Second Sunday after Christmas

Second Sunday after Christmas (C)

January 5, 2025

Text: Luke 2:40-52

            Mary and Joseph were mistaken.  He was not lost.  He was never lost.  He was right where He was supposed to be.  He was doing just what He was supposed to do.  He was in His Father’s House.  That is the holy Temple, the place of sacrifice and atonement, the place of Torah and prayer, the place of God’s abiding presence with His people, Israel.  But there is another possible translation for the words rendered here, “in my Father’s house” (Luke 2:49; ESV), and perhaps it is the better one.  That is, “about my Father’s business.”  “Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?”  And, of course, that is His divine saving mission, accomplishing once and for all, and bringing to fulfillment, all the purposes for which God gave the Temple in the first place.  He is the Sacrifice, our Lord Jesus.  He is the Atonement.  He is Torah made flesh, and the object and answer to our prayers.  He is God’s Presence with us, our Emmanuel.  He is the true Temple.  And so, maybe these words are delicious Spirit-inspired double entendre.  Where else would He be, but in the Temple?  Where else would He be, but immersed in Torah with the teachers of Israel?  What else would He be doing, but His Father’s business… the business of undoing all that went wrong in Eden… doing to the full all that should and must be done if man is to be righteous before God… accomplishing the salvation of Israel, and of the world… present for us… saving us? 

            Mary and Joseph were desperately searching.  Don’t be troubled by their assumption that the twelve-year-old Boy was somewhere in the caravan.  That’s just par for the course.  On the yearly pilgrimage to the Holy City for the Passover, families, friends, and neighbors travelled together for safety and for fellowship.  And you know how that works.  All the kids gravitated toward one another.  They played together, while the adults did their boring adult things together.  Everybody watched for everybody else’s kids.  And while there weren’t street lights to come on at twilight, the sign that it’s time to go home, the kids knew to meet up with their parents at the end of the travel day, at the appointed stopping place.  It was there that Mary and Joseph realized… something is wrong.  If you are a parent, perhaps you know that terror.  Where is my child?  For Mary, it may have been the first taste of the sword prophesied by Simeon, the one piercing her own soul, also.  In any case, it is a foreshadowing.  This will not be the last time she tastes that terror with regard to her Son. 

            So the Holy Parents returned to Jerusalem, and they searched everywhere, or so they thought.  The reality is, they searched everywhere, except where they should have.  “After three days” (v. 46)… a time stamp I think not insignificant… they found Him.  You know where.  Doing you know what.  And as mothers are wont to do, Mary asked the question that would have produced tremendous guilt and contrition in any mere human child: “Son, why have you treated us so?  Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress” (v. 48).  Of course, any mere human child would have sinned grievously against the Fourth Commandment by staying back, disappearing from his parents, worrying them half to death.  Take note of this, children.  Do not do this to your parents!  But Jesus is no mere human child.  Oh, He is human.  But He is also the sinless Son of God.  And He has a Father who takes precedence over Jospeh, and even over Mary, and He must honor that Father, by His presence in His Father’s House, doing His Father’s business.  And Mary and Joseph should have known that.  This is why He came.  This why He was born.  As Gabriel told them both.  Our Lord’s Third Commandment obligation (holding the Word of God sacred, and gladly hearing and learning it) trumps His Fourth Commandment obligation (honoring father and mother).  And, of course, in honoring His heavenly Father in this way, He hasn’t actually dishonored Mary and Joseph.  He has honored them greatly, by doing the work of the Law for them, fulfilling it for them… and for us… in their place, and in ours.  Also, teaching them, and us, that our first loyalty is to God, then to parents and other earthly authorities.  Always.  God comes first.  And that, as you know, is the First Commandment: You shall have no other gods.  We should fear, love, and trust in God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) above all things.

            But back to Mary’s question for a moment.  It is not only the question of a distraught mother.  She is speaking for us.  Isn’t she?  Well, isn’t that your question, after all?  God… Jesus… where have You been?  Why have You treated me so?  I’ve looked everywhere for You!  I’m desperate, here!  I’m in great distress!  But I guess that doesn’t matter to You…  Are you sure about that?  Is it really that Jesus has sinned against you?  Now, be honest here.  You’ve been in Mary’s shoes, with her question, with her rebuke for Jesus.  Maybe you’re there right now.  Hear His answer to Mary… Hear His answer to you… not as scathing reprimand of your lament, but as a loving turning, a changing of your mind (a repentance!), an opening of your eyes, from the blindness of misperception and false belief, to the truth that you should have known, and, in fact, do already know: When you are searching for Jesus, for His help and deliverance, for His comfort and salvation… for the incarnate Presence of God for you… where should you look?  Where will you always find Him?  In His Father’s House.  Doing His Father’s Business.  Isn’t that self-evident?  Didn’t you learn that in Catechism class?  He is the Sacrifice of Atonement, offered upon the Altar of the cross.  Where else would He be, but where the fruits of His cross, the body and blood of the crucified and risen Lamb of God, are distributed and feasted upon?  He is the Word made flesh.  Where else would He be, but where the Scriptures are read and proclaimed into the ears and hearts of God’s holy people?  When you need Jesus, run to the Word.  You will always find Him there.  When you need Jesus, run to His Church, to preaching and Sacrament.  He is ever and always here, in the flesh, for you.   

            Why is that the last place we look?  It’s not that we’re ignorant.  It’s that we’re stubborn and rebellious.  We want to find Him ourselves, in the places we wishfully think He should be found (where is that?): In our hearts, in our reason, in our resolve.  On the couch.  On the screen.  In pleasure.  In power.  In wealth.  In wellbeing.  Well, you can think of other places.  But you know you will always find those places empty of Jesus, unless you find Him where He has promised to be for you.  In His Word and Sacrament.  Repent of looking for Him in all those other places.  Find Him here, and all those other things will be purified and filled with Him.  But, neglect Him here, and all those other things become filthy, empty idols.  They won’t actually help you with your distress, your anxiety, your sadness, your brokenness.  Rather, they’ll multiply your afflictions and break you to death.  Christ is your only help.  And you know where He is.  And you know what He has done, and what He is doing, for you and for your salvation.  His answer is calling you back.  “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s House… about my Father’s Business?”

            You know what might be a good New Year’s resolution for you?  Be here more.  In your Father’s House, and about His Business, Word and Sacrament.  Not to fulfill an obligation (although it is an obligation, the Third Commandment).  But because Jesus is here, for you.  Be with Him.  He is here with you.  Read and hear the Scriptures more… to hear His voice.  To receive His Spirit and His wisdom.  Listen more carefully to the proclamation, and the Holy Absolution… that your faith in Christ be strengthened.  Take joy in God’s people.  Love them.  Jesus is here, in their midst.  And when you love them, you love Jesus.  Pray more… He is the object and the answer to your prayers.  Pray for yourself, for your family, your friends and acquaintances… your enemies… the nation, the authorities, your Church, your pastor.  For every need they may have, and most of all, that they know Jesus, and find Him here.  Because you know that praying with and in Jesus, your Father loves to hear your prayers, and answer them.

            Find Jesus here.  You will always find Jesus here with His forgiveness, righteousness, life, love, Spirit, consolation, and every other gift, for you.  When you don’t find Him everywhere else, it isn’t because He’s sinned against you, any more than He sinned against Mary and Joseph.  It’s that you weren’t looking in right places.  He is faithful.  He has told you just where to find Him.  He is always here for you.  He is always doing His Father’s Business for  you.  Beloved, merry Christmas.  Christ is born for you.  And here He is.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.