The Sermon Notes of Harold Buls On the Gospel Lessons of the Ingrian Lutheran Church of Russia Text from Luke 2:42-52 Epiphany I 1. Epiphany means "appearing." The festival always falls on January 6. Today's text shows us Jesus appearing in the Temple. Next Sunday, Jn. 2:1-11, He appears for His first miracle. In two weeks, Mt. 8:1-13, He appears to heal the centurion's son. The text for Epiphany is always Mt. 2:1-12, the coming of the wise men, Jesus' appearance to the Gentiles. Epiphany always shows us Him Who is both God and man. 2. Cf. Lk. 2:40 and 52. Jesus grew and was strengthened. He was filled with knowledge. He was beloved by God and man. This clearly points to His humanity. Jesus did not become unpopular until He declared that He was true God and told the Jews about their sins (Jn. 5). That's what got Him into trouble. 3. Every Jewish male had to go to Jerusalem three times a year, for Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles (Ex. 23:14-17; 34:23; Deut. 16:l6 But since the Babylonian Captivity this law could not be kept. Most Jews in Palestine tried to go to Jerusalem at least once in the year. 4. That Jesus was obedient and that His parents trusted Him is implied in our text. They did not look for Him until after they had left Jerusalem a whole day's journey. Nazareth is about 60 miles north of Jerusalem. The journey takes about three days. 5. "After three days" in vs. 46 means one day out of Jerusalem, one day going back and one day searching for Jesus. 6. Mary and Joseph were surprised at _where_ they found Jesus and _what_ He was doing. The teachers in the Temple were amazed at His intelligence and answers. 7. What Mary says in vs. 48 shows the deep love she had for her son. She finds fault with Him. His two questions in vs. 49 do not scold Mary but rather register surprise at her concern and criticize her for having forgotten Who He was. He said: "You knew, didn't you, that I had to be in My Father's affairs?" He expected the answer: "Yes." Before Jesus was born the angel had told Mary that Jesus would be the God-man. Lk. 1:32.33.35. He had also told Joseph. Mt. 1:20-22. Mary and Joseph _did_ know Who Jesus was. But evidently Jesus humbled Himself so deeply that His divinity was not apparent. He appeared to be only a human being, a righteous human being. By the way, the Apocryphal (false) Gospels wrongly portray Jesus performing miracles as an infant and as a child. The best- known of those false accounts is Jesus and boyfriends making birds out of clay and Jesus making His fly away. Turning water into wine was His _first_ miracle. Jn. 2:11. 8. Vs. 48 mentions Joseph, Jesus' earthly father. Jesus (vs. 49) then speaks of His heavenly Father. He is human. He is divine. 9. We should not criticize Mary and Joseph for not understanding what Jesus said (vs. 50). Are we any better? Vs. 51 tells us that Mary wondered _all_ the words. Very likely Jesus said more in the Temple. Very likely as the three walked back to Nazareth (60 miles) He told them much more, maybe like the Emmaus disciples, Lk. 24, but we cannot prove that. 10. Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. He did not sin. He did not break the fourth commandment. As true God He was _above_ the Law. But as true man He obeyed His parents (vs. 51). He put himself _under_ the Law. See Gal. 4:4. ll. In this account we have the last mention of Joseph. For that reason scholars have thought that he was older than Mary and that he died soon after this. Perhaps. He is the silent saint. No recorded words. 12. This text is pure Gospel. It gives us a perfect picture of Jesus according to His two natures. And it tells us that He kept the Law for us (vs. 51). It is far more than Law, telling children that they should obey their parents, although that is God-pleasing. 13. In Palestine at that time when people travelled a long distance, they did so in troups vs. 44) to protect themselves from robbers along the way. The Sermon Outline of Harold Buls On the Gospel Lessons of the Ingrian Lutheran Church of Russia Text from Luke 2:42-53 Epiphany I THEME: Jesus, the Boy of Twelve Years INTRODUCTION: This is another Epiphany (appearance) text. It is the only account in the Bible of Jesus, the boy. It shows Him forth as the God-man, true God and true man in one indivisible person. This text is not a lesson in children's obedience but a picture of Who Jesus was and is and what He came to do. Everyone around Him was amazed at this. I. JESUS THE BOY, SON OF MARY AND JOSEPH A. He was a boy like all others. Read vss. 40 and 52. Jesus was growing He was getting stronger. He was growing in wisdom. He was liked and lover by God and man. Boys became a "son of the law" at age twelve. Likewise Jesus. B. As a human being He put Himself _under_ the Law. Gal. 4:4-5 says that Christ, as a human being, was put under the Law to redeem those under the Law, all people. That is clear in our text. Read vs. 51. He went back to Nazareth with Joseph and Mary. He was obedient to them. Vs. 44 plainly implies that Jesus was trustworthy and obedient. Furthermore, as a human being Jesus observed the ceremonial law, in this case the Passover. The Passover was begun in Egypt. It was continued in Israel and was part of their annual worship, a shadow of the Christ Who was to come. Heb. 10:1-10. It ceased after Christ ascended into heaven. II. JESUS THE BOY, THE SON OF GOD A. Mary and Joseph knew that Jesus was the Son of God. Read Lk. 1:32.33.35. He was to rule forever and of His Kingdom there would be no end. The angel said: "He will be called the Son of God." Mary clearly understood that and accepted it. Read also Mt. 1:20-22. Joseph no longer wanted to put Mary away after He heard what the angel had to say. He knew that his son would be called Emmanuel which means "God with us" or "the God-man." This God-man had been with them now for twelve years. Evidently the fact that He was true God faded in their memory because "He made of Himself no reputation" as Php. 2:7 tells us. He humbled Himself deeply. He did not boast of being very God of very God. B. As true God He was _above_ the Law. Jesus did not sin by staying behind in Jerusalem; vs. 43. He did not apologize when His parents found Him in the temple. Mary was thinking only of Jesus' earthly father vs. 48. But Jesus was thinking of His _heavenly_ Father, vs. 49 He said to them: "Why were you looking for me? You knew, didn't you, that I had to be in My Father's affairs?" They _did_ know who He was and what He had come to do, namely, to save God's people from their sins. Jesus speaks of divine necessity here just as He later spoke of divine necessity in His life. For example, Lk. 4:43: "I _must_ preach the Gospel to other cities, because for this purpose I was sent." See also Lk. 9:22: He said "The Son of man _must_ suffer many things etc." See also Lk. 13:14.33; 17:25; 19.5; 22:37, 24:7.26.44. Why did Jesus have to be in the affairs of His heavenly Father that day? To refresh the memory of His parents and to notify the Jewish teachers that the Messiah had come. He was the fulfillment of the Passover festival. Maybe that's what they discussed. III. THE REACTION OF THOSE AROUND JESUS A. The teachers in the Temple were amazed. He was listening to them and asking them questions. They were surprised at His intelligence and answers. This was no ordinary boy. We don't know what He said to them but surely it had something to do with His mission to Israel. B. His parents were surprised. They were amazed at His treatment of His parents and the circumstances in which they found Him. He was only a twelve year old boy. What He had done was startling, but He was the God-man, showing Himself as such to parents and teachers. ______________________________________________________________ This text was converted to ascii format for Project Wittenberg by Cindy A. Beesley and is in the public domain. You may freely distribute, copy or print this text. Please direct any comments or suggestions to: Rev. Robert E. Smith of the Walther Library at Concordia Theological Seminary. E-mail: smithre@mail.ctsfw.edu archives: www.ctsfw.edu/etext Surface Mail: 6600 N. Clinton St., Ft. Wayne, IN 46825 USA Phone: (260) 452-3149 Fax: (260) 452-2126 ______________________________________________________________