Jesus - Lost and Treasured
(8-minute read)
We must not let our fellowship with other believers mask the lack of true relationships in our lives. It can happen when we allow the rituals, routines and our roles as members of any group to be the only connection we have in these communities. When we prioritize membership over interpersonal connections, we are no longer cued into people’s individual experience, feelings and aspirations.
Luke 2:41-52 records an account of Jesus’ family making an annual trip to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. Having just turned twelve, it was a significant trip for Jesus who was on the cusp of manhood as He would formally transit imto adulthood the following year. From historical records, we know that such pilgrimages on foot were highly organized with the women and children in the front of the entourage, followed by the men who protected them from behind. At twelve, we can picture Jesus sandwiched somewhere in the middle of the group. However, after the festival and a day into their homeward journey, they discovered that Jesus was, in fact, not in their company.
This true story offers us three lessons to be mindful of:
WE CAN BE UNAWARE OF JESUS’ ABSENCE
Generally, the success of any community is evaluated by how well things get done. Whether in the workplace, the family, a faith community, social clubs or charities we support, it is easy to let the collective mission overshadow the strength of the interpersonal connections within the group.
As mentioned, Jesus’ coming of age would be marked by being inducted into the Jewish Bar Mitzvah ceremony. Conceivably, the contingent had set out towards Jerusalem in high spirits. While they were happy with the outcome on the return trip, there was a critical omission: Jesus was no longer among them and no one was aware of His absence (Luke 2:44-45).
This shows that we can be so focused on going through the motions in life that we forget we have not invited Jesus to any of our meetings, projects, and business-as-usuals (BAUs). Like Jesus’ family, we can be so obsessed with making progress as a group that we give only a light touch to God’s purpose in the process. There can be days and seasons when our groups fail to take breaks from all that we are doing to think about where Jesus fits in all that we are committing our time and attention to.
On a more personal level in our relationship with God, we prefer a quick emergency access to Him over regular contact with Him. When swarmed with challenges, we let them overtake our sensitivity to His absence in our situations. Even when we are busy with the festive preparations and gift-giving of Christmas, we allow these activities to overshadow the unique opportunities that God has placed in our lives to be present for someone.
This is not to suggest that anyone should live in recluse, away from our communities but being around people is not the same as being attuned to them or to God.
Mark 10:46-52 recounted an incident where the blind Bartimaeus was begging in the public thoroughfare and people were busy coming and leaving the city every day. He was a regular sight in the public square, yet few knew him or what dreams he harboured. Yet instead of losing himself to the noise around him, he was keenly acute of Jesus’ movement. As a result, he was able to hear the Lord’s entrance and began to shout “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”.
Immersed in the cacophony of life demands, let’s not lose our sensitivity to the Holy Spirit. We need to keep developing the ability to discern the Holy Spirit’s still small voice in our day-to-day life, and be concerned if He has fallen silent for a while.
What are the signs that you have normalized God’s absence in your life?
WE CAN BE ON A FRANTIC SEARCH FOR ANSWERS
Move out of the WiFi coverage in any location and you can expect to experience problems with connectivity on our devices. In parallel, if we ignore God’s presence in our lives long enough, we will gradually grow distant with Him, and lose the ability to know what’s on His heart and mind. As a result, we will not know where to find Him when we need Him.
“After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it.” (Luke 2:43). Meanwhile, Mary and Joseph each thought their son Jesus was ‘with the group’. Clearly, proximity, membership and group activities are no guarantee of relational intimacy or closeness. No one remotely knew what Jesus was drawn to in Jerusalem, and when they eventually noticed His absence, they didn’t even know where to start looking.
While his company was frantically looking for Him, Jesus was right where He felt native – engaging the religious teachers in Jerusalem who were all far more advanced in age and in learning than the twelve-year-old. Yet, all who heard Him were impressed with His understanding and response (Luke 2:46-47).
Meantime, Jesus’ parents went on a three-day search and rescue mission for Him – they literally had no clue where to find Him. When they eventually got wind of his whereabouts and found Him, (Luke 2:49), he simply responded, ‘Why were you searching for me?… Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’
Didn’t you know that… “I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know Me more than I want burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6 NLT).
Didn’t you know that… “whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was Me - you did it to Me” (Matthew 25:40 The Message).
Didn’t you know that… nothing good that you do in My Name can replace your relationship with Me?
Didn’t you know that… no amount of recognition, affirmation or prophecy can replace your submission to Me?
Didn’t you know that… (write your own reflection).
However, Mary and Joseph were not uninformed that Jesus was given to them for God’s mission because they had separately received divine instructions about this child. They fumbled only because they had no clue what that call would look like; so they went to all the wrong places to look for Him. It was inconceivable that Jesus would stray away from the family convoy to sit in the temple and engage in intellectual dialogues with scholars. It was unimaginable that He would be arrested and given 39 lashes, but each lash offered healing and hope for the redemption of sinners. It would be unthinkable to them that their son would eventually be crucified like a criminal yet He committed no crime.
From biblical accounts, we know at least two people who did not frantically look for Jesus when they needed Him. They were Jarius and the centurion who both had someone in their household on the verge of death. Even in pre-Internet days, they knew exactly where to find Jesus and they were able to spot Him in a crowd (Mark 5:21-22, Matthew 8:5-6).
Today, our Heavenly Father has given us the Holy Spirit to be with us forever (John 14:15-17). There is no need for us to frantically search for answers, confirmation, affirmation or approval. Above all else, the most important thing in our life is to keep our relationship with Jesus right.
WE CAN TREASURE HIM IN OUR HEARTS
1 Corinthians 13:7 says this about biblical love, “It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres". Nowhere does it say it always understands, it’s always conflict free, it always needs to know, it always feels comfortable. In fact, loving God is not easy because we have to trust Him even when we do not know exactly what the outcome looks like. We have to hope in Him even when every opinion and report looks bleak and unpromising. We have to persevere even when we would rather give up on a difficult conversation, project or commitment.
But there is one thing about trusting God in the midst of a million ambiguities that we can learn from Mary: she treasured in her heart what she observed around her, and what she had been taught concerning the prophecies about the Messiah. There was a place in her heart that tolerated the ambiguities around her (something we all need to learn to embrace in this VUCA world full of volatility, uncertainty, chaos and ambiguity). She modelled for us the maturity of not jumping to conclusions. When she could not understand the deep things of God, she would ‘treasure things in her heart’. This appeared to be a pattern in her life as can be seen in the verses below:
In Luke 2:19 (after Jesus was born and the angels and shepherds had left) “Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.”
In Luke 2:51b (although she did not understand her young son’s explanation for not following the travelling group), she “treasured all these things in her heart.”
Whenever we find ourselves impatient with God’s answers, we can learn from Mary to not be quick to rush to decisions, but instead, ask the Lord for wisdom and revelation. In the process, we may find the Holy Spirit asking us…
Why are you even impatient?
Who are you trying to impress?
Do you treasure answers more than you treasure the time of waiting on God?
Being aware of God’s presence takes a lifetime of practice because life changes, and His presence doesn’t always feel or look the same way in all kinds of situations. At Christmas, we do not idolize or worship Mary but as a human, she left us with precious lessons about staying true to God even when our realities are unsettling and beyond our current capacity to understand.
This is a summary and reflection based on a virtual BIR Session held on 7 December 2024.
