Boy Jesus
Christmas 2025 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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Transcript
Please turn to Luke 2.
Luke 2:41.
What were you doing when you were 12 years old?
What did you look like? for me...it was an awkward time...puberty. braces. glasses. I had big braces, big acne, big glasses. it was a strange time. most of my concerns at 12 were playing sports, hanging out with friends, trying to decide how much I should talk to girls.
I think we should have a Sunday where we all bring our most awkward middle school picture to church and share. That will increase our level of connection.
The account we are going to look at today gives us a brief glimpse into Jesus as a young man. as as 12 year old. We often think of Baby Jesus this time of year, and then most of the Bible skips to Man Jesus. but here is young man Jesus. or boy Jesus. and it’s the only story we have between Jesus’ infancy and his public ministry as a man.
there are some “lost gospels” that tell fanciful and imaginative stories of Jesus as a child that we don’t believe our true— (if time—-The boy Jesus restores a man’s foot after it was injured by an axe, carries water in his cloak after his jug broke, expands a piece of wood to help his carpenter father, jumps off a rooftop without being hurt (did he fly?), plants a single grain of wheat that produces a hundred bushels, and even raises people from the dead.)
our story today seems pretty uneventful—by comparison which speaks to its authenticity—that it actually happened.
We are going to learn about Jesus’ uniqueness, but also how he is like us.
I also want to talk about what we learn about the way Jesus interacts with his earthly parents—that can help us. because let’s face it—some of our relationships with our parents or family is COMPLICATED in all caps.
Let me read—and you can stay seated b/c I will make comments along the way.
41 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover.
if you remember last week, Joseph and Mary took Jesus to the Temple to have him dedicated as good young Jewish parents.
again, we see their dedication.
16 Three times a year all your men must appear before the Lord your God at the place he will choose: at the Festival of Unleavened Bread (the Passover), the Festival of Weeks and the Festival of Tabernacles. No one should appear before the Lord empty-handed:
so they are going—as a family...and they go every year. they don’t miss it!
Passover celebrates where God delivered Israel from slavery in Egypt. to do that, God sent 10 plagues, and the final plague was where God sent the angel of death to kill the Egyptian firstborn sons, but He passed over the Israelite families because they were covered under the blood of the Lamb.
so Joseph and Mary are headed to Jerusalem to celebrate that. would have spent about a week at an Airbnb in Jerusalem...or with family.
42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom.
when Jewish boys turned 13, they were considered responsible before God. the 12th year was a final year of preparation before a boy entered full participation in synagogue life—and becomes a bar mitzvah or son of the commandment. perhaps Jesus is showing He will different than ordinary 12 year olds.
43 After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it.
44 Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends.
so they must have been traveling in a big group of family and friends. It was such a communal society, and Joseph and Mary probably have lots of little kids they had to keep track of.
Mary probably thought “Jesus will be fine.”
and Jesus never texted.
45 When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.
that must have been a frantic search!
46 After three days (3 heartbreaking days!) they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
so think about that—1 day to travel away—1 day to travel back, and 1 day looking frantically—only to find Jesus sitting and conversing with all the Jewish, religious leaders and teachers.
47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.
48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”
how do you think Mary said it?
49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”
that may sound disrespectful, but I don’t think Jesus is being disrespectful.
50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
we view Jesus now from his work, his life and miracles and death and resurrection...
Joseph and Mary didn’t have that view quite yet...didn’t fully understand even though they had been a part of his miraculous birth, and the angels.
51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. (so it wasn’t like Jesus was trying to be disobedient.) But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.
52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
so continued to grow and develop as a human being, even though he was already fully God. 100% God and 100% man.
Let’s look at some important ways Jesus is unique. (and then we will talk about how to navigate family dynamics from this passage)
Jesus is unique in
His identity (vs. 49)
look at vs. 48-49
48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. 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. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”
(outline back on screen)
Sometimes people, skeptics question—did Jesus really know He was the Son of God. what was his self-understanding...or maybe he just was a charismatic leader who convinced people to follow Him and his crazy claims. and then maybe Jesus got crazy enough that He didn’t understand
but we see here—early on —Jesus knew who He was. He knew that He was and is the Son of God. His unique identity as the Son of God...the 2nd member of the Trinity—God the Father, God the Spirit, and Jesus is God the Son. He knew it—at 12 years old.
Think about that theme of sonship for a second. there is a way that is unique to Jesus, yet also applies to us.
In Biblical times, Biblical sons ended up doing what their father did for a living. If you father was a butcher you were; a baker, you were, or a candle-stick maker—you were.
Just by show of hands—men and women—both I need you to participate—how many of you are doing for a job what your parents did in some way? How many of you are in the same field as your parents? It’s probably higher here than in a larger city, but most of us are not.
but in the Bible—we are reminded that kids did what their parents—they took after the identity of their parents vocation/trade and character.
Adam and Eve—Adam was technically, the first son of God (Not god) but they were called to reflect God.
Israel is called God’s Son in Exodus 4.
King David is called God’s Son
but none of these character exemplified or reflected God well.
Only Jesus...who is uniquely qualified as God’s Son.
because the book of John tells us that He has always existed.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was with God in the beginning.
so Jesus is unique! uniquely qualified—to be the ultimate Son of God. there’s no one like him—He can uniquely qualify and accomplish our salvation. He can be the go between between a holy God and a sinful man. representing us both.
and for those of us now—who believe in Jesus—we are children or sons of God.
1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
and #2 - Jesus is unique in his mission.
because He is that unique Son of God, completely attached to the Father and the Spirit within the Trinity, He already knew I think why He came.
10 For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Jesus makes 3 predictions of His death in the book of Luke
31 Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.
32 He will be delivered over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him and spit on him;
33 they will flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again.”
and while we are called now to take up our cross and follow Him—to die to ourselves—none of us will ever have to die for the sins of the whole world—only Jesus. Only Jesus can make a way—He is the way—to have us be restored to a forgiven, thriving relationship with God.
#3 - Jesus is unique in his wisdom. (vs. 40, 52)
Luke 2:40 just before says this:
40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.
52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.
now, there is some mystery here. and early theologians wrestled with this complicated question—of how Jesus’ humanity related to His divinity. because He is 100% God, the eternal Son of God added humanity to His pre-existing divinity..so that He became 100% man. but he never stopped being God. He was 100% God and 100% man both.
so it boggled (still boggles) how that all works.
and yet Jesus also humbled himself in his divinity, took on flesh as a baby, grew up. had to go through puberty. he had to learn things in his humanity, even though He was divine. it’s truly mind-boggling.
and a big piece of his wisdom was the Holy Spirit on him.
so already—we see that Jesus is not your typical 12 year old. He knows who His ultimate Father is—his real identity, his uniqueness, his mission...he His going to be the true Passover Lamb. He is going to be the true temple—not this temple complex. He is the one who can fully interpret the OT Law
Amazing...
and I want to apply this in a unique way today from this passage. How Jesus can truly help us....
and that’s in the area of family.
Jesus does an amazing job of honoring His heavenly father, and his parents, family at the same time. and I want to finish by talking about that tension.
you will wrestle with it at some point in your life.
for some this is a HUGE tension. because you follow Jesus, but your parents or family/relatives don’t. so how do you honor them when you disagree so much with them.
but even those who have Christian family—it can be difficult, too, to navigate this tension. whether from the parents side or the kids side. b/c even as Christians, we don’t always get along. and that’s true in our biological families.
and the holidays just MAGNIFY and COMPLICATE that tension.
let me give 3 principles—
Our first priority is to honor God first, (even over family members) (vs. 49)
remember, Jesus told his exasperated parents, “Didn’t you know that I had to be in my father’s house?”
when you become a Christian, you get a new identity and a new family. your new father is God, your last name isn’t Schwartz or Sprunger anymore—it’s Christian, b/c you identify with Jesus.
Jesus will say later in Luke 14:25-26
25 Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said:
26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple.
I love it when Jesus says shocking things. He is not calling you to hate your family. but your greatest allegiance is now to your heavenly Father. Jesus demonstrates that throughout his ministry (b/c His family thought he was out of his mind at times).
surrendering to Jesus—means surrendering all—your money, your sexuality, your decisions, your online life. says “You are in control, even over my family, even if my family doesn’t always understand my views or decisions now.”
this can be tough to work out in practice—b/c most of us don’t like disappointing people. and even those of you who say “I don’t care what people think.” You are a liar and a psycho. You do care at some level.
even to this day, I still care about my parent’s opinion (it’s not the last word in my life) but I care and value their opinion.
However, where possible, God still calls us to honor our parents. (vs. 51)
verse 51 kind of softens vs. 49 a little.
51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them (some translations say submissive). But his mother treasured all these things in her heart.
We don’t hear much about Jesus’ childhood, teenage years etc.--but we get the picture that Jesus lived a pretty normal childhood for his time. He was trained in the family business. He worked construction just like his earthly daddy did. He worked hard. He learned. He grew. It was pretty uneventful--as he obeyed his earthly parents as much as he could.
The Bible is big on honoring your parents.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
that’s repeated in Ephesians 6:2
2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise—
certainly our relationship with our parents changes as we mature and get older. but still called to honor them.
look at even 1 Timothy 5:3-4
3 Give proper recognition to those widows who are really in need.
4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.
Paul calls the family to take care of the widow—to help your parents and grandparents out.
we are called to honor our parents (and I would say family) even if we disagree with them.
as Americans I think we love rebellion. Point #1 sounds so spiritual—to tell our family to “take that...God has called me to this!) it sounds super spiritual. some of you just love to do the opposite of what anyone tells you. we used to have name tags out and name tag Sunday (and maybe we should again) and we would ask people to wear them, and maybe we got 75% at best, b/c at least a 1/4 of our people love being rebellious, and all the rebellious people said “Amen.” or maybe nothing at all because you didn’t want to agree with me.
I remember sitting in on a leadership seminary class, filled with students and classmates from around the world. we talked about what makes Jesus the ideal leader...
most of the people in the west—American—Jesus is not afraid to buck the system. to go against the religious establishment.
but other cultures in the east—said Jesus was the obedient, perfect Son. He followed His heavenly Father faithfully. and I sat there with my jaw dropped and said, “Huh....”
but point #1 has to be balanced by point #2—we have to honor our family, honor our parents especially.
I really do think we hold these principles together—because often God does speak through our biological families more than we would like to admit. they know us best. when a young couple has me do their pre-marital counseling to get them ready for marriage...i will ask them how do you parents feel about this marriage? how do your friends? how do the people who know you best...and if they are against, it doesn’t mean I won’t marry them, I just have a lot more questions. I got to do some more spiritual digging in their lives.
Where possible, we are still to submit to and honor our parents and family.
And this will look different--if you are a kid--definitely obey your parents. Your parents often know what is best. They know so much more than you think. If you are old and not under your parent’s authority--you are still called to honor them as much as possible, even if they are not Christians. One way you can honor your parents is listening to the advice and instruction and opinions of them--I mean truly listening before arguing. Trying to understand where they are coming from.
But notice I said in principle #2 “Where possible.” There are going to be times when you will simply have to disagree with your family and do what God is calling you to do. but at least show them honor and respect by listening and understanding their opinion as much as possible. And if there is conflict between what God wants you to do and what your parents and family want to do, follow God.
When Jamie and I sensed that God was calling us to move Lima, Ohio, to start a new church, some of our family was very hesitant about us doing this position. “You are doing what?” “starting a church?” “What does that mean?” “how will you get paid?” (faith and manna from heaven) we tried to respectfully listen and consider their hesitancies--their questions caused us to be more patient and pray, but at the end of the day--we sensed that God was calling us to do this, so we moved forward in faith and some fear too.
3. As we rely on Jesus, He gives us wisdom.
We need to rely on Jesus for wisdom in this. If you notice principle #1 and #2--it takes wisdom to apply these--supernatural wisdom. Sometimes, you will have to go against what your family thinks and do what God has called you to do, and sometimes, the godly thing is to swallow your pride, respect and honor what your parents think, and it takes wisdom to know what to do, but who better to rely on than Jesus--the ultimate wise man--who always knew what to do because He depended on God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. He was the one who obeyed His Father perfectly and respected and honored his earthly parents perfectly. At times, he confused his family and disappointed them because His first priority was God--they did not understand his mission and identity until he died on the cross, yet even when he was on the cross dying for the sins of the world, he honored his mother, Mary who was there--making sure that after he died, she was taken care of.
You see--We have a Savior, Jesus Christ, with an amazing resume--he was unique in his mission, his identity as the Son of God, and his amazing wisdom--whom we can learn much from about how to obey God yet honor our family. Just like Jesus, we are called to obey God yet honor our family. Let’s ask God for wisdom right now in that area.
