ABOUT HIS FATHER'S BUSINESS
“And when they saw Him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto Him, Son, why hast Thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing. And He said unto them, How is it that ye sought Me? wist ye not that I must be about My Father’s business?” (John 2:48, 49).
When Jesus was 12 years old, His parents
took Him to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. It was the custom of the Jews for families to
go up at this time of year to offer gifts, sacrifice, and praise to God. Many of Joseph and Mary’s kinfolk traveled
with them on these pilgrimages making it a time to spend with family as well as
a religious observance. After their time
at Jerusalem was finished, they began the long trip back to their homes, again
traveling together with their extended families.
When Joseph and Mary, along with their
family, had gone a day’s journey out from the city, they began looking for
Jesus among the relatives and, to their horror, discovered that He was not with
them! Can you imagine what they must have
been feeling? Think of traveling with
your children to Chicago or New York for a family reunion and driving for a day
toward home before realizing that Johnny wasn’t riding with Uncle Bob, but that
you had left your young child alone in the city!
Of course, Joseph and Mary frantically
hurried back to Jerusalem to seek their son.
They then spent three days searching for Him! How desperate they must have been feeling,
not to mention guilty and ashamed. I’m
sure that after that long a time they were beginning to feel like something
terrible might have happened to Him, and that they might not see Him again. I know I would have. That’s when they finally found Him. He was sitting in the temple in the midst of
the doctors of the law, listening to them teaching, and asking them
questions. His mother said to Him, “Son, why hast Thou thus dealt with us? Behold Thy father and I have sought Thee
sorrowing.” It was the normal
mother’s reaction. Today it would sound
like, “How could you do this to us? Your
father and I have been frantic!” Jesus’
response was matter-of-fact: “How is it
that ye sought Me? Wist ye not [didn’t
you know] that I must be about My
Father’s business?”
I shudder to think how many times I have been
caught up in the busy-ness of life - in activities, and even in religious
things - and lost sight of Jesus the Son.
I think I am still walking with the Lord, I haven't consciously walked
away from Him, but I am missing His nearness, sensing the absence of His
presence. It reminds me of a story I
heard about a wife who was riding in the car with her husband saying, “When we
were going together you always sat close to me when we went places, and now
we’re on opposite sides of the car – don’t you love me anymore?” The husband just looked at her and quietly
said, “I’ve never moved.” Dear ones, it
isn’t Jesus Who moves away from us.
Jesus is the one constant in my life, and I
will always find Him in the same place - about
His Father’s business. I may move
away by filling my life with things
and find that the gulf between the Son of God and me just grows wider. What’s even more frightening is that I can
even be religious and still miss what the Father has for me to do. Jesus’ parents attended the feast, made their
prayers and sacrifices, and thought that they had fulfilled the extent of their
religious duty; but there was so much more for them. They were acting out their religious duties,
but Jesus was doing God's business. We
will always encounter the Lord denying His own will, and embracing the will of
His heavenly Father, and this is the example that we must follow as well if we
would know His presence.
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