47 And all who heard Him were astonished at His
understanding and answers. 48 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." 49 And He said
to them, "Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My
Father's business?"
Throughout his Gospel, Luke is reminding us of the full humanity
of Jesus Christ and at the same time His deity. Here he recounts a few days of
the childhood of Jesus when He was twelve years old. After Jesus and His parents
had observed the Passover in Jerusalem, they had gone a day's journey from
Jerusalem when they discovered that Jesus was missing. It took a day to return
to the city and two more days for them to find Him. During those three days,
Joseph and Mary had been very anxious” (v. 48). This word is also translated “sorrowing”
or “distressed”. It is worth noting that Luke's phrase "Joseph and His
mother" (Luke 2:43) suggests the Virgin Birth, while the phrase "Your
father and I" (Luke 2:48) indicates that Joseph was accepted as the
legal father of Jesus (see Luke 3:23).
Whether Jesus had spent the entire time in the temple, we
don't know. It certainly would have been safe there and the Heavenly Father was
watching over Him. We do know that when Joseph and Mary found Him, He was in
the midst of the teachers, asking them questions and listening to their
answers; and the teachers were amazed at both His questions and His answers.
Mary's loving rebuke brought a respectful but astonished
reply from Jesus: "Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must
be about My Father's business?" (v. 49). It can also be
translated "in the things of My Father", but the idea is the same.
Jesus was affirming His divine sonship and His mission to do the will of the
Father. What was His “Father’s business?” John says it clearly in John
3:16-17: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For
God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the
world through Him might be saved.” The
Father’s business is the redemption of mankind! His business is the salvation
of sinners by the perfect and sinless life of Jesus, His death as our substitute,
His blood sprinkled on the altar in heaven, and His resurrection!
The word “must” was often on our Lord's lips: "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).
Even at the age of twelve, Jesus was moved by a divine compulsion to do the
Father's will. Since Jesus "increased in wisdom" (Luke 2:52),
we wonder how much He understood God's divine plan at that time. We must not
assume that at the age of twelve He was omniscient. Certainly He grew in His
comprehension of those mysteries as He communed with His Father and was taught
by the Spirit.
Jesus is a wonderful example for all young people to
follow. He grew in a balanced way (Luke 2:52) without neglecting any part of
life, and His priority was to do the will of His Father (see Matt. 6:33). He
knew how to listen (Luke 2:46) and how to ask the right questions. He learned
how to work, and He was obedient to His parents. The Boy Jesus grew up in a
large family, in a despised city, nurtured by parents who were probably poor.
The Jewish religion was at an all-time low, the Roman government was in
control, and society was in a state of fear and change. Yet when Jesus emerged
from Nazareth, eighteen years later, the Father was able to say of Him, "Thou
art My beloved Son; in Thee I am well pleased" (Luke 3:22).
May the Father be able to say that about us, and like Jesus,
we should always be about our Father’s business of bringing lost sinners to salvation!
God bless!
