For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. Psalms 84:10
Read Luke 2:41-52
Story (in my own perspective)
Her legs must have ached, attempting to keep pace with her husband’s longer stride. They had already traveled a day’s length of 20 miles, over this very dirt road. Imagine the dirt crusted feet, a grumbling stomach and tears streaming down her face. She has lost her son, God’s son. No one had seen him all day, all 20 miles.
The hours pass as slowly as these miles do. This leaves a decent time to worry. “Where could he be? It is his first time in Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover. He is twelve, so not a little boy, maybe that will help him be okay. But where did he go?” Would her worry hastened her pace a little or just increase the knots tied up in her heart?
Three days later, they found him. I don’t know where their minds went during those long days of searching, but I know I would be increasingly more overcome with distress at each passing second. I imagine they sleep little to nothing, eating enough to keep them going, and searched frantically. I am sure all bets were off on their mental capacity by the time they walked into the temple and saw Jesus unaffected by their absence.
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Jesus was overjoyed to be the Feast, finally 12-years-old, and allowed to attend the Feast. He had been with the Father when the Spirit of the God as the seventh and last plague was sent against the Egyptians in attempt to have God’s people, the Israelites, released from the bondage as slaves. The blood of a sacrificial lamb was painted over the doorposts of God’s people in order for the Spirit to pass over the house and save the lives of the Israelite’s first born (Exodus 11-12). Jesus was there when the Feast of Passover was commanded as a remembrance of God’s goodness to his people. Now, Jesus, come to earth in the flesh as a man, was of age and present in the middle of it.
I wonder if on the way to Jerusalem for the Feast, his heart ached a bit more to be with the Father. His holy meeting place on earth, the temple built to represent the place where God would meet with his people. Was his legs tired after the long journey to Jerusalem, or did he skip and jump his way in anticipation? Did his heart settle just a bit more to be able to be around teachers who knew the Words of the Lord, as written in their Hebrew Scriptures? Did he gravitate to the side of the room during the Feast to overhear the remembrances of God’s protection, perseverance and holiness?
I imagine Jesus had woken up early the morning of departure to head to the temple for another day with his Father. His parents, must have thought he was with every other 12-year-old boy, maybe goofing off, tired from the constraints of the Feast in another town. They would have packed up and packed his things he left unattended, assuming they would find him hungry and tired later in the day’s journey. Until, he wasn’t.
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Have you ever been so anxious over something that when you see the other person unaffected by the same thing, anxiety turns into disappointment or frustration? They were “astonished” to find Jesus among teachers just listening to them and asking questions. The teachers were amazed by his careful questions. Mary, however, unable to ponder the amazement, exclaims over her disappointment. “Why have you treated us so? (Luke 2: 48).
Mary and Joseph spent three days looking for Jesus, plus their 40 miles of travel time, and when they found him, he didn’t appear to have noticed he was a part from them. I would imagine he knew his parents would find him. He waited for them and enjoy every minute in the temple. Surely, Mary and Joseph would have known why he was there, and left him to his business, but they didn’t understand. Maybe, they would never fully understand. Jesus was in human form, yet never separated from his Father until the cross.
I love the humanness in this encounter. Mary is anguished and frustrated. Jesus, off to do what he must do in his Father’s house, isn’t disturbed by the absence from his earthly parents. At the end of this story in Luke 2, Jesus went with them submissively because he was knew they wouldn’t understand. Jesus, the perfect son, still astonished his parents, which caused them to be hurt. No doubt for Mary and Joseph the vast responsibility of raising God’s son would be overwhelming. I would imagine it was a bit of an awkward journey home for these exhausted parents and an exhilarated son.
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Have you ever looked for Jesus? I have. I have looked for him when the world doesn’t make sense. When life is tough and seems to hard. I have been frantic and anxious, angry he doesn’t show up when and how I want him to. I want to be rescued. I tend to look in the wrong places. I look him where I want him to be instead of where I know him to be.
Learn: Read Deuteronomy 4:29-31
In the context of these verses God’s people had replaced worship with the One True God with small “g” gods. The gods were represented to the people in carved idols. Today, we can find our own small “g” gods in things and status. We look to the world, social media, news and other people to find our well-being. We are anxious for answers and can feel lost when we don’t have whatever calms us in our right hand. We often move too quickly through life to find peace.
When life is nuts, I can often miss Jesus. I blame him for the chaos and pray only when I need something. I wonder where he is without searching where I can expect him to be…in his Father’s House.
Read Philippians 2:1-11
Jesus left his home to come down to earth that he might be the sacrifice for us and pave a way to the Father. Just as in Exodus we learn about the sacrificial lamb for his people, Jesus became the final sacrificial lamb, the one whose blood was flung over the doorpost of those who believe and call him Lord, so that God would pass over us when our sin is called into account. Jesus then conquered death, showed himself to his disciples and a large group of people and returned to heaven alive and well with the Father (Matt. 28). He is not lost. He is right where he needs to be to be present with us and live in us (Mark 16:14-20).
Read John 15:1-4
Abide…doesn’t that sound beautiful. It’s not a word I use in my average, everyday vocabulary, but I want to. Abide in the greek means “to stay, remain, live”. Jesus says to “abide in me, and I in you”. Changing the word abide to stay would sound like to this “stay in me, I will stay in you”. Beautiful.
John Peterson’s Message version of verse 4 says it like this. “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you”.
Reflection:
- What would it take for you to make your home with him?
- What would you need to turn away from?
- What would you need to let go of?
- When and where do you tend to look for Jesus?
Maybe you are angry with Jesus for not coming to your rescue. That’s okay. I have learned he isn’t afraid of my anger or frustration. Talk to him about it. Spend time with him, because I believe that Psalm 84:10 is true.
“For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.”
Don’t be afraid to seek him, to find him and to stay in him. We will never be lost when we are in him and he is in us.
Journal/Pray: Use the questions to guide you through journalling and prayer.
Blessings,
-ST
Stephanie Trowbridge 