All right, back to Luke chapter
2, Luke's gospel chapter 2. The second chapter of Luke gives the account of our Lord's
birth and childhood. The remaining 22 chapters deal with his manhood, all that
he said and did. Now that's significant, isn't it? We marvel at the child that
was born. We marvel at that babe in a manger. We wonder. We stand amazed at
a boy of twelve years old in the temple. But it is the God-man
that we're concerned with, all that he said and did as a man
for men, what he did for us. For this reason, Not much is
said about the child. Significant, isn't it? The child. Look at verse 40. It says, The
child grew. Then in verse 43, The child Jesus
carried. The Holy Spirit is speaking here,
and the Holy Spirit refers to him here. in this story as the
child. But like the shepherds whom he
was revealed to, and Simeon whom he was revealed
to, God's people never, never really think of the Lord as a
child. The shepherds of old, when the
angel came to them, the glory of the Lord shone around about
them, the Scripture says. And they revealed to those shepherds
who this was, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And when
they came and saw that babe in the manger, I guarantee you,
not a one of them said, look at cute baby Jesus. Simeon didn't do it, did he?
When the Lord revealed to him that he wouldn't die until he
saw the consolation of Israel, when Simeon came and held that
child in his arm, what did he say? What a cute little baby. By salvation. God's people never,
never think of him as a mere child. This is significant. And it's glorious, and we do
not despise the day of small things. But our concern is with
the manhood of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's indicative
of religion today, and a great deal is made of obeying that,
but not God's people. All right, let's look at this
story here. of our Lord's childhood. It's hard for me to even say
that. Look at verse 40. All right. The child grew. The
child grew and waxed strong in spirit. But wait a minute. He is the
spirit. And it says that he was filled
with wisdom. Yes, he is wisdom. And the grace of God was upon
him. Oh yes, it is, isn't it? All the grace of God is upon
him and in him. The child grew. Oh, this is past
finding out, isn't it? Paul wrote in one place, he said,
Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. God was a baby in arms and God
was a 12-year-old boy. Isn't that amazing? It is amazing. We don't despise
that. And we wonder and are amazed at that. Look at verse 41. Now,
his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the
Passover. His parents, as we've already
noted in this study, Joseph and Mary, his parents went every
year to the Passover. They were devout, as it was said
of Simeon, that he was a just man, devout. So it was with these
two. So it was with Zacharias and
Elizabeth. These were two devout and godly
parents that worshiped God. And they made sure their child
did, too. Every year. Every year they made
sure that their boy was in the temple to behold
this Passover. That's a good example, is it
not? But that's not the reason for this story. Nor is it the
principal reason that every year They went to Jerusalem with this
boy, just to be good parents. Look
at Exodus chapter 12 with me. No mere coincidence that the
chapter concerning the Passover is chapter 12. It says when the child was 12
years old, they took him to Jerusalem. Twelve years old. Why twelve
years old? Why twelve years old? It does not speak of our Lord's
life before this, nor from twelve to thirty. No mention is given. But here, at twelve years old,
they make mention of the Lord, and they say that it was at the
Passover. Everybody remembers the Passover. Twelve years old. And again, I say it's hard to
imagine our Lord in the body of a boy. But I was speaking
to my wife the other day about our own daughter, who's past
twelve now. And I remember when I was twelve,
I remember those were the years. That was about the beginning
of my remembrance of most things that began to take place in my
life. I don't know if some of you concur with that, but I was
about twelve years old when I really began to start thinking and remembering
and things happened. I could have better remembrance
of, cognizance of, things that happened from about that time
period. And it's so with a twelve-year-old, a twelve-year-old. You're more
able to reason with and understand things from about that time period
on. This is no mere coincidence that
the Lord, that he chose this age to, any more than it was
thirty years old, that was considered manhood. You understand me? Follow what I'm saying? I may
not agree with it, but it's so, and it didn't mention him as
a boy until then. I mean, it's so in my experience. But there's a deeper reason.
There's a reason behind this, a spiritual purpose in all this,
in this child coming to the Passover. There's a deeper reason why this
child came to the Passover every year, because this child is the Passover. He had to be in Jerusalem, had
to. Look at Exodus chapter 12, and
like I said, is it any mere coincidence that our Lord is 12 years old,
and yet the translators chose to number the chapters and they
come up with the Passover chapter 12. Well, look at verse 3, chapter
12. Now, here's the reason why the
child was at the Passover. Exodus 12, verse 3, "...Speak
ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth
day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb,
according to the house of their fathers." There's a lamb, four
and a half, verse 5 and 6. "...Your lamb shall be without
blemish a male." of the first year, what do we
call our young boys and girls? We call them kids. Well, we don't. A mayor of the
first year, you shall take it out from the sheep or from the
goats, and you shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of
the same month, and the whole assembly of the congregation
of Israel shall kill it. And at the Passover, they were
to take a male of the first year. Now, how long do sheep live? Not very long. They're killed
in the prime. They're slaughtered in the prime.
But this male of the first year means he was a yearling, a young
lamb, a yearling, in his first year, the first period of his
life, all right? And he was to be observed. He
said, for in that passage observed for several days so that they
could ascertain, hey, he's without spot and he's without blemish. So every year, is somebody with
me? Every year, Sherry, they brought
the lamb up to be observed. They brought the kid. You got
the kid? He's a good kid, isn't he? Why,
he's blameless, without spot and without blame. All right,
let's go back to Luke chapter 2. Luke chapter 2. So it says,
These days were fulfilled. Christ came. His parents, listen
to me, people. His parents, they were devout,
godly people. They worshiped God. And they made sure their child
was under the sound of the word, as we ought to. But listen, they
must have this child up there. He must be there to fulfill the
law, to be observed as the Passover lamb without spot and without
blemish. Just the kid we need. This child, twelve years old.
Twelve years old. Our writer says in verse 42,
he says, Now when he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem
after the custom of the feast, verse 43. And when they had fulfilled
the days, when they had fulfilled the days, seven days they were
in Jerusalem, seven days, all right? And it says, after they
fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus carried behind
in Jerusalem, and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. He
tarried behind another, not without significance, three days. Three days. Seven has always been, in Scripture,
a number of perfection, of fulfillment. Our Lord walked this planet,
lived a full life, full and filled with God's holy love. A perfect man. A perfect man. And yet he tarried three days
in the grave, didn't he? Three days. He stayed behind.
All right, it says, Joseph and Mary knew it not. He tarried
behind, that he was not with them. They didn't know this.
All right, let's read the next two verses. But they supposing
him to have been in the company, went or traveled a day's journey,
and they sought him among their kinfolks and acquaintance. When
they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking
him. It says they went a day's journey
without knowing that he was not with them. How could a parent do that? How could a parent of a twelve-year-old
child travel a day without missing their child? Would you tell me? Any of you parents, can you imagine? How could you do that? Well,
I've got an even more puzzling question. How could a person
live a lifetime without thinking of the Lord Jesus Christ? How could a person live a lifetime
and not see the Lord in all that is around them, see his presence,
his hand? Doesn't the scripture say, The
heavens declare his glory, and the firmament showeth his handiwork? Doesn't the scripture say, Day
unto day let us speak? That there is no language where
the voice of God's creative power and Godhead is not known, that
men are without excuse? Does the scripture say only a
fool has said there's no God? Isn't that a stranger, a more
puzzling question, how a person could go a lifetime and be the
recipient of God's mercy and grace and provisions for a lifetime
and not acknowledge their Creator? Isn't that what the Lord said?
He said, The ox knows its owner in the mass, the ass its master's
crib, but my people does not know nor consider. Yet the Lord is at hand, and only a fool knows him not. Only a fool. But you know, there's
another application here. The Lord's people, you, if you're
a believer, we go periods of time, don't we, without considering
or thinking Lord. Don't learn. Those who are with
me in this hung their head just now in shame. You know it so. You know it so. They don't miss
his company. But here is the mark. If they are his own, they'll
miss him eventually. And they'll find him. They'll
go seeking him. Where are they going to find
him? Where are they going to find
him? Where did we find this baby in the first place? All right,
it says in verse 44, it says, "...they sought him among their
kinfolks and acquaintances." They sought him among their kinfolks
and acquaintances. Our Lord is not usually to be
found among our kinfolks. Brother Henry, your kinfolks
know Christ? They worship Christ? Where they go and so-called worship,
do they preach Christ? You've been with them before,
haven't you? Been to visit them there. Is Christ to be found
there? Our Lord said you must leave
your father and mother and cleave unto him. He said, I've come
to set a man at variance against his father, and a woman at variance. Where is he found? Look at it
in verse 45. When they found him not, they
turned back again to Jerusalem. Why Jerusalem? Because that's
the place where God had ordained for people to come to worship.
That's the place which God had chosen. From Deuteronomy 12 through
chapter 16, it's said many times that there's a place which God
has chosen to set his name there. That's where you'll resort. That's
where you'll go. That's where you'll come to worship.
I have a people, and there's a way to worship God. And that's
where you're going to go, and that's how you're going to worship
God, in spirit and in truth, the place. And that's where you'll
find Christ, where God's true people are, where the gospel
is That's where Christ is. That's where he is. They found
him at Jerusalem. All right, verse 46. And it came
to pass that after three days they found him in the temple.
There's so much significance here. Now, let's think about
the story here, the context of the story. After three days,
can you imagine their anguish of these two young parents? They
were young. At this time, at least in their forties, they're
still young. And after three days, they walked,
they walked for three days. They saw him in one place and
couldn't find him. And for three days he was not
with them. Can you imagine? Huh? Jenny,
can you imagine? If Sarah was missing and you
didn't know where she was for three days? Huh? Put yourself
in in Mary's place here, all right? Rick, but you played Seth
and Joseph's place here. Three days! Where is he? I don't
know. We ought to be just as anguished.
Shouldn't we not? We don't feel his presence here,
huh? Shouldn't we? just as anguish.
Where they found him? In the temple. Verse 46. They
came to pass after three days, they found him in the temple.
They found him in the temple. And that's where you will find
Christ every time. In the temple. You know that? Where's the temple? Didn't Christ say, You are the
temple of God? Huh? Where is the temple? In
Jerusalem. The church is the temple of God. He said where two or three are
gathered, that's where you'll find it. Where two or three are gathered.
I didn't plan this. This goes along well with Hebrews
10, but that's where you'll find it. Where two or three are gathered.
in the midst. He's in the temple. That's where
you'll find a place of worship, God's people, a place where God's
people worship. Look at what he was doing. It
says he was sitting in the midst of the doctors. Little did they know this was
the great position. Sitting in the midst of doctors,
both hearing them and asking them questions. And verse 47
says, All that heard him were astonished. Astonished at his
This is all almost laughable right here. They were astonished
as he was sitting in the midst of doctors. And he was hearing them, listening
to them. Can you imagine what he thought
of what they were saying? And hearing them, hearing them
out, and asking them questions, I bet you they couldn't answer
them. Joe, he asked them some questions
when he got older, and they couldn't answer them either. He said, if you've asked me a
lot of questions, I'm going to ask you one. You know that? Henry,
every question he had, they couldn't answer it. One time, we were
going to find it in Luke, he said, John, the baptism of John,
the ministry of John, is that of God or of men? And they didn't
answer him. Later on he said, what if David
called him, if he's David's son and David called him Lord, then
what? They didn't know, they couldn't answer him. Well, he
was hearing them and asking them questions, and verse 47, all
that heard him were astonished at his understanding and his
answers. They would say, What wisdom! Yes. Where did he get this wisdom?
They were thinking to themselves. You got yours from him. He is
wisdom. What understanding he has of
the Scriptures. He is the Scriptures. Understanding
of it. He knows it. What enlightenment. He is light. He's got the answers, doesn't he? He is the answer. They were
astonished. They were amazed. Ah, look at
verse 48. And when they saw him, this was
Joseph and Mary, they came looking for him, and they came to Jerusalem,
came into the temple. Now, why did they find him there?
How'd they know where to look? Somebody led them. Somebody directed
them. Same with every seeker of Christ.
If they find him, they're going to find him where the Holy Spirit
lives. And when they saw him, They were amazed. When they saw
him, they were amazed. Play on words here, but there's
no word, no linear line in Scripture without great significance. When
you see him, you'll be amazed at him. You'll see God's amazing
grace. Well, they were amazed, and his
mother said unto him, Now here, and in another place
in Scripture, the Lord rebukes this woman for faking herself
to be his mother. You say, but the Scripture says
that here. The Holy Spirit said it in reference to this young
boy, so we'd know from fact who he's talking about. But like
I said at the beginning of this whole message, God's people never
think of him like that, as a mere child, as a babe, as a boy. And
this woman had the audacity to call her Lord, Son? Listen to
me now. Isaiah 9, verse 6 says, A child
is born, but the Son is what? He's not her son, but he has a father, but it isn't
Joseph. He's not her son, and here in
another place. Now, we're going to see later
on here, he became subject to them. Why? Because children are
to be subject to their parents. as our substitute, as our representative. He became subject to these parents,
but they were not his poets. This woman was not his mother. He's a priest forever after the
order of Melchizedek. He doesn't have a mother or a
father. He's without beginning of days and ending of days. And
now there's humans going to call him son. And she, well, he's the eternal
son of God, he said. He has a father. He has a father. Well, then she ignorantly, as
many do, even we do this, she ignorantly charged him with dealing
with her unfairly and wrongly. treating her harshly. She said, son, and like I said,
here he gently rebukes her. He's kind and he's merciful,
compassionate, gracious. He did not embarrass her nor
belittle her. He was subject to her, but yet
he rebukes her. And in another place when he
said, woman, But then she ignorantly charges
the Lord with dealing with her wrongly, unfairly. Do we ever do that? Do we ever
blame the sovereign God when it's our own sin that brought
us our sorrow? Why are they missing him? They weren't thinking about him,
were they? He was where he was. Who left? Huh? Who wasn't thinking about who?
Whose fault is this? Well, we do. We blame a sovereign
God occasionally when it's our own sin that's brought us into
this sorrow. But here's the whole reason for
the story, and here's my text, all right? Verse 49. Here's the
whole reason for this story, and this is the sum of all Scripture.
This is the reason for this story. This is the reason it was written.
This is the sum of Scripture. This is the truth, the gospel. Right here in verse forty-nine.
All right? And it says, verse forty-eight, Why hast thou thus
dealt with us? Behold, thy father and I have
sought thee sorrowing, and he said unto thee, Wished ye not? Wished ye not? that I must be
about my Father's business. Don't you see? Don't you understand
why I'm here? Now, the word wished you not...
We don't use this term, do we? You know, it's not used in Scriptures
very much. Wished you not. You want to guess
where the first time it's used? In the Old Testament. When the
children of Israel were traveling in the wilderness, and they were
hungry, and God one morning rained down manna from heaven, this
white bread. Stay with me. You're going to
enjoy this. It's going to taste good. This white bread rained down
from heaven one morning, and the people got up, and it says,
they wished not what it was. the bread from heaven. The word
west means to see, to not know. You see it, but you don't know
what it is. That's what the word west means. You see it, but you
don't know what it is. To see without knowing. And our
Lord so much as said here, don't you know? Haven't you seen yet? Mary and Joseph, as a baby, you
remember they heard all that Simeon said about all that Anna,
the prophetess, said about him, didn't it? It says, Mary kept
these things, pondered these things in her heart. This child
shall be the fall and the rising again of many, and so on and
so forth. Anna said the same thing. All that look for redemption,
she spake of him. And Zechariah's prophecy concerning
the cry. And the shepherds told them,
the angels said to them, this is God's Christ, the Savior,
the Lord. And yet they saw him, but they
didn't understand it. How can that be? Well, it's the
same with us, isn't it? The same with her. I wish she
not. Don't you know? Don't you know? The reason why Christ came to
this earth, the purpose of this story? He said, wished you not,
don't you know, don't you see that I must be about my father's
business. That's why I'm here. I'm about
my father's business. Well, Joseph's carpenter shops
back in Nazareth. Don't you understand? He's not
my father. Say, don't you understand? You're
not my mother. He's not my father, but I'm here on business." The
father's business. You know, people see or talk
about Jesus today, don't they? Most of the world acknowledges
that a baby was born. Most of the world acknowledges
that he was a boy and grew up and a man and lived and died
and so forth. Most of them see him, but they
don't see. why he came. Most of them think
they understand, but they don't understand. Not many have observed
him for years, or that is, have looked at him through the spiritual
observer. They don't see why he came. He's here on business. He came here with a business
to do. Most seek him as a healer, as
a miracle worker, as a trouble fixer, as an example, as a prophet. If you find him, if you see him
as he is, and if you find him, you'll see him and you'll say
with sin in, he's God's salvation. You'll see why he came. Who he
is? He's not a baby. He's not a child. He's the Lord.
Why is he here? He's here on business. He's here
to do the business of saving me, saving sinners. As Barnard used to say, he's
in my center saving this mess. About the Father's business.
Now listen to me. Here's an illustration that you
can readily enter into. So this is the subject
of Scripture, the redemption of sinners by Jesus Christ. This
is the business that the Father sent the Son to earth to tend
to. The Father's business. I don't see anybody in here that
works for their father. But quite often you've seen businesses
with Williams and Son or Smith and Son or so-and-so, family
business, right? Every one of those businesses,
who started that business? The father. He started the business. has carried on by the Son. And then when it's all over with,
when the Father retires, he turns it over to the Son. The Father's
business, this business of salvation, it started with God the Father.
God the Father purposed salvation. God the Father is the author
of salvation, the founder of salvation. He purposed it, every
jot and tittle of it, every word purposed by God the Father. He
elected whom he would save, he chose whom he would save, how
they would be saved, everything, every shadow, type, picture,
promise and so forth in Scripture, God purposed it. And just like a good businessman as it were, a father,
a man who's going to succeed and have one to pass on to his
son, he's meticulous about it. Everything, he oversees every
part of it. Thus it is that every job must be fulfilled for God's
people to be saved. Well, the son is chained up in
the family business. You don't start up, any wise
parent who has a business would not put his son immediately as
CEO. Would you stick him in the office
there? He had a business. Much business to tend to. Many
people under you. Would you stick that boy without
experience, without knowing, stick him in the office and put
a title on the door, CEO? No. What would you do? Start
from the ground up. You've got to learn the business,
doesn't it? Oh yeah, a wise parent, too,
would make him start sweeping the floor so he can know how
to tend to his workmen. He can relate to his workmen.
He can deal with them well. He can know from the ground up
what's needed. The Scripture said, though he
was a son over his own house, yet learned he obedience by the
things he suffered. Christ came, and he is CEO. He is the Lord. He is the sole
heir. He is the father, but he learned,
he became a man. He became a boy. Listen to this.
You know why he was a 12-year-old boy? You know why he was in Jerusalem
as a 12-year-old boy? Because if there's a 12-year-old
boy in here that's going to be saved, he's going to be saved
by Jesus Christ being a 12-year-old boy. You understand what I'm saying,
Nancy? He is the Lord, our righteousness. If any 12-year-old is considered
righteous, it's because there was a 12-year-old boy that was
righteous. You got me now? Or 11, or 10, or 9, or 8, huh? If there's any of them saved,
they're not going to be saved by them being good little boys
and girls, but because Jesus Christ was good little boy. He's the Lord our righteousness.
He began from the ground up. The ground up. Training the Son. He learned
obedience. Working out our redemption. Working
it out. Working it out. Sweat and blood. And then one day he went to Calvary's
tree, according to the Father's purpose. and paid redemption's
price. Oh, the dead I hope. Sin had
left a crimson stain. He washed it white as snow. He
paid redemption's price by the shedding of his own precious
blood, the blood of the Passover lamb. Remember, they had him
in Jerusalem from the very outset. He came into town lifted up.
He came into town in his mother's arms, and another man lifted
him even higher, didn't he? And then when he came the last
time, they lifted him even higher, didn't they? The Passover lamb. Every time he went in Jerusalem,
there's a picture. This is the lamb. They lifted
him up, the Passover lamb. And after fulfilling all, we
read it, after fulfilling all, he cried with a loud voice, is
finished. The first words, carry the first
words recorded by the Lord Jesus Christ in all the scriptures
are right there. I must be about my father's business. The last
words recorded by the Lord Jesus Christ, it's finished. Business is done. Now, the Son, all things turned over to Him.
The Father, it's all in the Son's hands. You see that? I must be about my Father's business,
saving the people, working out of righteousness as a boy. Have you ever thought of that?
Working out of righteousness, if our sons and daughters as
young people are going to be saved, it's going to be by that
boy. Shedding his blood as the Passover
lamb, being lifted up on Calvary's tread, learning obedience to
other things he suffered. He's about to father's business,
and he fulfilled that business. He said, It's finished. It's
finished. And now the Father has turned all things over to
the Son. You know now everything's in the Son's name. In the Son's name. Now, the Father's
not dead. No, no, no. But it's already
in the Son's name. I asked Marvin Stompfield, just
with Marvin the other day, and I said that Marvin, and Marvin
has, he had a business. He had a siding business. And
his son gave whenever you've met he was just a young boy when
he was here last time and gave help us put satin on our half
did as a young boy he wasn't much Gordon. He wasn't very old. But he he
worked from the ground up learn the business. And Marvin just
turned it all over to him Marvin doesn't doesn't touch it now
he does it all he's quite successful at hard working young man and.
I asked Marvin, I said, you know, Gary, Marvin, I said, you taught
Gary everything he knows, didn't you? He said, yeah. I said, you
trained him? Yeah. I said, and now he's doing
all the work and he's getting all the glory, isn't he, Marvin?
He said, yeah. I said, does it bother you? He
said, no. I wanted to, as a matter of fact.
He said, I don't care if anybody ever mentions me again. Give
my son the glory. I'm well pleased. I turned it
all over to him. It's his business. You honor
the son, and I'll be pleased with you.
That's a good illustration. Christ said, I have to. Do you
not know that I must be about my father's business? That's
why I'm here. And he came, he and he accomplished. And now
he's sitting at the right hand of the Father, and everything's
in his name, and he's overseeing the world. And it's all going
to be fulfilled some day. All right. May the Lord bless
that in one's heart. Brother Joe, you've got a hymn
picked out. Very good.