Page 110 - Fundamentals Ebook

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 relationship. I have expectations
but sometimes He doesn’t meet my expectations.

A tremendous statement was made when Jesus was twelve years old.
When His mother heard it, she didn’t understand it. So, she put it in
her heart. The Bible says that she thought about it, she pondered it