ABOUT THE FATHER'S BUSINESS

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it; but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances.

So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.

So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.”

And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.

Luke 2:41-52 (NKJV)

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

When we left off in yesterday’s devotion, Jesus and His parents settled into a new home in Nazareth in Galilee. There, the scriptures tell us that Joseph and Mary’s boy “grew and became strong” as He was “filled with wisdom and the grace of God”. We don’t know too many details about everything Jesus did from this point through age eleven as the Gospels don’t have an account of that part of His childhood. In fact, we don’t pick back up with specifics about Jesus until his twelfth year. Look at these verses from Luke, Chapter 2:

His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it; but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances.

So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.

So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.”

And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.  Luke 2:41-52 (NKJV)

Jesus must have changed a lot from that little baby born in Bethlehem’s manger or the toddler visited by the Magi but one thing didn’t change and that was the devout obedience His parents showed toward God, an obedience that led them to go to Jerusalem annually as prescribed by custom and the law to observe the Passover, after which time the scriptures tell us that Joseph and Mary started for home with a group of relatives and acquaintances.

There was only one problem.

Jesus wasn’t with them.

Now, Joseph and Mary had to have thought Jesus was hanging out with some of His younger peers in the crowd as they traveled away from Israel’s holiest city where Jesus remained, lingering in the temple where he was in the midst of teachers whom He was listening to and asking questions. The word of God within our passage tells us that all who heard Jesus were “astonished at His understanding and answers”.

Meanwhile, Joseph and Mary traveled an entire day’s journey before they realized Jesus wasn’t with them. Imagine the panic they must have felt, knowing their special, young boy was missing. And so they did what any parent would do, they retraced their steps back to Jerusalem to seek and find Jesus. By the time they did in the temple, three days had passed.

How did Joseph and Mary respond to finding their son after such an absence?

You would think they would have been upset, distraught, or angry but the scriptures tell us they were amazed before Mary questions Jesus saying:

“Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.”

Perhaps any other son would have simply sheepishly apologized, hoping that their father and mother might spare them from punishment but Jesus was no ordinary son. We know this by the following reply he gave Mary:

“Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

With that, Joseph and Mary, who were amazed moments earlier, now found themselves bewildered by Jesus’ response, unable to “understand the statement which He spoke to them”.

Perhaps it wouldn’t make sense until His adult years in ministry played out when Jesus’ words would make complete sense. Because if there was any statement that could define His service best, it might be that He was always about His Father’s business.

In other words, everything He did was dictated by what God wanted Him to do.

As we continue to study through all the Gospels and the life of Jesus, we’re going to see this first-hand and my prayer is that we will be drawn more and more to follow His lead so that we all will commit ourselves to always be about the Father’s business during every day He blesses us with.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark
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