A Fresh Insight or Heresy?

Summary: Jesus has always been our perfect Saviour, even as a child.  He gladly heard God’s Word and obeyed his parents, thus keeping God’s Law as an example for us.

Scripture focus: Luke 2:41–52

Date: Sunday, 17 January 2010 (Austral Church of Christ)

Jesus As A Child

A friend of my daughter came over for a sleep-over recently.  At one point, my daughter came to us, a little bored and a little frustrated, because her friend was reading her Bible.  Even a child can show devotion to God.

In The Epistle to the Romans, the apostle Paul advised, “present your bodies as a living sacrifice” (Rom 12:1).¹ This is another was of saying, “be completely devoted to God”, which starts with the small matters, like reading one’s Bible even while enjoying a sleep-over at a friend’s house.

Luke 2:41–52

Our scripture focus for today is Luke 2:41-52.  In this passage, Jesus came to learn what the fifth commandment really meant: “Honour your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you” (Ex 20:12).

I know that may sound rather odd, especially when we consider that, in being God, Jesus indirectly wrote that commandment.  But, for Jesus to really share human nature, then he must have undergone the normal processes of human development, as we know them.  As we look at the story of this passage, if we look at it from this perspective, then we discover some really fascinating insights.²

The opening verses provide us the background to this passage: “Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover.  And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival” (Lk 2:41–42).  Joseph and Mary, Jesus’ human parents, were clearly very devoted to their religion —not that we should be surprised by this.

However, we need to also appreciate that this trip would have been no small matter for Joseph and Mary.  As one commentary put it,

This [trip] would have been costly.  For Joseph, probably a self-employed carpenter, it was not easy to abandon his trade.  Also, leaving homes and livestock unattended for several days would have been hard. Yet God promised protection of their property (Ex 34:23-24).  We are made aware of Mary’s spiritual priorities in that she wished to worship God in Jerusalem, and not stay behind.³

Thus, when Joseph and Mary discovered that Jesus was not amongst their party as they travelled home, they would have been frantic, as parents, as well as frustrated and annoyed at this setback (Lk 2:43-46).

Upon finding Jesus in the temple at Jerusalem, let us not mistake Joseph and Mary’s reaction as being the same as “all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers” (Lk 2:47).  Their astonishment was more like anxious torment and distress (Lk 2:48, AMP).⁴ Joseph and Mary clearly took Jesus’ behaviour as being careless at best or disobedient at worst.

That too will sound odd to our ears because you are probably thinking, “Surely Jesus was not disobedient?”  If we agree that Jesus was, “like our own in all things except sin (Ac 3:22; Php 2:7-8; Heb 2:17)”,⁵ then why wouldn’t he have been naughty, at some point, as he naturally explored the boundaries of his environment, as per human nature and development?  In our frustration, as parents, we might label our children’s naughtiness as being “bad” behaviour, but that interpretation is not always correct; neither is it correct to believe that such behaviour is always and only a result of our sinfulness.

Therefore, “when the festival was ended and … the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it” (Lk 2:43), we have every reason to assume that was a case of Jesus being careless at best or disobedient at worst.

This could have been very bad for Jesus, as the punishment for such behaviours, outlined in the Bible, could be quite severe.⁶

Knowing this, as Jesus did, perhaps he should have reconsidered his first words to Joseph and Mary, when they found him.  What did he say to them?  “He said to them, ‘Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ ” (Lk 2:49)

Jesus appears to have not been surprised that they were looking for him, but that they did not know where to find him.  I have to admit that I cannot tell whether this was an apology or an excuse?

Like his parents, Jesus was devoted to his religion —again, not that we should be surprised— intent on learning God’s Word and growing in faith (Lk 2:46).  It is hard to fault him, or anyone, for this.

However, didn’t he make matters worse by seemingly taking a reproachful tone with his human parents? (Lk 2:49)  Ok, perhaps knowing Jesus’ human and divine nature, Joseph and Mary could have surmised his likely whereabouts —that is, a child should be in his father’s house, and Jesus’ Father is God.

Either way, Jesus’ answer did not negate his duty to remain with his parents.  At the very least, being in the “care” of Joseph and Mary, Jesus’ primary responsibility was to them.  This is the position taken by Mary when she challenged Jesus, “Child, why have you treated us like this” (Lk 2:48)  Mary revealed, by her response, that she herself assumed that Jesus was being disobedient, his location and his activity notwithstanding.

Interestingly, the commentators almost unanimously throw a positive spin on Jesus’ answer.  They argue that being in his Father’s house, about his Father’s business, was and is a superior activity, for which Jesus could not be faulted at all (Lk 2:49).⁷ They do this because they are distracted by Jesus’ divinity and expect him to act from that nature at all times.  But, we might ask, when will they allow for Jesus’ humanity to show through?  At what point did he act like one of us?

I believe that the commentators miss the point of this single glimpse into Jesus’ childhood because they, like all of us, confuse mistakes with sin.  It is the natural part of the learning process that children can and do make mistakes, as they learn to navigate through this world.   These mistakes are not sinful!  So, we should not confuse the mistakes of the boy-Jesus, attributable to his human nature and development, with sin or sinfulness.  Likewise, we should not be afraid of his humanity.

Jesus taught that the two greatest commandments of God —to love God and to love one’s neighbours— were equally important (Mt 22:36-40).  While being devoted to his faith was laudable, there is a time and a place for everything.  Jesus recognised that being careless and not informing his parents of his intentions to remain behind was not the right thing to do, at that time and at his age.  Which is why Luke proceeded to conclude this story with the point that Jesus, “went down with [his parents] and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them” (Lk 2:51).

His earthly parents’ responsibility for him trumped Jesus’ spiritual hunger and growth, even though they should have been, and likely were, pleased to encourage this (Lk 2:51).  Obedience to one’s parents is a spiritual discipline and Jesus’ humble submission yielded the results he was looking for in the temple.

What was the result of his acceding to their responsibility over him?  “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favour” (Lk 2:52).  This, not surprisingly, is exactly the promise made to those who faithfully keep the fifth commandment.

Something To Think About

Even children can “hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Mt 5:6).  Indeed, we are encouraged by Jesus to become like such children (Mt 18:1-5).  Perhaps surprisingly, the child-Jesus was perfectly demonstrating exactly how both children and adults of faith should conduct themselves in the world.

Jesus wanted to be with his God and to soak up as much of the Word as possible.  His intensity led him to make a bad choice —for the right reasons, but a bad choice nonetheless.  He was duly chastised and accepted the chastisement.

Yes, Jesus led a sinless life; but, in his natural human capacity to make mistakes and to learn from them, he showed us the more perfect way for each and every one of us to live (Jn 10:10).

Consider also that Romans chapter 12 reminds us, “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God —what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Rom 12:2).  Based on Jesus’ example, we can now understand better that not following the patterns of this world starts with practising faith in small matters.  Even as Jesus’ submitting to the care of his human parents led to his gaining wisdom and posterity, such faith and practise will eventually enable us to glorify God in all matters.

Conclusion

Jesus has always been our perfect Saviour, even as a child.  He may not have always done the right thing, but he gladly sought out God’s Word and obeyed his parents, thus keeping God’s Law as an example for us.  May we be so diligent in our spiritual discipline and in the practise of our faith.

Endnotes