Where Jesus Can Be Found; Luke 2:39-52

Delivered during the Sunday morning worship service, 6/27/2021. Luke alone among the Gospel writers gives us a glimpse into the early life of Jesus. First, with His initial trip to the Temple as an infant, and then again as a 12-year old adolescent. In this familiar story, His parents start home to Nazareth, not realizing Jesus has been left behind. After a frantic search they find Him in the Temple, conferring with the learned rabbis, and amazing everyone with His understanding. Besides being a delightful story, this gives us valuable insight into the development of our Lord and His dual natures. We will focus on the changing relationship between Jesus, His earthly parents, and His heavenly Father, and try to sort out the relationship between Jesus the developing human and Jesus the divine Son of God. Ultimately, we will analyze the misunderstanding that leads Mary to chastise Jesus and apply the lessons learned to our own understanding. In the process we will affirm that Jesus is the ONLY path to salvation and that unlike Joseph and Mary, we must look for Him where He can be found!