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Holy Trinity Anglican Orthodox Church
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First Things Remembered |
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Luke 2:41-52 First
Sunday after Epiphany January 11, 2009 First things are often remembered. The first day of school, the first job, the first paycheck, the first time you pay income taxes, the first car, and the first car payment, the first house, and the first mortgage payment, baby’s first step, first haircut, first word. What was Jesus’ first word? We don’t know. It was probably Mamma, or Daddy. Mary knew what it was, but it is not recorded for us. We do know His first recorded words. They are found in our Gospel reading for the day, in Luke 2:49; “How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must
be about my Father’s business?” Lets’ put these words in their context, their setting. It is Passover. The custom of Joseph and Mary was to travel to Jerusalem with their family to observe the annual remembrance of the deliverance of the Hebrew people from the bondage of Egypt. This was no solitary journey. Huge caravans migrated from Galilee to Jerusalem as thousands of Jews walked the dusty roads to the Holy City. Each caravan was a happy, festive train of people that strung out for miles along the roads. Children were playing, adults were talking and laughing. It was a joyful time. Jesus was 12 years old. He either had or would soon have His bar mitzvah, a ceremony very similar to our Confirmation. It is the day when the person says, “I accept the faith. I believe. No longer is this just the faith of my ancestors, parents and family. I believe. I commit myself to God. He is my God, and I am His child.” This particular Passover must have been a moving experience for Jesus because we can see in this passage that He is beginning to understand who He is. So He must have understood at some time during this pilgrimage, that the Passover was about Him. He is the True Passover Lamb sacrificed to free His people from their bondage to sin and the oppression of their spiritual enemies. The Passover is a symbol of the sacrifice He was to offer for the redemption of His people. No trip to Jerusalem would be complete without a visit to the Temple, and Christ must have been impressed at the way it, too, spoke about Him. The entire Jewish religion was a dramatic representation of Christ and His work. This realization must have grown more concrete in the mind of Christ during this visit, and it must have been a moving, bitter-sweet realization to Him. When the festival was over, Joseph and Mary joined the great caravans moving northward toward Nazareth. It would not have been unusual for a twelve year old to be off with friends during such a trip, so Joseph and Mary would not have been concerned that He was not by their side. But, as we all know, Jesus was left behind. It was not until the evening of the first day’s journey that they discovered that He must still be in Jerusalem. So they turned back to find Him, stopping at the various camps, asking about Him, searching the streets of Jerusalem, asking friends and acquaintances if they have seen Him. During their search, they must have heard about a young boy from Nazareth who was amazing the Doctors in the Temple. So they went to the Temple, and sure enough, there was Jesus discussing theology with the Ph.D.s, and their first reaction was to chastise Him. “Son,” Mary said to Him. The word itself is a signal that Jesus is in trouble. When my parents addressed me as “Dennis Campbell,” I knew they were not happy with me. Likewise, Mary is not saying, “son,” gently and lovingly. It is a sharp word delivered in a cutting tone designed to assert her parental authority and her “son’s” position of being under her authority. Actually the Greek word is “child.” Mary is asserting parental authority and power. “Your father and I have been looking for you.” This short statement from Mary communicates anger and reprisal. This brings us to the point of the account. There is an immense contrast between Mary’s, “your father and I,” and Christ’s “I must be about My Father’s business.” Christ is saying He is “in My Father’s house.” This is the same as saying, this is His house. This is where He belongs. Let me close with two short points that are the inescapable conclusions of this passage. First, Jesus is the unique Son of God. He has existed from all eternity with the Father. He did not begin His existence when He was conceived in Mary’s womb. He created Mary’s womb. To be in His Father’s house and about His Father’s business is to be in the Temple discussing the Scriptures, not in Joseph’s house carving wood. Second, His subjection to God ordained authority, including the “parental” authority of Joseph and Mary, was an act of will on His part. In reality Joseph was not His father, nor Mary His mother. He created Joseph and Mary. He was God, they were His creatures. They were under His authority. He submitted to them as He submitted to John’s baptism, to fulfill all righteousness. So the very first recorded words of Jesus reveal His Divine nature and purpose in this world. Thanks be to God. Amen. The Rev. Dr. R. Dennis Campbell, Vicar, Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
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