Authority

Luke 2:46-50

⁴⁶ Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. ⁴⁸ So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, "Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously."
⁴⁹ And He said to them, "Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?" ⁵⁰ But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.

I was reading a book the other day that took me to this passage. I was amazed, just like Joseph and Mary, by some of the things that the Lord revealed to me in these sentences. It reveals so much about the character of Jesus, both as God and as a human.

First of all, let's just say this: This was not the last time that Jesus was misunderstood. But, near as I can tell, it is the first time that we see it in scripture, chronologically speaking. Let's set the stage.

Jesus is 12 years old. His family had gone to Jerusalem for Passover. Remember that Passover is more than just a day. It is the beginning of the Feast of Tabernacles. It comes in the fall each year and commemorates the several things. Firstly, the Passover itself; the salvation of the Hebrew people as God sent the angel of death into the land of Egypt, sparing those who had sacrificed the innocent and spotless lamb and painting its blood on the door posts and lintels of their doors. But it is also the beginning of a week-long celebration called the Feast of Unleavened bread. This Feast is to commemorate the leaving of Egypt in such haste that they could take no risen bread with them. For this reason they wandered 40 years in the wilderness where the Israelites were provided manna from heaven. For this reason, the family would usually be 'in town' for more than a week. The Feast of Tabernacles is full of daily worship, fun and fellowship. Families get together and mingle like this is a weeklong family reunion, which in essence, it really is. When it came time to go, Jesus stayed behind. Not out of disobedience or meanness, but because he was used to spending time at the temple. At age twelve in preparation for his Bar-Mizpah (meaning 'son of promise' or 'son of covenant'), Jesus would have been to the temple for the first time. The sights, the sounds, the smells, and the teachings!

Joseph and Mary leave Jerusalem, and unknowingly leave the 12 year old Jesus behind. Not out of neglect, but at a weeklong family reunion, you get used to the kids being gone to play, and one parent assumes the other knows where he is. In a frantic state, Joseph and Mary discover that their son is missing, and back to Jerusalem, swimming upstream against the tide of pilgrims heading back home, they finally find Jesus three days later. That's where the scripture picks up the story.

There's Jesus, sitting in the midst of the Rabbi's, the teachers. He is both 'listening and asking questions'. But more to the point of the amazing character of this little boy, the teachers are astonished at Jesus. Why? Well, for two reasons:

1. His understanding of what they were teaching.
   
2. Because of His answers.
   

His answers? While the text does not say so in so many words, the very discussion not only implied but portends to reveal that they were asking questions of Jesus and He was answering! There was a heart in this human boy that melted before the Father. His love for the Father drove Him to be attentive, obedient, and to seek all that He could learn to know of the Father. It tells us that He was fully man, and this His omnipotence was set aside so that He could learn just like every other 12 year old of His time. Matter of fact, verse 52 states that He increased in wisdom and stature and favor with God & men!

Then came the remarks of Mom and Dad. Paraphrasing: "Jesus! You have caused PANIC in us! We have feared for your life! We were so afraid! Why did you for this!?"

Here Jesus responds, and sets the stage for His ministry to come. Here, at the temple, in front of the teachers and His parents, he reveals in carefully chosen words what His life was to be from that point on. It was to be about the Father's business. And like so many others that would follow in their footsteps in try, the earthly parents of Jesus do not understand Him.

Jesus was, and still is, not understood by many. As Christians we need to live our lives as if we are about the Father's business. We, the believers of today, are the representatives, emissaries or Ambassadors if you will, of God on earth. Many people do not understand that. Even those, just like Joseph and Mary, very close to Jesus. It just doesn't all click. We live to serve Him and represent Him. All the rest is peripheral to our calling and mission. At twelve, Jesus was sold-out to God the Father. At 3, 4, 5 or 6 times that age, some of us walk around wondering if we are, or worse yet, know that we are not.

Jesus came to this earth with a mandate and with authority. Sadly, most Christians do not realize that we have the same mandate and authority. I'm not saying that you are I are little "Jesus'", or that we too cane become "God' or 'godlike'. Not at all. What I am saying is that the authority of God rests on us as His Ambassadors. There is authority in God's Word, we need to put that in use! God has given us this authority. Scripture tells us that we have been "entrusted" with God's gospel (I Thess. 2:4), and that as pastors, we have been "entrusted" with an authority over our flocks (1 Peter 5:3) that we are to use, but not abuse.

The authority found in God's Word will amaze! It will astonish! It will also confuse. Some people will not understand. But if you do not share it, deliver it, show it, live it with authority, you are short-selling what God has given us; POWER. Not to harm or to lord over people, or to force people against their will, but power to heal with His tender words of mercy. Power to bring light into darkness, power to bring peace where there is unrest. Power to bring life where now lives death.

That is authority. Showing the gospel in your life, give people an example of what a person serving Jesus should look like. Sharing the gospel with someone and exposing them to that saving grace of Jesus is power. It can't be had anywhere else. And it is yours and mine to use. Let us use it more often, in His name.