Luke 2:46

After three days they found Him in the Temple

The finding of Jesus in the Temple

I. A lesson to boys and young men--THE MANLINESS OF OBEDIENCE AND SUBJECTION TO A MOTHER.

II. Teachers may learn THE BEST METHOD OF ACQUIRING KNOWLEDGE, by asking and answering questions.

III. Mothers are by this incident reminded that THEIR CHILDREN HAVE OTHER INTERESTS THAN THOSE OF THIS WORLD.

IV. A lesson for all: JESUS, LOST IN THE BUSTLE AND EXCITEMENT OF THE CROWD, IS ALWAYS TO BE FOUND AGAIN IN THE TEMPLE. (D. Longwill.)

The Saviour lost and found

Jesus Christ is only lost by sin; when lost, He must be found by repentance and grace.

I. WE MUST KNOW OF OUR LOSS We often lose Him, at first, without knowing it, just as His parents did; we, like them, sooner or later find out our loss.

1. We must know of our loss if we would seek to regain it; we should not seek Jesus Christ if we did not know that we had lost Him. The beginning of salvation is the knowledge of sin. He who does not know that he sins, is not willing to suffer correction.

2. We must know of our loss, or we can never render God fitting honour and glory for our recovery from it.

II. OUR WAY MUST BE BETRODDEN. We must look back, by examination of conscience, over that past life during which we have lived without Jesus Christ.

1. Sweep all sin away by our detestation of it (Luke 15:8).

2. Cover all our defilements in the robe of grace, that we may be meet for Jesus Christ (Song of Solomon 3:2).

III. THE LOSS MUST BE MOURNED FOR. Contrition follows examination.

1. Undo, as far as possible, the dishonour done to God.

2. Punish sin in ourselves. The heart being the fount of sin, we afflict it with sorrow and remorse.

IV. WE RETAIN OUR RECOVERED TREASURE.

1. NO gain to have found Jesus Christ with sorrow and hurt, if He be lost again.

2. A second time we may not be able to find Him. (M. Faber.)

Jesus at home in the Temple

It is easy to understand that the Temple must have had a wonderful attraction for Him, so that He found it very difficult to tear Himself away from it. Our Lord, having now ceased to be an infant, and become a child, was fully conscious who He was. He was now able to look back to His former state of existence, when He lay in His Father’s bosom from all eternity, and was worshipped as a Person in the blessed Trinity by the holy angels. As His faculties opened, it would dawn upon His memory what He had been. Now, therefore, mark the effect upon Him, when He sees for the first time the services of the Temple. The Temple was a little figure or model of heaven; the Temple music of the praises of God continually sung in heaven; the Temple services of the pure and holy worship which the angels continually offer in heaven Hebrews 8:5). When He saw the Temple services for the first time, they struck a chord in His memory, which vibrated sweetly and solemnly. The priests and Levites, offering their sacrifices and their incense, and singing their psalms, reminded Him of the blessed angels paying their homage to God and chanting His praises in heaven. He had never been the like upon earth before; and it is quite probable that, in a world of sin and sorrow, the blessed Jesus (even as a child) felt out of place, and away from His true home. Can you not imagine a person who had passed his early childhood in a southern clime, where there were birds of rich plumage, lovely stars at night, being suddenly banished to the North Pole, where his eye rests upon nothing but ice and snow, and all the beauties of nature seem to be locked up by a perpetual winter? Suddenly a bunch of bright flowers, or a bird of beautiful plumage, is brought to him as a gift from the south. It reminds him of his native country, and brings back in a moment the flowers, birds, and landscapes of that happy land. Something of this sort may have been our blessed Lord’s memories, on seeing in early childhood the services of the Temple. He would feel that the Temple gave a true idea of His Father’s house in heaven--was His Father’s house on earth. Now a Father house is a home; and what dutiful child is there who does not love home; who is not drawn towards home, when away from it; who does not feel it to be a place of shelter, security, happiness, and peace, and cling to it accordingly? (Dean Goulburn.)

Christ engaged in Bible study

Jesus was not satisfied with worship alone, nor yet with passive hearing of Bible expositions. He wanted a share in Bible study. He had questions to ask of the teachers, and He was willing to be questioned. Although He was the Son of God, He felt the need of Bible study; and, feeling that need, He went into the Bible school, where the need could be met. If there is a man nowadays who thinks that he doesn’t need Bible study, or that it is beneath his dignity to be in the Bible school, he either seems to suppose that he knows more than Jesus knew, or he seems to count it hardly safe to be on the same plane with the Son of God. Yet there are men and women who put a high value on worship, and none at all--for themselves--on social Bible study. They are regularly at the preaching services, but never in the Sunday School. Poor, needy, conceited creatures! (H. C. Trumbull.)

The power of simplicity

One striking feature in the life of Christ upon the earth is the unexpected places where we find Him. His advent was a surprise in its humbleness. Reason would never have deigned to stoop to a manger for a Messiah. Philosophy would scarcely have dreamed of pointing out the Christ of God with plane and hammer at the carpenter’s bench. Faith itself was surprised to discover Him as a lad among the bearded doctors of Israel. But there He is. The great-browed scholars of the Temple do not in the least suspect the character of the wonderful Child standing in their midst. They debate with Him and are puzzled at His arguments. Their ritualism will not hold together before that young and radiant face. How little the Masters realize that from those tender lips, pronouncing such sublimely simple things, shall fall words of fire which shall utterly consume all their traditions! That gentle youth, astray from His mother, by His quiet life, and innocent language, shall ere long expose and overthrow the last vestige of pretentions and priestly religion, and establish a living religion, vital with an energy which shall conquer death and the grave. The Rabbins have handled the parchment so long and mumbled the letter so much, that they cannot understand the gospel of the Child. How often does Christ stand among the learned systems and schemes of this world, unknown and unsuspected, because so simple and unobtrusive! (Alexander Clark.)

Christ in the Temple school

It was not in the more sacred parts of the Temple, nor in the Holy Place, nor even in the Court of the Altar of Burnt-offering, that our Lord was found. There were chambers in the precincts of the Temple, which were used sometimes for the meetings of the Sanhedrim, sometimes as schools where the doctors might teach. This last was a very proper arrangement: for the training of young persons in God’s Jaw is a work of piety most acceptable to God, and may be fitly carried on in the house of prayer. Perhaps our Lord, during the eight days of His parents’ stay at Jerusalem, may have been attracted by the schools in the Temple, and have liked to linger there and to hear what was going on. And so His parents may have thought of seeking Him in these schools, feeling that, if in Jerusalem at all, He was sure to be there. Let us observe that what drew Him to the Temple was not only the beautiful and solemn worship which went on in it, but the teaching which was given there. He loved not only prayer and praise, but learning also. Oh, that there were more children like Him! while there are some who like the Church service well enough, if it is conducted with stateliness and music, how very few are there who show a desire for religious instruction, who take great pleasure in their preparation for confirmation, and listen to sermons eagerly, trying to get what good they can out of them. (Dean Goulburn.)

The spirit and method in which to learn

The young should be eager to learn, as Christ was in His boyhood.

1. He showed a thirst for the knowledge of God’s law, when but twelve years old; and how are we to judge of what is wrong in us, but by taking Him as our model, and asking what there is in us, which does not watch with His example? As a ruler applied to a line which we have drawn with our hand, shows that it is not straight, so our Lord’s example, applied to any particular piece of human conduct, shows at once how far it is from being what it ought to be.

2. Our Lord submitted to learn of the appointed teachers of His nation. It is not surely very much that He should require of us submission to all in authority over us.

3. We see also that quite the best way of learning is for the pupil to ask questions of the teacher. Only let them be thoughtful questions. Nothing will more open the mind of the taught than the explanation of a difficulty which has been raised in the mind by something the teacher has said. Very often the question will be useful to the teacher as well, leading him into some new and interesting train of thought upon an old and well-worn subject. Questions force people to think. (Dean Goulburn.)

Answers

I. Christ gives a clear answer about the spiritual world.

II. Another cry of the soul is answered by Jesus when He tells us, that God is the heavenly Father of mankind.

III. The Lord Jesus answered another question of humanity by showing that our heavenly Father knows the secret inner life of every man.

IV. Jesus answers the cry of the soul by telling us, that our Father’s business is the highest work of humanity. (W. Birch.)