Nashville, Tennessee, United States - The Upper Room Daily Devotional “Christmas Eve” for Wednesday, 24 December 2014 - Scripture: Luke 2: They Found Him in the Temple
41-45 Every year Jesus’ parents traveled to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up as they always did for the Feast. When it was over and they left for home, the child Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents didn’t know it. Thinking he was somewhere in the company of pilgrims, they journeyed for a whole day and then began looking for him among relatives and neighbors. When they didn’t find him, they went back to Jerusalem looking for him.
46-48 The next day they found him in the Temple seated among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions. The teachers were all quite taken with him, impressed with the sharpness of his answers. But his parents were not impressed; they were upset and hurt.
His mother said, “Young man, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been half out of our minds looking for you.”
49-50 He said, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be here, dealing with the things of my Father?” But they had no idea what he was talking about.
51-52 So he went back to Nazareth with them, and lived obediently with them. His mother held these things dearly, deep within herself. And Jesus matured, growing up in both body and spirit, blessed by both God and people.
[Jesus] said to [his parents], “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”[Luke 2:49 (NRSV)]
I am a father of eight children in a blended family. My wife and I both serve as stepparents to children from previous marriages. Being a stepparent is often a tough and thankless job. We have both heard words like: “You’re not my daddy” or “I don’t have to listen to you.” While blended-family dynamics are often difficult, our family is strengthened as we have faced and overcome obstacles. Knowing that God’s grace is greater than divorce and brokenness, we keep Christ at the center of our family.
Realizing that God through Christ Jesus chose to enter a human family gives us hope. In today’s reading, Luke’s Gospel shares a very human situation from Jesus’ childhood. Mary and Joseph lost Jesus in Jerusalem. After searching for three days they found him, not at home but in the temple. I can imagine Joseph’s feelings when Jesus told them, “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
This story reminds me that God is the Father of us all. The good news is that Christ experienced a human life, a human family, and a human death to pay the penalty for our sins. Through Christ’s sacrifice we are all one blended family, and we too can claim God as our Father.
The Author: Michael Adam Beck (Florida, USA)
Thought for the Day: We are all children of God.
Prayer: Dear heavenly Father, we thank you that through Christ we are all one family. Amen.
Prayer focus: Blended families
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