Faith & Understanding Luke 2:41–52

As we end this series, it is important to look back at all we’ve learned. We learned that the birth of Jesus was actually a tiny portion of bible. Only two gospels even mention it and, when they did, they put more emphasis on the human reactions to the news than the event itself. 

We learned that when the shepherds heard about the messiah’s birth they did not just trust it, they searched for the truth. Once they had found the baby Jesus, they proclaimed it to anyone they came across. Finally, they had to leave and go back to work. 

When we read about Jesus’ dedication we learned, through the eyes of Mary and Joseph, that we must be devoted despite our circumstances. We learned we must be obedient and expect suffering and we must practice our faith because it produces hope for the future. 

Next, we met the wise men, the magi, and we learned about how different people react to the news of Jesus. While the shepherds proclaimed the news, not everyone is excited about it. Most are indifferent but once they are confronted with what having a God actually means for their life, they have a decision to either submit or rebel and most, like King Herod, rebel. This leads to a life of anger, hatred, and anxiety.

Finally, last week we explored this even deeper when we learned that those who refuse to submit fall into fear and when fear sets in, hopelessness takes over. Without hope, fear is all we have when we are confronted with an unknown future, this is when your security and your happiness become everything, when this happens you protect yourself which leads to selfishness. 

We learned that the only answer is to follow Jesus. He must define you and when he leads or speaks or commands, you must obey and with each step of obedience, the path ahead becomes a little bit clearer as we get closer and closer to the light but, as we will learn today, this does not guarantee our comfort or even our understanding. 

41 Every year His parents traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. 42 When He was 12 years old, they went up according to the custom of the festival. 43 After those days were over, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but His parents  did not know it. 

Three times a year the Jewish men were required to go to Jerusalem to worship (Deut. 16:16) but if they were poor they would choose one which was usually the Passover and they tried to take their family with them. When people traveled to the feasts they traveled in caravans for safety. Relatives and whole villages often traveled together and kept an eye on each other’s children.

But because a Jewish boy became a man when he was twelve years of age Jesus was given a lot of freedom to wander. 

44 Assuming He was in the traveling party, they went a day’s journey. Then they began looking for Him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for Him. 

46 After three days, they found Him in the temple complex sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all those who heard Him were astounded at His understanding and His answers. 

48 When His parents saw Him, they were astonished, and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for You.” 

49 “Why were you searching for Me?” He asked them. “Didn’t you know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what He said to them. 

51 Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them. His mother kept all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people.

Lk 2:41–52

1. Faith does not guarantee understanding

As we learned last week, having faith doesn’t mean you know where you are going or what you should do in every situation. Joseph and Mary were no different. They couldn’t find Jesus and, like any parent, they began to get scared and freak out which is natural. Three days later they finally located him and Jesus basically asked, “Where else would I be?”

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not My ways…For as heaven is higher than earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.”

Isaiah 55:8–9

This is exactly why Abraham didn’t argue when God told him to leave his home. 

“By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and set out for a place that he was going to receive as an inheritance. He went out, even though he did not know where he was going.”

Hebrews 11:8

In the same way, Joseph was commanded to leave everything he knew. He had a destination but he had no clue where he was going to live, how he was going to pay the bills, and how long they would have to stay there but he didn’t argue because faith doesn’t guarantee understanding.

Finally, even after the HS was unleashed into the world, Paul still had to practice faith and trust God’s guidance without fully understanding where he was going or where he would end up.

“...I am on my way to Jerusalem, bound in my spirit, not knowing what I will encounter there, except that in town after town the Holy Spirit testifies to me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me…

Acts 20:22-24

The fact is that God will not do what you expect him to do and maturity teaches he doesn’t have to. First of all, God doesn’t owe you anything, let alone an explanation. 

“Where were you when I established the earth? Tell Me, if you have understanding. Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know! …Have you ever in your life commanded the morning or assigned the dawn its place?” 

Job 38:4-12

Part of the trust is knowing God’s ways are beyond and better than our ways but that doesn’t make it easy. Joseph and Mary had already seen several miracles by the time Jesus was 12 and yet they still were scared when they couldn’t find Jesus. This is why your faith must continue to grow

2. Faith grows through obedience and practice

“Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” 

James 1:22

When Mary asked Jesus, “Why have You treated us like this?” They still did not understand what Jesus was supposed to do. Jesus replied, “Why were you searching for Me?” But they did not understand what He said to them.

Jesus said, “I must,” “I have to be” about my father’s business. The Greek here can be translated as either “in my Father’s house” or “about my Father’s business” but it doesn’t matter, the point is the same. At the age of twelve a young man would begin to take on the career of his father (ie “his father’s business) and Jesus makes it clear his father is God and his business is ministry.

Jesus used this Greek word, “must,” often. He said, “I must preach” (Luke 4:43); “The Son of man must suffer” (Luke 9:22); the Son of man “must be lifted up” (John 3:14)  and this was obedience on the part of Jesus but this was also painful for Mary to hear. 

This is very likely the first of many cuts to her heart which Simeon foretold back in Luke 2:35. She had no idea the pain that was coming but this was just the beginning as Jesus began to distinguish himself from his peers and siblings.

Which leads us to the point that practice is to…

3. Faith prepares you for testing and trials

You don’t know the future and suffering is inevitable but faith is designed to prepare you. This is why James said,

Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. 

James 1:2–4

Ex: Jesus grew up in a large dirt poor family, in a despised city, Rome hated the Jewish religion and its people, the government was pagan and corrupt, and society was in a state of constant fear and change.

That should sound familiar because that is how life will always be until Jesus returns but God gave us the HS for us to bring order to the chaos, at least in our own lives but ultimately our faith is also for the whole world. This is why we are commanded to,

“Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it.” 

Genesis 1:28

The world corrupts those who live in it and this is another reason we practice our faith: we are called to live on earth with our hearts and minds in heaven because this is how heaven comes to earth; from the HS working through God’s people. 

“Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” 

Philippians 3:20

“Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Colossians 3:2–3

Your spiritual growth matters to you and your family but it is also designed to be how people get to experience God’s love and grace firsthand. Which is why it is so important that your,

4. Faith is proven through love, sacrifice, and visible fruit

When he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees…he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance…Even now the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees! Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 

Matt 3:7-10

James later said, faith without works is dead…the point is the same.

This is because your faith was given to you by God to make the world a better place, to bring about God’s will on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus is saying that we should think about it like this: We are all trees in God’s garden and we are here to feed others. If you are not applying your faith, if you are not producing fruit, your tree, your faith is useless and it doesn’t belong in his garden. 

Jesus modeled this for us. We read that Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people. This means that Jesus not only grew physically, he also grew in faith, in the sense of, making an impact in the world around him. He produced tangible fruit. 

He grew in wisdom; meaning he grew in intellect and maturity. He grew in favor with God; meaning he did what God told him to do and, because he was living in the love and grace of God, he was finding favor with people as well. This means that while Jesus was growing in wisdom and intellect, he was also making an impact in his community.

This was Luke’s way of saying that Jesus was doing exactly what everyone of us should do. The point is he never lived in fear so he never lost hope. He did not live in anger, so he did not fall into selfishness. Finally, when faced with God’s will he submitted and when it was time to go, like the shepherds who visited him in the manger, he left and went back to work.

The problem most of us face is that we grew in stature, we got taller, but we also got better jobs, and more money but our faith and submission did not grow at the same rate as our intellect and our worldly possessions. For this reason, every one of us struggles to give, tithe, serve, and sacrifice because we have built a habit of eating our own fruit; serving our own wants and needs.

Jesus’ fruit/faith grew at the rate of his physical growth and skills, the problem is that most of us do not actually mature in our faith as we grow and this hinders our ability to mature as adults. 

Ex: Before Saul became king, we are told he was an “impressive” man. When the prophet Samuel approached him about becoming the king, Saul humbly replied that he was insignificant. His family was not special and he had nothing to offer and it was because of this character that God gave him the position of king and in the early years he honored God. 

He saved his people from the Philistines, he prophesied, all because he was truly the best choice but, over time, his heart changed because he did not mature in faith at the same rate as his power and authority.

In the beginning, Saul obeyed, God blessed his efforts, and grew his kingdom, but Saul gave into the temptation of pride and fear and he was replaced by another king. In order to grow in faith, we must give every aspect of our lives to Christ in every step especially when we are being blessed.