‘Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’ Luke 2:49
Our Gospel reading today follows on from the Epiphany, it’s one of very few stories we have about Jesus’ childhood and it’s really a remarkable story for a number of reasons. Today I’d like to share this story with you in a bit of a different way. I’d like to share this story with you as though you were a part of it because I think, in this story, we get to see almost perfectly the two sides to Jesus, his humanity as a child, and his being God in his wisdom. Let’s dive into this passage and place ourselves there as best as we can and let this passage speak to us about who Jesus is and who we are called to be.
We open on a pilgrimage, on a journey that the Jewish people would make twice a year, a holy journey, a journey that Jesus and his family would have made with others from their village. Imagine the exhaustion that the pilgrims would have felt. A journey that would have lasted many days of endless walking, of dusty faces and of sleeping in strange places. The pilgrims arrive in Jerusalem and from miles away the temple would have been visible. The temple is the house of a God, the holiest place in the Jewish religion. In the Old Testament, the temple was God’s house and He literally dwelt there in a cloud of glory which hovered over the ark of the covenant. But before the exile to Babylon the glory cloud departed from the temple, all of this is known to the family of pilgrims, of course. In the destruction of Jerusalem the ark of the covenant was lost and, after the people returned from exile and rebuilt the temple, the temple had no ark of the covenant and God’s presence no longer dwelt inside the temple in quite the same way. When Solomon’s temple was built, God came and entered into the temple in spectacular fashion but when this temple was built, there was no such entrance. For many years it sat, triumphant and glorious in terms of beauty and architecture, but its real beauty was missing, for God was not in it.
Nonetheless, the weary pilgrims rejoice at seeing the temple and, once they have likely rested and eaten, they travel on to make their offering, through the jam-packed streets of Jerusalem in the Passover. Jesus’ family go and make an offering, not a great offering of bulls or lambs, but a peasants offering of doves. After a time of celebration, the family return home. The bags are packed, the group assembles, not just of Jesus’ family but once more the whole crowd from their hometown. Saying goodbye to the smells and sights of the big city, they return to the road and the journey home; a whole day of walking peacefully passes before the sudden panic. A deep dropping sensation, as the realisation sweeps over Jesus’ family. Where is the child, Jesus? Here we could all imagine the humanity of Jesus, as we’ve all either being that child who wondered off or had a child who disappeared on us like Jesus did with his family. Even raising our Lord could clearly be stressful at times. We can imagine the stress, the looking among all the travellers and everywhere along the side of the road. Three days pass… three days before the family return to the temple in Jerusalem to see their Son, listening in the temple. The heightened anxiety of His parents clearly turned to anger as we read their reaction; his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.” I’m sure you can hear those words in the mouth of your own parents or in your own, rebuking your child. Although, I allegedly once went missing at Blackpool pleasure beach for several hours and I don’t remember much of it, I do remember my mum’s reaction was a little bit more heavy-handed than our Lady’s. But let us seriously just think for a moment about how human, God’s human relationships were… and yet, in this story we also see Jesus as God.
You see, like we said, the temple used to be the place where God resided; He had come down on the Temple of Solomon and lived in the old temple, but not in the new one. So, when Jesus comes to the temple, it is as if the temple is suddenly fulfilled; the temple becomes what it is supposed to be. The owner of the house is back at home. Finally, the temple was the way it was supposed to be. As such, it’s no wonder that when Jesus enters at age 12 the whole place gets stirred up at His presence…“they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers” (Luke 2:46-47). Who is this boy that even the wisest in Israel, the people who live and breathe the most difficult questions, and know the Scriptures by heart, are amazed at his answers? This is like the top university lecturers being amazed at the answers of a 12 year old boy on astrophysics; people must have been thinking this is a prodigy, a genius. So that is the question on everybody’s lips, who is this boy? And when Jesus answers Mary’s questions about how he could run off, he answers that question too, where was Jesus? He was in his Father’s house. This is a human who can baffle the wisest and who calls God his Father, this is a human who is God.
So in this vivid story which tells us so much about who Jesus is, let us imagine again and try to vividly create the sensations of this true story. Let us imagine: Being on the journey to the temple with the God-child. Let us imagine walking with Christ in the bustle of the temple as God returns to his home. Let us feel the human panic of a family who can’t find their child. The reassurance and relief after days of searching, imagine standing with Mary and seeing the young boy learning at the feet of the teachers. Let us hear those words “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
As we hold the richness of this story in our hearts let us go deeper into it and ask what it might mean for us. We’ve learned a little about who Jesus is in this passage, where he loved to be. What can that tell us about who we are called to be as followers of Christ? Christ the pilgrim on a long journey to Jerusalem. Christ, who grew in wisdom and in years after learning from the teachers of his day. Christ who had human relationships that were sometimes painful and yet was always learning and growing. Are we trying to go deeper in our understanding of faith? Are we on a walk, a pilgrimage to a deeper relationship with God? What are we doing to learn, and to grow in our faith? Perhaps we could commit ourselves today to go and read a book about Christianity to deepen our faith, over these next few weeks. If you’re new to faith or thinking about becoming a committed Christian why not read mere Christianity, by C. S. Lewis, the book that brought Fr Mike to faith? What can our story today tell us about where we should be as followers of Christ? Christ who longed to be in his Father’s house. Christ who brought the presence of God back into His temple. Who sat at the feet of others even though he was God. Where do we spend our time? Are we longing to be closer to God? Do we bring the presence of God wherever we go? Are we willing to sit at the feet of others and learn? Maybe we could make a commitment to pray every single day this year. If that’s something you’d like to do or would like help with speak to myself or Father Mike and we’d love to help you make prayer a part of the pattern of your life. As it was for Christ, even as a child, who loved to be in His Father’s house. Indeed, in all things, let us pray that we always try to be like Christ who was wholly God and wholly man, and may we always be found in the house of our Father. Amen (from Fr Jordan).
All Saints Church Chorley 