Chapter # 2 Paragraph # 4 Study # 7
Lincolnton, NC
October 30, 2005
(200)
AV Translation:
48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.
49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?
50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.
51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
1901 ASV Translation:
48 And when they saw him, they were astonished; and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I sought thee sorrowing.
49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? knew ye not that I must be in my Father's house?
50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.
51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth; and he was subject unto them: and his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
52 And Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
Luke's Record:
- I. The Actions of Jesus Created "Astonishment".
- A. The term is used often in the Gospels and once in Acts (never in the epistles) and points to the greatness of the human ignorance of the divine.
- 1. "Astonishment" was a rather typical response by people to Jesus.
- 2. "Astonishment" is a state of mind that indicates a complete lack of expectation and understanding. The question this raises is "How is it that mankind is so 'astonished' at this point in history?" Has the work of God over 4,000 years not accomplished anything? Is the problem that God is so inscrutable, or that man is so 'generational' that the lessons of one generation are not being passed on to the next, or a combination of both?
- B. The mother questions His actions.
- 1. Where is Joseph in this??
- a. Luke's accounts of Joseph are void of information about his way of looking at things.
- b. Luke's focus is upon the impact on Mary.
- 1) He makes the comment in 2:19 that Mary "kept" and "pondered" the sayings at the heart level.
- 2) He comments again in 2:51 that Mary "kept" these sayings in her heart (using a different, but related, word for "kept").
- 3) With Simeon in the Temple, Mary is the focus of his comment that she would suffer a sword to her own soul (2:35) because of Jesus.
- a) In that text Simeon says that this will happen in respect to the revelation of the reasonings of many hearts: they, apparently, need to be revealed.
- b) There are few things that bring the reasonings of the heart to the surface quicker than being put into a "painful" situation.
- c. Joseph is a very peripheral player in this record.
- 2. The question has to do with how Jesus could be so "hurtful" as to bring "sorrow" to His parents.
- a. The word "sorrowing" is exclusively Luke's. It is used by him of the torment of Hell in Luke 16:24-25; and it is used both here and in Acts 20:38 of the pain of relational loss. It is not a small "pain".
- b. The question has significant implications of wrong-doing. It arose out of ignorance and continues to arise in our hearts every time God's plan imposes something on us that we do not appreciate.
- II. The Response of Jesus is Just as Astonishing.
- A. He challenges Mary's ignorance..."How is it that...you did not know...?"
- 1. It seems almost cruel for Jesus to challenge the most obvious response of any parent: why were you seeking me?
- 2. His question about their knowing is cast in the pluperfect: Had you not known? The point is that Jesus seems to be saying that we are all responsible to be learning and retaining and that it wasn't happening. No wonder that He had to come to be our Redeemer...for we all are most dense and automatically motivated by our own pains rather than those of others, especially that Major Other -- our Creator and Father.
- 3. The thing they "did not know" was that "it was necessary for Him to be in the things of His Father". The obtuseness of the human mind is seen in the lack of ability to "connect the dots".
- a. It was necessary for Joseph and Mary to seek for Jesus.
- b. It was also, however, expected that they would do it with aplomb [Aplomb is from the French word meaning "perpendicularity, equilibrium, steadiness, assurance," from the Old French phrase a plomb, from a, "according to" (from Latin ad) + plomb, "lead weight" (from Latin plumbum, "lead") -- Dictionary.com].
- c. There is a huge difference between doing what needs to be done in desperation and sorrow, and doing what needs to be done in confident diligence.
- B. Luke follows Jesus' question up with the statement, "They understood not the saying...".
- 1. Not only did they not "know" because they "had not known", but they still did not know.
- 2. This text is all about the fact that even the parents who rubbed shoulders with the Son on a daily basis did not know.
- C. Surely our need for a Redeemer is very great as our obtuseness and self-centeredness is humiliatingly great. It is both a massive humiliation that we are so knee-jerk in our self-orientation and a great comfort to know that, though He does not condone, He does redeem.
- 1. It is true that, for us, there has been a major "unveiling" of the plan of God that goes far beyond what Israel had been told.
- a. This means that we are not as likely to be "in the dark" if we have paid attention.
- b. But, who has been paying attention?
- 2. It is true also, however, that the "unveiling" requires the paying of attention over a long time period...a requirement that goes unmet for the most part.
- 3. How do we address our ignorance?
- a. First, with hope: there is "life" in every "saying".
- b. Second, with patience: the "life" compounds as the "sayings" come together in our understanding.
- c. Third, with humility: there is no "life" where there is smug assumption.
- d. Fourth, with tolerance: one thing is needful -- the impression of true spirituality -- and, if it exists, we must give each other "space" to grow in understanding.
- 1) The impression of true spirituality involves, first, the absence of boasting.
- 2) The impression of true spirituality involves, second, the absence of despair.
