Waiting on the Manger: Day 7

Jesus

“The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. 

We have seen His glory, 

the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, 

full of grace and truth.” - John 1:14

“Who, existing in the form of God,

 did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,

 but emptied Himself, 

taking the form of a servant, 

being made in human likeness. 

And being found in appearance as man, 

He humbled Himself

 and became obedient to death

—even death on a cross.” Philippians 2:6-8

I know it is extremely ironic to include Jesus Himself in this study, but I couldn’t help it!

Welcome to Day 7, everyone—the last day of this journey of Waiting on the Manger.

Leading up to this study, I was reading through Luke for my daily devotion, and the story of Jesus as a 12-year-old stood out to me. That is why I knew Jesus Himself had to be the focus of the last day of this study.

After the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem and His dedication in the temple, the next time we hear about Jesus is in this story at the temple. Keeping in line with the customs, Jesus and His parents went up to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When it was time to return home, Luke writes that “Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but His parents were unaware He had stayed. Assuming He was in their company, they traveled on for a day before they began to look for Him among their relatives and friends.”

“When they could not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for Him. Finally, after three days, they found Him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astounded at His understanding and His answers. When His parents saw Him, they were astonished. ‘Child, why have You done this to us?’ His mother asked. ‘Your father and I have been anxiously searching for You.’”

Usually, when people talk about this story, they emphasize the fact that Mary scolded Jesus, and we don’t hear from Him again until He was 30 years old. It’s almost like we assume Jesus did something wrong in this story. I think that’s the narrative I subscribed to for a while. I mean, I knew that Jesus could not sin, so He did not sin in this incident, but I also thought that because Mary scolded Him, He was doing something He should not have been doing—until I took a closer look at the story and its circumstances.

Stepping out of the context of Jesus as our Messiah and Savior, let’s look at the story of Jesus just as a 12-year-old child. Mary and Joseph traveled from Nazareth to Jerusalem, a journey that would have taken about four days. They got to the temple for Passover, and when it was time to return to Nazareth—another four-day journey—they didn’t check to see if Jesus was with them??? I’m sorry, but that’s not Jesus’ fault! He was the child. Today, if parents did the same thing—let’s say you hear of parents traveling from Houston, Texas, to Bangkok, and on their journey back to Houston, they realize that their 12-year-old child is missing—wouldn’t you assume the parents were negligent? Why? Because it’s the parents’ responsibility to take care of their child, not the other way around.

Luke 2:44 says that Mary and Joseph, “assuming He was in their company, they traveled for a day before they began to look for Him.” They assumed He was with them. They didn’t check, verify, or ensure that He was there. They assumed. Furthermore, it took them a whole day to notice Jesus was missing! I think that’s a little insane.

Yes, yes, I know the culture was different, and they traveled in caravans, and it wasn’t outside the norm for children to be with others in the caravan. But now, let’s add the context of Jesus being our Messiah and Savior into the equation.

Jesus, the Child promised to Mary and Joseph. Jesus, the Son of David, who was promised to establish the throne of David forever. Jesus, the perfect lamb slain for the sins of the world. Jesus, the Messiah that Israel waited over 2,000 years for.

Jesus—the promise—is the Child in question, and He was not treated as such. He was not treated as the treasure that He is.

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” —Matthew 6:21

Which one of you would lose your treasure for a whole day? Now, I am trying to break this habit, so don’t judge me, but I don’t even lose my phone for a whole hour!

Okay, fine, maybe talking about phones is a bit cavalier, so let’s say someone gave you a suitcase of $100,000. What would you do with it? Would you let it out of your sight? Or would you guard it with your life? Would you keep your eyes on it every second of every day? That is how people treat treasures—with care, with love, with effort.

Now, I’m not trying to hate on Mary and Joseph; they were just doing their best. But this story made me wonder. I saw myself in this story. Have I treated Jesus like this? Have I treated Jesus like He was a common thing? Have I become too familiar with Him? The Holy One who, “existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant…” The One who “became flesh and made His dwelling among us.” The One who existed outside of time but stepped into time to become the propitiation for my sins.

When His parents found Him, He told them, “Why were you looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” But “they did not understand the statement He was making to them.” —Luke 2:49-50

Twelve to thirteen years had passed since the miraculous appearance of Angel Gabriel, the shepherds, the wise men, and Prophets Anna and Simeon. Did they forget who Jesus was supposed to be? Was it because He wasn’t walking around raising people from the dead that they forgot who He was? Did they get so overfamiliar with Him that they forgot He was literally God wrapped in flesh?

What do you do after you receive the promise you waited for? Do you treat it as mundane, or do you treasure it because you know how long you waited for it?

It’s something to ponder today. It’s something I always think about on December 25th.

Lord, help us not to treat Your presence as a regular thing. Help us not to treat Your birth as something mundane or ordinary. It is holy, as You are holy.

Merry Christmas everyone!