Page 115 - BACK TO BETHLEHEM

when He became twelve, they went up there according to the
custom of the Feast;” At age twelve Jesus submitted to his
mother and stepfather. They decided where He would go. If
they went to Jerusalem to a feast, Jesus went with them. If they
went to visit relatives, like Elizabeth, Jesus went with them.
They had a relationship with their son, like any parent has a
relationship with their son. Based on that relationship, they had
certain expectations.
On this occasion Jesus disappointed his parents. They
had expectations and He did not meet those expectations. The
way he acted not only confused them but it upset them. Luke
2:48, “And when they saw Him, they were astonished; and His
mother said to Him, ‘Son, why have You treated us this way?
Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for
You.’” Mary said, “Why have you treated us this way?”
You know the story. Luke 2:43, “…and as they were
returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus
stayed behind in Jerusalem. And His parents were unaware of
it.” Based on their relationship Mary expected Jesus to go home
when they went home. When they didn’t see Jesus, according
to Luke 2:44, they thought He was with the relatives.
I can understand Mary’s point. I have six children and
based on my relationship with them, I have expectations. If I
had a twelve year old son and he didn’t come home with us, I
would not be happy. My firstborn son is David. We had a
curfew to be home at a certain time. One day David missed the
curfew. He was late and he thought, “I’m late anyway and I’m
going to get in trouble, so I might as well stay here all night.”
So, he stayed all night. He did not call us and we did not know
where he was. He figured that he was in trouble anyway and he
might as well stay. Something like that happened in this case.
We have a relationship with Jesus and sometimes based
on our relationship, we have expectations of Jesus. I’m a child
of God and I expect Him to keep me from tragedy. I’m a child
of God and I expect Him to keep me from sickness. And if I
get sick, because of my relationship I expect Him to heal me. I
expect Him to keep me from poverty. It’s all based on a
113