Born, Adopted, Reborn - Who is your Father?

Luke 2:36-52  from the One Year Bible (link available on links page)

³⁶ And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, ³⁷ and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four. She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. ³⁸ At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Return to Nazareth

³⁹ When they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. ⁴⁰ The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

Visit to Jerusalem

⁴¹ Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. ⁴² And when He became twelve, they went up there according to the custom of the Feast; ⁴³ and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents were unaware of it, ⁴⁴ but supposed Him to be in the caravan, and went a day’s journey; and they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances. ⁴⁵ When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for Him. ⁴⁶ Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers. ⁴⁸ 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.” ⁴⁹ And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” ⁵⁰ But they did not understand the statement which He had made to them. ⁵¹ And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart.

⁵² And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

Today's text begins with another account of a servant of God recognizing the Christ, the Messiah in the baby Jesus. Again it is a recognition, a knowledge that comes from the Holy Spirit. This spiritual understanding and knowledge is what we are given when we receive Christ and the Holy Spirit into our lives.  This understanding and knowledge we have through the Holy Spirit causes the world to think we are foolish for believing. There is no way we can impart this knowledge and understanding to them. We can not logically convince them of their need of Christ unless they are given the gift of spiritual discernment.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25 says:   For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ¹⁹ For it is written,

²⁰ Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? ²¹ For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. ²² For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, ²⁴ but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

As we continue in the text we read the account of Jesus and His family going to Jerusalem when He was 12 years old. We are told that the family made this trip every year at Passover, a tradition Jesus would continue to observe until the very last Passover He celebrated with His disciples before His crucifixtion. There is some significance to this visit. According to Jewish law and tradition a boy became a man at age 13.  

Bar Mitzvah" literally means "son of the commandment." "Bar" is "son" in Aramaic, which used to be the vernacular of the Jewish people. "Mitzvah" is "commandment" in both Hebrew and Aramaic.  Under Jewish Law, children are not obligated to observe the commandments, although they are encouraged to do so as much as possible to learn the obligations they will have as adults. At the age of 13 (12 for girls), children become obligated to observe the commandments.( from Judaism 101)

So this visit at age 12 was the last time Jesus would be in Jerusalem for the Passover as a child. Jesus actions and response then can be understood in that He was coming of age. In Matthew 5:17 Jesus says: “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.  Jesus was about to become fully accountable to the law which He came to fulfill.

Later when Jesus had begun His earthly ministry He said: "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.(John 5:19)      It's not surprising then that Jesus as He was coming of age would be so drawn to the Father's presence. The text says that, they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.  And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.     Had they truly known who Jesus was they would not have been amazed by His knowledge and understanding of the word. After all we know according to John 1:1-3,14

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God. ³ All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being...  And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.  

Jesus, the Word became flesh, the living Word who was dwelling among them, was teaching and sharing the Word.

We have this understanding then of what this account represents in Jesus coming of age. He who had been with God from the beginning had come to earth and was living under the authority of His earthly parents. He was drawn to His true Father and His place in the heavenly realm. We, on the other hand, were born of natural parents and so there is a natural tendency and drawing that we experience to this world.      2 Corinthians 6:17-18 says:

“Therefore, come out from their midst and be separate,” says the Lord. “And do not touch what is unclean; And I will welcome you. ¹⁸ “And I will be a father to you, And you shall be sons and daughters to Me,” Says the Lord Almighty. 

God calls us to come away from and separate ourselves from the things of this world and our natural tendencies. It is very normal that adopted children are  drawn to know something more about their natural parents, their heritage and even their genetics. The only spiritual heritage and genetics we have through our natural birth is our inherited sin nature.        We need to recognize, understand and believe that we are who we are in our new nature, reborn in Christ adopted as children of God.

Look at what Ephesians 1:3-5   says about our adoption:

 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love ⁵ He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will

He chose us before the foundation of the world. He predestined us to adoption through Jesus Christ.    Jeremiah 1:5 says: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you...   Psalm 139:15-16 says: My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them.

We were His  before we were born to this world!    So in truth, we like Jesus, should see the Father as our true Father.    We should be drawn to His presence. He chose us from the foundation of the world!    We are His!    This world has no hold or claim to us. Our rebirth in Christ is the restoration of what God the Father intended and chose from the beginning.

That is a Holy Spirit revelation that can change our lives.

Thank You Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ and Holy Spirit. That I am redeemed and restored to my natural original inheritance as a child of God. In You and through You, Jesus this world has no hold on me. Holy Spirit I choose to yield myself to You  so that I can fully know the one who chose me, the one to whom I belong. God, You are my true Father. This world has no hold or claim on my life. I am Yours. Help me to understand and walk in the fullness of that truth more every day.    Amen