My Father's House

Prayer Practice

Spoken Prayer – Out loud, pray for God to speak to you through your reading. Praise God for giving us His word. Ask the Spirit to help you read with faith, and to live out what you hear from God through the passage.

DAILY READING

Luke 2:41-52

REFLECTION

Where to Find Jesus

 by Elaine Pierce

Why do you think Luke included this story in his gospel? This story is the only one in the Bible about Jesus between his infancy and adulthood. We've spent the weeks of advent preparing for our savior's birth. Today, we get a glimpse into his childhood.

I identify with Mary when I read this passage. How upset I would be that my son had not told me where he was, and how, deep down, I would be blaming myself - why didn't I keep a better eye on him. Jesus' answer when confronted by his parents has always puzzled me: "Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" Why wouldn't his parents be looking for him??

Yes, the teachers in the temple courts were amazed by his answers. But, Jesus, your parents had spent three days looking for you! Three days! They had to be beside themselves with worry. And there you were, in your father's house.

This passage has always troubled me, but as I write this on the last day of 2020, this strangest of years, I take heart in Mary's response: "His mother treasured all these things in her heart." 2020 has been hard. Really hard. As 2021 dawns, we are still struggling with the Pandemic. With racism. With a divided nation as we inaugurate a new president. Jesus knows all of this, and he knows what you are struggling with. He is in his father's house. He is not hiding.  

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13).

For Reflection and thought - Were Mary and Joseph looking in the wrong places for their son? Why didn't they go to the temple first? Is there a lesson there for us? Where do we look for Jesus?  

Find Sermon Discussion questions here.

Childhood Obsessions

READ: Luke 2:41-52

WWE Owners Vince & Shane McMahon
Visit the House of the Lord in a 2006 Storyline

Were you obsessed with anything as a child?

I was obsessed with WWE. I watched it six nights a week. They didn’t have programming on Tuesday, so I went to my archives and popped in a VHS. I had every action figure. I went to the events. I wore the t-shirts. I talked about it at school; I whispered about it in church.

I was a lot like Jesus.

He was obsessed too. Only his obsession was with his Father.

Not surprising. He came to fulfill the law (Matthew 5:17) and said the greatest commandment in the law is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (Matthew 22:37) - an Old Testament quote which continues, “These commands I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.” (Deuteronomy 6:5-9)

Sounds like obsession to me.

2011 WWE Hall of Fame Inductee Shawn Michaels

Now grown, I go to church every Sunday. I listen to praise and worship music every day. I regularly attend three Bible studies a week and am in the Word every day. I pray every morning and before every meal. God’s name is never far from my lips; He is always in my thoughts. 

Do these things make me any more loved by God? No, but how can I not love Him with an obsessive love? His amazing grace saved a wretch like me.

Luke 2:41-52

The Boy Jesus at the Temple

Mary and Joseph traveled with their extended family to Jerusalem as they did at the same time every year, to celebrate the Feast of the Passover. Once it concluded, the group departed and headed home. The family members all assumed Jesus was with the others, however he remained in Jerusalem. Once they discovered Jesus was not among them, Joseph and Mary backtracked in search of their son. “They found him in the temple courts among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.”

Once they located him, Jesus questioned them, saying “Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” Scripture states they did not understand what he meant, but I believe Mary had an idea. “…..But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.” Somehow mothers have a sixth sense about things pertaining to their children. 

Perhaps Mary knew this was the beginning of all the things Jesus was sent to this world to do. Maybe she felt her heart ache in a way she never had before, when she observed her son impressing the adults with his wisdom and understanding. Possibly God revealed to her at that moment, a glimpse of what was to come, and the impact Jesus would have on us all.This wise and sinless twelve year old made an incredible impression that day, one that will last into eternity. How can a mother or father possibly imagine that? 

Read Luke 2:41-52 here Listen to Luke:41-52 here