The Father’s Business
Luke 2:41-52
January 8, 2023 anno Domini
It’s a troubling text isn’t it. Jesus of Nazareth is without sin, but here in Luke 2 it looks like He sinned. Isn’t causing your parents worry a sin? Isn’t going somewhere they haven’t given you permission to go sin? They expected Him to be among their travelling companions. They expected Him to be heading home. His mother was not a little upset when she asked, “Why have you treated us so?” but she gets no repentance from Jesus. She gets rebuked. Often at this point in a sermon I would say, “Don’t try this at home, you’re not Jesus” but one point of the text is to teach us that there are times when we need to rebuke authority because as brothers and sisters of Jesus we need to be about our Father’s business.
Just a little translating point – the word “house” does not appear in the Greek. Neither does the word “business” which are the two common translations – that Jesus is “in His Father’s house” or “about His Father’s business.” What Jesus says is “It is necessary for me to be in my Father’s things.” I prefer business over house, but both serve as fine interpretations.
God gave Mary and Joseph the authority of parents. We correctly confess Mary was the Mother of God the moment she conceived Jesus. He is God in the flesh. Joseph, as Mary’s husband is guardian. They had their place over Jesus. Mary fed Jesus and changed His diaper and swaddled Him. Joseph protected Mary and Jesus from Herod and provided for his family as a carpenter. They also raised their Son as a God-fearing Jew by teaching Him the faith.
But if there was ever a child who didn’t need to memorize the books of the Bible and learn about Adam and Abraham or Rahab and Rebekkah it was Jesus. He was the Son of God. He created Adam and conversed with Abraham. He knew Rahab and He saved Rebekkah’s husband Isaac from being sacrificed. Jesus could have been the most annoying kid in Sabbath school because He knew more than the teachers. He didn’t need to go the Festivals of the Hebrew people. He had been present for the original events as the Son of God. But Mary and Joseph didn’t use that as an excuse to relinquish their authority and Jesus did not protest.
If any parents had a good excuse to be lax in the spiritual upbringing of their son, it was Mary and Joseph. Seriously, does God need to go to church, memorize the Scriptures, or learn how to pray? They make no excuses, but you do and none of our children, even pastor’s kids have an ounce of the piety that Jesus had. Scripture tells us our children are born captive to the Devil. Within months of birth, you’ll see the sinful nature on the inside evident all over the outside. If God has given you the gift of children, then He has given you authority to do what Mary and Joseph did, to order your sinful child’s life with fear and love, to discipline them physically and spiritually, and, above all, to bring them to Jesus and not make excuses.
Sinners need authority. We need order in our lives so that our selfishness does not lead to chaos. We may complain about our State or Federal governments, but we would not survive the chaos that would ensue without them. You may complain about your parents, but you wouldn’t have survived a moment inside or outside the womb without them. You may not like your pastor, but who else is going to tell you what God’s Word says, especially when you have selective hearing about your own sins?
We must respect the authority that God puts over us as did Jesus, until that authority keeps us from God’s house or meddles in God’s business. Jesus stayed in Jerusalem to do His Father’s business in His Father’s house. He revealed Himself to the Scribes and Pharisees and Teachers of the Law. After He schooled them, they could have no doubt this Jesus of Nazareth was no ordinary 12-year-old. He had Godly wisdom. He talked as if He chummed around with the Patriarchs and Prophets. They would be left without excuse 20 years later when this same Jesus of Nazareth stood in their midst, and they rejected Him. The Father’s business was revealing Jesus as God’s final Word, His way of salvation, His truth for life everlasting.
This is why Jesus stays behind in Jerusalem when His parents head home. He wasn’t some Pinocchio led away by sinful delights. He knew exactly what He was doing, and He was right to do so. Was his mom worried? You betcha. Was Joseph ticked? Of course. He lost a couple days of work in his shop because that silly boy of Mary’s ran off. When they finally lay eyes on the boy, Mary gives him what for, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.”
A normal 12-year-old boy, raised by two good parents like Mary and Joseph, would have melted at this point. “I’m sorry. I’ll never do it again. I promise.” But Jesus is no ordinary boy, and He puts Mary in her place. He is her Son, but He is also her Lord and God.
He chides her. You’ve been searching for me? Did you forget who I am? Remember Gabriel appearing to you, and the birth in the barn, and those Wise Guys from the East. Did you forget that Herod wanted to kill me and Joseph protected us down in Egypt? Today I’m not going to answer you as your son. I’m going to rebuke you as your Lord. If you remembered who I was you would have looked only one place – my Father’s house because I’m about my Father’s business.
At times Jesus would behave like Mary’s son, but He would always be about His Father’s business. If Mary tried to keep Him from those tasks she would be rebuked. Jesus chose the cross over His mother. Did He want His mother to suffer through the injustice of His trial, or the horror of His suffering? Did He want her to witness His execution, naked on the cross? Would He have spared her the mockery of the crowds and His humiliation? Why do you think He faced such great temptation in the Garden, that He had to pray, “Father, not My will, but Thine be done.” Jesus loved Mary, but He loved her more than a son loves his mother. He loved her as her Savior. That love was His Father’s business. He came to suffer and die to win forgiveness for all sinners, for Mary, for you.
There are times when Christians must rebuke authority. If our parents or government or pastors command us to go against God’s Word, if they command us to leave our proper God-given place, then we must talk back. If the local school board grants teachers more authority than parents over their children, we must rebuke them and protest. When the State would attempt to stand in the pulpit and limit the free course of God’s Word we must not obey. We have many sins to confess in this regard. I look back on the COVID lockdowns and I believe our church should have been open every Lord’s Day and whoever wanted to come could come. What do I need more – Governor Walz approval or the gifts of my Savior? We let the authorities creep into our faith and the approval of the school or the coaches or our pleasures take too much away from our confession. We acquiesced in silence and submission. Jesus did not. He rebuked His own mother for us and our salvation.
Mary and Joseph teach us to exercise our authority for good – even if our child is God Himself (and we know he isn’t). Jesus teaches us to rebuke authority when it would take His Word and His gifts from us. That’s God’s business for us. It’s the work He’s given us to do. In the name of Jesus. Amen.