Christ Mass One , 12/30/2018

Sermon on Luke 2:41-52, by Carl A. Voges

The Passage

“Now his 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. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, 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.

“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.

“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.’ And he said to them, ‘Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them.”

“And he 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.” [English Standard Version]

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.“ [Colossians 3.15]

In the Name of Christ + Jesus our Lord

During the Advent season, as we were preparing for our Lord’s Birth, we were noticing the differences between the culture and the Church concerning that Day – the culture spells it “Christmas”; the Church spells it “Christ Mass.” The spellings quietly reflect the differences in understanding that Day. Now that the Son’s Incarnation has occurred, such differences continue. In the culture many people are asking – Did you have a good Christmas? Our answers, of course, depend on what we brought to the celebrations. Still others in the culture are describing this time as magical and people are still cooing at the sweetness of the infant Jesus!

These different understandings explain how the culture can see a violent act and conclude that it is smart and strong enough on its own to prevent another one. The Church, on the other hand, can see that same act and recognize it as another dispiriting example of the destructive grip that Satan has on the life of this world. The Church, however, is led to confess that there is only One Person who is powerful enough to break Satan’s deadly grip. Such differences persist in the days following the Incarnation. Thankfully, there is

an edginess to the Son’s Incarnation, there is nothing sweet or magical about it!

That edginess surfaced immediately on 26 December when the Church remembered St. Stephen, Deacon and Martyr, the first person to die witnessing to our Lord. The edginess continued to 27 December when the Church remembered St. John, Apostle and Evangelist, who wrote that Jesus’ Life is truly revealed in his Cross. The edginess surfaced again on 28 December, when the Church remembered the Holy Innocents (also martyrs like Stephen), the infants in Bethlehem who died for our Lord because Herod was seeking to kill him. The Church celebrates the Incarnation of its Lord with this edginess because it recognizes that the Lord God is slipping his Life into this world so he can free its people from the ugly realities of sin, Satan and death.

Thus, when we turn into the Gospel today, this edginess is still present and we are grateful to our Lord for it. All of Luke’s Gospel is a running account from the infant Jesus to the boy Jesus to the ministry of Jesus to his dying, rising and ascending.

This passage carries us from the infant Jesus to the boy Jesus, establishing the links to the Son’s ministry, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. Thus, as Jesus and his parents go up to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover, the going up previews Jesus’ great journey of his three-year public ministry from Galilee to Jerusalem.

There were three festivals in Jerusalem required of faithful Jews: Passover (spring), Weeks (or Pentecost; early summer) and Tabernacles (fall). According to Deuteronomy 16.16 Jewish men were obliged to participate in them with an offering. In Jesus’ day we don’t know precisely how these requirements worked out. If a person lived out of the country, did they travel three times a year or one time a year or once in a lifetime? If a person lived in the country, did they travel three times a year or once a year? The Passover festival lasted eight days and people were required to spend two days and one night as a minimum. Thus, Jesus and his parents were carrying out the duties of the Law as they journeyed the eighty miles from Nazareth to Jerusalem. It is much later in his ministry when his presence in Jerusalem will be seen as a threat, triggering his crucifixion.

Luke’s comment that our Lord is twelve years old is an intriguing one. Within Jewish tradition twelve-thirteen years marked the transition from boyhood to manhood. This is reinforced by describing Jesus as a boy in verse 43, before that in Gospel Luke described him as a child and before that as an infant.

When Jesus’ parents leave Jerusalem for home and have traveled for a day (about twenty miles), they realize Jesus is not with them. The next day they travel back and then spend a day searching for him. They find him in the temple, sitting among the teachers (later in the Gospel they will be described as lawyers and scribes), listening to them and asking them questions. Also later in the Gospel there will be hostility in these conversations between Jesus and these people as they quarrel over their perceptions of the Lord’s Life and of the Law. In this encounter, though, the teachers are amazed at his perception and intelligence.

His parents are equally astonished, a reaction that was first expressed at his Birth. While Mary reproaches Jesus for not letting them know what he was going to be doing, she also speaks of the mental and spiritual stress of the past three days. Jesus slides past his mother’s reproach and wonders why they were searching for him. Didn’t they realize he had to be in his Father’s dwelling-place (that is, in his house, the temple)?

Jesus appears to be wondering why his parents know him so poorly. He is serving God as Father, he is not serving his human family. The Father has given him this ministry to carry out. When Luke tells us that his parents do not understand this, he is sharpening the contrast between them and Jesus (these words, this event, are sliding by them).

However, Jesus goes back with them to Nazareth and is obedient to them. Although he is the Father’s Son, he is obedient to his parents. The Jesus who goes to Jerusalem with his parents to keep the observance of the Passover feast is the same Jesus who keeps the commandment of honoring his father and mother. His public ministry will begin after his

Baptism by John. Luke notes that Mary is treasuring all these things in her heart, just as she did at Jesus’ Birth. As Mary keeps with concern these events in her heart, she is being prepared for a expansive understanding as the first member of the believing Christian community. It will be after the resurrection that her Son will be fully revealed as the Father’s Son.

When Luke states that Jesus is increasing in wisdom and years, he is speaking of his increasing maturity. Luke also points out that the favor and grace being poured on Jesus reflects the goodness that flows from a Life lived in concert with the Life and ways of his Father, spilling over into his relationships with the people around him.

Letting this passage roll over and into our lives causes us, as members of the Church, to recognize the deep sadness that lies under the culture’s understanding of our Lord’s Birth.

The culture tries desperately to rid itself of that sadness or, at least, to cover it up by calling these days sweet or magical. That’s why there is an edge to the Son’s Incarnation, he needs to break through such understanding and such living so his Life can save and restore us.

As that breaking and restoring churns into our lives and the life of this culture, today’s Gospel leaves us with three significant realities: First, the Sacrament of Baptism brings us into the house, the dwelling place of the Father, Son and Spirit. The outline of that house (its four corners) today is marked by their Scriptures and Sacraments. It is in such a dwelling where we are placed by Holy Trinity and from which we live.

Second, as we live both in the Church and in this culture, we are to note what is going on, we are to ponder the things that are unfolding, we are to trust that we will be led by the Holy Trinity to see and understand how their Life weaves in and around these matters.

Third, as our Lord moves his Life in, around and through our own with his Scriptures and Sacraments, he causes us to grow and mature as his daughters and sons. He deepens our awareness of the Life he has given us; he prepares us for the completion of that Life when we die in him and run on into eternity.

Yes, there are differences between the culture and the Church concerning our Lord’s Birth. Yes, there is an edginess to those differences. May those differences continue, my friends, for they signal the world’s approaching redemption in our Lord’s dying / rising!

Now may the peace of the Lord God, which is beyond all understanding, keep our hearts

and minds through Christ + Jesus our Lord.

Pr. Carl A. Voges
Columbia, South Carolina, USA
E-Mail: carl.voges4@icloud.com

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