not only must die the death sinners Exposition

should have died, in their place; He (2:21-24) THE CIRQJMCISION OF JESUS

must give God the obedience to His &: THE PURIFICATION OF MARY
Law, sinners should have given, in
their place. So that we, who believe in THE CIRCUMCISION OF JESUS
Him, are saved from our sins by the God's Law required that all male
active and passive obedience to Biblical children of covenant families in Israel
Law. To be our Savior ,Jesus Christ be circumcised on the eighth day after
Luke 2:21-52 Introduction must not only not leave one penalty binh, as a sign and seal of the covenant
THE INTIMATE RELATION for sin unpaid, He must also not blessings,Gen.17:12;Lev.12:3;Rom.
OF THE INCARNATE CHRIST leave one Law of God unobeyed. 4: 11. Therefore, the incarnate Son of
WITH THE OLD TESTAMENT "The circumcision and purification God must be circumcised, because to
In this section of Luke's binh customs after a binh had reference to be our Savior He had to fulfill all the
narratives we see that the entire Old the scate of sin in which each human demands of God's Law. What
Testament
revelation was a
preparation for the
coming of Christ
and the revelation
of God in Him.
THE HUMILIATION
OF THE INCARNATE
CHRIST AND HIS
SOLIDARITY WITH
FALLEN HUMANITY
God sent His
own Son in the
likeness of sinful
flesh and as an
offering for sin, He
condemned Sin in the flesh, Rom. 8:3 . . being is born and to the purification
The incarnate Son "had to be made there by blood-sprinkling and
like His brethren in all things, that He sacrifices. Where, therefore,Jesus, the
might become a merciful and faithful stainless and Holy One, undergoes
highpriestin thingspenainingto God, these things, this is not on His own
to make propitiation for the sins of the account, but it serves as a sign that He
people," Heb. 2:17. "Whenthefulness voluntarily places Himself under the
of time came, God sent forth His Son, Law and takes upon Himself the
born ofawoman,bomunderthe Law, obligations of His people so as to
in order that He might redeem those procure their redemption. He takes
who were under the Law, that we upon Himself their impurity and guilt
might receive the adoption of sons," and therefore He undergoes
Gal. 4:4-5. In order to accomplish circumcision and later on also the
redemption for His people and bestow baptism by john. Along this road He
upon them full salvation, the incarnate moves to undertake the work of
Christ, who is Himself without sin or redemption. Thenamejesus, (jesus is
personal guilt, being conceived ofthe Savior'), given to Him at the
Holy Spirit, must also perform all the circumcision in obedience to the
obligations of the Law of God so as to command of God, 1 :31, indicates this
fulfill all righteousness, Matt. 3: 15. He fact forcibly." -Geldenhuys
.. TIlE COUNSEL of Chalcedon November, 1993
humiliation! The
Lawgiver Himself
subjecting Himself
to that Law meant
for man to obey.
jesus did not
undergo circum-
cision so much for
himself as He did
forthosewhomHe
came to save.
"jesus receives the
sign chosen by
YAHWEH, not as
one who needed
that covenant and
that sign for
Himself, but as the one who would
fulfill, bring, and dispense what that .
covenant and that sign
promised." -Lenski
"His circumcision was afirst
step in His obedience to the
will of God, andafirstshedding
of the redeeming blood." -Plumer
Furthennore, jesus, as a child of
the covenant, (a child of believing
parents), received the Sign of the
covenant, Gen. 17:7, to identify Him
with the Covenant community. The
children of believers today are
"Christ-like" when theyteceive
baptism as the sign of the New
Covenant in Christ, identifying them
with Christ and His Church.
THE REDEMPTION OF JESUS
In connection with this ritual
purification of Mary .Jesus was brought
to the Temple inJerusalem "to present
Him to the Lord." This is the first time
the Davidic Messiah had come to His
own city. Why was the inmnt Jesus
"presented to the Lord" at the Temple?
It was done in obedience to the revealed
Law of God, Exod. 13:13,15; Num.
8:16; 18:15. Every firstborn son had
to be presented to Jehovah as belonging
to Him, to selve Him in His Temple all
his days. These firstborn
sons could be "redeemed"
from this Temple service for
the price of five shekels and
the offering of a sacrifice,
Exod. 13. This redemption
of the firstborn was a
memorial of the spa ling of
the firstborn of the Israelite
families in Egypt the night
of the "Passover," Le., the
night the firstbom in Egypt
were killed except for those in house
with blood smeared on the doorposts.
In God's sight not only the
Egyptians but the Israelites had
forfeited their lives because of their
sins---the wages of sin is death. In
place of the death of His chosen people
God was willing to accept from the
tribe of Levi lifelong service in the
Tabernacle/Temple, and from the
firstborn of othertribes ofIsrael, unless
they were "redeemed." The Levites
were the representatives of the people
of lsrael, and the firstborn sons were
the representatives of their families to
teach us that Christ is the representative
of His people. What He did He did for
themandin their place. 'jesustoowas
under the sentence of death. He was
born 'underthe law,' Gal. 4:4, and this
in the sense not only of being under
personal obligation to keep the law
but also of being duty-bound---witha
duty to which he voluntarily obligated
himself---vicariously to bear the law's
penalty and to satisfy its demand of
perfect obedience. Was the
redem ption fee paid at this time a
symbol oftheinfinitely greater ransom
to which the Savior was going to refer
in saying, 'The Son of man did not come
to be served, but to serve and to give His
life an ransom for man,' Mk.
1O:45?"-Hendriksen
The point of this incident
conceming the firstborn ritual in the
Temple in Jesus' infancy is profound:
On the fortieth day of His life Jesus
Chlist the Redeemer was Himself
redeemed for about $3.501 What
humiliation!
A saCrifice of "a pair of turtle doves
or two young pigeons," (Lev. 12:8;
5:11; LIe 2:24) , was made in
connection with Mary's purification
and Jesus's presentation. "The
sacrifices symbolized that the sacrificeI'
deserved death, but that the sacrificial
animal is loaded with the guilt and
death-penalty and for the sake of the
sacrificer enters upon death to set him
free from his guilt of sin. According to
Exodus 13 a saclifice had always to be
offered for a firstborn to symbolize the
fact that the death-penalty lay on him
and had to be taken away through the
saclifice. This sacrifice is brought in
the case of Jesus because He has taken
upon Himself the death-penalty of the
sinful people for whose salvation He
became Man."-Geldenhuys
The fact that Joseph and MalY had
to offer "a pair of turtledoves, or two
young pigeons," which the Law
required of those who were to "poor"
to afford a lamb, Lev. 12:8, does not
mean that Joseph was a pauper. He
was a carpenter, and may have not had
much wealth, but we have no reason
to believer he was a pauper, i.e.,
desperately poverty-stricken. Joseph
did have money to pay for the
"redemption" of his firstbomson. On
the trip to Nazareth to Bethlehem he
must have been able to pay travel
expenses. Furthelmore, his little family
had now been living in or near
Bethlehem for 40 days, Le., the time of
his wife's uncleanness after
childbirth. Money was
surely getting scarce by this
time. Whether Joseph was
able to get work during this
time we do not know. "One
fact is clear: the means at
his disposal were insuffi-
cient to warrant purchase of
the more expensive offering
of a lamb plus a bird."
-Hendtiksen.
THE PURIFICATION OF MARY
According to Leviticus 12: If, a
woman who had given birth to a son
was ceremonially unclean for seven
days, or until the circumcision of the
child, and thereafter for thirty-three
days she could not touch any holy
things or participate in any acts of
worship. After fony days she had to
come to the Tem pie to be ceremonially
purified. Luke speaks of "their
pUlification" as ifjoseph was included
in this ritual. However, Joseph is
referred to because "as the head of the
house he had to see to it that this
pUlification of his wife was duly carried
out; he also provided the necessary
saclifices for her. "-LenskL Geldenhuys
thinks the word, "their," also includes
the infant ---"Because her 'impurity' was
connected with the birth ofachild, the
child is also involved in it, and therefore
the original reading is 'their
purification: Through this also the
Savior undergoes humiliation. For the
sake of the redemption of His people,
November, 1993 THE COUNSEL of ChaIcedon l' 5
He takes their impurity upon Himself
also in this connection."
(2:25-35) THE WITNESS OF SIMEON
TO JESUS CHRIST
(f'oran exposition of this important
passage, see the annotated outline
installment entitled, "The Nunc
Dimittis.")
(2:36-38) THE WITNESS OF ANNA
TO JESUS CHRIST
Simeon was not the only person in
the Temple to bear witness to Jesus
Christ at his presentation there. There
was another person present who has
her place in the history of redemption
next to Simeon. Her name was Anna,
a prophetess, the daughter ofPhanuel,
of the tribe of Asher, 2:36-38.
ANNA WAS OF THE TRIBE OF ASHER.
The tribe of Asher is virtually an
1.!nknown quantity in the O.T. history
ofIsrael. Moses blessed this tribe.with
the following prophetic blessing: "Let
Asher be blessed with children; let him be
acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip
his footinail. Your shoes shall be iron and
brass; and as your days, 50 shall your
strength be: Deuteronomy 33:24;25.
But the days of Asher had long since
passed. This tribe, along with the
others in the Northern Kingdom of
Israel were driven from their lands
into obscurity because of their
long-standing apostasy from the Lord
and His covenant. Asher had been
carried into captivity as one of the "ten
lost tribes ofIsrael."
Historymay have forgotten aU about
Asher, but God had not. His Word is
never without effect. All of His
promises will be fulfilled. $0, here is
Anna, with her identity in tact, a
representative of the lost tribe of Asher,
in the Temple of the Lord, giving
testimony to Jesus Christ.
How was Moses' prophetic
prophecy fulfilled in Anna? She was a
widow with no children of her own.
Moses had said, "Let Asher be blessed
ylith children," but there were no
children for Anna, and it would appear
that Asher's line was on the verge of
disappearing forever. All that is left is
a grey-haired, childless widow named
Anna. ("Her constant vigil in the temple
across that time span (of sixty years)
suggests that there were no children
from her brief marriage that had to be
cared for, and thus there were no
children to comfort her in her
loneliness." -Norman Shepherd, "Anna
at the Presentation of Jesus: in The
Presbyterian Guardian, Dec. 1978.)
ANNA WAS A WIDOW.
Anna had been married only seven
years, and widowed for sixty years, In
the ancient world of that day, a widow's
life was not easy. "Her devotion to the
God of her fathers brought her to the
temple day after day; but who can say
how often she was compelled to listen
to the pious prayers of religious people
whose occupation it was to devour
widow's houses? (Luke 20:47)."
-Shepherd
ANNA WAS A DEVOUT BELIEVER
IN JEHOVAH.
Anna served the Lord in His
Temple, "serving night and day with
fastings and prayers," 2:37. "Her
thoughts go out to Asher, to Israel, to
God's people. Her zeal is forthe House
of God. She is deeply conscious of the
church bf God------and the utter
desolation of that church. There is
almost nothing left! In her desolation
she fasts, and thereby identifies herself
with the desolation 'of the church.
There is no escaping from the church
or from her responsibility as a member
of the church. Although the fasting
bespeaks desolation, in prayershecries
out to God for mercy, and the glimmer
of hope is kept alive even as lifeitselfis
ebbing away. Heronlycomfortinlife,
and now on the very threshold of
death, is the knowledge that God is the
Savior,andGodhadpromisedtocome
and to redeem Israel from all her sin.
6 TIlE COUNSEL of ChaIcedon November, 1993
Anna, too, continues to look for the
consolation of Israel. And He comes!
God Himself comes to His Temple in
the person of the infant Jesus at the
very hour when Anna is there to see
with her own eyes." -N. Shepherd
ANNA WAS THE DAUGHTER OF PHANUEl.
Anna's father's name, Phanuel,
means "vision of God," and yet he was
never allowed to see what Anna saw.
She was privileged to see the glory of
God in human flesh.
ANNA'S NAME MEANS "GRACE".
Anna's name means "grace" or
"favor." And how favored of God she
was to see His only begotten Son.
Moses had promised that Asher would
be blessed with children. Anna had
none of her own; but by the grate of
God she received a far greater blessing.
"She received [he child Jesus in the
Temple so that through Him the tribe
of Asher might become fruitful in the
most profound sense of the
word." -Shepherd
ANNA WAS A PROPHETESS.
When she saw the Son of God she
immediately gave thanks to God.
Redemption in Christ had come to
God's people at last. She could not
help but "speak of Him to all those
who were looking for the redemption
in Jerusalem: 2:38. As a prophetess,
"her prophetic calling now reaches its
climax in that she canspeak not simply
of a salvation to come, but specifically
of Jesus who HAS come to save His
people from their sins." -N. Shepherd
ANNA WAS A WITNESS OF JESUS CHRIST
AND SO MUST WE BE.
"The long, dark night is nOW past.
The vigil has ended. The dawn of a
new day has come, the promised
Sabbath for the people of God. It is a
day of superabounding grace. Anna
prophesied to the remnant who were
looking for redemption in Jerusalem.
In this new day, however,a new
-,
generation of prophets would arise,
indeed, many generations of prophets.
Their ministry, however, is not to a
remnant, but to multitudes. These
multitudes are not looking for
redemption in Jerusalem at all, but
they will find redemption; [or it is the
day when the Savior will be found by
those who did NOT seek for him.
Isaiah had spoken of just such a day,
Isa. 65:1, and we who are alive today
are privileged to live in that day.
Neither wisdom nor might, nor
nobility, nor any other qualifications
in us, either obtains or thwarts the
grace of God, I Cor.
1:26,27. It is the gracious,
sovereign, and efficacious
call of God that ushers us
into the fellowship of the
Son of God so that we
become sons of God in the
beloved Son, Eph. 1:5,6.
We who are by nature
sinners of the Gentiles, Gal.
2:15,join with Anna of the
tribe of Asher in giving
thanks to God for his
unspeakable gift." -N.
Shepherd
(2:39-40, 52) THE INTELLECTUAL,
PHYSICAL, SOCIAL AND SPIRITUAL
DEVELOPMENT OF JESUS
"And the Child continued to grow and
become strong, increasing in wisdom; and
the grace of God was upon Him, Luke
2:40. "And Jesus hept increasing in
wisdom and stature, and in favor with
God and men," Luke 2:52.
Luke 2:40 gives us a histOlY of the
first twelve years of Jesus' life; and
Luke 2:52 gives a histOlY of the next
eighteen years of His life. As a uue
human child, adolescent and young
adult, He passed through a process of
physical, mental, emotional, social and
spiritual development toward matutity
asarnan. "The intellectual, moral, and
sphitual growth of the Child, like the
physical, was real. His was a perfect
humanity developing perfectly,
unimpeded by hereditary or acquired
defects. It was the first instance of
such a growth in histo1Y. For the first
time a human infant was realizing the
ideal of humanity."-Plumer. "The
Savior of the world, God's Son
incamate, grew up physically in the
most normal way with nothing to mar
his bodily development. He grew
mentally in the same way and attained
more and more strength of mind,
understanding and reason. -- The
young lad attained more and more
wisdom ... in the biblical sense as the
right knowledge of God and his
salvation coupled with its application
of life.
"It is impossible for us to penetrate
the mystery of this development in
Jesus---body and soul untouched by
sin, unchecked and umetarded by any
result of sin, his mind and his soul
absorbing the wisdom of God's Word
as a bud drinks in the sunshine and
expands. His mind and his soul, which
were truly human indeed, grew in
strength and in the range of wisdom
but in perfection and in power beyond
anything that is possible to sinful
mortals. His development was
absolutely nOimal, that of all other is
to a degree abnOimal. We see his mind
and his soul in full action during his
ministry, a mind and a soul that are
vastly beyond those of mere man. He
sees through evelY errorand deception,
all truth is his glorious posseSsion, he
is master of every situation. This came
to him by degrees, but evelY degree of
the growth was perfect.
"When Luke adds that God's grace
was upon the child, he aims to say that
this was evident from the way in which
the child developed. The word
CHARlS, (grace), is used in the wider
sense of God's favor, not in the
narrower sense of undeserved favor
for sinners. As a manJesus was under
God and dependent upon Him for all
things just as we are; but because He
was sinless, God's favor never
turned from Him to
discipline and chastise
Him."-Lenski
THE GROWTH AND
DEVELOPMENT OF JESUS
ACCORDING TO HEBREWS 5:8F
Hebrews 5:8f says:
" ... although He was a Son, He
learned obedience from the
things which He suffered; and
having been made perfect, He
became to all those who obey
Him the source of eternal
salvadon .... "
THE POINT OF THE GROWTH
AND DEVELOPMENT OF JESUS
ACCORDING TO HEBREWS 5:8F
The incamate Son of God, in His
humanity, learned obedience, i.e.,
achieved it as a personal reality,
through what He suffered, "for His
perseverance in the performance of
the Pather'swill, which was the purpose
of His coming, meant His walking the
road of suffering that led to the
cross." -P.E. Hughes, The Epistle of
Hebrews, pg. 186
THE MEANING OF "HE LEARNED
OBEDIENCE THROUGH WHAT HE
SUFFERED" IN HEBREWS 5:8F
J t seems unusual to say that the Son
of God "leamed obedience in the school
of suffeIing." It is astonishing to say
November, 1993 f THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon f 7
that He learned anything, since, in His
Deity He is the omnisdent God. But
that is justthe point: as God He knows
all things, as man He must learn.
However, in His humanity Jesus was
free from sin, which is disobedience to
God, therefore it was not necessary for
Him to learn obedience by the
discipline of painful correction. "Yet,
as the incarnate Son Who fully shares
our humanity, it was essential to His
work as mediator and redeemer that
He should accumulate the perfection
of obedience, through His undeviating
conquest of temptation, preparatory
to the culminating act of His obedience
on the cross, where He offered Himself
to the Father as a sacrifice for sinful
and disobedient mankind, 2: 14f. In
its furthest reference, Christ's
obedience was 'obedience unto death,
even death on a cross,' Phil. 2:28; Heb.
12:2. As the incarnate Son, then, it
was absolutely necessary for Him to
learn obedience, since His obedience
was essential for the offsetting of our
disobedience, Rom. ' 5:19."-P.E.
Hughes
THE MEANING OF "AND BEING MADE
PERFEcr" IN HEBREWS 5:8F
The writer of the book of Hebrews
goes even farther and says that Jesus
was "made perfect" with reference to
this suffering He experienced. This is
a reaffirmation of Hebrews 2: 10 which
says that "it was fitting for Him
(God) ... .in bringing many sons to glory,
to perfect the author (Christ) of their
salvation through sufferings." "This
perfection was progressively achieved
as He (Christ) moved on toward the
crosswbichmarked the consummation
of His suffering and obedience. His
perfection consisted in the retention of
His integrity, in the face of every kind
of aSsault on His integrity ,and thereby
the establishment ofHis integrity. Had
He failed at any pOint, His integrity
would have been impaired and His
perfection lost, with the consequence
that He would have been disqualified
to actas mediator and redeemer. What
was essential was that, starting, like
Adam, with a pure human nature, He
should succeed whereAdamhad failed.
His sufferings both tested, and
victoriously endured, attested His
perfection, free from failure and
defeat." -Hughes
THE MEANING OF "HE BECAME THE
SOURCE OF ETERNAL SALVATION TO ALL
WHO OBEY HIM" IN HEBREWS 5:8F
"The perfection, then, of the Savior's
unstained manhood capadtated Him
to endure the ultimate suffering of the
cross forus, who because of our sin are
stained and defeated and in need of
salvation. It is thus, the perfection of
His life leading up to the perfection of
His death, that 'he became the source
of eternal salvation to all who obey
Him.'-- He and no one else is the cause
of man's redemption; it is from Him
that it flows to us. His bearing of our
imperfection, the punishment of which
He endured and exhausted, made
available His perfection for the
rehabilitation of mankind--with the
qualification, however, that the eternal
salvation of which He is the source is a
reality in the experience only of those
'who obey Him.'''-Hughes. And as
Westcott has observed, "continuous
active obedience is the sign of real
faith."
THE IMPLICATIONS OF LUKE 2:52
FOR CHRISTIAN EDUCATION TODAY
The objectives of Christian
education regarding the development
of the student areln four areas ofjesus'
development---"PIe increased in
wisdom and stature and in favor with
God and man. (l).lNTELLECTUAL
ADVANCEMENT: All courses of study
are aimed at stimulating and expanding
the mind, bringing every thought
captive to the Word of God; (2),
PHYSICAL DISCIPLINE: Physical
strength, health and disciplined
8 f TIiE COUNSEL of Chalcedon f November, 1993
conditioning are all important to God
who created the human body to serve
Him; (3). SPIRITUAL GROWTH:
Since 'the fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom,' we must place
a high priority upon one's
understanding of and faith in Jesus
Christ as Lord and Savior; and (4).
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL
DEVELOPMENT: Knowing how to
relate to one another, serve one another,
work with one another, and be
hospitable to one another are all
essential to the Christian's mission in
this world.
(2:41-51) THE TWELVE YEAR OLD
JESUS IN THE TEMPLE
THE FIDELITY OF THE HOLY FAMILY
TO THE O.T. LAW (THE PASSOVER)
It was the habitual annual practice
of devoutJoseph and Mary to travel to
Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, in
obedience to the Law. The idea of
fidelity to God's Law is very
conspicuous throughout this whole
section concerning the Circumcision,
Purification, Presentation, and now
the Passover Celebration. Jesus is
obeying all the "jots and tittles" of the
Law for us. (Every adult male was
requited to go up to Jerusalem at the
annual Passover, Exod. 23:14-17;
34:23; Delli. 16:16.)
THE BAR MlTZV AH OF JESUS
joseph and Mary went to the
Temple in Jerusalem for another
reason, besides the celebration of the
Passover. They took their twelve year
old son, jesus, to the Temple to be
prepared and catechized for His Bar
Mitzvah, "to be prepared for the
ceremony of the follOwing year, when
He would be permitted as a young
jewish boy to join the religious
community as a responsible
member--Le., as 'son of the
commandment,- Bar Mitzvah. This
important event takes place when the
jewish boy is thirteen." -Geldenhuys.
At this point the boy is then admitted
to the Passover Celebration as a full
participant for the first time in his life,
as F.Nigel Lee has shown in his Ph.D.
dissertation against paedo-
communion.
THE MIX-UP ON THE HOMEWARD
JOURNEY FROM JERUSALEM TO NAZARETH
At the e.nd of the seven day
celebration of the Passover and all its
related feasts and events, joseph and
MalY joined a caravan heading for
Nazareth and home. The women and
children usually traveled in the front
of the caravan and the men and older
boys brought up the rear. At twelve
years of age jesus could
have been with either
group, and more than
likely his father thought
He was with His mother,
and His mother thought
He was with His father.
Neither Mary nor joseph
were aware that Jesus was
not with the caravan at all,
but had remained behind
in the Temple.
At first His parents did
not miss Him. So, at the
end of the first day emoute
theymissedJesus. They spend another
day looking for Him. And they spent
a third day returning to Jerusalem.
This incident shows how much
confidence they had in the childjesus,
assuming that He was doing nothing
reckless and irresponsible, and was
somewhere to be found among the
large number of family and fliends in
the caravan. "The whole occurrence
may be explained, on the one hand,
from the fact that they had the fullest
confidence in Him and knew that He
would be where He ought to be, and
on the other hand from the fact that
they did not realize that on His first
definite attendance at the festival in
the temple and acquaintance with the
doctors He would naturally talry in
the temple as long as possible. " serious-minded discussions and then
-Geldenhuys asked questions and answered
THE EDUCATION OF JESUS
IN THE TEMPLE
"After Ome days they found Hint in
the Temple, sitting in the midst of the
teachers, both listening to them and putting
questions to them. All who were listening
to Hint were astol1ishedat His insight and
answers," 2:46. YoungJesuswas in the
Temple as a learner not a teacher.
Notice that the healing is placed first ,
indicating that He was there as astudent
to be taught; and it was as such that He
questioned them. He probably sat on
the ground while the Rabbis sat on
benches or stood, in a semicircle
around him and possibly other
students. This was his first time in the
Temple, being instructed, and He was
absorbed in what He was learning
about the Word of God from them. He
was not hiding from His parents. He
could have easily been found. The
follOwing famous Rabbis could have
been present that day: Simeon,
Gamaliel, Act. 22:3, Caiaphas,
Nicodemus and joseph of Arimathea.
These Rabbis or others were assembled
in the Temple for disputations and
theological discussions among
themselves as expen theologians,
exegetes and ethicists, as was their
custom after religious celebrations in
the city. jesus listened to these
questions put to Him. This was the
custom at the time: students received
instluction by asking and answering
questions. Although He was a student
with an obvious thirst for knowledge
and wisdom, "His unaffected questiOns
and answers to their questions showed
so many proofs of exceptional inSight
and lucid intelligence that the doctors
malveled at it. With the Child Himself,
however, there was no boasting,
self-conceit, arrogance or
self-exaltation. -Geldenhuys
THE DISCOVERY
OF YOUNG JESUS
BY HIS PARENTS
IN THE TEMPLE
After searching
frantically and in great
anguish of mind, they
finally find Jesus in the
Temple. Their anguish
was irrational, although
understandable, forthey
might have been certain
that this Child, who was
the MeSSiah, could not
be lost. When jesus saw
them He was not
surprised to see them come for Him,
but He was surprised at their not
knowing where to find Him.
THE WOROS OF MARY TO JESUS UPON
FINDING HIM IN THE TEMPLE AFTER A
THREE-DAY, FRANTIC SEARCH
WhenMaryandJosephfoundJesus
questioning and answeling the Rabbis
insuch a insightfulandrnature manner,
they were struck with astonishment.
"This shocked condition betrays how
quietly Jesus had acted up to this time,
He had never opened His mouth in the
synagogue---and here He sits in the
velY Temple itself with prominent
rabbis all about Him, all eyes and all
ears are fixed upon Him. Their shock
had ample reason."-Lensld
November, 1993 f- THE COUNSEL of Cha\cedon t 9
It is Mary, with a mother'S
concerned heart, who speaks for herself
and Joseph, with the tender address,
"Child," not "son." Her words express
her deep motherly affection and anxiety
at the same time---"Child, why have
you dealt with us in this manner? Your
father and I have been desperately
searching for you." Her response
reveals "amedleyofsurplise, reproach,
and anguish." -Hendriksen. "This
anxiety on the part of] oseph and Mary
does not by any means indicate that
they did not know that He was the
Messiah. Their genuinely human
uneasiness only shows that
they did not yet fully and
constantly realiZe that since
He was in reality the Christ
of God there was therefore
no need for them to be
anxious about His welfare.
Indeed, it was only after
jesus' resurrection and the
outpouring of the Holy
Spirit at Pentecost that
Mary realiZed fully who her
Son was."-Geldenhuys
Calvin points out that
the manner of Mary's gentle
rebuke was that she had been hurt in
this whole affair, showing "how ready
we are by nature to defend our own
rights, even without paying regard to
God. The holy virgin woulda thousand
times rather have died, than
deliberately preferred herself to God;
but, in the indulgence of a mother'S
grief, she falls into it through
inadvertency. And undoubtedly this
e,Xilmple warns us, how jealous we
ought to be of all. the affections of the
flesh, and. what care we ought to
.exercise, lest, by being toQ tenacious of
: our rights, and f911pw,i;ng Qur desires,
,we defraud .
: , THE RESPONSE VESUS MAAY
.. qfi$sUs '
, IN THis'\tiltiDi:Nt'; ,
. ,: ' i' i
" 1 '! ; . .
Jesus was not to blame for this
stressful situation. Mary should have
perceived how much the Tern pIe and
all it signified meant to her Son. Jesus'
response to his mother is not reproof,
but amazement. "From this it may be
deduced that He was not uneasy when
He had not seen His parents for some
daysandthat His human consciousness
had no suspicion that they were
anxious about Him. Completely
devoted as He was to His earthly
parents, He was, nevertheless,
especially since He began to grow older,
exceptionally self-reliant and strong in
personality. In His answer He especially
expresses surprise that they had not
known where to find Him and had
sought Him so anxiously." -Geldenhuys
THE ANSWER OF JESUS TO HIS MOTHER
Jesus' respectful answer to His
mother was: "Why is it that you were
lookingJor Me? Did you not know that /
had to be in My Father's 'house: (or
'affairs;' or literally, in the things of My
Father)?" Jesus' response to Mary's
statement, "Your Jather and I have been
anxiously lookingJor You: was "/ must
be engaged in My Father's business!" He
gives His mother's words a gentle but
decisive correction. She spoke of
' Joseph asH,s father, who, along with
her, had been searching for Him. He
spoke of His Father's House and His
Fattier's Business,obviously referring
10 'tHE COUNSEL of Chalcedon November, 1993
to the Temple of jehovah and the
things of Jehovah, His true Father. It
is noteworthy that the first recorded
wordsofjesus Christ are an affirmation
ofrlis Deity, a clear testimony to His
Divine Sonship, "in which He points
to His life's vocation to be about His
Father's Business--to serve and glorify
Him in all things and at all times.
His response also reveals a D !VINE
INEVITABIliTY: Jesus must be busy
with the interests of His Father. "With
Him it is, however, not a case of external
compulsion---Hiswholenatureyearns
to serve and obey His Father
voluntarily. This divine
calling of His is to such a
degree of the very first
importance that even His
most intimate earthly
relation,S must be
subordinated to it. To the
Child jesus all this is quite
natural and obvious, and
so Heis amazed thatJoseph
and Mary did not realiZe
it." -Geldenhuys
"I MUST BE!" Christ's
entire life was controlled
by the divine "must, "which
was in complete harmony with His
own desire, Psa. 40:7;jn. 10:17, 18.
He realiZed this very early in His life,
(at age twelve at least) ."The Gospels
are full of this idea of NECESSITY,
DECREE. In Luke's Gospel note the
following: Jesus MUST preach, 4:43,
suffer, 9:22,go onHisway,13:33,stay
at the home of Zacchaeus, 19:5, be
delivered up, crucified, rise again, 24: 7,
suffer these things and enter into His
glory, 22:37;24:26, and fulfill all the
O:T. prophecies with reference to
Himself, 24:44. The same truth is also
emphasized in the other Gospels,
particularly in John. 3:14; 4:4; 9:4;
10:16; 20:9. Whatever happens to
Jesus is the realiZation of God's eternal
decree, Lk. 22:22; Acts . 2:23;

THE RESPONSE OF MARY AND JOSEPH
TO JESUS' WORDS
"They did not understand the
statement which He had made to them,"
2:50.
"There is nothing inconsistent in
this. They learned only gradually what
His Messiahship involved, and this is
one stage in the process. From the
point of view of her subsequent
knowledge, Mary recognized that at
this stage she and Joseph had not
understood. This verse, especially
when combined with the next, shows
clearly who was the source of Luke's
information. Compare 9:45 and
18:34." -Plumer
'This fine tender picture, in which
neither truth to nature, nor the beauty
which that implies, is violated in a
single line, --cannot have been devised
by human hands, which, when left to
themselves, were always betrayed into
coarseness and exaggeration as shown
by the apocryphal gospels."-Keim in
Plumer
The Gospels make clear that the
friends and relatives did not fully
understand Him, Mat. 16:22;Mk9:1O,
32; Lie. 9:45; Lk. 8:19-21; In. 7:3-5.
Some of them were hostile toward
Him and His claims. Others
misunderstood Him by taking literally
what He meant figuratively, Mat.
16:5-12;Jn. 2:19, 20; 3:3,4; 4:13-15;
6:51,52; lUI, 12.
"His mother treasured all these things
in her heart," 2:51
This statement reveals the nue and
deep nature of her heart. She was
doing what Jacob had done, Gen.
37:11, what Daniel had done, Dan.
7:28, and what she herself had done
twelve years earlier, Lk 2:19. The
mystery of Christ's incarnation was
beyond her comprehension, yet she
grasped it by faith and treasured it and
her soul drank deeply from the
blessedness of it. The gospel ofJesus's
inc.arnation MalY regarded as her
dearest treasure.
In Luke 2: 19 we read that Mary
"treasured up, (SUNTEREO), all these
things, pondeling them in her heart."
In Luke 2:51 we read that Mary
"treasured all, (D1ATEREO), these
things in her heart." SUNTEREO
means to keep in mind, to hold or
treasurein one'smemOly. D1ATEREO
means to treasure words in the heart.
It is used in the Septuagint to translate
the Hebrew words, SHAMAR, in
Genesis 37:11, and NETAR in Daniel
7:28. SHAMAR, used around 500
times in the O.T., means "to exercise
great care over." It means to pay
careful attention to the subject under
consideration. It is sometimes
translated, "Give careful and diligent
heed to," Gen. 18:19; Exod. 20:6; Dt.
26:16. NETAR is the same as the
Hebrew cognate NASAR, means to
watch over, protect, keep in view, look
Whcn wa" JC5U5 5avcd?
at. God's covenant is to be "guarded
with fidelity," Exod. 34: 7; Dt. 33:9;
Psa. 78:7. NASAR is also used for
guarding or keeping a secret.
THE SUBMISSION OF THE YOUNG JESUS
TO MARY'S AND JOSEPH'S
PARENTAL LOVE AND AUTHORITY
In obedience to the Law of God,
(the Fifth Commandment), our
Redeemer lived throughout His
childhood and adolescence in perfect
subjection to the parental authority of
His mother and (adopted) father for
our salvation. To save us from the
punishment of broken Law, He had to
fulfill the Law in evelY respect. The
main point of the statement--"He
continued in subjection to them" --may
be "to remove the impression that in
His reply, vs. 49, Jesus resents, or
henceforward repudiates, their
authority over Him. n -Plumer.
Furthermore, it is Christ-like for
children today to be in subjection to
their parents.Q
How wa5 JC5U5' cducatlon dlffcrcnt from
our puiJlic 5chool cducatlon?
What can we Icarn aiJout our5clvc5 from
12 ycar old JC5U5 In thc Tcmplc?
Thc rclatlon5hlp offrccwfll and thc 50vcrelgnty of God?
November, 1993 'i' THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon 'i' 11