Battle Drill for the Festivals: Listen and Ask Questions

After the celebration was over, they started home to Nazareth, but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents didn’t miss him at first, because they assumed he was among the other travelers. But when he didn’t show up that evening, they started looking for him among their relatives and friends.

When they couldn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem to search for him there. Three days later they finally discovered him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions. All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

His parents didn’t know what to think. “Son,” his mother said to him, “why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been frantic, searching for you everywhere.”

“But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they didn’t understand what he meant.

Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. And his mother stored all these things in her heart.

Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people.

Intro

Today, we are going to walk through the four action steps of a soldier’s training routine to learn a different kind of battle drill – a battle drill for the festivals.

Pastor Jerry has invited me to share three times this year about the three Pilgrimage Feasts or festivals that gave structure to the Jewish calendar year. I have a passion for studying these three festivals because they foreshadow the three biggest events in the life of the Church.

Another reason I love to study these three feasts is because I believe they are the best proof we have that the bible is God’s word; that God’s Word is inspired and accurate in its original autographs; and that Christ is the second person of the Trinity, the Son of God the Father, and the Head of the Church.

Over one thousand years before Christ was born, the events we celebrate during the Passover happened in such a way that they would act as a template for the death of Christ. Christ was sacrificed on the cross on the exact day, and at the exact hour that the Jews were sacrificing the Passover lamb and remembering the Exodus from Egypt – their deliverance from bondage and slavery. But our story today played out 21 years before that happened. Jesus and his parents were on their way to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover.

Action Step #1) Know the Field Manual

Not only did Jesus and his family know the field manual, but they also rehearsed it repeatedly, over and over. It was built into their routine daily (their prayers, Shema, waking up, before meals, etc.), weekly (Shabbat), and annually (feasts and festivals).

Every day, most Jews would recite the Shema (and many still do). Shema is the first Hebrew word in the prayer. It’s usually translated as “Hear” (O Israel) or “Listen.” But Shema means more than that. It means to “listen and obey”; to “hear and put it into action.”

Here’s my translation of the Shema:

Listen and obey, Israel: Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is unique, one of a kind! You must love Yahweh your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength. (Dt 6:4–5 NET - Modified)

What would happen if, every day – after we woke up in the morning, and before we went to sleep at night – we recited this passage?

Jews observed Sabbath on the seventh day of every week. Saturday was a Holy Day, or holiday, and was a day where you didn’t have to work. A day when you trusted God to take care of your business while you rest in him. Saturday is still the Holy Day that Jews observe.

And every year, the Jews celebrated three extended feasts that commemorated three events: God’s delivering Israel from slavery in Egypt, God transforming Israel into a nation, and God providing for them while they wandered in the desert between Mt. Sinai and the Promised Land.

The passage Nora read describes one of those yearly Passover celebrations.

Luke 2:41 ESV

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.

Passover was a Memorial Day.

Exodus 12:14 (ESV) says,

“This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.”

And the evening of Passover was a night of watching.

Exodus 12:42 (ESV) says,

It was a night of watching by the Lord, to bring them out of the land of Egypt; so this same night is a night of watching kept to the Lord by all the people of Israel throughout their generations.

Just as God watched over Israel that night in order to bring them out of slavery, the children of Israel would spend the night of Passover as a watch night – remembering what God did on that first Passover night. We did some of that last year.

Last year on Palm Sunday, we talked about the events that led up to the Passover. We talked about how Moses ran away from Egypt after his anger and his sense of justice flared up prompting him to kill an Egyptian. How Yahweh God called Moses from the flaming bush that never burnt up. How God sent Moses back to Egypt where he had been a wanted man.

We talked about the signs and wonders God performed through Moses, and how each of the ten plagues was a direct attack on one of the gods of Egypt. These ten plagues revealed that the power of the Egyptian gods was nothing compared to the strength of Yahweh.

And we talked about how, on the night before God led them out of Egypt, he established an annual time of remembrance – a Memorial Day.

Mary, Joseph, and Jesus (and the others celebrating Passover) remembered that a lamb had to be sacrificed – slaughtered for their freedom. They remembered the blood from the lamb that they smeared on the doorframes of their homes. They remembered the flat unleavened bread that they ate. They remembered how they were to eat the Passover meal with their travel clothes on. And they remembered the wailing and crying throughout Egypt at every home that was not covered by the blood of the lamb. In each of these homes the firstborn in those households died because they were not protected by the blood of the lamb.

They remembered that their ancestors left Egypt with a new identity. What they had known for 400 years, a lifetime of slavery for a family that had grown into an ethnic group, was over. They would eventually become a nation with a God who was completely devoted to them. But the morning after Passover they were in an in-between time – they weren’t slaves anymore, but they weren’t a nation yet either. The Passover celebration was about remembering that in-between time. Are you in an in-between time?

For Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the rest of the remnant of Jews in Palestine, they were in a different kind of in-between time. The Northern Kingdom (composed of ten of the twelve tribes of Israel) had been taken into exile by the Assyrians and forcibly relocated into the surrounding nations. These ten tribes were dissolved, gone, and never came back.

The Southern Kingdom (composed of the other two tribes) had been taken into exile by the Babylonians, who destroyed the Temple that Solomon built – the place where they met with God – the place where God had placed his name. Over time, a few survivors from the two tribes had returned to the Promised Land. The Temple was rebuilt by a Gentile, but the Jews were still being ruled by foreign powers.

As the mass of pilgrims swarmed into Jerusalem, they were longing for the Promised Messiah to restore the Kingdom. So, they studied Torah, they retold the story, they listened, and they asked questions.

This is what Jesus, and his parents were doing by going to Jerusalem for Passover. They were remembering the deliverance story. They were asking questions of the rabbis and seeking answers from the Torah. They were looking to a future where a promised Messiah would one day write a new deliverance story.

Are you looking for a new deliverance story to be written in your life? When was the last time you asked questions about scripture? When was the last time you TOOK time to remember all of things God has done for you?

Thanksgiving Bible Study.

This year, Jesus was 12 years old. He was still considered a child and Luke makes that point very clear in this passage – multiple times. Next year he would be 13, he would be considered a man, but this year Jesus was a 12-year-old.

In this passage, Luke says that Jesus was still learning. This shouldn’t surprise us.

Paul quotes from an early Christian hymn in his letter to the Philippian church that Christ Jesus, “who was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”(Php 2:5–7 ESV) And like every man and woman, boy and girl, he had to learn.

This might stretch your theology about Jesus, but in the passage that Nora read today, in verses 40 and 52, Luke writes very clearly that Jesus was growing – in wisdom, and in stature, and in favor with God and his friends, family, and neighbors. Jesus was learning. And Luke highlights that again in the center of this story in verses 46 & 47.

Luke 2:46–47 (ESV)

After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.

During Passover, we know that some of the Jewish teachers would go to the temple courts to teach anyone who wanted to learn, and to let them ask questions.[i]

It’s possible that Jesus was asking questions of the founders of the two schools of thought in Judaism – Hillel and Shammai. Maybe you’ve been watching the series The Chosen (and I strongly encourage you to do so) where these two rabbis were mentioned in the second season. Hillel was a humble, loving teacher, but Shammai was known for his violent temper and rigid interpretation of the Law.[ii]

I’m sure Jesus focused on listening and asking questions about the sacrifice of the Lamb. In twenty-one short years, another lamb would be making that journey to Jerusalem. But this lamb would be the Lamb of Lambs, as well as the King of Kings.

Jesus was learning the field manual because one day he would have to make use of it in the most important battle of all times.

Action Step #2) Train together as one unit.

The Jewish Pilgrimage Feasts were designed by God to be celebrated in community, not individually. At Passover (as well as at Pentecost and Sukkot) Jewish communities trained together as one unit.

Luke 2:41–42 ESV

Now [Jesus’] parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom.

When Jesus was a boy, they didn’t load the family up in the minivan and drive to Jerusalem. Typically, people traveled to the feasts in caravans; the women and children would be up front, and the men, young and old, would follow behind. Entire villages and extended family units would frequently travel together for protection and company.[iii]

In America, we do fewer and fewer things in groups. We pride ourselves on individualism. Everything is personalized. Less than a generation ago, there was maybe two or three radio stations that had a signal strong enough to listen to. One or two of them might be a music station. Eventually, our selection grew to five or six styles of music stations. Now you create your own mix on Apple Music, or Spotify.

You usually don’t go to the movies anymore; you stream it to your family room or watch it by yourself on your phone. Almost nobody has a group experience anymore. We each have it “my way” … by our lonesome.

We need corporate experiences. We need to worship together – in the same room. We need to worship with multiple generations – in the same room. We need to worship with new Christians and witness their passion and joy. We need to worship with those who have walked with God for decades and can testify to God’s faithfulness. That’s what happened at every Passover. They worshipped and remembered together. They retold the story of deliverance. They asked questions and they listened.

Come to the Passover Seder meal. It’s a time where you listen and ask questions. It even features a time where the kids ask questions. We retell the story of God’s deliverance in a family setting. It’s a regular meal of normal food, so don’t eat ahead of time. We’ll start at 6:00 p.m. and begin eating around 6:30. We should have everything wrapped up by around 7:30 or so.

If you can’t come Thursday night, I understand. Life is busy.

But you need to intentionally meet with other Christians on a regular basis. What have you done together? Meet for prayer on Wednesday night. Meet for Sunday School on Sunday morning. Meet for bible study during the week. Serve your community in groups of other believers.

Hebrews 10:24-25 is about more than just Sunday mornings.

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

Get together with other Christians and stir each other up to love and good works. That’s what Jesus and his relatives were doing. They were training together as one unit.

Action Step #3) Seek the Commander’s approval.

We’re not told exactly how it happened, but when the days of Passover were complete Jesus got separated from his parents.

And Luke 2:44–45 (ESV) reads that, “Supposing [Jesus] to be in the group [Mary and Joseph] went a day’s journey [away from Jerusalem], but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him.”

And what was Jesus doing when Mary and Joseph found him at the Temple? He was seeking the Commander’s approval. Spending time in the Temple would please his Father. Listening and asking questions about God’s Word would please his Father.

Luke 2:49 ESV

And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

In other words, pre-teen Jesus said, “Where else would I be? I’m here in my Father’s house. I’m learning the field manual. We’re training together as one unit. I’m seeking my Father’s approval.”

By the way, I remember the anxiety I felt when we lost one of our daughters at Walmart, or the mall. It didn’t happen often, but when it did … the PANIC was real! You turn your head one minute and their gone! I can imagine a little bit how Mary felt! It’s like, “Mary, you had one job! How hard can it be to keep track of the Son of God!” … Maybe that’s a question we should ask of ourselves?

But Jesus was listening and asking questions. Jesus was learning that, to seek the Commander’s approval would require great sacrifice on his part.

When was the last time you talked with God about what you think he’s called you to do? Do you know if he is pleased with your actions? Is he pleased with your plans? Have you talked to him about your goals? What do you think God would say if you had that conversation?

Action Step #4) Live on mission.

Luke 2:48 ESV

And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.”

If you use your imagination (and you don’t need a big one to imagine this) I think Mary ran to Jesus and gave him one of those smothering, squeeze-the-air-out-of-you, hugs that only moms can give. Then maybe she grabbed him by his shoulders and pushed him to arm’s length so she could stare at him eye to eye.

“Son, why have you done this to us? Your dad and I have been frantic! We searched for you everywhere!”

Actually, Mary didn’t call him “son”. She used another word. The word Mary used meant “little one” or “child.” Mary still saw Jesus as a child … everyone did!

What happens when you call a 12-year-old “little one?”

I remember that age. I remember when I wasn’t a child anymore, but no one saw me as a man. That in-between stage is frustrating! I didn’t want adults to consider me a child, I was adult-ish. Do you remember a time when you weren’t what you used to be, but you weren’t quite what you wanted to be?Transitions are hard. Anthropologists call that place a liminal space – an in-between place.

Jesus was in a liminal space – an in-between place. He wasn’t really a child anymore, but he wasn’t what society considered an adult. Jesus was in a place where he was listening and asking questions and he was transitioning between being a child and an adult.

Jesus explained to his parents what he was doing. He was seeking the Commander’s approval.

But Luke 2:50 (ESV) reads,

They did not understand the saying that he spoke to them.

Sometimes others will not understand what God has called you to do. But you still need to Charlie Mike – Continue the Mission.

God has asked me to do some odd things at times. Several years ago, when we were just friends, God told me to ask Cheryl a question. He said, “Cheryl has a deal with me. Ask her what her deal with me is.”

I’m thinking, “What if she doesn’t have a deal with God? I would look stupid, or weird, or both!” I felt silly, but I asked her anyway. She told me that she asked God to tell her when the “right man” came along – the one she would marry. Let me tell you, I’m glad I Charlie Miked!

Sometimes others will not understand what God has called you to do. But you still need to Charlie Mike – Continue the Mission.

Jesus was in a liminal space – an “in-between” place. The Jews of his day were in an “in-between” place. Maybe you are in an “in-between” place – a liminal space. Continue the mission; Charlie Mike. Jesus stayed on mission, but he did it the right way. He sought the Commander’s approval by talking with God frequently. He trained together by living in community. He asked questions and listened. And He learned the field manual by obeying the Torah – especially the part about honoring his father and mother.

Luke 2:51-52 ESV

[But Jesus] went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

I wonder what the setting was the first time Jesus told his parents that he would be the Passover Lamb? Mary was told just days after Jesus’ birth that “a sword would pierce her heart too.” Did she fully understand what that prophecy would mean? Did she understand that her son would one day assume the role of the new Passover Lamb – the Lamb of God? That his blood would have to be applied to our lives in order for us to live?

I think Mary was living in an “in-between” place for most of her life.

In her book “Bearing God’s Name: Why Sinai Still Matters,” Carmen Imes shared about the importance of not rushing through these dislocated places – the in-between” places – the liminal spaces.

“God has lessons to teach us that can only be learned in a state of dislocation. Lessons about who we are. About who he is. And how he’s calling us to be in the world. Wrapped in liminality are gifts such as perseverance, perspective, rest, creativity, empathy, gratitude, and most of all, faithfulness. Rushing on to the next thing may prevent us from becoming who he wants us to be when we get there. In this place of upheaval and instability, we must let him shape us. We serve a God whose primary purpose is not to make us comfortable or successful in the eyes of the world, but to transform us. Liminality—that unsettled and unsettling place that reveals our deepest fears and longings—is his workshop.”[1]

As her pastor said, “Jesus finished all the work God gave him to do, but he did not finish all the work.” Just as [Jesus] was sent to do the Father’s will, so he sends his disciples into the world. They are commissioned to carry out his mission.[2]

You and I … WE are commissioned to carry out his mission.

Make this battle drill of listening and asking questions a reflexive, instinctive, and habitual part of your Christian life so that you can CM – Continue the Mission! Live on mission today and train the battle drill of the week for the glory of God. Let us pray.

[1] Carmen Joy Imes and Christopher J. H. Wright, Bearing God’s Name: Why Sinai Still Matters, Logos (Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Academic, 2019), 159–60. [2] Imes and Wright, 155.

[i] Freeman and Chadvick, The New Manners and Customs of the Bible p.502-503 2:46 Jesus Questioning the Teachers After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. There were several places within the Temple area where teachers of the law met their disciples. One of these places was in the cloisters described in Matthew 24:1Herod’s Temple. Another was in the synagogue that was in the Temple enclosure. After services, the teachers admitted any who wished to converse with them on matters pertaining to the law. There is no reason to suppose that Jesus’ conversation with the teachers was in any way controversial. He simply followed the custom of the time, which allowed anyone who chose to question the teachers on any points they desired. Although our text-verse is often twisted by some to say that the child Jesus was teaching these learned men, that is not what the verse says. He was asking them questions and learning from them. They were, however, amazed at His understanding and answers to questions that they asked Him—asking questions of students was a rabbinical method of teaching. Wenham et al., The New Bible Commentary p.985 The age of twelve was normal for instructing a boy for entry to the religious community of Judaism, and therefore for a meaningful visit to Jerusalem. Jewish men were required by the law to keep the three annual festivals in Jerusalem, but only the Passover was strictly observed. Whole families would go up to Jerusalem, with an estimated 60,000–100,000 visitors packing themselves into a town whose normal population may have been no more than 25,000. People travelled in large groups for companionship and security on the way, and it is not surprising that Mary and Joseph did not worry unduly about Jesus on the first day’s journey home. After a day spent in returning to Jerusalem they found him in the temple, which was a set of courtyards and buildings used not only for offering sacrifices but also for religious teaching and discussions (cf. Acts 5:25). His intelligent discussion with the teachers was an indication of the wisdom that he would show later. The story does not mean that Jesus was trying to instruct them, but rather that they were impressed by his unusual promise as a pupil. [ii] Keener, IVPBBCNT New Testament (Second Edition) p.187 Some Jewish teachers in this period reportedly conducted their classes in the temple courts; the famous *Hillel and *Shammai may have been two such teachers. Asking questions was used both in teaching and in learning, but it was important for learners to ask intelligent questions, as Jesus does. Teachers could answer questions with questions, and Jesus’ answers are also intelligent. Students might begin advanced training in their mid-teens; the teachers recognize Jesus as a prodigy. Zuck, Basic Bible Interpretation: A Practical Guide to Discovering Biblical Truth p.28 Rabbi Hillel (70 B.C.?–A.D. 10?) was a prominent leader among the Jews of Palestine. He was born in Babylonia and established a school, which was named for him, in Jerusalem. He was known for his humility and love. He arranged under six topics the many rules p 29 that had developed among the Jews pertaining to the 613 commands in the Mosaic Law. Zuck, Basic Bible Interpretation: A Practical Guide to Discovering Biblical Truth p.29 Shammai, a contemporary of Hillel, differed from Hillel in both personality and hermeneutics. A man with a violent temper, he interpreted the Law rigidly. The teachings of these two rabbis often directly conflicted with each other. After the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 the School of Hillel became prominent, and the School of Shammai receded in significance and influence. [iii] Wiersbe, THE BIBLE EXPOSITION COMMENTARY An Exposition of the New Testament Comprising the Entire “BE” Series p.179 - People traveled to the feasts in caravans, the women and children leading the way and setting the pace, and the men and young men following behind. Relatives and whole villages often traveled together and kept an eye on each other’s children. At the age of twelve, Jesus could easily have gone from one group to another and not been missed. Joseph would think Jesus was with Mary and the other children, while Mary would suppose He was with Joseph and the men, or perhaps with one of their relatives.

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