not only must die the death sinners Exposition should have died, in their place; He (2:21-24) THE CIRQJMCISION OF JESUS

must give God the obedience to His &: THE PURIFICATION OF MARY Law, sinners should have given, in their place. So that we, who believe in THE CIRCUMCISION OF JESUS

Him, are saved from our sins by the God's Law required that all male active and passive obedience to Biblical children of covenant families in Israel Law. To be our Savior ,Jesus Christ be circumcised on the eighth day after

Luke 2:21-52 Introduction must not only not leave one penalty binh, as a sign and seal of the covenant THE INTIMATE RELATION for sin unpaid, He must also not blessings,Gen.17:12;Lev.12:3;Rom.

OF THE INCARNATE CHRIST leave one Law of God unobeyed. 4: 11. Therefore, the incarnate Son of WITH THE OLD TESTAMENT "The circumcision and purification God must be circumcised, because to

In this section of Luke's binh customs after a binh had ·reference to be our Savior He had to fulfill all the narratives we see that the entire Old the scate of sin in which each human demands of God's Law. What Testament revelation was a preparation for the coming of Christ and the revelation of God in Him.

THE HUMILIATION

OF THE INCARNATE

CHRIST AND HIS

SOLIDARITY WITH

FALLEN HUMANITY

God sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned Sin in the flesh, Rom. 8:3 . . being is born and to the purification The incarnate Son "had to be made there by blood-sprinkling and like His brethren in all things, that He sacrifices. Where, therefore,Jesus, the might become a merciful and faithful stainless and Holy One, undergoes highpriestin thingspenainingto God, these things, this is not on His own to make propitiation for the sins of the account, but it serves as a sign that He people," Heb. 2:17. "Whenthefulness voluntarily places Himself under the of time came, God sent forth His Son, Law and takes upon Himself the born ofawoman,bomunderthe Law, obligations of His people so as to in order that He might redeem those procure their redemption. He takes who were under the Law, that we upon Himself their impurity and guilt might receive the adoption of sons," and therefore He undergoes Gal. 4:4-5. In order to accomplish circumcision and later on also the redemption for His people and bestow baptism by john. Along this road He upon them full salvation, the incarnate moves to undertake the work of Christ, who is Himself without sin or redemption. Thenamejesus, (jesus is personal guilt, being conceived ofthe Savior'), given to Him at the Holy Spirit, must also perform all the circumcision in obedience to the obligations of the Law of God so as to command of God, 1 :31, indicates this fulfill all righteousness, Matt. 3: 15. He fact forcibly." -Geldenhuys

.. ~ TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon ~ November, 1993

humiliation! The Lawgiver Himself subjecting Himself to that Law meant for man to obey. jesus did not undergo circum­cision so much for himself as He did forthosewhomHe came to save. "jesus receives the ·sign chosen by YAHWEH, not as one who needed that covenant and that sign for

Himself, but as the one who would fulfill, bring, and dispense what that . covenant and that sign promised." -Lenski

"His circumcision was afirst step in His obedience to the will of God, andafirstshedding of the redeeming blood." -Plumer

Furthennore, jesus, as a child of the covenant, (a child of believing parents), received the Sign of the covenant, Gen. 17:7, to identify Him with the Covenant community. The children of believers today are "Christ-like" when theyteceive baptism as the sign of the New Covenant in Christ, identifying them with Christ and His Church.

THE REDEMPTION OF JESUS

In connection with this ritual purification of Mary .Jesus was brought to the Temple inJerusalem "to present Him to the Lord." This is the first time the Davidic Messiah had come to His own city. Why was the inmnt Jesus "presented to the Lord" at the Temple? It was done in obedience to the revealed Law of God, Exod. 13:13,15; Num. 8:16; 18:15. Every firstborn son had to be presented to Jehovah as belonging to Him, to selve Him in His Temple all his days. These firstborn sons could be "redeemed" from this Temple service for the price of five shekels and the offering of a sacrifice, Exod. 13. This redemption of the firstborn was a memorial of the spa ling of the firstborn of the Israelite families in Egypt the night of the "Passover," Le., the night the firstbom in Egypt were killed except for those in house with blood smeared on the doorposts.

In God's sight not only the Egyptians but the Israelites had forfeited their lives because of their sins---the wages of sin is death. In place of the death of His chosen people God was willing to accept from the tribe of Levi lifelong service in the Tabernacle/Temple, and from the firstborn of othertribes ofIsrael, unless they were "redeemed." The Levites were the representatives of the people of lsrael, and the firstborn sons were the representatives of their families to teach us that Christ is the representative of His people. What He did He did for themandin their place. 'jesustoowas under the sentence of death. He was born 'underthe law,' Gal. 4:4, and this in the sense not only of being under personal obligation to keep the law but also of being duty-bound---witha duty to which he voluntarily obligated himself---vicariously to bear the law's penalty and to satisfy its demand of

perfect obedience. Was the redem ption fee paid at this time a symbol oftheinfinitely greater ransom to which the Savior was going to refer in saying, 'The Son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give His life an ransom for man,' Mk. 1O:45?"-Hendriksen

The point of this incident conceming the firstborn ritual in the Temple in Jesus' infancy is profound: On the fortieth day of His life Jesus Chlist the Redeemer was Himself

redeemed for about $3.501 What humiliation!

A saCrifice of "a pair of turtle doves or two young pigeons," (Lev. 12:8; 5:11; LIe 2 :24) , was made in connection with Mary's purification and Jesus's presentation. "The sacrifices symbolized that the sacrificeI' deserved death, but that the sacrificial animal is loaded with the guilt and death-penalty and for the sake of the sacrificer enters upon death to set him free from his guilt of sin. According to Exodus 13 a saclifice had always to be offered for a firstborn to symbolize the fact that the death-penalty lay on him and had to be taken away through the saclifice. This sacrifice is brought in the case of Jesus because He has taken upon Himself the death-penalty of the sinful people for whose salvation He became Man."-Geldenhuys

The fact that Joseph and MalY had to offer "a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons," which the Law required of those who were to "poor"

to afford a lamb, Lev. 12:8, does not mean that Joseph was a pauper. He was a carpenter, and may have not had much wealth, but we have no reason to believer he was a pauper, i.e., desperately poverty-stricken. Joseph did have money to pay for the "redemption" of his firstbomson. On the trip to Nazareth to Bethlehem he must have been able to pay travel expenses. Furthelmore, his little family had now been living in or near Bethlehem for 40 days, Le., the time of

his wife's uncleanness after childbirth. Money was surely getting scarce by this time. Whether Joseph was able to get work during this time we do not know. "One fact is clear: the means at his disposal were insuffi­cient to warrant purchase of the more expensive offering of a lamb plus a bird." -Hendtiksen.

THE PURIFICATION OF MARY

According to Leviticus 12: If, a woman who had given birth to a son was ceremonially unclean for seven days, or until the circumcision of the child, and thereafter for thirty-three days she could not touch any holy things or participate in any acts of worship. After fony days she had to come to the Tem pie to be ceremonially purified. Luke speaks of "their pUlification" as ifjoseph was included in this ritual. However, Joseph is referred to because "as the head of the house he had to see to it that this pUlification of his wife was duly carried out; he also provided the necessary saclifices for her. "-LenskL Geldenhuys thinks the word, "their," also includes the infant ---"Because her 'impurity' was connected with the birth ofachild, the child is also involved in it, and therefore the original reading is 'their purification: Through this also the Savior undergoes humiliation. For the sake of the redemption of His people,

November, 1993 ~ THE COUNSEL of ChaIcedon l' 5

He takes their impurity upon Himself also in this connection."

(2:25-35) THE WITNESS OF SIMEON TO JESUS CHRIST

(f'oran exposition of this important passage, see the annotated outline installment entitled, "The Nunc Dimittis.")

(2:36-38) THE WITNESS OF ANNA TO JESUS CHRIST

Simeon was not the only person in the Temple to bear witness to Jesus Christ at his presentation there. There was another person present who has her place in the history of redemption next to Simeon. Her name was Anna, a prophetess, the daughter ofPhanuel, of the tribe of Asher, 2:36-38.

ANNA WAS OF THE TRIBE OF ASHER.

The tribe of Asher is virtually an 1.!nknown quantity in the O.T. history ofIsrael. Moses blessed this tribe.with the following prophetic blessing: "Let Asher be blessed with children; let him be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his footinail. Your shoes shall be iron and brass; and as your days, 50 shall your strength be: Deuteronomy 33:24;25. But the days of Asher had long since passed. This tribe, along with the others in the Northern Kingdom of Israel were driven from their lands into obscurity because of their long-standing apostasy from the Lord and His covenant. Asher had been carried into captivity as one of the "ten lost tribes ofIsrael."

Historymay have forgotten aU about Asher, but God had not. His Word is never without effect. All of His promises will be fulfilled. $0, here is Anna, with her identity in tact, a representative of the lost tribe of Asher, in the Temple of the Lord, giving testimony to Jesus Christ.

How was Moses' prophetic prophecy fulfilled in Anna? She was a widow with no children of her own. Moses had said, "Let Asher be blessed

ylith children," but there were no children for Anna, and it would appear that Asher's line was on the verge of disappearing forever. All that is left is a grey-haired, childless widow named Anna. ("Her constant vigil in the temple across that time span (of sixty years) suggests that there were no children from her brief marriage that had to be cared for, and thus there were no children to comfort her in her loneliness." -Norman Shepherd, "Anna at the Presentation of Jesus: in The Presbyterian Guardian, Dec. 1978.)

ANNA WAS A WIDOW.

Anna had been married only seven years, and widowed for sixty years, In the ancient world of that day, a widow's life was not easy. "Her devotion to the God of her fathers brought her to the temple day after day; but who can say how often she was compelled to listen to the pious prayers of religious people whose occupation it was to devour widow's houses? (Luke 20:47)." -Shepherd

ANNA WAS A DEVOUT BELIEVER IN JEHOVAH.

Anna served the Lord in His Temple, "serving night and day with fastings and prayers," 2:37. "Her thoughts go out to Asher, to Israel, to God's people. Her zeal is forthe House of God. She is deeply conscious of the church bf God------and the utter desolation of that church. There is almost nothing left! In her desolation she fasts, and thereby identifies herself with the desolation 'of the church. There is no escaping from the church or from her responsibility as a member of the church. Although the fasting bespeaks desolation, in prayershecries out to God for mercy, and the glimmer of hope is kept alive even as lifeitselfis ebbing away. Heronlycomfortinlife, and now on the very threshold of death, is the knowledge that God is the Savior,andGodhadpromisedtocome and to redeem Israel from all her sin.

6 ~ TIlE COUNSEL of ChaIcedon ~ November, 1993

Anna, too, continues to look for the consolation of Israel. And He comes! God Himself comes to His Temple in the person of the infant Jesus at the very hour when Anna is there to see with her own eyes." -N. Shepherd

ANNA WAS THE DAUGHTER OF PHANUEl.

Anna's father's name, Phanuel, means "vision of God," and yet he was never allowed to see what Anna saw. She was privileged to see the glory of God in human flesh.

ANNA'S NAME MEANS "GRACE".

Anna's name means "grace" or "favor." And how favored of God she was to see His only begotten Son. Moses had promised that Asher would be blessed with children. Anna had none of her own; but by the grate of God she received a far greater blessing. "She received [he child Jesus in the Temple so that through Him the tribe of Asher might become fruitful in the most profound sense of the word." -Shepherd

ANNA WAS A PROPHETESS.

When she saw the Son of God she immediately gave thanks to God. Redemption in Christ had come to God's people at last. She could not help but "speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption in Jerusalem: 2:38. As a prophetess, "her prophetic calling now reaches its climax in that she canspeak not simply of a salvation to come, but specifically of Jesus who HAS come to save His people from their sins." -N. Shepherd

ANNA WAS A WITNESS OF JESUS CHRIST AND SO MUST WE BE.

"The long, dark night is nOW past. The vigil has ended. The dawn of a new day has come, the promised Sabbath for the people of God. It is a day of superabounding grace. Anna prophesied to the remnant who were looking for redemption in Jerusalem. In this new day, however,a new

-, generation of prophets would arise, indeed, many generations of prophets. Their ministry, however, is not to a remnant, but to multitudes. These multitudes are not looking for redemption in Jerusalem at all, but they will find redemption; [or it is the day when the Savior will be found by those who did NOT seek for him. Isaiah had spoken of just such a day, Isa. 65:1, and we who are alive today are privileged to live in that day. Neither wisdom nor might, nor nobility, nor any other qualifications in us, either obtains or thwarts the grace of God, I Cor. 1:26,27. It is the gracious, sovereign, and efficacious call of God that ushers us into the fellowship of the Son of God so that we become sons of God in the beloved Son, Eph. 1:5,6. We who are by nature sinners of the Gentiles, Gal. 2:15,join with Anna of the tribe of Asher in giving thanks to God for his unspeakable gift." -N. Shepherd

(2:39-40, 52) THE INTELLECTUAL,

PHYSICAL, SOCIAL AND SPIRITUAL

DEVELOPMENT OF JESUS

"And the Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him,» Luke 2:40. "And Jesus hept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men," Luke 2:52.

Luke 2:40 gives us a histOlY of the first twelve years of Jesus' life; and Luke 2:52 gives a histOlY of the next eighteen years of His life. As a uue human child, adolescent and young adult, He passed through a process of physical, mental, emotional, social and spiritual development toward matutity asarnan. "The intellectual, moral, and sphitual growth of the Child, like the physical, was real. His was a perfect

humanity developing perfectly, unimpeded by hereditary or acquired defects. It was the first instance of such a growth in histo1Y. For the first time a human infant was realizing the ideal of humanity."-Plumer. "The Savior of the world, God's Son incamate, grew up physically in the most normal way with nothing to mar his bodily development. He grew mentally in the same way and attained more and more strength of mind, understanding and reason. -- The young lad attained more and more wisdom ... in the biblical sense as the

right knowledge of God and his salvation coupled with its application of life.

"It is impossible for us to penetrate the mystery of this development in Jesus---body and soul untouched by sin, unchecked and umetarded by any result of sin, his mind and his soul absorbing the wisdom of God's Word as a bud drinks in the sunshine and expands. His mind and his soul, which were truly human indeed, grew in strength and in the range of wisdom but in perfection and in power beyond anything that is possible to sinful mortals. His development was absolutely nOimal, that of all other is to a degree abnOimal. We see his mind and his soul in full action during his ministry, a mind and a soul that are vastly beyond those of mere man. He

sees through evelY errorand deception, all truth is his glorious posseSsion, he is master of every situation. This came to him by degrees, but evelY degree of the growth was perfect.

"When Luke adds that God's grace was upon the child, he aims to say that this was evident from the way in which the child developed. The word CHARlS, (grace), is used in the wider sense of God's favor, not in the narrower sense of undeserved favor for sinners. As a manJesus was under God and dependent upon Him for all things just as we are; but because He

was sinless, God's favor never turned from Him to discipline and chastise Him."-Lenski

THE GROWTH AND

DEVELOPMENT OF JESUS

ACCORDING TO HEBREWS 5:8F

Hebrews 5:8f says: " ... although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered; and having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal

salvadon .... "

THE POINT OF THE GROWTH

AND DEVELOPMENT OF JESUS

ACCORDING TO HEBREWS 5:8F

The incamate Son of God, in His humanity, learned obedience, i.e., achieved it as a personal reality, through what He suffered, "for His perseverance in the performance of the Pather'swill, which was the purpose of His coming, meant His walking the road of suffering that led to the cross." -P.E. Hughes, The Epistle of Hebrews, pg. 186

THE MEANING OF "HE LEARNED

OBEDIENCE THROUGH WHAT HE

SUFFERED" IN HEBREWS 5:8F

J t seems unusual to say that the Son of God "leamed obedience in the school of suffeIing." It is astonishing to say

November, 1993 f THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon f 7

that He learned anything, since, in His Deity He is the omnisdent God. But that is justthe point: as God He knows all things, as man He must learn. However, in His humanity Jesus was free from sin, which is disobedience to God, therefore it was not necessary for Him to learn obedience by the discipline of painful correction. "Yet, as the incarnate Son Who fully shares our humanity, it was essential to His work as mediator and redeemer that He should accumulate the perfection of obedience, through His undeviating conquest of temptation, preparatory to the culminating act of His obedience on the cross, where He offered Himself to the Father as a sacrifice for sinful and disobedient mankind, 2: 14f. In its furthest reference, Christ's obedience was 'obedience unto death, even death on a cross,' Phil. 2:28; Heb. 12:2. As the incarnate Son, then, it was absolutely necessary for Him to learn obedience, since His obedience was essential for the offsetting of our disobedience, Rom. ' 5:19."-P.E. Hughes

THE MEANING OF "AND BEING MADE

PERFEcr" IN HEBREWS 5:8F

The writer of the book of Hebrews goes even farther and says that Jesus was "made perfect" with reference to this suffering He experienced. This is a reaffirmation of Hebrews 2: 10 which says that "it was fitting for Him (God) ... .in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author (Christ) of their salvation through sufferings." "This perfection was progressively achieved as He (Christ) moved on toward the crosswbichmarked the consummation of His suffering and obedience. His perfection consisted in the retention of His integrity, in the face of every kind of aSsault on His integrity ,and thereby the establishment ofHis integrity. Had He failed at any pOint, His integrity would have been impaired and His perfection lost, with the consequence

that He would have been disqualified to actas mediator and redeemer. What was essential was that, starting, like Adam, with a pure human nature, He should succeed whereAdamhad failed. His sufferings both tested, and victoriously endured, attested His perfection, free from failure and defeat." -Hughes

THE MEANING OF "HE BECAME THE

SOURCE OF ETERNAL SALVATION TO ALL

WHO OBEY HIM" IN HEBREWS 5:8F

"The perfection, then, of the Savior's unstained manhood capadtated Him to endure the ultimate suffering of the cross forus, who because of our sin are stained and defeated and in need of salvation. It is thus, the perfection of His life leading up to the perfection of His death, that 'he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey Him.'-- He and no one else is the cause of man's redemption; it is from Him that it flows to us. His bearing of our imperfection, the punishment of which He endured and exhausted, made available His perfection for the rehabilitation of mankind--with the qualification, however, that the eternal salvation of which He is the source is a reality in the experience only of those 'who obey Him.'''-Hughes. And as Westcott has observed, "continuous active obedience is the sign of real faith."

THE IMPLICATIONS OF LUKE 2:52

FOR CHRISTIAN EDUCATION TODAY

The objectives of Christian education regarding the development of the student areln four areas ofjesus' development---"PIe increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. (l).lNTELLECTUAL ADVANCEMENT: All courses of study are aimed at stimulating and expanding the mind, bringing every thought captive to the Word of God; (2), PHYSICAL DISCIPLINE: Physical strength, health and disciplined

8 f TIiE COUNSEL of Chalcedon f November, 1993

conditioning are all important to God who created the human body to serve Him; (3). SPIRITUAL GROWTH: Since 'the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,' we must place a high priority upon one's understanding of and faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior; and (4). SOCIAL AND CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT: Knowing how to relate to one another, serve one another, work with one another, and be hospitable to one another are all essential to the Christian's mission in this world.

(2:41-51) THE TWELVE YEAR OLD

JESUS IN THE TEMPLE

THE FIDELITY OF THE HOLY FAMILY

TO THE O.T. LAW (THE PASSOVER)

It was the habitual annual practice of devoutJoseph and Mary to travel to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, in obedience to the Law. The idea of fidelity to God's Law is very conspicuous throughout this whole section concerning the Circumcision, Purification, Presentation, and now the Passover Celebration. Jesus is obeying all the "jots and tittles" of the Law for us. (Every adult male was requited to go up to Jerusalem at the annual Passover, Exod. 23:14-17; 34:23; Delli. 16:16.)

THE BAR MlTZV AH OF JESUS

joseph and Mary went to the Temple in Jerusalem for another reason, besides the celebration of the Passover. They took their twelve year old son, jesus, to the Temple to be prepared and catechized for His Bar Mitzvah, "to be prepared for the ceremony of the follOwing year, when He would be permitted as a young jewish boy to join the religious community as a responsible member--Le., as 'son of the commandment,- Bar Mitzvah. This important event takes place when the jewish boy is thirteen." -Geldenhuys.

At this point the boy is then admitted to the Passover Celebration as a full participant for the first time in his life, as F.Nigel Lee has shown in his Ph.D. dissertation against paedo­communion.

THE MIX-UP ON THE HOMEWARD

JOURNEY FROM JERUSALEM TO NAZARETH

At the e.nd of the seven day celebration of the Passover and all its related feasts and events, joseph and MalY joined a caravan heading for Nazareth and home. The women and children usually traveled in the front of the caravan and the men and older boys brought up the rear. At twelve years of age jesus could have been with either group, and more than likely his father thought He was with His mother, and His mother thought He was with His father. Neither Mary nor joseph were aware that Jesus was not with the caravan at all, but had remained behind in the Temple.

At first His parents did not miss Him. So, at the end of the first day emoute theymissedJesus. They spend another day looking for Him. And they spent a third day returning to Jerusalem. This incident shows how much confidence they had in the childjesus, assuming that He was doing nothing reckless and irresponsible, and was somewhere to be found among the large number of family and fliends in the caravan. "The whole occurrence may be explained, on the one hand, from the fact that they had the fullest confidence in Him and knew that He would be where He ought to be, and on the other hand from the fact that they did not realize that on His first definite attendance at the festival in the temple and acquaintance with the doctors He would naturally talry in

the temple as long as possible. " serious-minded discussions and then -Geldenhuys asked questions and answered

THE EDUCATION OF JESUS

IN THE TEMPLE

"After Ome days they found Hint in the Temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and putting questions to them. All who were listening to Hint were astol1ishedat His insight and answers," 2:46. YoungJesuswas in the Temple as a learner not a teacher. Notice that the healing is placed first , indicating that He was there as astudent to be taught; and it was as such that He questioned them. He probably sat on the ground while the Rabbis sat on

benches or stood, in a semicircle around him and possibly other students. This was his first time in the Temple, being instructed, and He was absorbed in what He was learning about the Word of God from them. He was not hiding from His parents. He could have easily been found. The follOwing famous Rabbis could have been present that day: Simeon, Gamaliel, Act. 22:3, Caiaphas, Nicodemus and joseph of Arimathea. These Rabbis or others were assembled in the Temple for disputations and theological discussions among themselves as expen theologians, exegetes and ethicists, as was their custom after religious celebrations in the city. jesus listened to these

questions put to Him. This was the custom at the time: students received instluction by asking and answering questions. Although He was a student with an obvious thirst for knowledge and wisdom, "His unaffected questiOns and answers to their questions showed so many proofs of exceptional inSight and lucid intelligence that the doctors malveled at it. With the Child Himself, however, there was no boasting, self-conceit, arrogance or self-exaltation.« -Geldenhuys

THE DISCOVERY

OF YOUNG JESUS

BY HIS PARENTS

IN THE TEMPLE

After searching frantically and in great anguish of mind, they finally find Jesus in the Temple. Their anguish was irrational, although understandable, forthey might have been certain that this Child, who was the MeSSiah, could not be lost. When jesus saw them He was not

surprised to see them come for Him, but He was surprised at their not knowing where to find Him.

THE WOROS OF MARY TO JESUS UPON

FINDING HIM IN THE TEMPLE AFTER A

THREE-DAY, FRANTIC SEARCH

WhenMaryandJosephfoundJesus questioning and answeling the Rabbis insuch a insightfulandrnature manner, they were struck with astonishment. "This shocked condition betrays how quietly Jesus had acted up to this time, He had never opened His mouth in the synagogue---and here He sits in the velY Temple itself with prominent rabbis all about Him, all eyes and all ears are fixed upon Him. Their shock had ample reason."-Lensld

November, 1993 f- THE COUNSEL of Cha\cedon t 9

It is Mary, with a mother'S concerned heart, who speaks for herself and Joseph, with the tender address, "Child," not "son." Her words express her deep motherly affection and anxiety at the same time---"Child, why have you dealt with us in this manner? Your father and I have been desperately searching for you." Her response reveals "amedleyofsurplise, reproach, and anguish." -Hendriksen. "This anxiety on the part of] oseph and Mary does not by any means indicate that they did not know that He was the Messiah. Their genuinely human uneasiness only shows that they did not yet fully and constantly realiZe that since He was in reality the Christ of God there was therefore no need for them to be anxious about His welfare. Indeed, it was only after jesus' resurrection and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost that Mary realiZed fully who her Son was."-Geldenhuys

Calvin points out that the manner of Mary's gentle rebuke was that she had been hurt in this whole affair, showing "how ready we are by nature to defend our own rights, even without paying regard to God. The holy virgin woulda thousand times rather have died, than deliberately preferred herself to God; but, in the indulgence of a mother'S grief, she falls into it through inadvertency. And undoubtedly this e,Xilmple warns us, how jealous we ought to be of all. the affections of the flesh, and. what care we ought to .exercise, lest, by being toQ tenacious of : our rights, and f911pw,i;ng Qur desires, ,we defraud GodofHi:i.i~p!lOr." .

: , THE RESPONSE O~ VESUS i~ MAAY

.. TI:I~ l11.(J~~E$. qfi$sUs ' , IN THis '\tiltiDi:Nt'; ,

. ,: ' i' i " 1 '! ; . • . •

Jesus was not to blame for this stressful situation. Mary should have perceived how much the Tern pIe and all it signified meant to her Son. Jesus' response to his mother is not reproof, but amazement. "From this it may be deduced that He was not uneasy when He had not seen His parents for some daysandthat His human consciousness had no suspicion that they were anxious about Him. Completely devoted as He was to His earthly parents, He was, nevertheless, especially since He began to grow older, exceptionally self-reliant and strong in

personality. In His answer He especially expresses surprise that they had not known where to find Him and had sought Him so anxiously." -Geldenhuys

THE ANSWER OF JESUS TO HIS MOTHER

Jesus' respectful answer to His mother was: "Why is it that you were lookingJor Me? Did you not know that / had to be in My Father's 'house: (or 'affairs;' or literally, in the things of My Father)?" Jesus' response to Mary's statement, "Your Jather and I have been anxiously lookingJor You: was "/ must be engaged in My Father's business!" He gives His mother's words a gentle but decisive correction. She spoke of

' Joseph asH,s father, who, along with her, had been searching for Him. He spoke of His Father's House and His Fattier's Business,obviously referring

10 ~ 'tHE COUNSEL of Chalcedon ~ November, 1993

to the Temple of jehovah and the things of Jehovah, His true Father. It is noteworthy that the first recorded wordsofjesus Christ are an affirmation ofrlis Deity, a clear testimony to His Divine Sonship, "in which He points to His life's vocation to be about His Father's Business--to serve and glorify Him in all things and at all times.

His response also reveals a D !VINE INEVITABIliTY: Jesus must be busy with the interests of His Father. "With Him it is, however, not a case of external compulsion---Hiswholenatureyearns to serve and obey His Father

voluntarily. This divine calling of His is to such a degree of the very first importance that even His most intimate earthly relation,S must be subordinated to it. To the Child jesus all this is quite natural and obvious, and so Heis amazed thatJoseph and Mary did not realiZe it." -Geldenhuys

"I MUST BE!" Christ's entire life was controlled by the divine "must, "which

was in complete harmony with His own desire, Psa. 40:7;jn. 10:17, 18. He realiZed this very early in His life, (at age twelve at least) ."The Gospels are full of this idea of NECESSITY, DECREE. In Luke's Gospel note the following: Jesus MUST preach, 4:43, suffer, 9:22,go onHisway,13:33,stay at the home of Zacchaeus, 19:5, be delivered up, crucified, rise again, 24: 7, suffer these things and enter into His glory, 22:37;24:26, and fulfill all the O:T. prophecies with reference to Himself, 24:44. The same truth is also emphasized in the other Gospels, particularly in John. 3:14; 4:4; 9:4; 10:16; 20:9. Whatever happens to Jesus is the realiZation of God's eternal decree, Lk. 22:22; Acts . 2:23; 4:27-28."-Hendriks~n

THE RESPONSE OF MARY AND JOSEPH

TO JESUS' WORDS

"They did not understand the statement which He had made to them," 2:50.

"There is nothing inconsistent in this. They learned only gradually what His Messiahship involved, and this is one stage in the process. From the point of view of her subsequent knowledge, Mary recognized that at this stage she and Joseph had not understood. This verse, especially when combined with the next, shows clearly who was the source of Luke's information. Compare 9:45 and 18:34." -Plumer

'This fine tender picture, in which neither truth to nature, nor the beauty which that implies, is violated in a single line, --cannot have been devised by human hands, which, when left to themselves, were always betrayed into coarseness and exaggeration as shown by the apocryphal gospels."-Keim in Plumer

The Gospels make clear that the friends and relatives did not fully understand Him, Mat. 16:22;Mk9:1O, 32; Lie. 9:45; Lk. 8:19-21; In. 7:3-5. Some of them were hostile toward Him and His claims. Others misunderstood Him by taking literally what He meant figuratively, Mat. 16:5-12;Jn. 2:19, 20; 3:3,4; 4:13-15; 6:51,52; lUI, 12.

"His mother treasured all these things in her heart," 2:51

This statement reveals the nue and deep nature of her heart. She was doing what Jacob had done, Gen. 37:11, what Daniel had done, Dan. 7:28, and what she herself had done twelve years earlier, Lk 2:19. The mystery of Christ's incarnation was beyond her comprehension, yet she grasped it by faith and treasured it and her soul drank deeply from the

blessedness of it. The gospel ofJesus's inc.arnation MalY regarded as her dearest treasure.

In Luke 2: 19 we read that Mary "treasured up, (SUNTEREO), all these things, pondeling them in her heart." In Luke 2:51 we read that Mary "treasured all, (D1ATEREO), these things in her heart." SUNTEREO means to keep in mind, to hold or treasurein one'smemOly. D1ATEREO means to treasure words in the heart. It is used in the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew words, SHAMAR, in Genesis 37:11, and NETAR in Daniel 7:28. SHAMAR, used around 500 times in the O.T., means "to exercise great care over." It means to pay careful attention to the subject under consideration. It is sometimes translated, "Give careful and diligent heed to," Gen. 18:19; Exod. 20:6; Dt. 26:16. NETAR is the same as the Hebrew cognate NASAR, means to watch over, protect, keep in view, look

Whcn wa" JC5U5 5avcd?

at. God's covenant is to be "guarded with fidelity," Exod. 34: 7; Dt. 33:9; Psa. 78:7. NASAR is also used for guarding or keeping a secret.

THE SUBMISSION OF THE YOUNG JESUS

TO MARY'S AND JOSEPH'S

PARENTAL LOVE AND AUTHORITY

In obedience to the Law of God, (the Fifth Commandment), our Redeemer lived throughout His childhood and adolescence in perfect subjection to the parental authority of His mother and (adopted) father for our salvation. To save us from the punishment of broken Law, He had to fulfill the Law in evelY respect. The main point of the statement--"He continued in subjection to them" --may be "to remove the impression that in His reply, vs. 49, Jesus resents, or henceforward repudiates, their authority over Him. n -Plumer. Furthermore, it is Christ-like for children today to be in subjection to their parents.Q

How wa5 JC5U5' cducatlon dlffcrcnt from our puiJlic 5chool cducatlon?

What can we Icarn aiJout our5clvc5 from 12 ycar old JC5U5 In thc Tcmplc?

Thc rclatlon5hlp offrccwfll and thc 50vcrelgnty of God?

November, 1993 'i' THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon 'i' 11