Raising Jesus January 11, 2026

Raising Jesus
Luke 2:41-52
January 11, 2026
St. Peter’s Anglican Church

How many times have you heard something similar to “with the way the world is today, I don’t want to bring any children into the world” or …

“It’s too expensive to bring children into the world.” or

“A child will get in the way of my career.”

There is a multitude of reasons why people don’t want to bring children into the world … but most of us do … and then we have to raise them.

I remember when my son was born … I was afraid to hold him … and up to that point I had never changed a diaper … even when babysitting my god-daughter … I would ask the lady next door.
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We’ve just finished the Christmas Season and so naturally we not only think of Jesus … but we also think of Mary and Joseph

We know that they were both told that Mary was going to have a child.

We don’t know how old Joseph was … but Mary was probably between 12-14 years old.

Different times. (My grandmother got married at 15 … had her first child at 16 — again … different times.)

We have the words that the angel said to Joseph when he found out that Mary was with child and he knew it wasn’t his.

And so we read:

““Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.””

And then we read his response and what he did:

““Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.””

No complaining … no questioning … just obedience.

And then we have the words to Mary:

““Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son, and shall call His name Jesus … And the angel answered and said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God.””

And her response:

““Then Mary said, “Behold the maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.””

Again … no questioning … just obedience.

But did they really understand who Jesus was and what he came to do? … after all … they had to raise him.

The Christian artist, Michael Card, has a song called Joseph’s Song, and it goes in part:

How could it be, This baby in my arms Sleeping now, so peacefully
The Son of God, the angel said How could it be?

And the chorus:
Father show me where I fit Into this plan of yours
How can a man be father To the Son of God?
Lord, for all my life I’ve been a simple carpenter
How can I raise a King? How can I raise a King?

Pretty much says it all: How can I raise a King? How can I raise a King?

How would we respond??
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As we think about it … we have the record of his birth … the visit of the Wise men when he was about 2-3 … and then the passage from our Gospel Lesson in Luke 2 … that is before us this morning when Jesus was 12.

This is the only incident in the childhood of our Savior recorded for us in the Scriptures.

After this … we have no record of Jesus until his ministry begins when he was 30 years old.

It should be noted that here in Luke 2 is the last time in the Scriptures that we read about Joseph.

All we know about him, is that he was faithful to what God had tasked him to do!

Luke 2: sets the stage for us: ““His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.””

There were three feasts that had to be observed in Jerusalem — and the Passover was one of them.

Now we see that Mary and Joseph were observant Jews — and so we read:

““His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.””

In those days travel was not that easy … and it was about 80 miles from Nazareth to Jerusalem … so we are talking about a 4-5 day journey.

By contrast … It’s 110 miles round trip from my house to St. Peter’s … a little over two hours of travel …

Not so in the time of Christ … so you can see the commitment and faithfulness of Mary and Joseph.

Verse 42 tells us that Jesus went with them.

It is probable that he went with them every year, but Jewish custom held that a child would be taken a year or two before his 13th birthday to be presented in the Temple …

because when they turned 13 … they would then be considered an adult member of the Jewish religious community.

The custom of the Feast of the Passover was that it should be observed for seven days.

It was at the end of the Feast, that we read that Jesus lingered in the Temple.

Then we read something interesting — and that is … that his parents didn’t know that he stayed behind. To us, that might seem a bit strange.

However … remember … that there were a large number of pilgrims that had made their way to Jerusalem, so it might have been easy to assume that the boy Jesus was with his friends or other family members … such as his brothers and sisters.

The other option that might be in view here is that the women and children traveled together, with the men following them.

So perhaps Mary thought that Jesus might have been with Joseph and Joseph could have thought that Jesus was with Mary.

In either case … they had traveled about a day when they realized that Jesus was not with them —
… so they checked with their relatives … they checked with their friends … but Jesus was nowhere to be found — and like any parents, they were concerned.

So … they returned to Jerusalem.

The Scriptures tell us that it took three days to find him — we don’t know if this included the travel back … and remember that they had already gone a day’s journey back to Nazareth.

But … they finally found him in the Temple — and we read some telling words in 2:46:

““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.””

Historians tell us that the Temple courts were used for teaching — and one of the ways of learning was asking questions and having discussions.

Students would ask the questions and then learn from the answers to their questions.

Now, try to picture this — Jesus was 12 years old — as far as we know … he had not yet been recognized as an adult — and yet here he was in the midst of the Jewish scholars …

— and as we read: ““sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.””

But we read: ““And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.””

Remember … these were the Rabbi’s … the teachers of the law of God and yet they were astonished by Jesus — his understanding and his answers.

We read another account where people were surprised at the knowledge that Jesus had.

Jesus … as an adult … had return to Nazareth … and he began teaching … and we read in Matthew 11:

““When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?””
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As I said … after 3 days his parents finally find him … and as most parents would be … there were worried and upset, hence the question of his mother, Mary — 2:48:

““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.””

Mary wants to know why Jesus had caused them so much trouble.

That is an interesting thought.

We know that Jesus was without sin … so we know that it was not a rebellious attitude — and his answer reveals that it was simply something that he had to do — 2:49:

““And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?””

Even at the tender age of 12 … Jesus knew who he was. He knew what he had come to do.

But … as I read … there is also a gentle rebuke in our Savior’s answer to Mary.
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Think about it — both Mary and Joseph knew the unique circumstances of his birth.

They knew that he had been conceived by the Holy Spirit. They knew that he was the long promised Messiah.

And … they should have realized that God would protect him and that they did not have to worry about him.

They had been given other direction directly by God … to leave Bethlehem and go Egypt … And then to return … settling in Nazareth.

But … they were only human — and in their humanity they did what many parents would do — they worried about their son …

— who at 12 years old knew that he was different from the boys around him … he knew that he was God in the flesh who had come to earth for a purpose …

— and that was to accomplish his Father’s will … and to do his Father’s business.

And that is EXACTLY what he was doing in the Temple.

As I said, this is the only picture that we have in the scriptures of the childhood of Jesus and it’s also the last time that we read anything of Joseph.

It would 18 more years before Jesus would begin his public ministry and that is the next time that we hear anything about him.

But our passage does not end there — it ends with a commentary by Luke … again written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit – 2:51-52:

““Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.””

As a dutiful son, he was obedient to his parents.

As I read from Matthew 11 … he probably followed tradition and learned the trade of his father — a carpenter.

In all this … we know that Jesus … was one of us … as human was as we are,

Philippians 2, tell us what Jesus did: ““…taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man,…””

This is important … because this is the whole incarnation … the 2nd person of the Trinity coming to earth as a human for us and our salvation … with one big difference …

Jesus was without sin!

Hebrews 4:15 says: ““For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.””

And it is in that capacity that he was obedient to his parents.

Note what the scriptures say — ““and was subject to them …””

Here he was … the 2nd person of the Trinity … God made man … and yet he was obedient to his parents.

And then … as Luke notes, we continue to see the personal development of the person of Jesus — ““And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.””

So … while we are not told much about the childhood of Jesus … we know a couple of important things.

First, the Scriptures tell us that God has given us everything that we need for life and godliness — in other words how to live in this world and to gain access to the world to come … through faith in Christ as Savior and Lord.

What we don’t know about the childhood of Jesus … we simply don’t need to know.

We can speculate, but it is really not necessary.

Secondly … we see in the events that we looked at today more of the humanity of our Savior.

As we know … he was fully God and fully man … and that is what was in view in the passage that we looked at today.

And so … let us be thankful for what we know and thankful that we indeed have a great Savior and a great Salvation … and …

… the fact that God has called us out of darkness into the light of that salvation … and revealed himself to us … so that we can confess Jesus as Savior and Lord.