Jesus Had to Be
in His Father’s House
They had
lost Jesus. Mary and Joseph, the parents
of the Son of God, had just lost the 12-year-old Son of God in the biggest city
in the country! They had been in the
capital city of Israel for the annual Passover Feast and, after the week-long
celebration was over, Mary and Joseph began the journey north with a crowd of
friends and family members who were also going back to their hometown of Nazareth. They thought that Jesus was still among the large
group they had come up with, but when they stopped for the night and looked for
Jesus, he was nowhere to be found. They
had lost the Savior of the world! Panicked,
they rushed back into Jerusalem and for three days they frantically searched
for God’s Son that he had entrusted to their care, checking and double checking
all of the places where they stayed, the roads where they walked, the areas
where they ate, and the government authorities.
But it was only after three days of searching when they finally checked
the place where they had worshiped. And
there Jesus was: sitting among the teachers of the law in the temple, asking
them questions and giving answers that were so insightful that all who were
there marveled at his wisdom. Completely
stunned by this discover and certainly exhausted from three long days and three
sleepless nights, Mary asked, “Son, why
have you treated us like this? Your
father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” “Why were you searching
for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”
It must
have been an interesting walk back home!
In twelve years Jesus had never been wrong before. He had never been unloving, never been
unkind. He had never lied to his
parents, never deceived his parents, never tried to slip anything behind their
backs. He had always been right, but he
had also always been humble. He was
filled with the Holy Spirit more than anyone else had ever been before, but he
was also filled with more modesty than anyone else had ever seen. He had never once disobeyed his parents, and
so it must have been hard for his parents to be angry at him. Worried and confused and completely terrified
for three days? Sure. But that’s why Mary asked the kind of
question she asked: “Son, why would you do such a thing? This seems to be completely out of character
for you! Why would you do something that
would cause your father and me so much pain?”
But Jesus’
answer implied that they should have known better. They were the parents of the Son of God,
after all! And so as the Son of God, Jesus
had to be in his true Father’s house. He
had to be in the temple where the Word of God was read and taught and learned
and preached. He had to be in and around
the prophecies of Scripture that spoke about him and the truths of those Old
Testament books that he had come to fulfill.
Jesus even had to learn some of those things as a real human being. At the end of this story it says that “Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor
with God and men.” Jesus was certainly taught God’s Word by his
parents at home, but there was no substitute for being in his Father’s house
and delving deep into the scriptural truths of the gospel with the Word of God
right in front him. Because remember:
they didn’t have their own Bibles - the Bible was at the temple or the local
synagogue. This is where Jesus had to
be. Not permanently. Not for the full 33 years of his life on this
earth. But Jesus did have to be in his
Father’s house on a regular basis throughout his life because that is where the
Word of God was.
Consider that fact for a second: Jesus,
the Son of God, the Word of God in the flesh, the fulfiller of all prophecy,
the author of all Scripture, this Jesus had to be in his Father’s house. Jesus had to be reading in his Father’s
house, studying in his Father’s house, discussing in his Father’s house, and
immersing himself with the Word in his Father’s house. If this is where even Jesus had to be, where do you think you should be?
We Think We
“Have to” Be Anywhere Else
Like
many people in this country, my life is very scheduled. I look at my upcoming week or month and I map
out where I have to be and when. I have
to be here at this time and there at that time.
I have to be at church by this hour for that worship service, at this
hour for that Bible class, and at this hour for that meeting. I have to be at that person’s house on that
evening but then I have to be home in time for supper. I have to drop my kids off at school at a
certain time in the morning and pick them up within a few minute window in the afternoon. I have to be at conferences in different
cities, I have to be at meetings in different states, and I have to be present
at other congregations for planning purposes - and that’s just next month. There are plenty of places where I have to be
on any given day and those commitments and time constraints largely drive what
I do and when I do it.
But I’m
not always so regimented when it comes to where I have to be for the good of my
faith. I know where I ‘need’ to be of
course, but I don’t always force myself to be there. I know I should be reading and studying
Scripture on my own on a daily basis, for example. But there are times when it just doesn’t
happen. Maybe because there’s no one
checking up on me. Maybe because there’s
no one there that I would let down if I didn’t show up. Maybe because it’s not a public thing and no
one would ever know if I just didn’t get to it on a particular day. I am certainly intent on carrying out my
responsibilities in this world and building the relationships I have with other
people, but when it comes to the responsibility of the faith that I have been
given and the relationship I have with my Lord, I’m not always where I need to
be. I’m not always in “my Father’s
house,” which is anywhere the Word of God can be read, heard, studied, or sung.
If I
were to hand out a piece of paper to all of you with the question: “How
important would you consider your faith in Jesus that God has given you? A) Very Important. B) Somewhat Important. C) Not Important At All.” I’d assume that most of you, if not all of
you, would pick ‘A’: your faith is very
important to you, isn’t it? And if
it really is, that means you always make sure that you are exactly where you
have to be for the good of your faith, right?
You are consistently in a worship service as often as you can be,
right? You are taking advantage of every
Bible study that is available, right?
You are daily reading your own Bible at home, right? You are faithfully sharing a scriptural
devotion every evening with your spouse or your children or your grandchildren,
right? You are always digging deep into
the teachings of the Bible, comparing passages, looking up answers, asking
questions, and never resting until you search out the clear truth of God’s
Word, right? Right?
We may
all say that we consider our faith “very important” to us, but sometimes we
treat our faith “somewhat important” at best and “not important at all” more
often than not. Because we don’t put
ourselves where we have to be. We don’t
put ourselves where we have to be so that our Lord can feed our faith with his
Word. We don’t put ourselves where we have
to be so that our Lord can nurture our faith with his gospel. We don’t put ourselves where we have to be so
that our Lord can strengthen and bolster and support our faith with his
truth. But if we aren’t where we have to
be, if our faith is not getting the sustenance it needs, how can you expect it
to last? How can you expect it to fend
off the attacks that the devil throws at it every day? How can you expect it to hold up under the
internal battle with your own sinful nature?
If you are not where you have to be, how can you expect your faith to
survive?
Jesus Had to Be
Where We Needed Him
After
Mary and Joseph found Jesus where they didn’t expect him to be, the Bible says
that “He went down to Nazareth with them
and was obedient to them.” And Jesus
probably didn’t go back to Jerusalem again until the next Jewish festival came
around. But you can be sure Jesus did go
back eventually. And you can be sure
that when he did go back, he went back to his Father’s house and picked up
where he left off. Because that’s where
he had to be. Of course, that wasn’t
only where he had to be; that’s where we
needed him to be.
Jesus
has always been where we needed him.
First and foremost, we needed him here, didn’t we? We needed him to be a human being on this
earth. We just got done with a three day
Christmas weekend last week concentrating on the necessity of Jesus being a
perfect human being in this world. And
because we needed him to be here, that’s where he went. We needed him to be in his Father’s house too
- not only to learn the Word of God but to keep all of the commands that the
Word of God demands, so that’s where he went.
We needed Jesus in the waters of the Jordan River for his baptism because
he was carrying our sins, so that is where he went. We needed Jesus to go into the desert and
face off with the devil himself, so that is where he went. We needed Jesus to be among the tax
collectors and prostitutes and lepers and “sinners” in this life because that’s
who needed saving, so that’s where he went.
We needed Jesus to be there in the Garden of Gethsemane that infamous
Thursday night. Judas expected him to be
there; the mob wanted him to be there; but Jesus knew that had to be there
because that’s where we needed him to be.
We needed him to stand on trial in our place. The Jewish leaders thought they had forced
him to be there; the Roman government assumed he had no choice to be there; but
Jesus knew that had to be there because we needed him to be. We needed Jesus to be on that cross. We needed him to be in hell to suffer in our
place. We needed him to be in that
tomb. And because we needed him there,
that’s where he went. Jesus didn’t like
it! As a real human being it wasn’t
pleasant for Jesus to go through all of those things. But he was willing to be wherever we needed
him to be, even if that meant torture and pain and death.
And of
course we needed him not to be in the
tomb anymore, didn’t we? We needed him not to be on this earth anymore
either. We needed him to be on his
throne in heaven, once again ruling all things with the full power he always
had as true God. And that’s exactly where
he is. But we also need him working
through the words of the Bible in our hearts right now. And so that’s where he is. We need him guiding and guarding and
protecting us throughout life’s difficulties and problems. And that’s where he is. We need him to be here for our comfort, we
need him to be here for our joy, we need him to be right here by our sides
every step of the way. And because we
need him here, “here” is exactly where he has to be. Jesus is always where we need him. Because without him where we always need him
to be, we’d end up where we don’t want to be.
And he is not going to let that happen.
He is always where we need him to be so that we will end up where is already
is.
We Have to Be
Where Jesus Wants Us
But not
yet. Right now we are just on the brink
of yet another calendar year. A time
when schedules are set and vacations are dreamed up and new plans are drawn
out. But as you go through this process
once again, take into serious consideration where you have to be this coming year.
Where do you have to be to learn about where your Savior has been? Where do you have to be so that you better
trust where your Savior is? Where do you
have to be to grow in your faith about where your Savior will always be waiting
for you? Where do you have to be? Not where do you want to be all the time. Not
where do you think you’d like to
be. But where do you have to be for the good of your faith in
your Savior? Make it your plan to be in
the Word in 2013 more than you have ever been before. At home in your Bible; with your family
around a Bible-based devotion book; in a study based on Scripture here at
church; in a worship service founded on God’s Word once a week. Make it your number one New Year’s resolution
to be in your Father’s house. Because
only in his Word will your faith be preserved, will your forgiveness be
refreshed, will your assurance of heaven be solidified. And you can be certain that wherever you have
to be, your Lord will have to be right there with you. Amen.
“May the Lord
direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.” - 2 Thess. 3:5
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