Jesus in the Temple: Growing in Wisdom and Stature

Introduction

In this sermon on Jesus in the temple at age twelve, Revd. Mark Fletcher explores what it means to grow in wisdom and stature like Christ. Drawing from Luke 2:41-52, he shows how Jesus’ identity in his father’s house shapes our spiritual maturity and invites us into growing in faith through questions, community, and transformation.

This world needs grownups now more than ever. When so-called adults and leaders fail to take responsibility or act like children driven purely by self-interest, who stir up divisions who deceive and lie. It is a crisis in terms of what maturity looks like, and it is also a crisis in terms of role models for all sorts of people, but especially for young men.

And so this passage is fascinating and really valuable because it is an insight into how Jesus grew up and what it might look like to grow up like him. So we observed last week that one of the things which sets Luke’s gospel apart is that he’s done his background research and he has uncovered all of these great little stories about the life of Christ that aren’t found anywhere else.

And there’s a hint in this passage as to what the source of those stories might be. If you look at verse 51, it says, his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And it is likely that Luke has sat down with Mary, perhaps at the end of her life and said, as you would, tell us about Jesus when he was a boy.

And this is one of her memories, one of her strongest memories. And it would’ve stood out for her because it would’ve been quite a difficult experience for them. But it was also revealing about who Jesus was to become. So this is the story. He was 12 years old. It was Passover time, which of course is that great annual festival of God rescuing his people from Egypt. And the whole community, the whole village of Nazareth would’ve travelled up to Jerusalem along with people from all over the country in order to celebrate. It would’ve been a festival atmosphere. It was springtime. They travelled together when the journey took several days. And can you imagine how much fun it would’ve been, particularly for the children?

People would’ve been singing those wonderful psalms of ascent as they went. And do you know that our word holiday comes from Holy Day? And it was a religious festival just like this. It was a holiday atmosphere. And so they arrive in Jerusalem. The Passover takes place as normal, a very solemn and beautiful event.

But what’s memorable is at the end. And so when it was finished, they set off to return home. Mary and Joseph noticed that Jesus isn’t with them, but they assume that he is with his friends or with another family from their community. And it’s only at the end of that first day of the journey home in the evening when an increasingly panicked, Mary and Joseph realise that Jesus is not with them at all.

They run around, speak to all of the different people in their community and realise he’s not there. And so straight away it would’ve been nighttime they turn around and rush back to Jerusalem. And when they get there, they would’ve gone round all of the relatives that they were staying with, all of the places that they’d visit.

And Jesus is nowhere to be found. Two days later, they arrive in the temple, which is clearly the last place that they looked, and there they find Jesus sitting amongst the rabbis, listening to them, asking them questions, and the response of the rabbis is, who is this boy? So look at verse 47. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.

Perhaps the most memorable thing is that when his mother, entirely justifiably, shouted at him and said, what do you think you’re doing? He said, why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be in my father’s house? So it’s a lovely story. It’s a fabulous little insight into the childhood of Jesus.

But I’ve got a few observations I’d like to make about it because I think there’s some really interesting stuff here. First of all, it’s an insight into the very traditional, close knit community that Jesus would’ve grown up in. Verse 44. So thinking he was in their company, they travelled on for a day, and then they began looking for him amongst their relatives and friends.

Do you get a sense of this kind of tight knit community? And there’s something very lovely about that, but it also is important to remember that it would’ve been a rural farming community. People weren’t particularly educated. Their aspirations were limited. And this remarkable, precocious boy, Jesus is respectful of that.

He grows up within it. But he is not limited by it. This was a world where people were defined by their background, by their family. Do you remember later on someone said, can anything good come from Nazareth? And the truth is, I think that our world isn’t that much different. The place where you are born, the family that you are born into, is an essential part of defining who you become, for better or worse. But one of the wonderful things about Christianity is that it has always been an opportunity for people to transcend where they come from. You need never be limited by your origins. It is open to everyone. It gives you the opportunity. It’s always been a force for education, for literacy, for intellectual and spiritual growth.

It is transformative. In fact, there’s a great story about John Wesley, the great founder of Methodism. And he saw an amazing revival across the world, really. And he used to grumble because he would see people converted to Christianity from very marginal backgrounds. And once they became Christians, they became literate.

They started to read, they’d get an education. They’d be more careful about their life and about their finances, and very quickly they’d start to get a little bit more comfortable and then they’d move out of the communities that they were part of and he said, that’s not what this is about. It’s really interesting, isn’t it, that Christianity is transformative of people’s lives, but we have a commitment to the places we come from.

So that’s first. But secondly, Jesus’ identity before God is more important than his family identity. So verse 49, he said to them, why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my father’s house? And there’s a lovely innocence to that. He’s basically saying where did you think I was going to be?

And clearly they thought he was gonna be somewhere else where 12-year-old boys might be expected to be found. But no. Jesus is defined first and foremost by his relationship with his father and we should be too. Our culture, our background, our family are really important, but our identity as a son and or daughter of God is even more so.

And if Jesus is found in his father’s house, how much more should we be? This church is not mine and it is not yours. It is your father’s house. And of course, God is not limited by buildings, but these sacred places are where the people of God are gathered together, where we grow, where we are transformed, where we learn to be community together.

There is a purpose to our gatherings and God throughout history has used these to help people to grow and mature in faith and in character. You should be expecting that you are changing. You should not be the same person at the start of this year as you were at the start of last year. Christianity is intended to be transformative.

Nevertheless, Jesus treats his family with great respect. Verse 51 says, then he went down with them, came to Nazareth and was obedient to them. And I’m really struck by that, that Jesus will of course, ultimately entirely transcend the traditional community that he comes from. And yet he never despises it.

He spends most of his life in a very simple, traditional community working with his hands. He learns from it and he values it. And like Jesus, I think we need to hold these two things together, that we are liberated by faith, liberated by the gospel to be all that God is calling us to. We’re set free from the constraints of society and tradition and expectation, and yet we make this choice to respect the places we come from to learn from the traditions and backgrounds that shape us.

If Jesus can do that, then we need to do the same thing. And then finally, look how Jesus learned. It’s really important to remember that Jesus did not have any special privilege. He learned the ordinary way, just like you and me. Verse 46 said he was sitting amongst the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

Isn’t that amazing? That model is a sort of classically Jewish didactic model, and it’s wonderful. That sort of question and response, that freedom to ask honest questions. There’s a tendency, I think, in Christianity to be a bit defensive about questions, but questions are not a threat. Done right. Done in the context of respect and humility, it is the best way to learn. In fact, I had a rather nice anecdote from a girl who converted to Christianity from Judaism, and she loved it. She loved the freedom and the joy that she found and the intimacy with God that it offered. But she really missed that approach to learning, sitting around in the synagogue, having really good discussions and even disagreements with people and growing that way.

So ask good questions to people that you trust. Don’t be afraid that people will think less of you because you don’t have all the answers. Honest, humble questions are how we learn. And remember how much of Jesus’ teaching was asking questions. That’s how we learn by questioning and by seeking answers from wise people.

The goal of all of this is maturity. Verse 52. Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favour with God and man. And I love those things. Those are the things that we should aspire to in ourselves. I don’t know what your New Year’s resolutions are. I don’t know what you are aspiring to this year. Can I suggest that wisdom and stature are as good as anything to grow as a person?

Wisdom is knowledge that is rooted and earthed and applied. Knowledge is a wonderful thing, of course, but by itself it can make us proud and supercilious. But wisdom is about the ability to live well, to relate well. It’s how we grow as people, how we come to maturity. And stature isn’t about outward size, it’s about inward strength.

It is about character. It’s resilience, the ability to manage uncomfortable situations without breaking down. It’s patience. It’s the ability to respond appropriately rather than always reacting. It’s the ability to put the needs of others before ourselves to be empathetic and understand how others think. To speak the truth at the right time, even when it is uncomfortable. To manage our tongues.

To manage our egos. The world needs grownups more than ever. It needs people of wisdom and stature, and so that is the goal. That is my prayer and my hope for myself and for each of you. How are you growing this year? How are you growing in wisdom and stature? Like Jesus did find safe places to ask good questions and be humble enough to sit at the feet of the wise, to search out good teachers and good role models.

Root yourself in the scriptures, value and respect tradition, and learn from it without being limited by it. And so that’s what we’re doing together. That’s the project here. That’s what church is for, to teach and encourage and challenge and inspire one another until, as Paul says to the Ephesians, we all reach unity in the faith and the full measure of the stature of Christ.

Amen.