SEEKING JESUS

LUKE 2:39-52


      Here, Luke gave the only biblical glimpse at Jesus until thirty years of age (Lk. 3:23). David Smith stated, “Nor were those silent years lost. They served in the providence of God as a preparation for the work which had been given Him to do.” Endnote


  I. Obscurity (2:39)


      God’s servants seek and find Jesus in quiet places (Is. 30:15). God often allowed His servants to labor in places of obscurity as a tool to shape a close walk with Himself (Moses, Elijah, David, Paul).


      A. J. Gordon considered the life of David Brainerd (1718-47), missionary to the Susquehanna Indians who died before the age of thirty, and wrote, “The hidden life, a life whose days are spent in communion with God, in trying to reach the source of prayer, is the life that moves the world. Those living such lives may be soon forgotten.”


 II. Humanity (2:40)


      Plummer noted, “The intellectual, moral, and spiritual growth of the Child, like the physical, was real.” Endnote


      Part of the humiliation of the Jesus’ incarnation included the paradox of the Wisdom of God learning obedience to God (Heb. 5:8). Seeking Jesus includes the hunger and thirst for righteousness (Jer. 29:13).


      Seeking Jesus means to increase in spiritual strength. Chester Swor wrote, “As sad as is the case of arrested physical and mental growth, it is vastly more sad that our Heavenly Father is obliged to look down upon so many of His children who have just deliberately chosen to continue to be spiritual infants or spiritual dwarfs! It occurred to me, further, that His sadness must be even deeper than that of the earthly parents, because He knows that the circumstances which have caused us to be infants and midgets are within our control and that we can resume spiritual growth and continue it through life if we honestly want to grow.” Endnote


III. Regularity (2:41-42)


      Robertson explained, “Every male was originally expected to appear at the Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles (Ex. 23:14-17; Ex. 34:23; Dt. 16:16).” Endnote


      God can speak in a dramatic way to those who continue to walk with Him in a regular way. Those who seek Jesus constantly will find Him (Ps. 63:1).


 IV. Familiarity (2:43-44)


      Those who always handle spiritual things face the danger of losing the reality of Jesus (Is. 52:11). Jesus can be lost at the House of God. Like Samson, some lose God but do not know it. Those who allow the majestic to be mundane end up burning strange fire on the altar (Lev. 10:1).


  V. Sincerity (2:45-46)


      Seeking to find Jesus will mean a sincere desire to know Him. Those who diligently seek the Lord will find Him (Mt. 13:45).


      Jesus longed to stay in the House of Prayer (Ps. 84). Robertson wrote, “It was not disobedience on the part of ‘the boy’ that made him remain behind, but intense interest in the services of the temple. . . .” Endnote


      Jesus so loved the House of Prayer that He drove out those who prostituted the house “for purposes other than what was intended.” Endnote


      Seeking the Lord is not seeking His hand but His face. It is not wanting His help but His heart (Ps. 27:4-8-9, 63:1; Prov. 8:17; S.S. 3:1-2; Col. 3:1).


Once earthly joy I craved, sought peace and rest;

Now Thee alone I seek, give what is best;

This all my prayer shall be; more love O Christ, to Thee,

More love to Thee! More love to Thee! Endnote


 VI. Incapacity (2:47-50)


      Those who genuinely seek to find Jesus soon realize the incapacity to fully know the unsearchable riches of Christ. True seekers of Jesus will increase in holy dissatisfaction with the level of experience (Phil. 3:10).


      Vance Havner told of Christmas Evans, the Welsh preacher, riding horseback on Saturday afternoon on the way to preach being convicted of a cold heart. Evans tied the horse and spent hours in the woods in prayer until his heart thawed out “like the breaking up of a hard winter.” Endnote


VII. Humility (2:51)


      Jesus humbly submitted Himself to the authority of human parents in Nazareth. Jesus humbled Himself to allow those who seek Him to know Him.



      Andrew Murray wrote, “The one infallible test of our holiness will be the humility before God and men which marks us.” Endnote


VIII. Maturity (2:52)


      Luke demonstrated (in one person) Jesus’ full humanity as Son of Man and full deity as Son of God. Robertson said, “His physical, intellectual, moral, spiritual development was perfect.” Endnote


      Seeking Jesus will cause growth in spiritual maturity. Jesus came to make whole persons–He completely restores spirit, soul, and body (1 Th. 5:23).

 

•          Academics (Phil. 2:1)

•          Anatomy (Rom. 12:1; 1 Cor 6:20)

•          Assimilation (Prov. 16:7; Mk. 12:30-31; 1 Jn. 4:20)


      Clyde Narramore wrote, “Life, therefore, is a process of developing and maintaining an adequate level of physical, emotional and spiritual adjustment. Each day a person has experiences which may threaten his well-being in each of these areas.” Endnote


      E. Stanley Jones stated, “To the effect of the physical upon the spiritual we increasingly agree. But the other truth–the effect of the mental and spiritual upon the physical–is insufficiently emphasized.” Endnote Jones said, “The first step toward complete mental and spiritual health is complete honesty.” Endnote


      God’s grace makes one whole.