Good morning. Welcome to what is officially known as “Low Sunday” in the inner church world. We gathered just a couple of days ago for the celebration of Christmas and it was great. People dressed to the nines, Grandparents and Grandchildren enjoying one another; of course there were hassles too, but most of those were kind of quiet. And now we gather two days later and probably came expecting to hear more about the cataclysmic event of that first Christmas. But, as it happens every year for me, I am surprised that not only has the Gospel moved beyond the miraculous event of Angels singing, Shepherds pining, and in the distance Wise Men headed to offer the new born king frankincense, myrrh and a couple pieces of gold. That’s what we expect but its not what we get.
Suddenly the Gospel seems to have moved on. We’ve gone from mangers and hay and animals in the stall, along with no room in the Inn, to an unusual story of something that took place twelve years later. That’s right, talking about hurrying the story. I don’t think I am the only one wanting to hear stories about colic and diapers, first smiles and steps, or at least a couple of first day at school pictures. If you are wondering what’s going on, you’re not the only one. So what’s going on here?
Luke is busy here. It is fascinating that we don’t have any stories of Jesus’ childhood except for the one you just heard. But why is it we cut all those years out and get a scene from Jesus childhood when he is 12 years old.
Being 12 was an important age for a Jewish boy in Palestine in the first century. It was at this age that the child would be presented in the Temple.
Jewish law requires that every male child be circumcised on the eighth day after birth, and Jesus’ family complies with that requirement. Then, when the time comes for the child to be presented at the temple, his family once again fulfills the requirements of the Law. In this particular case, the requirement was that every firstborn male child be redeemed—bought back—from God. This was based on the story of the Passover, when the angel of the Lord brought death to all the firstborn among the Egyptians, but “passed over” the houses of the children of Israel, whose doors were sealed with the blood of a lamb. As a result, God claimed possession of every firstborn male in Israel: “for all the first born are mine; when I killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I consecrated for my own all the firstborn in Israel … they shall be mine” (Num. 3:13). It is in obedience to this commandment that Jesus’ parents bring him to the temple to be presented, and to offer the prescribed sacrifice for his redemption—for buying him back from God. Curiously, Luke tells us that the Redeemer has to be redeemed, has to be bought back. This is not because he has sinned, but simply because he is a firstborn, and all the firstborn in Israel belong to God. Here, at the presentation in the temple, another Passover theme appears: Jesus the firstborn is to be redeemed by the sacrifice of two turtledoves, and he will then redeem all humankind by his own sacrifice. Gonzalez, Justo L.. Luke: Belief, A Theological Commentary on the Bible (Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible) . Westminster John Knox Press. Kindle Edition
That’s why we get here so fast. Luke is telling us that Jesus is part of God’s plan of salvation and so he places Jesus smack dab in the middle of the Jewish understanding of how things work with God.
But, if you’re like me, you notice a lot of other things going on in the Gospel this morning. Yes, he is being presented in the Temple and it’s important to place all of Jesus life, death, resurrection and ascension into the context of the Jewish faith but frankly that’s not that big a deal to us, all of us being Gentiles and not Jews. It makes for a seamless connection but what about all the other things we heard that happened?
How about the fact that Jesus disappeared from his family for three days? I don’t know about you but when I would go to the mall or shopping center or Walmart or wherever with my kids, if I were to lose them for three minutes, I was ready to call in the FBI to help find them. But we’re told Jesus disappeared for three days. Before you get all numerology on me, this has nothing to do with the time between the crucifixion and resurrection, though they both share the same number of days. This is just Jesus disappearing but note where he ends up. He is in the Temple when he’s found, evidently finding a seminar going on and showing that he is and Enneagram 8, he takes it over. Actually, Luke tells us he is in the Temple “listening and asking questions.” Can you imagine? I wonder what he was asking and what they were teaching him? We don’t know but he is clearly precocious and already reflecting that he’s well, just different. When I was 12 the last place you would have found me would have been in a Temple listening and asking questions. Maybe I would have been throwing a ball or getting into some sort of trouble, but Jesus is already revealing his uniqueness and differences.
Lest you think this was a normal thing that a 12-year-old Jewish boy in Palestine would do on the occasion of his Presentation to the Temple, listen to Mary’s words: “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” Much like our reaction would have been, Mary and Joseph were not happy campers.
But then Jesus response is curious: , “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
Now Jesus may have actually said those words, but whether or not he did, isn’t important. What we get from Luke’s description is a preview of what is to follow. Jesus entire ministry was to do “his father’s work.” I am not sure that Jesus knew what was to happen in the intervening years, remember his public ministry is still eighteen years away, but the deck is being stacked in our favor even though we’re still in only the second chapter of Luke’s gospel. We’re being told that there is a purpose in the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus. His purpose is to bring salvation to God’s creation.
And the biblical scholar Justo Gonzalez reminds us what that means: “Salvation means healing, liberation, freedom from the bondage of sin, promise of eternal life, and several nuances of each of these themes. Thus to say that Jesus is “Savior” means that he frees the people from all evil, including sin, eternal death, disease, oppression, and exploitation. If we do not see all of this as yet, it is because the work of Jesus has not been completed—the reign of God has not yet come to its full fruition.” Gonzalez, Justo L.. Luke: Belief, A Theological Commentary on the Bible (Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible) . Westminster John Knox Press. Kindle Edition.
And in today’s Gospel, we see none of that. And yet, even though Luke has just begun his story, we are reminded that the purpose of Jesus life is to do his Father’s will; to reveal the Father’s heart, love for all of humanity and God’s desire to free us from sin that binds us to emptiness and despair. And so the beginning takes place in the Temple, the place that those who sought after the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Rachel, Diana and Ruth
“The temple plays an important role in the life of Jesus. It is there that he is first acknowledged publicly as the hope of Israel, in the utterances of Simeon and Anna. The devil takes him to the pinnacle of the temple in order to tempt him (4:9). Jesus also announces the destruction of the temple (21:5–6). Although not so much in Luke as in the rest of the gospel tradition, the temple figures prominently in the week of the passion. Carrying his narrative beyond the other Gospels, Luke ends the Jesus story by telling us that after the ascension the disciples “were continually in the temple blessing God.” Gonzalez, Justo L.. Luke: Belief, A Theological Commentary on the Bible (Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible) . Westminster John Knox Press. Kindle Edition.
And perhaps the greatest message that at first appears subtly and then in full force when the Temple curtain that separates God’s people from God’s very presence is torn asunder at the crucifixion, no longer do we look for God in a geographical location, like the Temple, but in the very person of Jesus. And because of his life, death, resurrection and ascension, Jesus, our direct connection to God, remains present among us, in the world, changing and forming us to love like God loves.
The story still scandalizes since it has so little to do with religion, temples, laws and a set of do’s and don’ts. And it has everything to do with this little infant, so vulnerable and weak, showing us where to find God. Not in the temple but in our world and within us.
In Jesus name.