. They know enough that we don’t have to hover over them and make sure they aren’t playing with grandma’s decorations or sticking objects into outlets – at least until they are teenagers. We can trust our kids, who are sinners, to not get themselves into too much mischief even though our youngest is five-years-old.

How much more could Mary and Joseph trust twelve-year-old Jesus who was perfect? A perfect child is easy to ignore, and that is exactly what they did. They sinned. The guardians of God in the flesh left their twelve-year-old Son alone and unprotected in a big, dangerous city.

If you have been separated from your child even for a few minutes in a store or at a park, you know the angst and fear Mary felt. When a parent finds a lost child, the typical reaction is relief followed by anger toward the child. And yes, I speak for myself. But anger toward a curious child who wanders away is not justified. Instead, you have failed as a parent. You were not attentive enough or gave her more freedom than she could handle.

Now, there is such a thing as righteous anger. Jesus was righteously angry when He cleared the Temple with a whip (Jn. 2:14-16) and when the disciples didn’t allow the children to come to Him (Mk. 10:14). Scripture even tells us to be angry and yet not sin (Ps. 4:4; Eph. 4:26). But more often than not, our anger is an attempt to hide our own self-righteousness.

We think we know better than those in authority over us. We think we are smarter and have more common sense. We applaud our own motives while we judge others to be selfish. There are times when we might be provoked, but that doesn’t excuse us when we sin. We choose our own reactions, and we are accountable for them.

But as sinners, we never want to own our sin. Instead, we offer excuses and expect others to justify us in our sin. That is why, when someone offends you, you are more likely to tell someone else how mad you are rather than speak to the person you are angry with. Sometimes, we do get approval for our sinful actions from others. But we do ourselves no favors finding approval from others because when we do, we start to think that we can play the same game with God.

When God convicts us of sin, we try to play a deadly game of hide and seek. Adam blamed his sin of eating the fruit on Eve and, ultimately, God. But neither Eve nor God put the fruit in Adam’s mouth and made him chew and swallow. Parents blame their children for their anger when they misbehave. But whose responsibility is it to teach children right behavior? Children blame their parents if they are bored because their tablets and phones get taken away. And this silly game goes on and on.

While we might be able to hide our sin before others, it never works with God. Yes, there are times when we are hurt and are victims. But we add to our own pain with bad responses and sinful behavior. Repent.

Mary increased her sin. She sinned by not making sure Jesus was with them when they started home for Nazareth. And she added sin to sin when she lashed out at Jesus blaming Him for her fear and distress. “Why have You treated us so?” In other words, “Jesus, it’s Your fault that we had all that worry and fear the last three days.”

But twelve-year-old God in the flesh rebukes her gently. “Why were you looking for Me?” In other words, He is saying, “Didn’t you mess up? What went wrong so that I was lost in the first place?”

But even better, Jesus’ response hints at the answer. Jesus is the Savior of Mary and Joseph, and they are lost without Him. But Jesus is exactly where He it is necessary for Him to be – in the Temple. Our translation (ESV) says, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” which is a bad translation. The word ‘house’ isn’t there at all. A better translation would be, “Did you not know that It is necessary that I am among the things of My Father?”

The Temple was God’s house where He promised to meet with His people. But Jesus isn’t referring only to the Temple. There was also the altar, the lampstands, the incense, the sacrifices, and the priests. All the stuff that cleansed God’s people from their sin. It is necessary for Jesus to be among those things. Jesus is, to put it a little crassly, one of His Father’s things. In fact, He is the Thing. He is the Temple destroyed and raised in three days. He is the Priest. He is the Sacrifice. Where else would the Savior be?

Now, the Temple building is destroyed, but the true Temple isn’t.

I mentioned earlier how we play hide and seek with God when it comes to our sin. But God also plays hide and seek with us, and He is as bad at hide and seek as a young child. If you’ve ever played hide and seek with a little child, you don’t have difficulty finding her. She will hide in the same three or four spots every time. Behind a door. Under a lumpy, moving blanket on the floor with her legs sticking out. Or lying face-down on the couch with her eyes shut because if she can’t see you then you can’t see her, obviously.

Well, God hides Himself too. He isn’t in a Temple building you can see. He isn’t in the pillar of fire or cloud of smoke. Instead, He is in the waters of your Baptism. He is in the Bread and Wine of His Supper. He is in the preaching of His Gospel and in the Absolution. To the unbelieving, all those things look silly. But Jesus is there because He has promised to be. Jesus has told you where He is so that you can find Him. And where you find Him, you find life. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.