Proximity

We just read Luke 2:41-52 as a small group in my dorm--the first real Bible study we've done this semester, and I felt like throwing down a few main points that we covered about the story of Jesus in Jerusalem as a boy.  Before you read any further, I encourage you to read the passage for yourself and see what you can glean from God's word:

We thought it was really cool how Jesus seemed to just yearn for the presence of His Father.  He'd already been in Jerusalem 8 days (the duration of the Passover celebration), and yet He seemed perfectly content to stay there (for three days or longer), questioning and answering the learned men, even after His parents had left.  Talk about devotion to God and His call on Jesus' life!  It reminds me of the passage in John where Jesus says that His "food is to do the will of the one who sent him" or something to that effect.

One question that was asked was this: "How could Jesus' parents have possibly lost him for so long?  What kind of parents were they?"  Notice though that the passage says they were traveling with friends and family, and culturally, they probably would have been traveling with men and women separate.  So it's easy to understand how they (Mary and Joseph) could each have assumed that Jesus was with the other.

When they come back to Jerusalem then, frantic to find Him, they see Him discussing deep things with the scholars, amazing them with His understanding.  This shows that He truly was extraordinary--like no Jewish boy who came before Him.  But also that He was limited in his knowledge like any other human.  He was learning and growing from the teachers of Israel.  This is key to understanding how Jesus could be both man and God.  Though He was God, He appears to have chosen to limit Himself to the point of being human, so that He could sympathize with us in our struggles and temptations and sufferings.  What a wonderful, sympathetic God!

We noted as well that Jesus demonstrates great humility and obedience, both in coming with His parents, in respecting the teachers and His parents, and in returning to Nazareth with them when they left.  Because Christians are called to become more Christ-like, seeing Jesus demonstrate humility and obedience should set off in us a desire to be more obedient and humble, like Him.

Another passage that we related this to is Acts 17:24-28, which talks about the God of the universe, Lord of heaven and earth, who ordains our days and gives us our life and breath; it says that He is very near to us, just waiting in eager anticipation for us to draw near to Him.  This is the call that Jesus seems to have been responding to in the passage in Luke.  Think for yourself for a moment--what is your proximity to God the Father?  Is He pleading with you to spend your best time with Him?  Is He pleading with you to share your life and plans with Him?  Your heart and soul?  The passage in Acts goes on to tell us about what God did to restore us to Himself: He came to earth and died in our places of His own pleasure and will, and then rose again to give us life through His victory over the grave.  How will you respond to this radical call on your life?