This morning I sat in the place I typically spend for my quiet times. Pondering on the ‘in between’ day that the Lord Jesus was in the tomb and seeing this as a day to just sit and dwell on what Jesus did for me in His death but also in anxious anticipation for the celebration of resurrection tomorrow.
I spent more time than I normally would praying before my time in God’s word; praying for the prayer requests from those that joined us for Parents Prayer and other areas where I know people are hurting.
My reading was Luke 2:41-52 which is the story of when Jesus was 12 years old, and He ditched His parents and hung out in the temple after the Feast of Passover.
A couple of important points. They made this trip from Nazareth to Jerusalem every year, so this time was not new; Jesus was familiar with this trip and stay in Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. It’s also interesting that this trip was with a bunch of familiar family and friends. Likely a very large group of 30 or more people and according to Maps it is a 2-3 day walk (closer to 3 days with all of the people traveling) or about 77 miles. Because it was such a large group of familiar people, it is not out of the scope of logic that Mary and Joseph would think that Jesus was with other family members or friends as they started their journey home. Additionally, they knew Jesus was the Messiah and probably assumed that He would be precisely where they would expect Him to be…with them.
It wasn’t until after a full day of traveling (likely that first evening as they setup their booths [tents]) for the night that they realized Jesus was not with them. They (not sure if it was the whole group or just Mary and Joseph) went back to Jerusalem to find Jesus (their 12 year old). Then, it was a full 3 days of looking through Jerusalem that they finally found Jesus sitting in the temple courts listening to the Jewish rabbis and asking questions of them.
I can just see Mary grabbing Him sternly and asking Him:
“Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.”
Luke 2:48 [NKJV]
Mary felt disrespected by Jesus. The passage so beautifully shows Jesus’ immaturity. His heart was in the sinless right place but He wasn’t thinking about impact to His mom, dad, family, and friends. His heart was focused on His ministry. The story ends with them all making it back home to Nazareth and Jesus continuing to grow in His wisdom, stature, and favor in the sight of both God the Father and man.
Application:
All this time I have been intrigued with how, from birth, Jesus had never sinned. This is a great view of Jesus’ pure heart. His heart was pure in intent and He is GOD, but His choices were still susceptible to His physical/mental maturity and growth. This is a far cry from the condition of our hearts, inherited through the fall of Adam and Eve. Our fleshly/worldly hearts are deceitful.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick! Who can know it [perceive, understand, be acquainted with his own heart and mind]?
Jeremiah 17:9 [AMP]
The other thing that hit me when I was talking to Marianne about this was that Mary and Joseph had their own assumptions/expectations about where Jesus was…I am like this with God too! I expect Him to be somewhere relative to my needs but in actuality He is focused on His will and purposes. It is my job to stay in touch with where God is working through my time ‘following Him’ by being in His Word, listening for/obeying the voice of the Holy Spirit, and in communication with Him in prayer. Mary and Joseph would not have lost Jesus if they would have been in close contact with Jesus rather than just assuming He was where they expected Him to be.