The Jesus Bible Reading PlanNäide

MY FATHER’S BUSINESS

The Bible provides limited information about Jesus’ life as a child. We know his parents took him to the temple when he was eight days old to present him to the Lord, to circumcise him, and to offer a sacrifice as prescribed by the law (Lk 2:21 – 24). Then when Jesus was age 12, he and his family returned to the temple. There Jesus demonstrated an understanding of the work God had commissioned him to accomplish. This evocative statement in the Greek text is an elliptical clause that leaves out a key word. It reads, “I must be in the . . . of my Father,” without specifying a place or activity. So what young Jesus proclaimed here is that either he must be in the house of God discussing God’s truth as the translation suggests, or he must be busy with the Father’s work in another context. In the end, the two possibilities are not very different. Over time, it became clear that Jesus understood fully the work he had to do — preaching the good news while traveling to Jerusalem to be killed and to rise on the third day (Lk 9:22). In anticipation of the day he would begin his earthly ministry, he “grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (Lk 2:52).

Jesus, help me to prioritize my life as well as you did when you were so young. I want to become wiser each day. Amen.