- Joined
- Apr 25, 2006
- Messages
- 18,404
Home is where God's heart is
'The child grew and became strong ...' Luke 2:40
Did mum tell the infant bedtime stories of when an angel flew round her mind and made it known that she would conceive God's divine son? Was the little Jewish boy rifling through Isaiah's predictions of a pregnant virgin giving birth to a lad who would answer to the name 'Immanuel'? Maybe the child was miles away in dream-like prayers when God whispered the plan to him.
We just don't know how Jesus put two and two together about His divine identity. However, by the time he's 12, He's fully clued up. After three days on the missing list, Mary and Joseph finally track Jesus down to Jerusalem's religious centre of operations.
After Mum lays on the parental guilt trip, the not-quite-teen answers back, 'Didn't you know I had to be in my father's house?' (Luke 2:49). 'My father's house' - not 'the temple' not 'church' or 'synagogue'; Jesus clearly understands that His Father is God.
So, with a clear sense of God's calling on His life, why doesn't the boy kick off proceedings there and then? Why doesn't the Messiah story start to gather momentum - why is it another 18 years before Jesus goes public with His God assignment?
Maybe one reason is that being a son, a brother, a carpenter and a 'family man' is the first step in His mission. Perhaps, we could all adopt that attitude: our primary mission field is our home.
written by Bob Gass
'The child grew and became strong ...' Luke 2:40
Did mum tell the infant bedtime stories of when an angel flew round her mind and made it known that she would conceive God's divine son? Was the little Jewish boy rifling through Isaiah's predictions of a pregnant virgin giving birth to a lad who would answer to the name 'Immanuel'? Maybe the child was miles away in dream-like prayers when God whispered the plan to him.
We just don't know how Jesus put two and two together about His divine identity. However, by the time he's 12, He's fully clued up. After three days on the missing list, Mary and Joseph finally track Jesus down to Jerusalem's religious centre of operations.
After Mum lays on the parental guilt trip, the not-quite-teen answers back, 'Didn't you know I had to be in my father's house?' (Luke 2:49). 'My father's house' - not 'the temple' not 'church' or 'synagogue'; Jesus clearly understands that His Father is God.
So, with a clear sense of God's calling on His life, why doesn't the boy kick off proceedings there and then? Why doesn't the Messiah story start to gather momentum - why is it another 18 years before Jesus goes public with His God assignment?
Maybe one reason is that being a son, a brother, a carpenter and a 'family man' is the first step in His mission. Perhaps, we could all adopt that attitude: our primary mission field is our home.
written by Bob Gass
