Lost and Found
You have that panicky and familiar feeling in the pit of your stomach. You’ve lost something important, and you have no idea where it is. You’re expecting an important call and can’t find your phone for the fourth time today. You’re late for work and you’ve looked in all the normal places but you have no idea where your keys could be. You frantically search everywhere but as the minutes begin to feel like hours you grow increasingly anxious and worried. But then there’s that moment when you find that missing thing and you are filled with joy and relief. Now take those memories of loss, anxiety, and stress and imagine that it’s not a phone, glasses, or set of keys that you’ve lost, but a child.
This is what Mary and Joseph experienced during a memorable trip to Jerusalem many years ago. Mary, Joseph, and their twelve-year-old son Jesus made their yearly pilgrimage to Jerusalem according to the Law of Moses to celebrate the Passover. We can only guess at the details of their family celebration. Did the boy Jesus help his father Joseph with the preparations? Did he think about how his own blood would be shed the way the blood of the lamb was shed? We don’t know. What we do know is that after the feast was over Mary and Joseph began their long journey back home.
During this busy Christmas season, many of you went to visit family and friends. You know the hectic flurry of activity as you are preparing to leave: the packing of luggage, the gathering of coats, the questions in the car of, “Are you sure you remembered everything,” and the inevitable groans at the realization that something important had been forgotten. Have all of that in mind as you imagine making a long journey on foot with most of your friends and relatives from your entire town.
In the flurry of activity Mary and Joseph must have assumed that Jesus was walking with some of their other friends or playing with the boys his age. Mary and Joseph were most likely preoccupied with the other adults and exchanging stories about what they had seen in Jerusalem during the feast. But as evening approached, they realized with growing concern that they had not seen their son all day. That concern grows into panic as the different families get ready to camp for the evening. Where was Jesus? Mary and Joseph quickly realized with a sickening feeling of dread that Jesus was not with them. We can picture them hurrying with fear and dread back to Jerusalem.
For three days Mary and Joseph frantically searched. They visited all the places they had been to during the festival. They urgently ask everyone if they have seen their son. Finally, they go to the temple. Imagine their joy and surprise when they see Jesus sitting among the rabbis and teachers of the law asking and answering questions. Mary asks, “Son, why have you treated us this way? See, your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.” Jesus responds to his mother, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be taking care of my Father’s business?”
These are the first words spoken by our Savior that are recorded for us in Scripture. In these words, and this story, we see the mystery of the incarnation. We see Jesus Christ the almighty Son of God who existed in eternity from before the creation of the world living as a twelve-year-old boy with a mother and father who loved him, cared for him, and worried about him. Jesus understood even at this young age the reason he had come to this world. He knew that God had a plan to save his children. In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve disobeyed God and brought the curse of sin and death upon the entire human race. God as our loving Father was willing to do anything to save his beloved children. We were lost but God was willing to sacrifice his only begotten Son so that we might be found.
This is why Jesus came to this world. The writer to the Hebrews tells us, “Therefore since the children share flesh and blood, he also shared the same flesh and blood so that through death he could destroy the one who had the power of death (that is, the Devil) and free those who were held in slavery all their lives by the fear of death.” Jesus was tempted in every way that we are, yet he was without sin. We see this on display in this story. Imagine being the almighty Son of God and living under the authority of sinful parents. We know how difficult it is for us at times to obey our parents or others in authority when we know deep down that they are wrong, and we are right. We justify our disobedience against authority that doesn’t meet our standards and look for excuses to rebel.
Our perfect substitute Jesus did not rebel against the sinful authority of his parents. He submitted to their rule and kept the 4th Commandment perfectly in our place. Later in his life he willingly submitted to the corrupt rule of the chief priests, Herod, and Pontius Pilate as he allowed himself to be tried, convicted, and crucified even though he was guilty of no crime. Jesus lived a life of perfect obedience in our place. He kept all the laws and commandments of God and submitted to their requirements even though he was the Lord of the universe. For this reason, he had to become like his brothers in every way, in order that he would be a merciful and faithful high priest in the things pertaining to God, so that he could pay for the sins of the people. Indeed, because he suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”
Even from an early age, Jesus knew why he had been sent to this world. He knew that will of his Father. He knew that he had been sent for one purpose: to offer his perfect life as a sacrifice for the sins of the world. Think of the boy Jesus sitting in the temple courts at the Feast of Passover. He knew that in a few years, he would be back in Jerusalem to be sacrificed as the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world. Even as a young boy, he knew the prophecies of Isaiah. He knew that the chief priests and elders of the people would be the very ones who would beat his back, pull out his beard, and spit in his face.
Jesus was perfectly obedient to the will of the Father as he made his face hard like flint and resolutely set his feet upon the path that would lead to the cross. Jesus Christ is our perfect high priest who offered his perfect life as a sacrifice for sin. On the cross, he became our substitute. He became sin in our place and faced the full wrath of God. On the cross, Jesus was forsaken by the Father and endured the torments of hell so that the lost could be found. By his death, all who had been lost in the darkness of sin were found in the light of his salvation. Jesus is the light of the world. He has found the ones who were walking in darkness and restored them as sons and daughters of our heavenly Father.
As we see the amazing love of our Savior and the perfect obedience he had to his earthly parents and the will of his heavenly Father, we seek to mirror his obedience. We desire to live our lives according to the will of our Father. We live in service and obedience to those God has placed in authority over us. We lovingly submit to the authority of our parents when we are younger, and care for them when we are older. We live peaceful and quiet lives in submission to the governing authorities. We daily seek to grow in our knowledge and understanding of the Lord as we read and study his Word. We grow in wisdom and understanding as we regularly join with others in worship and Bible study. All this we do because we are obedient children of our heavenly father who were lost and have now been saved.
None of us like the feeling of losing something. We hate the frantic searching and the tense moments as we look high and low for what we have lost. We empathize with Mary and Joseph as they combed the streets of Jerusalem looking for their lost son. We can understand the pain that God felt when his sons and daughters were lost to the darkness of sin. We rejoice that our heavenly Father was willing to do anything to rescue us from that darkness and restore us as his children. We rejoice and praise our Savior who was willing to become one of us so that he could be an obedient sacrifice in our place. Praise be to Christ that we who were lost have now been found.
Amazing grace! How sweet the sound, That saved a wretch; like me! I once was lost, but now am found, Was blind, but now I see.