If you turn against the passage
which we just read, Luke chapter 2, I'd like to consider the passage
we read, this record of Jesus being taken to Jerusalem with
his parents when he was 12 years old at the time of Passover.
They're losing him there, they're returning and finding him in
the temple. Particularly for a text, I'd
like to focus your mind on verse 49. Luke 2, 49, and he said unto
them, How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be
about my father's business? And Jesus said unto them, How
is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about
my father's business? Now when Luke took up his pen
to set forth in his gospel those things which the Lord had shown
him, regarding the Lord Jesus Christ, when he sought to write
down in the Gospel about the person and work of Christ of
which he was a witness, he sought to do so in a certain light.
The Spirit inspired Luke to set forth Christ in a certain light,
and that light is as the Saviour. Luke's Gospel sets forth Christ
as the Saviour, and it reveals the grace of God in salvation. This is distinct from the other
Gospels, each Gospel sets forth Christ in a different light.
There are four different records of Christ's person and work in
the Gospels and there are variations between each Gospel. One Gospel
may have a genealogy, another Gospel may not. One Gospel may
record the ascension, another Gospel doesn't. One Gospel records
a certain healing, another doesn't, one gospel records events in
a certain chronological order and that may vary in one of the
others. Now these variations between the gospels are not because
of the failure of one writer to remember certain events or
that certain events seem more important to one of the writers
than the other or reasons of this kind. The reasons why each
gospel varies is because God inspired each writer to set forth
Christ in a certain light. In Luke's gospel, as I've said,
Christ is set forth as the Saviour. Matthew's gospel is very different.
Matthew's gospel sets forth Christ as the Messiah, and throughout
Matthew you read of Christ as the Messiah, you read of Christ
preaching the gospel of the Kingdom, The Jews who looked for the Messiah
thought that Christ would bring an earthly kingdom, but it's
very evident from Matthew's gospel that the kingdom which Christ
brought was the kingdom of heaven, a heavenly kingdom. John's gospel
is completely different to the other three gospels. John's gospel
sets forth Christ as the Son of God. It is certainly true
that Christ is the Son of God in the other gospels, but whereas
the other gospels often refer to Christ and Christ refers to
himself as the Son of Man. In John's Gospel there are abundant
references to Christ as the Son of God. John sets forth several
signs regarding the Son of God and he says towards the end that
these signs are written that he might know and believe that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. So each gospel is unique,
each gospel varies, and each gospel sets forth Christ in a
different light. Knowing that light in which he's set forth
helps us to understand the gospel as we read through it. It helps
us to see Christ as he's set forth. Luke sets him forth as
the Saviour. In Luke chapter 2, our chapter,
an angel appears and in verse 11 he says, For unto you is born
this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the
Lord. Later in the chapter, Simeon
sees the Lord Jesus brought into the temple and he says in verse
30, which I read, For mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Christ
is the Saviour, the Redeemer, who brings the grace of God in
salvation. Now I mention this because this
fact will help us to understand the text which we've read. When
Jesus says, How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I
must be about my Father's business? What does he mean? What is his
father's business? Let us think about this. Let
us ponder this. What does Christ mean by these
words? Mary considered these things.
Mary heard the words of Jesus. She saw what he did. She took
these thoughts into her heart. She pondered them. We read in
verse 51, But his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. Let us consider these things.
What was Christ's father's business? Or another way of rendering that
which some of the other versions render as is in his father's
house. It's to do with him being about
his father's things in his father's house, about his father's things,
about his father's business. What does he mean about being
his father's business? Does he simply mean here in that
the boy Jesus, 12 years old, was found by his parents in the
temple, does he simply mean that his father's business is that
he should be in the temple discussing the things of God with the scribes
there in the temple. Does he simply mean that his
father's business is the gospel and so he is there in Jerusalem
in the temple discussing the gospel? Well certainly there
is that to it. certainly Christ was unique even
as a child certainly his understanding of the scriptures was amazing
even at that young age certainly he was there opening up the word
asking questions and answering them with great understanding
and certainly there is that to it but I put it to you that there
is much more to his father's business and what Christ means
here than simply that The Father's business is the reason Christ
came into the world. Christ came into the world as
the Saviour, as I've said. He came into the world for the
salvation of souls, to save sinners. In a word, redemption. Christ's purpose was to redeem
his people and that ultimately is the Father's business. And
we see this at the introduction to the passage which we read
when we read of Anna. We read of Anna, a prophetess
who was of great age, in verses 36 to 38, she was a widow of
about fourscore and four years, who departed not from the temple
but served God with fasts and prayers night and day. Verse
38, and she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the
Lord when she saw Jesus. and she spake of him to all them
that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. We have this word
redemption. Now redemption means the loosing
or the freeing of that which is bound. When something is bound,
when something is in captivity it looks for redemption and when
it is freed it is redeemed. Now, she spoke of Jesus to all
them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem. Then clearly there
were people in Jerusalem, clearly there were people in Israel who
went to the temple who were looking for redemption. And what were
they looking for redemption from? Well, at the time of Jesus' coming,
Jerusalem, Israel, was indeed a land which was taken over by
Rome. in an earthly political manner,
there would have been people amongst the Jews who would have
looked for redemption from Rome. They would have looked to be
freed from the tyranny of Rome. They would have wished to be
a people as they used to be, who governed themselves. They did not want to be ruled
by Rome. There were certainly people in Israel, in Jerusalem
who looked for such a redemption. That's not really the redemption
for which Christ came nor is it the redemption of which Anna
spoke of regarding Jesus to those who looked for redemption. She
spoke to that remnant, those few in Israel who looked for
a spiritual redemption. Not everyone in Israel looked
for redemption. Some people were quite content,
some people were content with what they had. Some people were
content with the religion they had. Some people didn't think
they were bound, really. Yes, they had Rome in charge.
They'd probably prefer that Rome was not there. But apart from
them, they probably thought that they were quite free. They had
their religion. They still had the use of the
temple. They could still go and offer up sacrifices as and when
according to the law. They could still worship God
as they saw fit according to the books of Moses. They didn't
really look for redemption. They didn't see themselves as
bound. But there were those in Israel, in Jerusalem who were
better taught. There were those who knew that
the religion they had in and of itself did not bring redemption. It pointed to redemption, but
in and of itself it did not bring it. They were still bound. There
were those who obediently went to the temple year by year, there
were those who remembered the Passover, there were those who
worshipped the Lord in the temple, but they knew that these things
pointed to a Messiah who was to come. They knew that under
their religion, under their law, they were sinners. and they knew
that the offerings of the law themselves did not do anything
about their sin. They pointed to an offering which
was to come and they looked for it. Yes, they had their religion,
but really their religion was bondage. They had the law which
taught them how to live, but whereas the law prescribed a
rule which would lead to life if it was kept, it became deaf
unto them because they could not keep it. that which was ordained
for life became unto them death. They found themselves in bondage.
The law condemned them. They were bound by their sin.
They were bound by their inability to do that which was pleasing
to God and the law condemned them as sinners. The law said
thou shalt not and they did. The law said thou shalt and they
did not. And sin bubbled up in them. the law condemned them, the law
cursed them, the law held them fast under its chains and they
felt themselves to be bound, they felt themselves to be held
down, they felt themselves to need redemption, they felt themselves
to be in bondage and they knew it. They knew they needed a Redeemer,
they knew they needed a Saviour, they knew that the law and its
ceremonies and its types did not bring that salvation, it
pointed to it. They knew that they had to wait
for the Redeemer to come. I ask you, do you know that you
need redemption? Have you looked for it? Do you
look for it? Or are you resting in the outward
forms of religion? Do you think they're enough?
Do you look to your church going, your religion, do you look to
your outward forms, your bible reading, do you think that you're
free when really you are still in bondage? Are you aware that
you are a sinner? Are you aware that your sins
multiply day by day and you accrue a debt before God if you are
outside of Christ, you accrue a debt before God which is mounting
up a burden which is upon your back which if you remain in that
state when the day when the days of your life draw to a close,
if you remain in that state, those sins, those iniquities,
will plunge you into everlasting darkness. Yes, man needs redemption,
for man is a sinner. And there were those in Jerusalem
who looked for redemption. Do we? Or they looked for redemption. and Anna spake of the Lord Jesus
to them. Why? Because she knew when she
saw him that here was a redeemer. The waiting was over. The hundreds
and hundreds of years of looking towards the promises was over,
for the Lord's anointed had come into the temple. Redemption was
nigh. So she spoke of him. And redemption
is the Father's business. This really is what this whole
account is to do with. Redemption is the Father's business,
is the Father's will. Turn briefly to Hebrews 10, where
we can see what the Father's will is. It is redemption through
sacrifice. Hebrews 10, verses 5 to 10, verse
5. Wherefore, when he cometh into
the world, he saith, Sacrifice an offering thou wouldst not,
but a body hast thou prepared me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices
for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come, in the
volume of the book it is written of me, to do thy will, O God. Above when he said sacrifice
and offering and burnt offerings, and offering for sin thou wouldst
not, neither hadst pleasure therein which are offered by the law,
then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away
the first, that is the old covenant, that he may establish the second,
the new covenant. By the whip's will, the will
of the Father, we are sanctified for the offering of the body
of Jesus Christ once and for all. How did Christ come to redeem
his people? How was redemption made? How? By sacrifice. One sacrifice. The Son, whom the Father offered
up as an offering for the sins of his people. Now here at the
start of Luke's Gospel, it is Luke's purpose to set forth Christ
as the Saviour, to set forth the redemption of God's people,
and here at the start we've had the account, earlier in the chapters
and in chapter 2, of Christ's birth and of the reception to
his birth, and the very first account following that is this
short account of Jesus at 12 years old, being taken to Jerusalem
by his parents, at the time of the Feast of the Passover and
they return home and they realize that he's not with them, they've
lost him in Jerusalem at the Passover and they return to Jerusalem
and after three days they find him in the temple. Now this account
is right at the start following Jesus' birth and Luke gives it
because it sets forth Christ's work in a figure. sets forth
it as redemption. This is prefigured in this chapter
of what Christ would do about 21 years later, about 20 chapters
or so later in Luke in the latter chapter 22-24 we read of his
work when he was taken to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover
when he was offered up as a sacrifice and when on the third day he
rose from the dead, having redeemed his people. That was the fulfilment
of what this is a figure. I want to run through this passage
briefly showing you how this figure shows us the work of Christ
in redemption. Verse 41, now his parents went
to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. Now we
know what the Passover is from the book of Exodus when the Lord's
people Israel were in bondage in the land of Egypt. They'd
been taken into Egypt at the time of Joseph, the 12 brothers,
sons of Jacob had gone down there, and the 12 tribes of Israel multiplied
in Egypt, but they found Egypt to be a place of bondage, a place
of hard labor. Egypt in the Bible is a picture
of the flesh and of the world and of sin, and a picture of
bondage. And the time came when the people,
the Hebrews, the people of God cried out to God to bring them
out of bondage, to redeem them from the land of Egypt, to bring
them forth. And God heard their cries, and
God raised up Moses, and he sent Moses down to Egypt, down to
his people, to bring the people out and God sent a number of
plagues upon the nation of Egypt because Pharaoh was rebellious
and he would not let them go so God sent many plagues and
at the last God instituted the Passover. Now the Passover happened
in that the Lord said that he would slay all the first born
in the land of Egypt but he would not slay the firstborn of the
people of Israel if they had blood put across the doors, across
the lintel and the side posts of the doors of their house.
Passover was instituted in that the Lord commanded his people
to each sacrifice a lamb and to daub its blood on the door
of their house and when the angel of the Lord, when the destroyer
came in the night of Passover If he saw that blood above their
door, he would pass over that house. He would not smite their
firstborn, and they would be saved. We read of that in Exodus
12, 21 to 28. Briefly pick up on that. Verse
23, for the Lord will pass through to smite the Egyptians, and when
he seeth the blood upon the lintel and on the two side posts, the
Lord will pass over the door and will not suffer to destroy
it to come in unto your houses to smite you. And ye shall observe
this thing for an ordinance to thee and to thy sons for ever. And it shall come to pass, when
ye be come to the land which the Lord will give you, according
as ye have promised, that ye shall keep this service. And
it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you,
What mean ye by this service? Then ye shall say, It is the
sacrifice of the Lord's Passover, who passed over the houses of
the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians and
delivered our houses. and the people bowed their head
and worshipped. The Passover led to the freedom
of Israel from Egypt. The Lord slew the firstborn of
the Egyptians, he passed over the Israelites for they had the
blood of a lamb on the door and Pharaoh let his people go and
the Lord redeemed his people out of Israel. Now that continued
to be remembered by the Israelites year in and year out as they
looked back and thanked God for his deliverance, but it pointed
them forward to Christ. It pointed them to the one who
would offer himself up once and for all. It pointed them to Christ,
our Passover, who is sacrificed for us, 1 Corinthians 5, 7. Christ
was the Lamb of whom that Lamb pointed. As John said of Christ,
Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
And here in our passage, Jesus and his parents go up to Jerusalem
at the time of the Feast of the Passover. And they took Jesus
with them. They took their firstborn. They
took the one whom John said is the Lamb of God. they went up
to Jerusalem at the Feast of Passover with the very one of
whom the Passover was a picture and they took him there and while
they were there and then left home again they lost him at the
Passover at Jerusalem they returned and they'd lost him and many
years later Jesus would go to Jerusalem at the time of Passover
and his disciples saw him nailed to a cross and they thought they'd
lost him. Notice in verse 42 the age of
Jesus and when he was 12 years old they went up to Jerusalem
after the custom of the feasts. His age here has meaning, 12
years old. First of all it shows his youth.
It was a lamb that was offered at Passover. A lamb, not an elderly
sheep, not mutton, but a lamb. Christ as a youth here is taken
up. It points us to his youthfulness, it points us to him being the
lamb. But also the age 12 points to the covenant. The offering
up of Christ is the fulfillment of the covenant, the new covenant. 12 in the Bible often points
us to the covenant. The old covenant made with Israel,
there were 12 tribes of Israel. In the new covenant there are
12 apostles of the lamb. appointed to the covenant and
when Christ came into this world in the fullness of time he came
at the appointed hour when God said now is the time he came
at the perfect time he came into the world to die to fulfil the
covenant for his people. The next verse is 44-45, we read
how his parents, supposing him to have been in the company,
they went a day's journey and then they sought him among their
kinsfolk and acquaintance and they found that he was not there.
They found they'd lost him. As I said, they lost him in Jerusalem. But they left thinking they had
him. Firstly, those who saw they'd
lost him Those who realised they'd lost him, those who sought him
were his parents, his kinsfolk. And those who are the Lord's
also will be brought to see that they don't have him, that he's
lost and that they need him and they'll be brought to seek him
with sorrow. God has a people, he has an elect,
he has a chosen people, he has his kinsfolk. Christ is called
a kinsman redeemer. he's a brother to his people
he came to save his own and his own will be brought in time to
see their sin to see their need of redemption they'll be brought
like that remnant in Jerusalem to look for a redeemer and they'll
be brought to see they don't have him and they'll be brought
to seek him with sorrow but many think they do have him
many think they've got him, many think that they worship in their
churches and their churches proclaim the Bible and their churches
say that we worship the Lord Jesus and they think they have
Jesus they think they have him they think they're proclaiming
him they're quite content but many churches don't have him
they quote his name they read from the word of God they say
many things about him but he's not there their Jesus is not
the Jesus of the word of God He is not the one who was offered
up at Jerusalem. Many don't really like to concentrate
on the death of Christ, on the blood offered up, on the redemption. They like to speak of the love
of God, the love of Jesus. They like to say that Jesus loves
all men. They like to proclaim a message
of peace and love to everyone. And they bypass the heart of
the Gospel, which is the offering of Christ. and they don't realise
that Jesus is not among them. But Mary and Joseph realised
that he was gone and they sought him. Now are you seeking him? Have you sought him? Have you
been brought to see your need of him? Have you been brought
to see that you haven't got him? Have you been brought to see
that you're a sinner and that you need redemption? But not
just that you need redemption but that redemption lies in Jesus
Christ and him crucified. Have you sought him? If you have
Where have you sought him? Where are you seeking him? Many
seek him where he's not to be found. Many seek him in the outward
things. They will go to Canterbury Cathedral. They'll go to the Vatican. They'll
go to a place, they'll say, oh, I want to find Jesus. Well, where
do I find him? Ah, religion. Right. Churches. They'll go to
a church. They'll go to a building. They'll
think that there is Jesus. Oh, as long as they're there,
that's where he is. He's present there. but he's not. They'll
go to the outward form of religion, they'll think, oh well as long
as I read the Bible and as long as I sing hymns, as long as I
attend church every week, as long as I do these things, Jesus
is in them. But Jesus isn't in them. The
Bible, the word of God and the hymns and the forms are very
good and they point to Jesus. They testify of Jesus. But Jesus
isn't in them, in and of themselves. And if you rest in them, in and
of themselves, and think you have Jesus, you haven't got him.
You've got a form, you've got things that point to him, but
you haven't got the reality. Many look for him where he is
not. His parents looked, they went to Jerusalem. They have
probably looked in Jerusalem in many places. But he was found
in one place. Later, when Christ was sacrificed,
when he was offered up and the disciples looked for him, when
the women went to the tomb, later in Luke 24 we read when the women
went to the tomb and they were met by two men, they said, why
seek ye the living among the dead? And many today seek Christ
among the dead. They look for him in the outward
forms of religion, but they don't look for the living Christ because
the living Christ is not in a building and he's not in old books and
he's not in forms and rituals he's risen and he's alive and
he's ascended and he's in the glory and he's found in the glory
on the right hand of the Father and he is found not by sight
he's not found in outward things he's found inwardly, he's seen
in the heart, he's comprehended and apprehended by faith. Christ is found by faith, and
we need faith to see him. You may read your Bible, you
may think, well, he's to be found in the Bible, well, he's to be
testified in the Bible. But unless you have faith, you
won't see him in the Bible. He's risen. The Bible will point
you to where he is. May the Lord give us eyes to
see Him. May the Lord grant faith to see
Christ risen. Next, in verse 46, we see as
they sought Him, they returned to Jerusalem, and in verse 46
we see that it came to pass that after three days they found Him
in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing
them and asking them questions. And all that heard Him were astonished
at His understanding and answers. That's where they found him,
in the temple, on the 3rd, after 3 days. We read of 3 days in
the scripture after our attention is drawn to the resurrection. They found him after 3 days,
they'd taken him up at Passover, he was lost at Passover, they
realised they'd lost him, then they sought him sorrowing, and
after 3 days they found him alive and well in the temple. The third
day is a picture of the resurrection, the day of resurrection. Christ
was the firstborn of many sons from the dead. He rose from the
dead and his people rose in him. And later, Mary and the other
women would seek for him at the tomb, but on the third day they
found that he was not there, because he was risen. As the
Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's throne, it's not enough.
It's in heaven, Psalm 11.4. And that's where we will find
him. Not on earth, not in earthly forms, not in the grave, but
in the temple. We will also find him, it's a
picture of the resurrection. We will only find him on the
day of our resurrection. by nature we are dead in trespasses
and sins we cannot see the Lord we have no faith to see him we
see with the natural eye we see things that can be comprehended
and seen naturally that's why we look to the outward form but
when the Lord has mercy upon us and when the spirit quickens
a dead sinner to life and resurrects him under the power and the sound
of the gospel then he's given faith and then he will see the
risen Lord Yes, they found Christ alive and well. Seated almost
calmly, almost like he didn't think that there was any reason
for them to be troubled. There he was in the temple, sitting
in the midst of the doctors, hearing them and asking them
questions. It was in the temple. Now you've
been listening to me and you've heard me say that he's not found
in outward things, he's not found in outward buildings, and you
might be wondering and thinking, well they found him in the temple,
surely that's an outward building. Well it is in the figure, it
is in this passage, but then everything in this passage is
outward, because Christ was then present upon the earth, and he
isn't present now. What is outward in this passage
points to what is inward and what is a reality thereafter. They remembered an outward Passover. We look to the one spiritual
Passover, the offering of Christ. They went to Jerusalem. We look
by faith to Jerusalem which is above. And they found him in
the temple in Jerusalem. But he is to be found, risen,
ascended in God's house above. in the temple. The Lord's throne
is in heaven. The temple? What of the temple? What did Christ say of the temple?
Turn to John 2, John chapter 2, verses 19 to 21. Christ spoke
of the temple there, and his hearers thought he merely meant
the outward temple of Jerusalem, and his statements confounded
them. Jesus said, and to them, verse 19, destroy this temple
and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, fourteen
six years was this temple in building and wilt thou rear it
up in three days? But he spoke of the temple of
his body. They thought he meant when he
spoke that he would destroy this temple and raise it up in three
days, they thought he meant the temple at Jerusalem. it meant
the temple of his body. Though Mary's parents found Jesus
in the temple, this picture of the temple and then finding him
after three days is a picture of the resurrection, is a picture
of Jesus being risen in his body, bodily risen in the temple of
his body. And that's where Christ is to
be found, risen above, on high, in the temple. It speaks of his
body, the temple. The temple also speaks of that
place which was at the heart of religion, that place where
the scriptures were read, that place where for those who had
ears to hear, the gospel was sounded. And certainly place
for us to see Christ is to go to where the gospel is preached.
It is good for us to be here today. It is good for us to worship
in those gatherings where the gospel is preached week by week.
It is good to hear Christ set forth under the preaching of
the gospel. It is good to be where Christ is preached as the
temple was a figure of. It is good to be in the house
of the Lord. Not that the house of the Lord is a building, but
where the Lord dwells that's his house. The Lord dwells, the
Lord is risen, he's ascended on high but he dwells in his
body of which the temple is a figure and the body of Christ not only
speaks of the risen body of Christ but it also speaks of his church
and his people and Christ dwells in his people and he is made
known in that people and if you come and meet with that people
Christ will be there If you're blind and dead in your sins,
you won't see it. Sitting alongside other believers,
coming in the meeting and sitting beside them, will not enable
you to see Christ. But he's there in the midst where
his people are. And if the gospel is sounded
and the Lord opens the blind eyes, you too will see him. as Christ was found in the temple. He was asking the doctors questions.
He was hearing them and asking them questions and they were
amazed at his understanding. He was sat there. He was sat
there. His sitting points us to his
risen ascended being sat upon the right hand of the Father.
His work completed. He's calm. And from that ascended
position even today he speaks He asks questions. He has the
answers to questions. And all that hear Him, even today,
will be astonished at His understanding. If you hear Christ's words, if
you hear Him speak this morning, you will be amazed at His answers,
at His understanding. You may have come here today,
and you may have many, many questions. in your minds, you may be perplexed,
you may be going through trials and tribulations in your life,
you may be puzzled about this, that and the other. You may think,
who knows the answers? Well, I'll tell you who knows.
The Lord Jesus knows. You'd be amazed at his understanding.
He knows everything. He knows the end from the beginning. He knows the why's and the wherefore's. He knows the how's and the when's.
He knows what the future holds. he knows your past he knows every
thought you've ever had and every thought you ever will have he
knows what you did this week he knows what you will do this
coming week he knows why things have happened in the world as
they have happened and he knows why they will happen in the future
he works out his purposes there is nothing that happens in this
world that is unknown to the risen Lord. There is nothing
that happens that thwarts his intentions. All providence is
in his hands. He works all things for the good
of his people. He knows all. He knows every
heart. If you're sat here listening,
he knows those things that you can keep secret from your neighbour. and you can keep secret from
me and which you can keep hidden within beneath a veneer of uprightness
and morality and churchgoing. He knows, he knows the secret
deeds, he knows the sin that bubbles within, he knows the
intentions, he knows and he records and everything is written down
in a book and when the last day comes if you do not know him
he will say depart from me and he knows your end, he knows the
end of every person in this world whether they will go to glory
to be with him forever or whether they will depart from his presence
for they have lived their life wanting to depart from his presence,
they have lived their lives thinking nothing of God and His Redeemer,
the Lord Jesus Christ. And if that's how they've lived
their life then God knows what their end will be and it will
be darkness forever and ever. Yes, He knows. He knows the goats
and He knows the sheep. He knows His own. He knows the
goats. He will divide the sheep from
the goats. He knows His own. He knows His sheep. He has a
sheep. He has a people. He has a flock.
Are you one of them? He knows his own intimately.
He knows everything they suffer, all their ups and downs. He knows. He knows. He knows what he suffered
for his people. You say, oh, it's so hard. You
say, oh, it's so difficult. You say, oh, temptation overcame
me. You say, oh, I know I fell. I
know I shouldn't have done this. I know it's so hard. He knows
because he suffered for your sins. If you are his, you are
his sheep. He knows. He knows your trials,
your afflictions. He knows your doubts and your
fears. He knows. He understands. You
say it's hard, it's difficult. He knows. He knows. He'll lead
you alright. He's got the answers. He's got
every answer. You have questions. He's got
the answers. We have worries. Who do we go
to? We go to our husbands, we go to our friends, we go to our
wives, we go to this person, we go to that person. If you're
his, go to him. because he knows, he has the
answers, he understands he knows his sheep, do you know him? do you know him? lastly, verse
50 Christ knows, you'd be amazed at his understanding but his
parents saw these events, they saw that their son was lost they
found him in the temple, they heard his words and they understood
not the saying which he spake unto them They didn't know. They
didn't understand. They didn't understand then.
They didn't understand then, but they'd be brought to understand.
They'd be brought to understand. His mother kept all these sayings
in her heart. Later, when he was offered up
at Calvary's cross, later when wicked men nailed him to that
cross, later when his blood was shed for sinners, later when
he died and he cried out, it is finished. and later when they
took his body down and laid it in the grave, and later when
they sought him in the grave and they found him not, and later
when they saw the risen Lord, then they knew, then they knew. Have you looked for redemption?
Have you looked for redemption? Do you know you need it? Do you
know you need redemption? Have you sought the Redeemer?
Have you sought the risen Lord Christ? Have you found Him? Have you heard Him in the Gospel?
Do you know He fulfilled the Father's will in redeeming a
people? Do you know He did the Father's business? Have you come
to the Saviour by faith? Have you found Him in the Temple?
Do you know the grace of God which brings salvation? Turn
to Luke 24 briefly to see the fulfilment of these things. Luke
24, verse 5. Where are you seeking Jesus?
Are you looking for Him? Where are you seeking Him? Have you
gone to the tomb, the grave? Verse 5, Why seek ye the living
among the dead? He is not here, but is risen. Remember how He spoke unto you
when He was yet in Galilee, saying, The Son of Man must be delivered
into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third
day rise again. They remembered his words. Remember
his words. Remember his words. Have you
seen the Lord by faith? Has he met you in the midst,
in his risen body? Turn to 1st 36, Luke 24. Disciples
gathered, and as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst
of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were
terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a
spirit. And he said unto them, Why are you troubled, and why
do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself. Handle me and see, for a spirit
hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And later on,
verse 45, Then opened he their understanding, that they might
understand the Scriptures. and said unto them, thus it is
written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise
from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission
of sin should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning
at Jerusalem, and ye are witnesses of these things. And later, verse
52, and they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great
joy and were continually in the temple praising and blessing
God. And it came to pass that after
three days Jesus' parents found him in the temple and he said
unto them, How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I
must be about my father's business? On the third day Christ rose
from the dead. The Lord is in his holy temple. May the Lord give us faith to
see him. Thanks be unto God. Amen.