Missional Challenge Luke Chapter 2

According to this chapter Jesus is now twelve years old and His family is going to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. This was a big celebration and a strong family time. I might guess by now Mary and Joseph have begun having their children and they would be busy on this journey and Jesus was probably afforded the privilege of spending time with other family members and friends.
When they could not find Him with their caravan they worked their way back and they found Him in the Temple Courts with the teachers three days later. I am sure the first part of the conversation was a parent’s normal response to the tension they have been through. “What were you thinking? Do you know how worried we have been”, they might have said. Then I picture Jesus standing before them, quietly allowing them to vent their frustration, fear, anxiety and anger, and he asks them, “Why did you search for me in all these other places? Wouldn’t you realize I would be in my Father’s house?”, all without a roll of the eyes or a duh.
So what does this teach me about the Mission of Christ and how does it apply to me. I don’t believe Jesus felt He needed to ‘live’ in His Father’s house, but He desired to be where the focus and conversation was centered on God and how we relate to Him. I have a sense that Jesus did not sit with these learned men and say ‘thus says the Lord....’ but He probably asked questions which would provoke thought and take His Father out of the small manageable box we try to keep Him in. New ideas which would create a fresh sense of wonder and awe if fear of being different did not squash the moment.
This is why church, fellowship or small groups are important. Church can be too organized, a time of observing, then you go home –leaves me flat. I want to question and be questioned. It keeps me engaged in the present, where I live.