Luke 2:39-52
And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.
Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.
And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
Welcome to Getting ready for Sunday, a podcast of first Lutheran Church. Each week I introduced the readings for the upcoming Sunday with some notes and explanation so you can be ready for worship when you arrive. I look at the Old Testament, Psalm epistle and Gospel reading for the upcoming Sunday and offer a few notes and explanation. Hey, everyone, this week, we're doing something a little different. This Sunday is the beginning of a sermon series on raising children in the faith. So the readings I've selected are a little different from the lectionary. The Gospel reading for Sunday, October 1 is Luke chapter two, verses 39 through 52. And when they had performed everything, according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him. And now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he was 12 years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning the boy, Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, his parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group, they went a day's journey. But when they began to search for him among their relatives, and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days, they found Him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them, and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, Son, why have you treated us? So? Behold, your father, and I had been searching for you in great distress? And he said to them, Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my father's house. And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom, and in stature, and in favor with God. And man, Here ends the reading. Now, the beginning of this reading covers up a story that we didn't include in the reading, because it's quite long, it says, And when they had performed everything, according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. So the story that happens before this is when there's two things, first, Joseph and Mary have Jesus circumcised. And then after 40 days, they go to the temple to offer a sacrifice for the firstborn. Now, this is Joseph and Mary's responsibility to raise Jesus in the faith. And I think it's fascinating to think about, that these things are happening as part of Jesus's fulfilling the law of Moses for us, so that we don't have to. And yet it happens when Jesus is a baby, unable to do it himself. God relies on Mary and Joseph, to bring about the salvation of the world, by fulfilling the law with Jesus. How amazing is that? So they continue, and the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him. Now, we know that children learn how do they learn, not on their own, but from their mother and their father in their homes, especially when there isn't a public school system or a system of education like we have it today. And Jesus would have been raised by his family to understand the word of God. And the next story is a fantastic example of that of how parents raised Jesus to understand the faith. I'm just going to point out this piece. It says, After three days, they found Him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. Now, I guess I do have to say that perhaps Mary and Joseph had a slight advantage in raising Jesus in the faith as he was the son of God himself. But this does show that somebody had been teaching Jesus. He had to learn how to read, he had to be pointed to the Scriptures. He had to have it heard and proclaimed in the synagogue, and he had to be brought to Jerusalem. These are the things that his mother and his father did. Not the Father in heaven, but Mary and Joseph. And we see them being faithful parents raising children in the faith, as the Son of God, Jesus himself and they offer us a good example of what mothers and fathers do when they offer the Word of God to their children that's it for today we'll see you on Sunday bye
Transcribed by https://otter.ai