"Family Business" 12-31-23
Overview
Family Business
Between the manger and Jesus' public ministry, Scripture gives us only one window into his youth: the account in Luke 2:41-52. At twelve years old, Jesus stays behind in Jerusalem after the Passover. After three days of frantic searching, Mary and Joseph find him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening, asking questions, and astonishing everyone with his understanding. When Mary asks why he has treated them this way, Jesus responds, "Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"—a phrase that can also be translated, "I must be about my Father's business."
This was no act of disobedience. The text says plainly that he returned to Nazareth and was obedient to them. As Philippians 2:6-7 reminds us, Christ emptied himself and was born in the likeness of men—fully God and fully man, yet without the corruption of sin we inherit from Adam. So while we grow (by grace) from sinfulness toward obedience, Jesus grew from grace to grace, faith to faith, obedience to obedience. He "increased in wisdom and in years and in divine and human favor," not because he needed correcting, but because his perfect humanity was being prepared for a perfect sacrifice.
What is the Father's business Jesus claims as his own? It is the work the Lord proclaimed to Moses in Exodus 34:6-7—a God "merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness," forgiving iniquity and sin. It is the road Jesus sets his face toward in Matthew 16:21, where he "must" go to Jerusalem, suffer at the hands of the elders and chief priests, be killed, and on the third day be raised. The same word—must—binds the boy in the temple to the Savior on the cross. According to Hebrews 2:14-18, he shared our flesh and blood so that through death he might destroy the devil and free those held in slavery to the fear of death.
Notice, too, how Mary "treasured all these things in her heart." She had been told by Gabriel who her son was, yet she still pondered—as any mother would—the wonder of the child she was raising. Her reflection grounds the story in real flesh and real history: Jesus is fully human and fully the Son of God. And the good news for us is that the Father's business is not closed to outsiders. Through the blood of Christ and the waters of baptism, we are brought into the family. The entrance fee has already been paid. The best family story we will ever tell is how God has worked among the generations before us and how he continues to call each of us, by grace, into the freedom of his Father's business.
Transcript
If you would please open your Bibles to the Gospel of Luke, the second chapter, we will be reading 3s
out of Luke the second chapter. 11s
If you want to use a Pue edition of the Bible, it is on page 51 in the New Testament. 13s
Luke the second chapter. 20s
Growing up, I loved to hear stories about my parents when they were children. 24s
I loved hearing the stories especially the stories that my dad would tell. 32s
He was a really naughty kid and so he had the best stories. 37s
And as I grew up and then had children of my own, I found that my children loved hearing 43s
stories about when I was a little kid with my sisters. 49s
But I was smart. 54s
I would tell them the stories of when my sisters were naughty. 55s
I would leave myself out of it. 59s
But they were so much fun to be able to share. 60s
And there's something about the family story that is so special. 64s
It gives us insight into our parents. 69s
Our grandparents, it gives our children insight into who we were when we were there. 73s
Ages and it's part of the family history, part of the family history that carries 79s
through the generations. 88s
Last week, we celebrated the birth of Christ. 92s
Beautiful, beautiful story of Christ entering into creation being born. 96s
It's a wonderful, wonderful story for us to hear and to know. 102s
We know him, Jesus birth. 109s
And then we know of him as an adult at about age 30. 112s
And there's this huge gap that we really don't get the picture of or the story of who he was 117s
in all but one gospel. 127s
In the gospel of Luke, we get a little picture, a little window into Jesus as 131s
a youth. 138s
And he gives us this story when Jesus was 12 years old. 140s
Let's turn to verse 41 in chapter 2. 145s
Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. 150s
And when he was 12 years old, they went up as usual for the festival. 154s
When the festival was ended and they started to return the boy Jesus stayed behind 158s
in Jerusalem. 163s
But his parents did not know it. 164s
Assuming that he was in the group of travelers they went to day's journey. 166s
Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. 171s
When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. 175s
After three days, they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, 179s
listening to them, and asking them questions. 185s
Think for a moment, would you to when you were age 12? 191s
That may be thinking a little back or just a couple years ago, but think about when you were 12. 195s
I don't know about you. 203s
For me, when I was 12, you would not have found me sitting at church amongst the theologians. 204s
When I was 12, I was buying candy hanging out with friends and prank calling boys. 212s
I was not sitting there, getting in deep, theological discussions, but that is where 217s
Jesus' parents find him. 225s
That's where Mary and Joseph find Jesus. 227s
Let's give down to verse 51 if you would please. 231s
So they find him. 235s
They talk and then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them. 237s
Does this mean that Jesus was disobedient? 244s
We'll get to that in a moment. 248s
His mother treasured all these things in her heart. 250s
Jesus went with them and was obedient to them. 255s
Was Jesus disobedient? 263s
Was Jesus a disobeyed youth? 267s
And the answer is no, absolutely not. 272s
Jesus was definitely like us in every way. 276s
We read that in Philippians chapter 2, 280s
where Paul under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit writes, 282s
who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be 286s
grasped, but emptied himself by taking the form of a servant, 292s
being born in the likeness of men. 297s
Jesus Christ was born. 301s
Bowley human, he was like us in every way, but he was God, 304s
born man. 312s
And so Jesus, being God, born man was born very unique. 314s
He was born without the curse of Adam. 321s
He was born without the corrupt and sinful human nature. 327s
Jesus was not plagued by the same mental, physical, and spiritual impediments of sin. 337s
So when we read of Jesus as a youth, we don't read of him as a disobeyed youth. 345s
Jesus growing, he had a capacity for understanding, he had a greater capacity for knowledge, 353s
he had a greater capacity for obedience. 362s
Jesus returned to Nazareth and grew in obedience, but he doesn't grow the same way that we grow. 367s
We, by the grace of God, have grown since we were 12. 376s
We have grown since we were corrupted, sinful with a corrupt disobeyed heart. 383s
When I was 12, when I was 12, I was greedy, I was selfish, I was prideful, I would say not 393s
words I didn't respect my mom and my dad. 401s
Now that I'm 46, I'm greedy, and I'm prideful, and I'm selfish, and sometimes I say not 406s
he words and I don't respect my mom and my dad, we don't grow in the same way that Jesus grew, 413s
because Jesus didn't grow from sinfulness to obedience as we do. 424s
Jesus grew. Jesus grew fully God, fully man, He grew from faith to faith. 432s
He grew from grace to grace from strength to strength from obedience to obedience. 441s
This side of heaven every single day of our lives because we were born with a corrupt and sinful disobeyed heart. 450s
This side of heaven, we have an opportunity every single day to grow from our sinfulness 461s
to grace, to grow from our sinfulness to obedience, to grow from our sinfulness 470s
to loving the Lord. I want to take a little side note here really quick in that second part of 477s
that 51st verse. It says that his mother treasured all these things in her heart. We find Mary 487s
reflecting a good bit in the gospel of Luke. We find her reflecting after Christ's birth 495s
in this same chapter when the shepherds have come and they've told Mary and Joseph all that they've 501s
seen and they've heard from the angels and it says that Mary, Mary hundered this and treasured all these 508s
things in her heart here, again she's treasureing this in her heart. Mary knew that she had brought 515s
forth God's Son. She was fully aware of it. Gabriel had made it very clear that she was going to 524s
give birth to the Son of God, but she was a mom. She was a mom and I've never yet met a mom 530s
who does not treasure the days of her child's birth, the days of her child's youth. I never met a 541s
mom who doesn't reflect back on as her her child grew what his or her life was like. The matter or the fact 551s
that that Luke has recorded Mary, Mary reflecting and treasureing the things about her boy 562s
about her baby, about her son who would be a man to die for all the sin. It gives such validity 572s
to who Jesus was and is. He's so human, so human, his mother, his mother, 581s
pressured, his life reflected on the life that she brought forth and he is so God. He is the Son of God and 592s
I love that Luke's gospel gives us this insight because it helps to support that Jesus was exactly 604s
who he says he was and he is exactly who he says he is. We're going to come back to the text now. 614s
So Jesus had stayed back. His parents had searched for him and they find him. Let's pick up again 623s
at verse 46. After three days they found him in the temple sitting among the teachers, 630s
listening to them and asking them questions and all who occurred him were amazed at his understanding 637s
and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished and his mother said to him, 643s
child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in 650s
great anxiety. He does answer them, but as it says in verse 50 they did not understand what he said to them. 657s
Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them. 666s
Mary questions her pre-teen child. She questions her son, letting him know 673s
how anxious they were letting him know that his father and her Joseph and Mary had been searching 680s
diligently for them and they were worried. The word here that is the anxiety that they experienced 689s
in Greek, it means torment. They were tormented looking for the boy, Jesus. They could not find 697s
him and they stopped bird. They stopped bird as they tried to find him and noticed that she says, 706s
it is his father and her that are searching for him. It was Joseph and Mary that were worried 715s
about Jesus. I told you when I was 12 years old, I used to go and buy candy a lot. 726s
One of the places that I would buy candy was a little family-owned grocery store named 735s
linen sons and I would go down there and it was a family-run business. Really, a family-run 740s
business was the way of the world for most of history. We're really now in an age that is more 749s
than a family-run business. It's a pretty modern idea to not carry through in the family business 759s
and in Jesus' day, certainly the sons would follow in their fathers business. And so Joseph was a 768s
carpenter and we know that Jesus learned the trade. We know that he too was a carpenter because he was 777s
part of the family business. Jesus honored Joseph. He respected Joseph but Jesus also was very clear 785s
about who his father was. Let's look at how he responds to Mary. She says, why have you treated us like this? 798s
Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety. We have been suffering 809s
and Jesus in verse 49 says, He said to them, why were you searching for me? Did you not know that 814s
I must be in my father's house? In the same way that 12-year-old Jesus was conversing with these 823s
church theologians, sitting with them and they were asking questions and answering and he was 832s
asking questions and answering and there was a learning teaching happening as was very common in this 838s
answer and question or question and answer. Dial. Jesus, Jesus asks his mother a question 845s
and teaches who he is. Where he says, where he says, did you not know that I must be in my father's 855s
house that can also be translated? Don't you know I must be about my father's business. I must be 865s
about my father's business. Well, what is his father's business? In Exodus, the Lord is passing 876s
before Moses giving him proclaiming his name and he tells Moses exactly what his business is and 888s
who he is. He says, he is a god merciful and gracious slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and 896s
faithfulness. Keeping steadfast love for the thousands of generations for giving an equity and 904s
discretion and sin, yet by no means leering the guilty. We also read in Matthew the 16th chapter 912s
where Jesus has been walking. He has been teaching. He has been living his life with his disciples 921s
and then we read that from that time on Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to 928s
the elders and chief priests and scribes and be killed and on the third day be raised. The same word 938s
that he uses in 49 is the same that is used in the Matthew text. The father's business is of love. 948s
The father's business is of forgiveness. A forgiving transgressions for giving an equity. 962s
The father's business is to forgive sin. The father's business is to love his people 972s
to call his people to repentance and to forgive them of all their sins. 982s
Jesus says, I am about my father's business. 989s
Jesus, second person of the Trinity, God's only son entered into creation to be a part 1004s
of the family business. And he knew this family business. This family business was to 1015s
lead him before the chief priests, the elders, and the scribes to be tortured and killed. 1024s
He knew that the family business would be to live the life that you and I cannot live. 1033s
He knew the family business was to suffer a death that you and I cannot suffer. 1040s
Jesus, the second person of the Trinity entered into creation for the very purpose 1054s
of being a part of his father's business. Being a part of the family business. 1061s
In Hebrews 2, we read, since therefore the children share flesh and blood, 1074s
he himself likewise shared the same things so that through death he might destroy the one who 1080s
has the power of death. That is the devil. And free those who all their lives were held in slavery 1088s
by the fear of death, for it is clear that he did not come to help angels but the descendants 1095s
of Abraham. Therefore he had to become like his brothers and sisters in every respect, 1101s
so that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest. In the service of God to make a sacrifice 1109s
of a tone meant for the sins of the people because he himself was tested by what he suffered, 1116s
he is able to help those who are being tested. 1124s
Jesus knew his father's business when he was sent. 1131s
Jesus knew his father's business when he walked the road to Jerusalem. 1138s
Jesus knew his father's business as he was nailed to the cross, but Jesus knew that his father's 1145s
business would lead to ultimate victory over sin death and the devil for you. A victory that none of us 1153s
can gain or win for ourselves. That is the father's business that Jesus came to be a part of. 1165s
Verse 52, it says that Jesus increased in wisdom and in years and in divine and human favor. 1181s
His increase was to serve the very purpose of his perfect sacrifice for our sins. 1191s
And he achieved and he gained exactly what we cannot. And it is through Jesus' 1200s
Christ that he backends each and every single one of us to come into his business, into the family 1208s
business. And there is no entrance fee because the fee was paid by God himself through the blood 1217s
of Jesus Christ. This is what this is what we have been called to share in. 1224s
I love hearing family stories. I love I love hearing your family stories. It is a joy 1239s
to hear the stories that that have made up the generations, the generations and our families, 1246s
the generations around us and it's so much fun to know that we get to pass on our family stories. 1254s
Whether it is to our child, our grandchild, our niece, our nephew, or our next store neighbor. 1265s
But by favorite, my favorite family story is not hearing about how my dad was naughty. 1272s
My favorite family story is not ranting out my sisters telling my kids how naughty 1281s
her their aunt hurt their aunt's or her. My favorite family story is that I get to tell 1287s
and I get to hear how God worked in the lives of the generations before and how he will work 1295s
in the lives of the generations to come because he loves each and every one of us and by his 1306s
sacrifice and through the waters of baptism he has called each of us to be a part of his family 1316s
and to be a part of the family that lives in the freedom through his father's business. 1325s