Luke 2:39-52 Leaving the Festival
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: June 20, 2018 Luke 2:39-52
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
After doing everything required by the Law of the Lord, Joseph and Mary returned to their hometown of Nazareth in Galilee. Meanwhile, the child continued to grow and to become strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor rested upon him. Every year Jesus’ parents would go to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. When Jesus was twelve years old, they went up to the festival as usual. When the days of the festival were over, they left for home. The young man Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. They thought that he was in their group of travelers. After traveling for a day, they started looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching desperately for him. Three days later they found him in the Temple sitting among the teachers, listening to them, and posing questions to them. All who heard him were amazed at his intelligence and his answers. When Jesus’ parents saw him, they were shocked. His mother asked him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been worried sick looking for you!” He asked them, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he told them. Then he went back with them, returning to Nazareth and remaining in submission to them. His mother continued to treasure all these things in her heart. Meanwhile, Jesus kept on growing wiser and more mature, and in favor with God and his fellow man.
(Understanding the Text / Revelation of God) From the time of being a baby until he was 12 years old, we are told that Jesus grew and became strong. To me that seems to say that He didn’t have physical problems. Luke was interested in the physical, so he must have asked Mary about the child Jesus. Mary would have been very old at that time. The reason that I say that he asked Mary is the verse that says, “His mother continued to treasure all these things in her heart.” It doesn’t mention His brothers. It also says that the child Jesus was filled with wisdom and God’s favor rested on Him. He must have constantly surprised His mother and father with ideas that He came up with. Was he a child genius in non-religious areas? He was probably curious and asked a lot of questions of others when He did not understand something. Did He wander around a lot asking people about what they were doing? Did he spend hours watching ants in their anthills and clouds in the sky. Could He physically see things that we could not? I don’t think He could see natural phenomena that we couldn’t at this point, but maybe He saw angels protecting the family.
(Understanding the Text) Joseph was still alive when Jesus was 12 but not when Jesus was 30, so he died sometime in the years between. The prophecy of Daniel stated the time that Jesus would begin His ministry, but were there practical reasons to wait? For example, did He need to stay and support the family economically?
From the EGW Estate: ” You will find the brothers of Jesus referred to in John 7:1-10 and John 2:12, as well as in a few other verses. The Bible also says He had sisters (Mark 6:3). Even among those who are not Seventh-day Adventists, many people believe (as Mrs. White did) that the brothers of Jesus mentioned in the Bible were sons of Joseph, who was evidently an older man and we assume was widowed. The belief that Joseph was substantially older than Mary is based on the fact that the Bible offers no account of Joseph after the incident in Jerusalem when Jesus was ‘lost’ among the rabbis, though it does not lack for mention of Mary. This leads to the common assumption that Joseph died sometime before Jesus embarked on His ministry, and it supports the idea that Joseph was indeed an older man. The belief that Joseph had children by a former marriage, from which he was widowed, is likely because (a) the brothers of Jesus seem willing to try to “boss” Him (see John 7:1-5), something that a younger brother in that culture would not try to do, and (b) Jesus acted the part of the oldest, and perhaps the only, son of Mary when on the cross He committed her to John’s care. Providing for her to be cared for outside the family is something that would not have been necessary or customary if she had other sons (or, for that matter, if Joseph were still alive). The explanation that the brothers of Jesus were sons of Joseph by a former marriage accounts for all this evidence that we find in Scripture.” (From <http://ellenwhite.org/content/file/jesus-older-brothers#document> ).
From the Desire of Ages, I read that this was the first time that Jesus had been to the temple. Mary and Joseph went every year, but they did not take the whole family with them. They took Jesus this time because of His age. It was customary to take the boys to the temple at this age. As Jesus entered the temple for the first time, he saw all the signs that pointed to Him and His death, and His future and purpose opened up to Him more fully than before. He was attracted to a school at the temple and began asking questions of the teachers. He was questioning their assertions about the Messiah, and He was challenging them from the scriptures as to the Messiah’s mission and fate. The teachers were amazed because He showed a depth and understanding of the scriptures that they had not reached. These teachers were the ones who could have led the Jews to understand the nature and importance of the mission of the Messiah and led the people to accept Him; thus, ushering in the time of prosperity spoken of in prophecies of Israel. However, their minds were closed to new ideas, and their hearts were too proud to let a child’s teaching enter. They continued to teach their erroneous views of the Messiah so that when Jesus finally openly declared His mission, the religious leaders of the day rejected Him.
(Application / Prayer) I pray to not be set in my own cherished views so that I am not open to the true messages of the scriptures. I pray to not inflexibly hold on to mistakes and not to ignore new light that God has to give me. I pray for a humble heart that does not judge by tradition and long-held misconception, but that instead, opens with love to the unfurling of greater knowledge of Jesus.
(Added June 21, 2018) I see that God gave the Jewish leaders many warnings that the Messiah was coming. Zechariah’s amazing experience would have been known to all the priests, and he would have explained that his son would proclaim the coming of the Messiah. At Jesus’ birth, the shepherd’s testified of the Messiah coming. At Jesus’ presentation in the temple Anna and Simeon testified that he was the Messiah. The three wisemen came seeking Jesus and testified of the star making the leaders search the scriptures for the Messiah. Now, twelve years later, they were again given evidence in the form of the young Messiah visiting and amazing them. They should have been ready, but they were not.