Didn't you know?!

 For Gloria Dei Lutheran Church, Leesburg, FL

1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26; Luke 2:41-52

One day when my son Gary was about 3, his father and I were in a large store. I think it was Farm and Fleet, or something similar. I was looking at something at one end of the aisle, and Jim was looking at something at the other end. I looked around and realized Gary was not at my side.

I called, “Jim, is Gary with you?” “No,” was the reply. “Oh, no!” I thought. “Where is he?” Through my mind, flashed all sorts of terrible scenarios of stolen children. I tried not to panic.

Fortunately, within just a few seconds we heard a wail. “Ah, there he is!” Gary was just two aisles away, but he had lost sight of us as he moved to explore interesting stuff on other aisles. We ran to get him, and breathed huge sighs of relief as we hugged our little boy.

Jesus was old enough to know better than to wander away without telling his parents. At this point in his story, he is twelve, just the age when boys are preparing to become men in the eyes of the faith. In Lutheran speak, he is about to be confirmed. In Jewish speak, he is preparing for his bar Mitzvah.

Jesus and the family were in Jerusalem for Passover, a major festival, and Jerusalem was full to overflowing with tourists. The family would have been in town for several days, probably staying with extended family members. They would have traveled with many others in caravans, to be safe from robbers. It’s a about a 3- or 4-day journey from Nazareth to Jerusalem, and we can assume many of the travelers knew each other.

So, on the way home, families were mixed up, with adults and youth walking with other family members and friends. Suddenly, Mary had the same question I had for Jim. “Is Jesus with you?” “No, I thought he checked in with you!” They panic a bit as they check for him all the way to the end of the caravan, and then all the way back to Jerusalem. I imagine them checking with the relatives, to make sure he wasn’t in someone’s home. Then they began to explore the city, and finally – three days later! – they found him in the temple.

Gary was too young to understand the dangers involved in wandering away. Jesus, on the other hand, was not too young for a serious scolding! I imagine Mary and Joseph at first greatly relieved at finally finding him, and then wanting to wring his neck at the scare he had given them.

Jesus simply looks at them and says, “Didn’t you know I needed to be here in my Father’s house?” If Jesus were my 12-year-old son, we would be having a long, terse conversation all the way home, and some serious grounding once we got there!

I wonder what questions Jesus asked the rabbis in the temple. I wonder if he surprised them with his questions. And I wonder what questions they asked him and if they were they surprised by his answers.

I love this story because it reminds us that Jesus was a normal child with normal parents. We have to remember that little of Jesus’ early life is unknown. We are told by Luke of his birth and of this episode at age twelve. And Matthew tells us of the visit by the magi and the sojourn in Egypt. And that’s it! The next thing we learn about Jesus is his baptism in his late 20s.

Michael Card wrote a song called “Joseph’s Song/How can it be?” In this song, Joseph says he is afraid he won’t be a very good father. I imagine he and Mary had a lot of discussions about being the human parents of this special child for his entire life.

Certainly, they taught him how to be human; what it means to be in a family; what it means to be poor and powerless. They taught him to respect all people. They taught him to earn a living, as any good parents would do. And especially, they taught him about love.

On another Sunday, we could delve into the theological meaning of this event, how Jesus is both human and divine, all the time, at the same time. But let’s leave that for another day.

It’s the day after Christmas. Let’s enjoy the moment of celebrating the birth of Jesus as a human infant, and remember that he was also a little boy, and then a teenager. Luke tells us that just like Samuel, Jesus grew in wisdom and in divine and human favor.

When we are baptized, and then confirmed, the promises we make are designed to help us grow in wisdom and in divine and human favor. These promises help us to grow closer to God, to know how much God loves us, and to love others as well as we are humanly able to do so.

As we seek to model our lives after Jesus, let’s remember that Jesus was once a baby, then a little boy like my son Gary, and then a teenager who didn’t think he needed to tell his parents where he was. Let’s grant our children and teens some grace. And let’s grant ourselves some grace for not being perfect parents and grandparents.

What is most important is to stay connected to each other and to share the love we are first given by God. Because this is Jesus’ reason for coming: to teach us how much God loves us and to teach us how to love each other. Amen