WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.459 All right, well, Merry Christmas again to all of you. 00:00:05.459 --> 00:00:10.660 We are finishing up a series today we've been doing for this Advent season called Jesus, 00:00:10.660 --> 00:00:16.580 the Son of Mary, where we're looking at some of the big important passages in Luke, which 00:00:16.580 --> 00:00:22.859 is where we normally go to see all the Christmas texts, Luke, and seeing Mary's experience 00:00:22.859 --> 00:00:27.820 of Jesus and how she experienced her own son. 00:00:27.820 --> 00:00:33.060 And so here we are, the last one we read from Luke 2, the story about Jesus getting left 00:00:33.060 --> 00:00:37.340 behind for three days at the temple in Jerusalem. 00:00:37.340 --> 00:00:42.060 And this is definitely not the most common Christmas text. 00:00:42.060 --> 00:00:47.600 He's 12 years past the Christmas story, but it's still very much part of the Christmas 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:48.600 stories. 00:00:48.600 --> 00:00:51.260 And one of the reasons for that, well, there's a few reasons. 00:00:51.260 --> 00:00:56.039 One of them is that Christmas, oftentimes at Christmas, what you want to do is you want 00:00:56.039 --> 00:00:59.259 to think about who Jesus is. 00:00:59.259 --> 00:01:02.140 And at Easter, you focus more on what he did. 00:01:02.140 --> 00:01:06.700 So Christmas really is a time where you think, who is this person? 00:01:06.700 --> 00:01:09.099 Easter is really a time where you say, what did he do? 00:01:09.099 --> 00:01:12.099 Now you can never separate the two of those. 00:01:12.099 --> 00:01:13.659 They always go together. 00:01:13.659 --> 00:01:18.079 But this is a passage that really, really does focus on who he is. 00:01:18.079 --> 00:01:21.500 What about him as a person, as a human being? 00:01:21.500 --> 00:01:26.980 And the second reason that this is a good Christmas text is because 2024 is coming very 00:01:26.980 --> 00:01:27.980 quickly. 00:01:27.980 --> 00:01:30.659 The year of our Lord, 2024 is on the horizon. 00:01:30.659 --> 00:01:33.099 And so you're not just thinking about Christmas right now. 00:01:33.099 --> 00:01:37.740 All of you are already thinking about your 2024 and what it's going to look like. 00:01:37.740 --> 00:01:40.500 That's what we do at this time of year. 00:01:40.500 --> 00:01:42.620 Who do I want to be in 2024? 00:01:42.620 --> 00:01:45.659 That's one of the important questions that we all ask. 00:01:45.659 --> 00:01:50.299 And this passage has a lot of pretty surprising things to say about that. 00:01:50.299 --> 00:01:55.259 Now the final reason, and this is what we'll focus on, that this is a helpful passage to 00:01:55.259 --> 00:02:02.979 look at on Christmas Eve, is because of the range of emotion that happens within it. 00:02:02.979 --> 00:02:08.419 So Mary experiences deep distress here. 00:02:08.419 --> 00:02:16.099 She actually says in the middle of the passage when the parents saw him in verse 48, she said, 00:02:16.099 --> 00:02:20.739 son, why did you treat us like this? 00:02:20.739 --> 00:02:25.659 And then she says, what every, you've heard this before, it says, behold, your father 00:02:25.659 --> 00:02:27.740 and I have been searching for you in great distress. 00:02:27.740 --> 00:02:31.340 Now she did not say, behold, no parent talks like that. 00:02:31.340 --> 00:02:34.900 They don't say, behold, my son, why did you do this? 00:02:34.900 --> 00:02:40.780 It was more like, look, we've been looking for you for three days. 00:02:40.780 --> 00:02:42.439 And she does what we all do. 00:02:42.439 --> 00:02:45.579 Your father and I have been looking for you. 00:02:45.580 --> 00:02:51.740 Meaning, you know, that's what we say when we want to up the ante a bit. 00:02:51.740 --> 00:02:54.340 It's not just me, it's your father and me. 00:02:54.340 --> 00:02:58.420 This is the, right before you're in big trouble, sort of a comment. 00:02:58.420 --> 00:03:00.500 And she says, we were in distress. 00:03:00.500 --> 00:03:03.820 This Greek word is the word agony, actually. 00:03:03.820 --> 00:03:09.300 And so she says, you put us into a place of agony. 00:03:09.300 --> 00:03:13.340 And when your child's missing for three days, that is agony. 00:03:13.340 --> 00:03:17.900 But then it also says she was astonished by him in the verse before that. 00:03:17.900 --> 00:03:21.420 And then it says the verse after that she was confused. 00:03:21.420 --> 00:03:25.819 And then after that it says, then she treasured up everything, meaning she had contentment 00:03:25.819 --> 00:03:26.819 about it. 00:03:26.819 --> 00:03:33.699 And so Mary goes from astonishment to agony to confusion to contentment, all in this 00:03:33.699 --> 00:03:35.819 passage. 00:03:35.819 --> 00:03:39.259 And you know, that's what happens at Christmas. 00:03:39.259 --> 00:03:41.939 There's agony, there's astonishment, there's confusion, there's contentment. 00:03:41.939 --> 00:03:46.979 I mean, everything, the complex of human emotion happens to all of us in different ways. 00:03:46.979 --> 00:03:49.379 And it's exactly what takes place right here. 00:03:49.379 --> 00:03:54.579 Now let's just focus on two of those emotions this morning. 00:03:54.579 --> 00:03:56.740 Astonishment and confusion. 00:03:56.740 --> 00:04:02.300 So if you walk away today on Christmas Eve, astonished and confused, then it'll be mission 00:04:02.300 --> 00:04:03.300 accomplished. 00:04:03.300 --> 00:04:04.300 Okay? 00:04:04.300 --> 00:04:07.819 And we don't normally say that, but that is exactly what we get from this passage. 00:04:07.819 --> 00:04:09.300 Astonishment and confusion. 00:04:09.300 --> 00:04:12.180 So I hope you'll be confused today. 00:04:12.180 --> 00:04:13.180 Let's think about that. 00:04:13.180 --> 00:04:19.620 Three ways Jesus brings astonishment and confusion at Christmas time. 00:04:19.620 --> 00:04:21.379 They're all right here. 00:04:21.379 --> 00:04:22.379 Here's the first. 00:04:22.379 --> 00:04:26.139 Luke shows us who Jesus is, very simple. 00:04:26.139 --> 00:04:30.460 And that should bring some astonishment and confusion to your life today. 00:04:30.460 --> 00:04:32.819 It's in verse 40 and 52. 00:04:32.819 --> 00:04:33.819 Just look down with me. 00:04:33.819 --> 00:04:41.219 At verse 40 and 52, the book ends, the child grew, Jesus grew, and he became strong, filled 00:04:41.219 --> 00:04:44.620 with wisdom, and the favor of God was on him. 00:04:44.620 --> 00:04:46.139 Now jump down to verse 52. 00:04:46.139 --> 00:04:47.139 That was 40. 00:04:47.139 --> 00:04:52.339 52, Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and men. 00:04:52.339 --> 00:04:59.300 Now Luke, Luke, like all the gospel writers, uses an economy of words. 00:04:59.300 --> 00:05:01.459 He's extremely selective. 00:05:01.459 --> 00:05:04.739 He doesn't say all that he could have said. 00:05:04.739 --> 00:05:07.859 How did Luke decide what to put in his gospel? 00:05:07.859 --> 00:05:08.859 Couple ways. 00:05:08.859 --> 00:05:12.539 One of the ways he decides is he tells us at the very beginning of the gospel, he only 00:05:12.539 --> 00:05:15.299 wants to include things that really happened. 00:05:15.299 --> 00:05:21.740 He said, you know, I went searching for the eyewitnesses and I listened to only eyewitnesses 00:05:21.740 --> 00:05:24.859 and I'm giving you what I gave you because it happened. 00:05:24.859 --> 00:05:27.060 That's the only reason. 00:05:27.060 --> 00:05:30.019 And then from there, there was a lot of content of things that happened. 00:05:30.019 --> 00:05:31.819 So he has to be really selective. 00:05:31.819 --> 00:05:38.500 Now that means that in the midst of extreme selectivity, across 12 verses, verse 40 and 00:05:38.500 --> 00:05:41.659 52, he says the exact same thing twice. 00:05:41.659 --> 00:05:42.779 The exact same thing. 00:05:42.779 --> 00:05:47.500 He says Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. 00:05:47.500 --> 00:05:51.500 And then 12 verses later, he repeats the exact same thing again. 00:05:51.500 --> 00:05:55.779 Now this is a gospel that's all about the economy of words. 00:05:55.779 --> 00:06:01.659 And yet he's repeating himself so quickly, so frequently, he's wanting us to really focus 00:06:01.659 --> 00:06:04.539 on that and to think about what it means. 00:06:04.539 --> 00:06:15.259 And he tells us here these verbs, Jesus grew, Jesus became, Jesus increased, Jesus changed. 00:06:15.259 --> 00:06:16.259 All right. 00:06:16.259 --> 00:06:20.819 Now listen, if you've read through the Bible, if you've read through the Bible, you should 00:06:20.819 --> 00:06:29.860 know that God does not change, God does not become, God does not increase, God does not 00:06:29.860 --> 00:06:32.540 grow, he stays the same. 00:06:32.540 --> 00:06:38.339 And Luke is saying that God became a human being in Jesus Christ and he wants to really 00:06:38.339 --> 00:06:39.339 press this home. 00:06:39.339 --> 00:06:45.019 Two times he repeats it, he grew, he changed, he increased. 00:06:45.019 --> 00:06:47.339 And he's trying to get you to see something. 00:06:47.339 --> 00:06:53.419 He's trying to get you to see that Jesus Christ is a paradox. 00:06:53.419 --> 00:06:59.899 He's a growing boy and he's simultaneously God and that that shouldn't make sense, that 00:06:59.899 --> 00:07:04.699 that should be confusing, that that should be astonishing and confusing simultaneously. 00:07:04.699 --> 00:07:09.219 And so for 400 years, in the first several hundred years of the church history after 00:07:09.219 --> 00:07:16.139 Jesus, people came to verse 40 and verse 42 and looked at this and said, how are we going 00:07:16.139 --> 00:07:18.620 to talk about this man? 00:07:18.620 --> 00:07:20.300 And this is what they come up with. 00:07:20.300 --> 00:07:26.500 It took them 400 years and they said he is, quote, truly human. 00:07:26.500 --> 00:07:27.740 That's the language. 00:07:27.740 --> 00:07:32.539 It took them 400 years to really nail that down and say he's truly human. 00:07:32.539 --> 00:07:33.860 That's what we learn about here. 00:07:33.860 --> 00:07:36.419 He grew up, he was a boy that grew up. 00:07:36.419 --> 00:07:40.860 Now let me give you the context for that. 00:07:40.860 --> 00:07:47.060 In this story, he's 12 years old, he's not 13. 00:07:47.060 --> 00:07:55.020 Luke writes about when he's eight days old and then jumps all the way to year 12. 00:07:55.020 --> 00:07:56.180 And there's a reason for that. 00:07:56.180 --> 00:08:01.580 And that's because when you turn 13 in this society and Jewish culture, you essentially 00:08:01.580 --> 00:08:02.900 were treated as an adult. 00:08:02.900 --> 00:08:04.300 There's no adolescence. 00:08:04.300 --> 00:08:05.300 We made that up. 00:08:05.300 --> 00:08:07.500 Modern people made up adolescence. 00:08:07.500 --> 00:08:12.019 You go from 12, childhood to adulthood, 13. 00:08:12.019 --> 00:08:13.740 That's the transition. 00:08:13.740 --> 00:08:15.899 So this is a really important year for Jesus. 00:08:15.899 --> 00:08:19.860 And he's entering into a full adulthood in the next year. 00:08:19.860 --> 00:08:24.579 And so what we're being given here is this very last year of his childhood. 00:08:24.579 --> 00:08:26.699 And that's why Luke focuses on it. 00:08:26.699 --> 00:08:31.139 And we have this sense here, if you kind of read between the lines, that he's maturing 00:08:31.139 --> 00:08:33.059 and he's independent. 00:08:33.059 --> 00:08:38.219 And it's probably that he was allowed to roam Jerusalem freely. 00:08:38.219 --> 00:08:42.500 And that is why it makes sense that he got left behind. 00:08:42.500 --> 00:08:49.099 So you read the story and you think this child gets left in a big city for three days. 00:08:49.099 --> 00:08:53.579 To our modern ears and eyes, this is outrageous. 00:08:53.579 --> 00:08:56.899 But in the first century, it's not exactly as it seems. 00:08:56.899 --> 00:08:59.179 Because what happens is that he's 12 years old. 00:08:59.179 --> 00:09:04.459 He's got freedom to be in Jerusalem on his own as a 12-year-old, here and there roaming 00:09:04.459 --> 00:09:05.620 around. 00:09:05.620 --> 00:09:09.739 And then what would have happened is that when you're traveling to Jerusalem for a pilgrimage 00:09:09.739 --> 00:09:16.620 feast or leaving it, everybody from a certain region of Israel would all travel together 00:09:16.620 --> 00:09:18.299 in a big caravan. 00:09:18.299 --> 00:09:23.620 So hundreds and hundreds of people, all from the north, from Nazareth area. 00:09:23.620 --> 00:09:25.699 And the men would travel with the men. 00:09:25.699 --> 00:09:27.419 The women would travel with the women. 00:09:27.419 --> 00:09:29.019 And the children with the children. 00:09:29.019 --> 00:09:32.659 And they would go in a long, huge parade that lasted for miles and miles. 00:09:32.659 --> 00:09:35.939 And so it gives you that sense that the caravan was gathering. 00:09:35.939 --> 00:09:39.659 And Mary and Joseph are assuming what had always been the case. 00:09:39.659 --> 00:09:41.379 They had come and done this every single year. 00:09:41.379 --> 00:09:45.379 And Jesus had gotten in with the children every single year in the caravan on the way 00:09:45.379 --> 00:09:46.379 back. 00:09:46.379 --> 00:09:50.100 And so that's why it says that they went a day's journey out. 00:09:50.100 --> 00:09:52.379 And then they searched for him amongst the acquaintances. 00:09:52.379 --> 00:09:56.500 Meaning they traveled a whole day in the caravan out, 20 miles or so. 00:09:56.500 --> 00:09:59.379 And then they made camp at night. 00:09:59.379 --> 00:10:03.419 That's when the children would gather back with the parents at night in the camp. 00:10:03.419 --> 00:10:06.740 So when that happened, they looked for him and he wasn't there. 00:10:06.740 --> 00:10:08.659 And so it says that they went a day out. 00:10:08.659 --> 00:10:09.659 That's day one. 00:10:09.659 --> 00:10:11.340 It took them a day to come back. 00:10:11.340 --> 00:10:12.340 That's day two. 00:10:12.340 --> 00:10:14.500 And then it took them a day to search the city. 00:10:14.500 --> 00:10:15.500 That's day three. 00:10:15.500 --> 00:10:19.820 And so for three days, he was missing because he didn't get included in the caravan. 00:10:19.820 --> 00:10:21.100 He got left behind. 00:10:21.100 --> 00:10:23.299 And that's what's taking place here. 00:10:23.299 --> 00:10:26.859 And when they come back, they find him, where is he? 00:10:26.859 --> 00:10:28.899 He's in the temple court. 00:10:28.899 --> 00:10:31.620 And he is doing something incredibly normal. 00:10:31.620 --> 00:10:34.740 He's sitting at the feet of the teachers. 00:10:34.740 --> 00:10:37.419 These are the academics of the day, the scribes. 00:10:37.419 --> 00:10:39.959 These are the Bible nerds of the time. 00:10:39.959 --> 00:10:40.959 They love to read the Bible. 00:10:40.959 --> 00:10:41.959 They love to pour over. 00:10:41.959 --> 00:10:43.379 They love to argue and debate about it. 00:10:43.379 --> 00:10:44.379 And that's where he is. 00:10:44.379 --> 00:10:45.879 He's sitting in the outer court of the temple. 00:10:45.879 --> 00:10:50.259 And he's been doing this for three days, hanging out at the temple, sitting at the feet of 00:10:50.259 --> 00:10:55.019 all the different teachers and asking questions, talking to them. 00:10:55.019 --> 00:11:00.379 That's what we're told here with all the Bible nerds that are hanging out around the temple. 00:11:00.379 --> 00:11:02.379 And where did he sleep? 00:11:02.379 --> 00:11:05.500 I don't know. 00:11:05.500 --> 00:11:10.299 But again, you got to think like a pre-modern person, like a first century person. 00:11:10.299 --> 00:11:16.939 This is a first century 12 year old boy who has lived his life outside in a way that we 00:11:16.939 --> 00:11:18.659 can't imagine. 00:11:18.659 --> 00:11:19.659 So he was fine. 00:11:19.659 --> 00:11:22.500 You know, he was used to things like that. 00:11:22.500 --> 00:11:28.659 So he hung around the city and he lived outside and he sat at the teachers' feet all day long 00:11:28.659 --> 00:11:30.500 outside the temple courts. 00:11:30.500 --> 00:11:36.539 And when they find him, it says his parents were astonished because he was talking with 00:11:36.539 --> 00:11:37.620 the teachers. 00:11:37.620 --> 00:11:40.699 And the teachers were astonished. 00:11:40.699 --> 00:11:46.659 And the reason is because he was doing something very normal. 00:11:46.659 --> 00:11:50.579 The teachers every day would sit in the courts and they would ask questions of people and 00:11:50.579 --> 00:11:52.699 you could ask questions of them. 00:11:52.699 --> 00:11:57.539 And it would be a dialogue, question response, looking at the Bible together, just like we 00:11:57.539 --> 00:11:59.980 would do like our kids do in Sunday school. 00:11:59.980 --> 00:12:01.179 This was incredibly normal. 00:12:01.179 --> 00:12:05.179 But the reason that they're astonished is because he is asking questions. 00:12:05.179 --> 00:12:07.299 He's curious. 00:12:07.299 --> 00:12:10.699 And yet at the same time, he's authoritative. 00:12:10.699 --> 00:12:12.899 So he's 12 years old. 00:12:12.899 --> 00:12:15.980 And this is not some teachers will look at this passage today and they'll say, look, he's 00:12:15.980 --> 00:12:17.379 debating them, he's correcting them. 00:12:17.379 --> 00:12:18.379 He wasn't. 00:12:18.379 --> 00:12:19.379 That's not what Luke says. 00:12:19.379 --> 00:12:22.820 It says he was just asking questions and responding to their questions. 00:12:22.820 --> 00:12:24.139 That's all. 00:12:24.139 --> 00:12:28.379 He was submissive and yet he knew the answers. 00:12:28.379 --> 00:12:37.180 He was curious, yet he had a wisdom about him that seemed to come from old. 00:12:37.180 --> 00:12:41.340 He had two things together at the very same time. 00:12:41.340 --> 00:12:49.820 This curious boy, 12 years old, and yet this deep authority, not debating, not at all, 00:12:49.820 --> 00:12:53.540 completely submissive yet teaching. 00:12:53.540 --> 00:12:54.899 They're exploring the Old Testament. 00:12:54.899 --> 00:12:56.139 That's what they're doing. 00:12:56.139 --> 00:12:59.060 And they're asking him questions and he's asking them questions. 00:12:59.060 --> 00:13:03.660 And yet the questions he asks shock them. 00:13:03.660 --> 00:13:09.100 They can't understand his ability to grasp and put the pieces of the Old Testament together 00:13:09.100 --> 00:13:11.779 in a way that they've never seen before. 00:13:11.779 --> 00:13:14.060 And that's what they were astonished by. 00:13:14.060 --> 00:13:23.580 And that means that he's submissive and teachable and curious boy and he knows he's authoritative 00:13:23.580 --> 00:13:25.740 and he teaches at the same time. 00:13:25.740 --> 00:13:30.420 And verse 40 and verse 52, for 400 years the theologians came and said, what do we say 00:13:30.420 --> 00:13:31.420 about this? 00:13:31.420 --> 00:13:33.580 We say, this is the paradox. 00:13:33.580 --> 00:13:37.019 This is what's astounding and confusing simultaneously. 00:13:37.019 --> 00:13:40.539 He is truly God and truly human. 00:13:40.539 --> 00:13:44.579 And not only is he truly God, truly human, he's truly a boy. 00:13:44.579 --> 00:13:47.899 Now let's bring this on. 00:13:47.899 --> 00:13:54.500 The teachers and his parents were astonished because they could not see his divinity. 00:13:54.500 --> 00:13:57.579 They looked at him and they saw a 12-year-old boy. 00:13:57.579 --> 00:14:04.179 He looks like a 12-year-old boy and yet he's teaching with a level of authority they've 00:14:04.179 --> 00:14:05.179 never seen before. 00:14:05.179 --> 00:14:06.740 That's what they're astonished by. 00:14:06.740 --> 00:14:11.940 The teachers describes the academics, the Bible nerds, they cannot see the magnitude 00:14:11.940 --> 00:14:12.940 of his divinity. 00:14:12.940 --> 00:14:15.100 That's what's shocking them. 00:14:15.100 --> 00:14:20.100 We have actually, I think, the opposite problem as modern people. 00:14:20.100 --> 00:14:24.620 We read this story and if you've been around the church for any given time, any time if 00:14:24.620 --> 00:14:28.940 you are a follower of Jesus today, the problem you'll come to this story with is that you 00:14:28.940 --> 00:14:31.139 know too much. 00:14:31.139 --> 00:14:35.100 You know about the cross and you know about the resurrection and you know about the ascension 00:14:35.100 --> 00:14:39.259 and you know that's all that's going to take place and so you're going to have a much harder 00:14:39.259 --> 00:14:44.420 time seeing not his authority, not his divinity, you're going to have a harder time seeing his 00:14:44.420 --> 00:14:52.820 humanity and seeing in particular his boyhood and seeing in particular the astonishing and 00:14:52.820 --> 00:15:01.899 confusing idea that Jesus Christ, the God of the universe, became a little boy that had 00:15:01.899 --> 00:15:04.660 to grow up. 00:15:04.659 --> 00:15:06.699 That's what you're going to have a hard time really wrestling with. 00:15:06.699 --> 00:15:09.019 Now let me ask you today, do you have a theology? 00:15:09.019 --> 00:15:14.860 Do you have a vision of Jesus, a vision of the Savior of the world, the God of the universe 00:15:14.860 --> 00:15:23.379 that includes a little boy who had to grow up, who had growing pains just like all of 00:15:23.379 --> 00:15:28.419 us did and who had to be tucked into his bed at night and read stories. 00:15:28.419 --> 00:15:31.059 He had to, how did he go to sleep? 00:15:31.059 --> 00:15:32.699 Mary read him books. 00:15:32.700 --> 00:15:36.540 She read him scrolls actually. 00:15:36.540 --> 00:15:37.540 That's how he went to bed at night. 00:15:37.540 --> 00:15:44.100 Do you have a theology that sees the humanity of Jesus truly human all the way to the point 00:15:44.100 --> 00:15:49.540 where you realize what he did to become like you? 00:15:49.540 --> 00:15:55.020 He really did become a child and he became a little bitty boy. 00:15:55.020 --> 00:15:57.820 You know, here's another way to say it. 00:15:57.820 --> 00:16:00.220 He doesn't know everything. 00:16:00.220 --> 00:16:01.220 He doesn't. 00:16:01.220 --> 00:16:02.540 He never did. 00:16:02.539 --> 00:16:08.819 He did not have a divine microchip implanted into his brain where he downloaded the divine 00:16:08.819 --> 00:16:11.500 content of the universe. 00:16:11.500 --> 00:16:13.019 He wasn't like that. 00:16:13.019 --> 00:16:17.259 He was so human that he had to learn just like you had to learn. 00:16:17.259 --> 00:16:20.339 How did Jesus know how to do math? 00:16:20.339 --> 00:16:22.939 His mother Mary taught him. 00:16:22.939 --> 00:16:23.939 That's how. 00:16:23.939 --> 00:16:25.339 How did he learn to read? 00:16:25.339 --> 00:16:28.259 Mary and Joseph sitting at the table. 00:16:28.259 --> 00:16:34.899 When he was growing up, he memorized the Torah not because he's superhuman, but because every 00:16:34.899 --> 00:16:36.500 child did that. 00:16:36.500 --> 00:16:40.740 Now we think what memorized Genesis to Deuteronomy? 00:16:40.740 --> 00:16:41.740 He could say it. 00:16:41.740 --> 00:16:44.299 At 12 years old, he could undoubtedly say the Torah out loud. 00:16:44.299 --> 00:16:45.299 He could sing it. 00:16:45.299 --> 00:16:47.460 That's how they learned it. 00:16:47.460 --> 00:16:51.500 The reason we think that's astonishing is because we watch TV instead of memorizing the 00:16:51.500 --> 00:16:52.500 Torah. 00:16:52.500 --> 00:16:54.539 But if we tried it, we would do it too. 00:16:54.539 --> 00:16:58.779 But that's what he did, just like every other little boy and little girl that was alive 00:16:58.779 --> 00:17:01.139 in this time. 00:17:01.139 --> 00:17:02.139 He was a baby. 00:17:02.139 --> 00:17:03.860 He was a toddler. 00:17:03.860 --> 00:17:05.659 He fell a lot. 00:17:05.659 --> 00:17:10.700 He had to get picked up by his parents and his knees got scraped up all the time. 00:17:10.700 --> 00:17:14.740 To some people, he was just Joseph's boy down the street. 00:17:14.740 --> 00:17:18.859 If you were his neighbor, you would have said, that's Joseph's boy, Jesus. 00:17:18.859 --> 00:17:20.899 I saw him at Passover last year. 00:17:20.899 --> 00:17:21.899 He was this tall. 00:17:21.900 --> 00:17:24.900 And boy, he came to Passover this year and he was this tall. 00:17:24.900 --> 00:17:26.340 I can't believe how much he's grown. 00:17:26.340 --> 00:17:27.940 That's what you would have said about him. 00:17:27.940 --> 00:17:29.860 He's that human. 00:17:29.860 --> 00:17:33.540 He had a boyhood just like every other boy did. 00:17:33.540 --> 00:17:36.900 And here's the amazing thing. 00:17:36.900 --> 00:17:41.140 Because he was a baby, because he was a toddler, because he was a boy, he had a baby mind and 00:17:41.140 --> 00:17:43.700 a toddler mind and a child's mind. 00:17:43.700 --> 00:17:52.539 And that means he had to grow up into his awareness, into awareness of his own identity. 00:17:52.539 --> 00:17:58.019 He had to realize, he had to grow into the consciousness of who he was and who he is 00:17:58.019 --> 00:17:59.220 and what he came to do. 00:17:59.220 --> 00:18:01.100 And I think that's one of the things that's happening here. 00:18:01.100 --> 00:18:04.340 We'll come back to this at the end. 00:18:04.340 --> 00:18:09.500 400 years of theology, verse 52, he grew in stature. 00:18:09.500 --> 00:18:13.620 He had a real physical body growing pains and all of it. 00:18:13.619 --> 00:18:18.579 At 12 years old, at 12 years old, he could not lift weights like he would be able to 00:18:18.579 --> 00:18:20.079 at 18. 00:18:20.079 --> 00:18:23.539 He had a real physical body and he had to grow in wisdom, meaning he had to grow in spiritual 00:18:23.539 --> 00:18:26.859 maturity and mental maturity. 00:18:26.859 --> 00:18:28.579 And yet he did it all without sin. 00:18:28.579 --> 00:18:31.500 Now, let's move on. 00:18:31.500 --> 00:18:33.979 But let me say this. 00:18:33.979 --> 00:18:40.500 At Christmas time, especially if you get on the internet, there is a lot of talk about 00:18:40.500 --> 00:18:46.420 Christmas, the Christian view of Christmas, of the incarnation of who Jesus is being just 00:18:46.420 --> 00:18:51.420 one of the myths out there like many other myths that have been written about in human 00:18:51.420 --> 00:18:52.579 history. 00:18:52.579 --> 00:18:55.299 The myth of Osiris, if you've heard about that one. 00:18:55.299 --> 00:19:01.579 The myth of an ancient Egyptian who, God who became a human and who died and rose again, 00:19:01.579 --> 00:19:04.779 people say about Osiris, very old. 00:19:04.779 --> 00:19:09.220 The myth of the Buddha, who was a child prodigy, who was in touch with the spiritual world 00:19:09.220 --> 00:19:13.259 in a way that no child has ever been, myths throughout all the centuries. 00:19:13.259 --> 00:19:18.019 And people come and they say, look, the Christian view of Christmas is the same thing. 00:19:18.019 --> 00:19:24.660 Jesus, the incarnation, God become human, a man who died and rose again, it participates 00:19:24.660 --> 00:19:27.000 in this long history of world myths. 00:19:27.000 --> 00:19:30.779 Let me say, and we don't have time to get into it, but let me say that if you really 00:19:30.779 --> 00:19:36.740 look into it, if you never have before, and you study the myths, and then you come to 00:19:36.740 --> 00:19:43.579 Luke's gospel, and you read about the humanity and divinity of this boy, you will find out 00:19:43.579 --> 00:19:47.660 one thing and that there has never been anything in human history like this. 00:19:47.660 --> 00:19:53.259 Never and not even close, not even close. 00:19:53.259 --> 00:19:56.859 No world religion has ever made a claim like this. 00:19:56.859 --> 00:20:03.779 God, here's the claim, God became a wiggly little baby, a stumbling little toddler, 00:20:03.779 --> 00:20:11.339 a growing child, and a curious 12-year-old who probably liked to play with rocks and 00:20:11.339 --> 00:20:14.899 chase worms and look up at the stars. 00:20:14.899 --> 00:20:18.980 And I want to say, you know, was interested in diggers and spaceships, but that wasn't 00:20:18.980 --> 00:20:22.539 yet his time. 00:20:22.539 --> 00:20:26.700 No religion has ever made a claim that this is the savior of the world. 00:20:26.700 --> 00:20:29.899 This is the God of the universe, the master. 00:20:29.899 --> 00:20:32.220 This is how human he became. 00:20:32.220 --> 00:20:35.980 He's ever said anything like this, and it was not part of Jewish expectation. 00:20:35.980 --> 00:20:38.220 You could not have written this. 00:20:38.220 --> 00:20:41.299 You could not have written this unless it happened. 00:20:41.299 --> 00:20:43.660 It's that real. 00:20:43.660 --> 00:20:51.579 The creator of the universe had Mary's DNA, her genetic code, and how about this, he still 00:20:51.579 --> 00:20:53.420 does. 00:20:53.420 --> 00:20:55.819 Think about that. 00:20:55.819 --> 00:20:59.220 And she tucked him into bed at night and she read him stories, and here he is as a 12-year-old 00:20:59.220 --> 00:21:00.220 boy. 00:21:00.220 --> 00:21:04.900 He's a human, and he became that human in order to get close to you. 00:21:04.900 --> 00:21:06.900 That's the meaning of Christmas. 00:21:06.900 --> 00:21:13.140 Secondly, not only is this confusing and astonishing because of who he is, but it shows us here 00:21:13.140 --> 00:21:15.180 briefly who we are. 00:21:15.180 --> 00:21:19.579 And you'll see this in verse 49 in the way that he answers her. 00:21:19.579 --> 00:21:28.259 Okay, he's 12, and this is the year of really growing up as an apprentice of his father, 00:21:28.259 --> 00:21:32.700 his earthly father, so that at 13, 14, 15 he can start working. 00:21:32.700 --> 00:21:34.460 He'll start working as a carpenter. 00:21:34.460 --> 00:21:39.180 So this is probably the year where Joseph is really, really, really training him to 00:21:39.180 --> 00:21:40.940 be a carpenter. 00:21:40.940 --> 00:21:46.460 And so he's been doing this apprenticeship, and he's also really delving into the scriptures 00:21:46.460 --> 00:21:49.980 at age 12, and he's learning and learning and learning. 00:21:49.980 --> 00:21:56.259 And this is why everybody's so confused when Mary says to him, you know, why did you do 00:21:56.259 --> 00:21:58.379 this to us? 00:21:58.379 --> 00:22:02.220 Your father and I, we've been looking for you, and we've been utter agony. 00:22:02.220 --> 00:22:05.299 You've been going for three days. 00:22:05.299 --> 00:22:10.259 And the reason that she is confused right after that, and everybody else is too, is because 00:22:10.259 --> 00:22:13.059 he says, why were you looking for me? 00:22:13.059 --> 00:22:17.980 Did you not know that I must be in my father's house? 00:22:17.980 --> 00:22:20.180 And it says, and she was confused. 00:22:20.180 --> 00:22:21.180 Why? 00:22:21.180 --> 00:22:22.539 And here's why. 00:22:22.539 --> 00:22:24.619 They are 12 years in. 00:22:24.619 --> 00:22:27.059 12 years into Jesus's life, his boyhood. 00:22:27.059 --> 00:22:34.979 And you know, she's been tucking him into bed every night and raising him up as a boy. 00:22:34.979 --> 00:22:40.419 And when he said, don't you know I have to be at 12 years old, he's saying, I have to 00:22:40.419 --> 00:22:42.859 be here. 00:22:42.859 --> 00:22:47.699 Before I become an adult, this is where I've got to be, my father's house. 00:22:47.699 --> 00:22:51.739 And everybody around would have said, wait a minute, Joseph's your father. 00:22:51.739 --> 00:22:53.459 And Mary thought that too. 00:22:53.460 --> 00:22:57.059 She had just said, your father and I have been looking for you. 00:22:57.059 --> 00:23:00.740 And she said, Joseph's your father. 00:23:00.740 --> 00:23:03.460 And you've been going for three days. 00:23:03.460 --> 00:23:06.100 And that's why she's so confused. 00:23:06.100 --> 00:23:09.340 You know, but Joseph's your father, and you were supposed to be with him. 00:23:09.340 --> 00:23:13.980 And Jesus comes and says, no, think again. 00:23:13.980 --> 00:23:20.779 I'm on the precipice of becoming an adult, and this is where I have to be near my father. 00:23:20.779 --> 00:23:24.220 Now, there's a very earthly reason. 00:23:24.220 --> 00:23:29.420 She's just struggling to remember the reality of the one she gave birth to. 00:23:29.420 --> 00:23:30.420 That's one reason. 00:23:30.420 --> 00:23:31.539 But another reason is this. 00:23:31.539 --> 00:23:35.899 If you look at the Old Testament, and then you move beyond the Old Testament, and you 00:23:35.899 --> 00:23:42.539 look at the 400 years of literature we have, Jewish literature, between the time of the 00:23:42.539 --> 00:23:49.500 end of the Old Testament, which is technically Malachi, all the way to the time of Matthew. 00:23:49.500 --> 00:23:53.140 Every single Jewish writing, every single text in the Old Testament, there is not a 00:23:53.140 --> 00:23:54.220 single instance. 00:23:54.220 --> 00:24:01.140 No one has ever found a single instance where anybody says these two words to God. 00:24:01.140 --> 00:24:02.140 My father. 00:24:02.140 --> 00:24:04.700 This is the first time in human history. 00:24:04.700 --> 00:24:05.700 Did you know that? 00:24:05.700 --> 00:24:12.940 This is the first time in human history that anybody ever said, recorded, my father. 00:24:12.940 --> 00:24:16.059 It's nowhere in the Old Testament. 00:24:16.059 --> 00:24:23.899 And she's realizing this boy has a relationship to God the Father, to God who is a father 00:24:23.899 --> 00:24:28.419 in a way that nobody else ever has in human history. 00:24:28.419 --> 00:24:31.779 And then that's why I think at the end of the passage, though she was confused, though 00:24:31.779 --> 00:24:36.419 she was confused, it says then she treasured all these things, because she realized she 00:24:36.419 --> 00:24:42.859 remembered this is the Son of God. 00:24:42.859 --> 00:24:43.859 This is him. 00:24:43.859 --> 00:24:45.700 He has to be near to his father. 00:24:45.700 --> 00:24:50.100 This is where he has to be. 00:24:50.100 --> 00:24:52.380 Jesus shows us, you see. 00:24:52.380 --> 00:24:53.380 Here's the meaning. 00:24:53.380 --> 00:24:57.740 Jesus shows us what it means to be human. 00:24:57.740 --> 00:25:04.940 At 12 years old, as Jesus was about to step into adulthood, he said to her, I need to 00:25:04.940 --> 00:25:08.019 be near to God my father. 00:25:08.019 --> 00:25:13.380 And he's going to come just a few chapters later and say, now you can pray our Father. 00:25:13.380 --> 00:25:18.340 And listen, it's too routine for us. 00:25:18.340 --> 00:25:20.220 It's too routine for every single one of us in here. 00:25:20.220 --> 00:25:24.420 If you've grown up in the church, if you're a follower of Jesus today, you are used to 00:25:24.420 --> 00:25:27.060 saying my father. 00:25:27.060 --> 00:25:28.060 You are used to it. 00:25:28.060 --> 00:25:31.300 You're used to saying our Father in heaven, how it would be your name. 00:25:31.300 --> 00:25:38.300 And you can't see how astonishing and confusing it really is, this moment in human history, 00:25:38.300 --> 00:25:41.180 when Jesus Christ said my father. 00:25:41.180 --> 00:25:47.340 All the teachers, all the scribes, all the Bible nerds would have said, what? 00:25:47.340 --> 00:25:48.980 What is he saying to say my father? 00:25:48.980 --> 00:25:52.620 He changed the world in this moment when he said, you can say this. 00:25:52.620 --> 00:25:53.620 You can say my father. 00:25:53.620 --> 00:25:55.019 You can say our father. 00:25:55.019 --> 00:25:56.580 God can be your father. 00:25:56.580 --> 00:25:57.740 And here's the meaning of the passage. 00:25:57.740 --> 00:25:59.980 He's saying to us, what does it mean to be human? 00:25:59.980 --> 00:26:06.380 He became so human, he came to show us what a true human is. 00:26:06.380 --> 00:26:13.700 The potential of humanity, it is to be near unto God and to be able to say my father, 00:26:13.700 --> 00:26:15.200 our father. 00:26:15.200 --> 00:26:17.420 That's the meaning of this. 00:26:17.420 --> 00:26:19.900 He came to show us that. 00:26:19.900 --> 00:26:28.260 And that's why I think Luke adds this phrase at the end where it says, and he was submissive 00:26:28.260 --> 00:26:29.260 to them. 00:26:29.260 --> 00:26:35.220 You know, we, with modernized come to this passage and say, was Jesus not being disobedient? 00:26:35.220 --> 00:26:40.299 You know, he didn't follow his parents on the caravan back to Nazareth. 00:26:40.299 --> 00:26:44.339 And Mary, Luke just very subtly helps us here. 00:26:44.339 --> 00:26:48.819 He adds, and Jesus was submissive to her, to his parents. 00:26:48.819 --> 00:26:49.819 Why? 00:26:49.819 --> 00:26:55.059 And I think it's this, because Mary is realizing in the midst of her confusion, when he says, 00:26:55.059 --> 00:27:02.140 my father, she's all of a sudden realizing this is the God of the universe. 00:27:02.140 --> 00:27:10.780 This is the ancient of days, and I better believe that I'm going to be confused by his actions. 00:27:10.780 --> 00:27:17.420 I better believe that I shouldn't expect to understand him, to be able to put him into 00:27:17.420 --> 00:27:23.140 a box that I expect for him to act in a way I expect she, she's realizing this is the 00:27:23.140 --> 00:27:24.140 ancient of days. 00:27:24.140 --> 00:27:25.140 This is the God of the universe. 00:27:25.140 --> 00:27:28.220 This is the master of the universe sitting right here. 00:27:28.220 --> 00:27:34.620 And he was submissive to her, meaning, meaning that if he was going to obey her, it was only 00:27:34.620 --> 00:27:36.100 because he chose to. 00:27:36.100 --> 00:27:39.140 It's because he chose to become a baby. 00:27:39.140 --> 00:27:40.460 He chose to become a child. 00:27:40.460 --> 00:27:41.900 He chose this. 00:27:41.900 --> 00:27:49.900 And she's realizing that, that my son, my 12-year-old boy, is the God of the universe, the ancient 00:27:49.900 --> 00:27:51.620 of days. 00:27:51.620 --> 00:27:56.740 And he has a relationship to God the Father like no one else ever has in human history. 00:27:56.740 --> 00:28:00.900 And here he is showing us what it means to be human. 00:28:00.900 --> 00:28:02.180 And here's what it means. 00:28:02.180 --> 00:28:08.299 It means that you were made to draw near to God as your Father. 00:28:08.299 --> 00:28:10.779 It's the revolution of world history. 00:28:10.779 --> 00:28:13.339 Now lastly, this. 00:28:13.339 --> 00:28:16.380 How can we have that this morning, this Christmas? 00:28:16.380 --> 00:28:21.579 And how can we say my Father, our Father, and here's how? 00:28:21.579 --> 00:28:24.700 It's astonishing that this is a bit of speculation. 00:28:24.700 --> 00:28:28.019 Let's end with a bit of speculation. 00:28:28.019 --> 00:28:31.019 This is Passover week. 00:28:31.019 --> 00:28:37.580 And Passover is one of the three annual feasts where you had to travel to Jerusalem to the 00:28:37.580 --> 00:28:41.019 temple for a pilgrimage. 00:28:41.019 --> 00:28:42.700 And they did that every year. 00:28:42.700 --> 00:28:44.259 Mary and Jess were very faithful in that. 00:28:44.259 --> 00:28:45.980 It says it was their custom. 00:28:45.980 --> 00:28:49.380 They stayed all seven days for the whole Passover feast. 00:28:49.380 --> 00:28:55.780 And remember that the Passover is all about remembering the Exodus story. 00:28:55.780 --> 00:28:59.500 So all week, everything is oriented to that. 00:28:59.500 --> 00:29:02.780 Remembering and thanking God for the Exodus story. 00:29:02.780 --> 00:29:08.340 And in the Exodus story, Israel was enslaved in Egypt. 00:29:08.340 --> 00:29:10.460 They were slaves. 00:29:10.460 --> 00:29:18.300 And we're told in Exodus and Deuteronomy and Numbers that every single person in Egypt, 00:29:18.299 --> 00:29:23.819 Israelite and Egyptian deserve the same thing. 00:29:23.819 --> 00:29:25.899 And that's to die, actually. 00:29:25.899 --> 00:29:27.299 They were all stubborn. 00:29:27.299 --> 00:29:28.740 They all had rejected God. 00:29:28.740 --> 00:29:30.579 They all had forgotten God. 00:29:30.579 --> 00:29:35.659 And God said, in the midst of your stubbornness, Israel, I'm going to save you out of Egypt. 00:29:35.659 --> 00:29:37.579 I'm going to rescue you. 00:29:37.579 --> 00:29:42.500 And so to do that, on the very final night of the 10 plagues, God sent an angel of death, 00:29:42.500 --> 00:29:49.460 remember, into Egypt, and death came to every single household. 00:29:49.460 --> 00:29:52.940 And the only way that you are going to get out from underneath the pain of death is if 00:29:52.940 --> 00:29:58.779 you killed a lamb and spread the blood of the lamb across your doorpost. 00:29:58.779 --> 00:30:03.420 And if you did that, death would look at the sacrifice, the substitute, this blood and 00:30:03.420 --> 00:30:05.579 pass by you. 00:30:05.579 --> 00:30:07.019 That's what the Passover meal was about. 00:30:07.019 --> 00:30:14.019 This whole week was about remembering that, that once death came for all, and if you had 00:30:14.019 --> 00:30:19.700 the blood of the lamb on your doorpost, God passed by you and showed you mercy. 00:30:19.700 --> 00:30:23.379 And then the very next day, they went out into the Red Sea, and the sea is supposed 00:30:23.379 --> 00:30:25.139 to drown you. 00:30:25.139 --> 00:30:32.420 And yet, as Moses put his hands out, and the sea parted, it went in half, and they passed 00:30:32.420 --> 00:30:34.139 through safely. 00:30:34.140 --> 00:30:38.980 And when Moses pulled his hands down, the seas came upon the Egyptians, and they drowned. 00:30:38.980 --> 00:30:43.500 And so the chorus of the week, of Passover week, is simply one thing. 00:30:43.500 --> 00:30:47.620 Everybody would have been singing about it, saying it, remembering it. 00:30:47.620 --> 00:30:53.180 If you have the blood of the lamb over your doorpost in your life, then God will pass 00:30:53.180 --> 00:30:56.140 by you and save you and rescue you. 00:30:56.140 --> 00:30:58.060 Now this was in Jesus' mind. 00:30:58.060 --> 00:31:00.340 This was what was surrounding Jesus all the time. 00:31:00.340 --> 00:31:02.900 Now here's what I think happened. 00:31:02.900 --> 00:31:04.900 He's 12 years old. 00:31:04.900 --> 00:31:07.180 He's about to become an adult. 00:31:07.180 --> 00:31:11.660 He is really awakening to the reality of his mission. 00:31:11.660 --> 00:31:17.180 And he stayed behind in the temple for three days because he realized fully, more fully 00:31:17.180 --> 00:31:21.140 than ever, what he came to do. 00:31:21.140 --> 00:31:25.940 That he came, he was realizing, this is what I exist for. 00:31:25.940 --> 00:31:30.580 I came to be the Passover lamb. 00:31:30.579 --> 00:31:35.419 And that's why when the teachers were there with him in the temple, they were astonished 00:31:35.419 --> 00:31:37.220 at his understanding of the Old Testament. 00:31:37.220 --> 00:31:41.139 Because all of a sudden he was able to say, no, you see the whole Old Testament is about 00:31:41.139 --> 00:31:42.139 one thing. 00:31:42.139 --> 00:31:45.939 It's about the fact that one day there would be an anointed one who would come and be the 00:31:45.939 --> 00:31:50.500 sacrificial lamb of the Passover meal for humanity to redeem the world. 00:31:50.500 --> 00:31:53.139 And he's sitting there showing them, no, look at this Old Testament passage. 00:31:53.139 --> 00:31:54.139 Look at this passage. 00:31:54.139 --> 00:31:55.220 Look at this passage. 00:31:55.220 --> 00:31:58.539 It's all about the Passover lamb that was to come. 00:31:58.539 --> 00:32:02.460 And at 12 years old, he's realized it's me. 00:32:02.460 --> 00:32:03.659 That's what's happening to him. 00:32:03.659 --> 00:32:07.819 That's what's happening, what happened in your 12 year old life. 00:32:07.819 --> 00:32:10.299 That's what's happening in his 12 year old life. 00:32:10.299 --> 00:32:12.539 On the brink of adulthood. 00:32:12.539 --> 00:32:16.180 And oh boy, that's why he had to be in his father's house. 00:32:16.180 --> 00:32:21.659 He realized I am the boy that's come to die. 00:32:21.659 --> 00:32:25.460 And I've got to be near my father right now. 00:32:25.460 --> 00:32:26.460 Prayer. 00:32:26.460 --> 00:32:27.460 Worship. 00:32:27.460 --> 00:32:30.340 Scripture, that's everything I need. 00:32:30.340 --> 00:32:34.340 This is why, well, what does Luke say? 00:32:34.340 --> 00:32:42.460 He says that Jesus Christ at 12 years old was lost for three days. 00:32:42.460 --> 00:32:45.220 You know, three days they couldn't find him. 00:32:45.220 --> 00:32:46.900 Three days he was lost. 00:32:46.900 --> 00:32:50.539 And on the third day he was found. 00:32:50.539 --> 00:32:52.340 And later on in Luke's Gospel, what does he say? 00:32:52.339 --> 00:32:57.899 He says, he tells the apostles, do you not know that the son of man must die? 00:32:57.899 --> 00:33:00.139 You know, he said, I must be in my father's house. 00:33:00.139 --> 00:33:01.299 I have to be. 00:33:01.299 --> 00:33:05.019 And later on he's going to say the same language, I must die. 00:33:05.019 --> 00:33:08.939 And in three days the son of man will rise again. 00:33:08.939 --> 00:33:11.299 And it's the exact same language that Luke uses here. 00:33:11.299 --> 00:33:16.059 He says three days he was lost and then he was found. 00:33:16.059 --> 00:33:20.779 And Luke's trying to say, don't you see that this 12 year old boy knows what he came for. 00:33:20.779 --> 00:33:22.700 He knows his mission. 00:33:22.700 --> 00:33:24.420 And that's why he had to be near to his father. 00:33:24.420 --> 00:33:25.420 He had to worship. 00:33:25.420 --> 00:33:27.339 He had to prepare his heart. 00:33:27.339 --> 00:33:31.059 He was getting ready right here, right then and there. 00:33:31.059 --> 00:33:33.259 He came. 00:33:33.259 --> 00:33:35.500 He came to show us what it means to be truly human. 00:33:35.500 --> 00:33:38.259 And it's to be near unto God. 00:33:38.259 --> 00:33:41.379 And he came to bring us near unto God. 00:33:41.379 --> 00:33:44.740 This little boy came to die. 00:33:44.740 --> 00:33:47.099 He came to be the Passover lamb for us and for you. 00:33:47.099 --> 00:33:49.980 Now let me close with this. 00:33:49.980 --> 00:33:50.980 This is everything. 00:33:50.980 --> 00:33:51.980 This is the meaning of Christmas. 00:33:51.980 --> 00:33:55.059 This little boy came to reconcile you unto God. 00:33:55.059 --> 00:33:56.500 And he did it by going to the cross. 00:33:56.500 --> 00:34:02.620 Now look, if you are a follower of Jesus Christ today, it's time, this time of year, just 00:34:02.620 --> 00:34:03.620 one minute to think about this. 00:34:03.620 --> 00:34:09.780 It's this time of year where you say, you know, what was my 2023 like? 00:34:09.780 --> 00:34:13.380 And what is my 2024 going to be? 00:34:13.380 --> 00:34:15.420 And here's the question. 00:34:15.420 --> 00:34:19.900 Did you grow near unto God in 2023? 00:34:19.900 --> 00:34:22.539 Jesus is saying here that that's the purpose of human existence. 00:34:22.539 --> 00:34:25.380 You were made by God to be near unto God. 00:34:25.380 --> 00:34:28.099 And he showed you how he made a way. 00:34:28.099 --> 00:34:34.059 And let me ask you this morning, when you look back at 2023, was it a year where you 00:34:34.059 --> 00:34:43.099 can say, I drew close to the Lord and I grew and I realized more and more of who I really 00:34:43.099 --> 00:34:44.940 am before him? 00:34:44.940 --> 00:34:54.220 Or is it a year where you say most of my year was stale and cold and I feel farther away 00:34:54.220 --> 00:34:58.340 from God than I did a year ago? 00:34:58.340 --> 00:35:00.380 What did Jesus do? 00:35:00.380 --> 00:35:03.340 Jesus reconciled you to God the Father. 00:35:03.340 --> 00:35:04.579 He enabled you to say God the Father. 00:35:04.579 --> 00:35:06.260 But look, what else did he do? 00:35:06.260 --> 00:35:13.340 Then he turned and said, he for three days poured over the scriptures and he prayed 00:35:13.340 --> 00:35:15.740 and he worshiped. 00:35:15.740 --> 00:35:16.900 He showed you exactly the way. 00:35:16.900 --> 00:35:20.900 He said, come through me and pour over the scriptures. 00:35:20.900 --> 00:35:22.980 Get near unto God this year, 2024. 00:35:22.980 --> 00:35:27.740 Pour over the scriptures and pray and dive in. 00:35:27.740 --> 00:35:33.940 And if you have the problem that most modern human beings have of chronic busyness, start 00:35:33.940 --> 00:35:40.140 this week as you prep for January 1st, tear your schedule up and reshape it and remake 00:35:40.139 --> 00:35:44.779 it so that you make sure that you are drawing near unto the Lord. 00:35:44.779 --> 00:35:48.699 It's the purpose of human existence and that's what Christmas is all about. 00:35:48.699 --> 00:35:50.219 Let's pray and ask God to help us. 00:35:50.219 --> 00:35:55.019 Lord, we pray and lift up our hearts before you and ask that you would teach us what it 00:35:55.019 --> 00:35:56.259 means to draw near to you. 00:35:56.259 --> 00:36:06.619 We thank you that we have a savior, a savior who was so near God the Son to the Father 00:36:06.619 --> 00:36:09.299 yet who was forsaken. 00:36:09.300 --> 00:36:16.060 So we remember today, Lord, that Jesus said, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? 00:36:16.060 --> 00:36:19.380 You were forsook, oh, Jesus, our Lord, so that we could be accepted. 00:36:19.380 --> 00:36:22.340 You were forsaken so that we could say our Father. 00:36:22.340 --> 00:36:28.420 And so we pray now and ask that some of us here would really believe that today and then 00:36:28.420 --> 00:36:31.340 from there we would seek to grow this year. 00:36:31.340 --> 00:36:34.740 And so we look at him, we look at this boy, this 12-year-old boy that was growing and 00:36:34.740 --> 00:36:38.140 growing through the scriptures, through prayer. 00:36:38.139 --> 00:36:43.739 And we just ask and pray, Lord, that you would draw our hearts towards those disciplines, 00:36:43.739 --> 00:36:48.940 that our heartbeat in 2024 would be that we would be near unto God. 00:36:48.940 --> 00:37:09.700 So we pray this and ask that you would make this our heart in Christ's name.