Questions from the Bible, Part One: ‘Why were you looking for me?’
If a caregiver ever thinks, I could be doing something so much more significant than this, who would argue?
If another frets, I have managed dozens of people and millions of dollars and now my life has been reduced to changing wet sheets and pureeing solid food, who would criticize?
Most of us caregivers have been removed from our worlds of influence and accomplishment and isolated by the demands of caregiving. Today’s story is perfect encouragement for us. It shows that even the Son of God submitted to his proper duty for his current chapter. It’s a challenging example for every caregiver.
In today’s passage, the reader sees Jesus talking in the temple with the Jewish scholars who taught in public during Passover for any who wanted to listen. It was the pattern and practice for Jewish boys to learn the Torah by participating in such back and forth; this is a typical scene.
But this time the teachers seemed as intrigued by the boy’s responses as he was by their learning. It was far more like a discussion among equals than a teaching session with a novice.
His parents had already left Jerusalem in a caravan traveling for home with their extended family, and each of them thought the 12-year-old was with the other.
Note these details:
• The parents were panicked at the disappearance of Jesus. But he thought they should have expected to find him in the temple where he said he belonged.
• He called it his “Father’s house.” Did he mean to make a distinction between it and Mary and Joseph’s house, the place where Joseph served as his father? Here, at age 12, Jesus realized that God was really his Father, the one who had sent him to earth for a mission like no other.
• Mary and Joseph didn’t understand his response and insisted he return with them to their home in Nazareth.
• Jesus went with them, apparently without rancor or resistance.
• He knew he was destined for something far more significant than a peasant’s life in a carpenter’s household. He knew his mind and spirit would be dominated by and dedicated to matters eternal, not the dullness of everyday life on earth. But he submitted to his earthly parents because that was the right thing for a 12-year-old boy to do.
And that’s the point of this meditation.
Whatever caregivers must give up to fulfill their role, it’s nothing compared to the sacrifice of Jesus to accomplish his.
Jesus waited almost two more decades before beginning his earthly ministry. We can only guess at all he realized or learned or decided during that time. Some caregivers feel they’ve been trapped by their responsibilities for far too long. But this story can remind us that each day has its duties and opportunities, and we do well to trust God and pursue them.
Maybe they will prepare us for something greater in the future. Meanwhile, maybe we’ll realize we could do nothing greater than relax and serve well where we find ourselves today.
Read: Luke 2:41-52
Pray: Help us, Lord, not to move beyond longing memories and lofty dreams and concentrate on the tasks before us now. Help us discover your direction in the work you’ve left for our hands to accomplish today.
Illustration copyright Classic Bible Art. For information about securing beautiful art like this in books to read and cherish, click here. Click here to find a list of places to see many pieces of this art free, framed, and ready for you to enjoy. Some art in this series is available for license at Goodsalt.com.