2nd Sunday of Christmas 1/04/08 Text: Luke 2:40-52
Second Sunday of Christmas
1/04/09
Text: Luke 2:40-52
Christmas is a wonderful time of the year. We love the Biblical Christmas stories from this time of year.. We love the story of old Zachariah and Elizabeth getting pregnant. We love the story of the story of Angel Gabriel visiting Mary and telling her that she would become the mother of the Messiah. We love the story of Mary going to visit her aunt Elizabeth and how when Mary spoke Elizabeth’s baby leapt for joy in her womb. We love the story of Jesus being born in a manger, with the cows, sheep and goats around. We love the story of the angels singing to the shepherds. We love the story of Jesus being brought to the temple where Simeon and Anna proclaimed that Jesus is the Messiah.
Today, we come to another great story of Christmas time. In last Sunday’s Gospel he was 40 days old. In today’s Gospel reading he is 12 years old. Jesus and his parents, as was their custom have arrived at the temple to celebrate the Passover, one of several required feast days that all orthodox Jews were required to attend.
You don’t hear too many sermons being preached on this text, for it is a hard one to preach on. Jesus does not leave with his parents when they head back to Nazareth. He gets scolded, deservedly so, it appears. He then talks back to his mother, not exactly a picture of Jesus that we would like to remember. There is one saving thing though that makes us feel better about this story. He obediently leaves the temple and goes home with Mary and his step-father Joseph where we read that “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” In other words he obeyed his parents living the life of a good son learning his father’s trade, went to synagogue school where he learned the Word. He was no doubt looked upon with favor by those in the community, for he had a grasp of the Scriptures that was way beyond his years, as we see in verse 47 of our text for today.
I realize that what I have just said might be upsetting to some of you, for it seems to take away from Jesus being God. But Luke is writing this so that we might understand that while Jesus is God, he is also a human being like us. He had to be born, learn how to walk and talk. He had to do all the things we have to do in our lives.
This does not take away from his Godhood, but shows to what extent God will go to bring us back into fellowship with him, as it was in the Garden of Eden. God who is in himself everything that is good does not need us. He has no need for anything. He does not need our deeds, our prayers, our love. He does not need anything from us, but he knows that the only way to redeem us is to humble himself by laying aside his Godhood so that he could do what we cannot do, that is completely trust in the Father to care for us. That is where sin comes in, for if we completely trusted in God the Father, we would not sin. We are, even the best of us, are in need of a redeemer.
Jesus is that redeemer, because he, one of us, perfectly trusted in the Father’s word that he would provide for him and raise him from the dead, after he died in our place, taking the punishment that we still, even as those who are saved, are still deserving of God’s wrath. We will not receive his wrath, but we are still deserving of it, for we are still sinners. Sinners and saints that is who we are; both sinners and saints at the same time.
That is why today’s Gospel lesson is a great Christmas story. For in this story we see Jesus fulfilling the law of God. He is, as he tells his mother, “I must be in my Father’s house.” Or as the Greek says, “I must be about my Father’s business.” Jesus in his humanity knows what his purpose is. At the age of 12 he knows who his real Father is. What his purpose in life is. Mary and Joseph don’t get it. They, just like the disciples of Jesus just could not get past the idea that Jesus came to be a great ruler like King David, freeing them from the Roman oppression and restoring them back to their former glory.
People today still don’t get it. Oh they declare that Jesus is the Son of God. They might even say that he took the punishment for their sins, but in the same breath they would declare that the real purpose for Jesus is to overthrow the oppressors of Israel reuniting the people to their former glory. That is Jesus’ purpose they would say.
“I must be in my Father’s house.” Jesus knows that he must do, what he came for. Later on when Jesus starts his ministry at age 30 he will say “I must preach the gospel.” Then we will hear that he must heal the sick. He must do the ministry entrusted to him. Near the time of his death we will hear him say four times that he must suffer and die on the cross. It is his God given destiny.
On that day in the Temple he is telling all people that God is his Father. My Father is not Joseph, but God. This was alluded to by the angel when he spoke to the Virgin Mary telling her that Jesus is to be the Son of the Most High and the Son of God. Affirmed again at his baptism when God spoke from heaven, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
When the 100% human Jesus called God, “My Father.” he caused a stir, for in the Jewish faith only God was God and God always spoke through prophets to communicate God’s message. In the Jewish religion, God would never become a human being. Rather, God would speak through human beings who were called prophets. In the Jewish religion, Jesus was, and still is, one of the prophets.
The same is true of Islam. God always speaks through the prophets, such as the greatest of all the prophets, Mohammed. Allah would never stoop to become a human being with flesh and blood. Rather, Allah would always speak through a human being such as Mohammed. Jesus was only a prophet.
But in Christianity, in contrast to Judaism and Islam, God came to earth as a human being in the flesh and blood of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus is the Son of God and not merely a human prophet. That is a huge difference.
If you want to know who God is, and what he has done for his human creation don’t look at the beautiful starry skies at night. If you want to know who God is, don’t look at the majestic beauty of a mountain rage or the complexity of creation. If you want to see God and know God and his will for you look in the flesh and blood of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus of Nazareth is just like his Heavenly Father. They are one.
At the end of our text we see where Jesus grew in wisdom and favor with God and man. Jesus this little 12 year old boy studied the prophets of old and in their writings gained wisdom. From those scriptures he was able to discern good from evil. It is in that Word that he, by the power of the Holy Spirit, became wise in the wisdom of God, so that he could live the life we cannot live. Yes, Jesus grew in wisdom his whole life and this enabled him to completely trust in the Father’s promises. It is my prayer that you and I will follow our Lord’s lead in seeking out the Word of God, listening to the Word as it is taught, asking questions of those teaching, and giving answers so that others can grow in God’s wisdom our whole lives as well. This will then allow us to live our lives in faith, as God wants us to do. Amen.
1/04/09
Text: Luke 2:40-52
Christmas is a wonderful time of the year. We love the Biblical Christmas stories from this time of year.. We love the story of old Zachariah and Elizabeth getting pregnant. We love the story of the story of Angel Gabriel visiting Mary and telling her that she would become the mother of the Messiah. We love the story of Mary going to visit her aunt Elizabeth and how when Mary spoke Elizabeth’s baby leapt for joy in her womb. We love the story of Jesus being born in a manger, with the cows, sheep and goats around. We love the story of the angels singing to the shepherds. We love the story of Jesus being brought to the temple where Simeon and Anna proclaimed that Jesus is the Messiah.
Today, we come to another great story of Christmas time. In last Sunday’s Gospel he was 40 days old. In today’s Gospel reading he is 12 years old. Jesus and his parents, as was their custom have arrived at the temple to celebrate the Passover, one of several required feast days that all orthodox Jews were required to attend.
You don’t hear too many sermons being preached on this text, for it is a hard one to preach on. Jesus does not leave with his parents when they head back to Nazareth. He gets scolded, deservedly so, it appears. He then talks back to his mother, not exactly a picture of Jesus that we would like to remember. There is one saving thing though that makes us feel better about this story. He obediently leaves the temple and goes home with Mary and his step-father Joseph where we read that “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” In other words he obeyed his parents living the life of a good son learning his father’s trade, went to synagogue school where he learned the Word. He was no doubt looked upon with favor by those in the community, for he had a grasp of the Scriptures that was way beyond his years, as we see in verse 47 of our text for today.
I realize that what I have just said might be upsetting to some of you, for it seems to take away from Jesus being God. But Luke is writing this so that we might understand that while Jesus is God, he is also a human being like us. He had to be born, learn how to walk and talk. He had to do all the things we have to do in our lives.
This does not take away from his Godhood, but shows to what extent God will go to bring us back into fellowship with him, as it was in the Garden of Eden. God who is in himself everything that is good does not need us. He has no need for anything. He does not need our deeds, our prayers, our love. He does not need anything from us, but he knows that the only way to redeem us is to humble himself by laying aside his Godhood so that he could do what we cannot do, that is completely trust in the Father to care for us. That is where sin comes in, for if we completely trusted in God the Father, we would not sin. We are, even the best of us, are in need of a redeemer.
Jesus is that redeemer, because he, one of us, perfectly trusted in the Father’s word that he would provide for him and raise him from the dead, after he died in our place, taking the punishment that we still, even as those who are saved, are still deserving of God’s wrath. We will not receive his wrath, but we are still deserving of it, for we are still sinners. Sinners and saints that is who we are; both sinners and saints at the same time.
That is why today’s Gospel lesson is a great Christmas story. For in this story we see Jesus fulfilling the law of God. He is, as he tells his mother, “I must be in my Father’s house.” Or as the Greek says, “I must be about my Father’s business.” Jesus in his humanity knows what his purpose is. At the age of 12 he knows who his real Father is. What his purpose in life is. Mary and Joseph don’t get it. They, just like the disciples of Jesus just could not get past the idea that Jesus came to be a great ruler like King David, freeing them from the Roman oppression and restoring them back to their former glory.
People today still don’t get it. Oh they declare that Jesus is the Son of God. They might even say that he took the punishment for their sins, but in the same breath they would declare that the real purpose for Jesus is to overthrow the oppressors of Israel reuniting the people to their former glory. That is Jesus’ purpose they would say.
“I must be in my Father’s house.” Jesus knows that he must do, what he came for. Later on when Jesus starts his ministry at age 30 he will say “I must preach the gospel.” Then we will hear that he must heal the sick. He must do the ministry entrusted to him. Near the time of his death we will hear him say four times that he must suffer and die on the cross. It is his God given destiny.
On that day in the Temple he is telling all people that God is his Father. My Father is not Joseph, but God. This was alluded to by the angel when he spoke to the Virgin Mary telling her that Jesus is to be the Son of the Most High and the Son of God. Affirmed again at his baptism when God spoke from heaven, “This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.”
When the 100% human Jesus called God, “My Father.” he caused a stir, for in the Jewish faith only God was God and God always spoke through prophets to communicate God’s message. In the Jewish religion, God would never become a human being. Rather, God would speak through human beings who were called prophets. In the Jewish religion, Jesus was, and still is, one of the prophets.
The same is true of Islam. God always speaks through the prophets, such as the greatest of all the prophets, Mohammed. Allah would never stoop to become a human being with flesh and blood. Rather, Allah would always speak through a human being such as Mohammed. Jesus was only a prophet.
But in Christianity, in contrast to Judaism and Islam, God came to earth as a human being in the flesh and blood of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus is the Son of God and not merely a human prophet. That is a huge difference.
If you want to know who God is, and what he has done for his human creation don’t look at the beautiful starry skies at night. If you want to know who God is, don’t look at the majestic beauty of a mountain rage or the complexity of creation. If you want to see God and know God and his will for you look in the flesh and blood of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus of Nazareth is just like his Heavenly Father. They are one.
At the end of our text we see where Jesus grew in wisdom and favor with God and man. Jesus this little 12 year old boy studied the prophets of old and in their writings gained wisdom. From those scriptures he was able to discern good from evil. It is in that Word that he, by the power of the Holy Spirit, became wise in the wisdom of God, so that he could live the life we cannot live. Yes, Jesus grew in wisdom his whole life and this enabled him to completely trust in the Father’s promises. It is my prayer that you and I will follow our Lord’s lead in seeking out the Word of God, listening to the Word as it is taught, asking questions of those teaching, and giving answers so that others can grow in God’s wisdom our whole lives as well. This will then allow us to live our lives in faith, as God wants us to do. Amen.
posted by Pastor Rhoads | 2:19 PM
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