Sermon 1-5-25

Pastor Ray Lorthioir

Trinity Lutheran Church

W. Hempstead, NY

Based on the Gospel Lesson for the Second Sunday After Christmas, Luke 2:40-52

Cloaked Prodigy

Just in time for this sermon, my YouTube feed served me videos of child prodigies playing the piano. It was fascinating to watch a five year old girl flawlessly play Bach’s invention number 13 by memory — those small fingers accurately traveled over full size keys with just the right touch. I can lead you in song. But I can’t play Bach.

You may not know this, but at the Christmas concert, three weeks ago, the twenty-one year old man who played piano was a child prodigy. Jacob — Sammy, as he’s nicknamed — astounded his father at the age of two. His father is our evangelist, Jerry George. Jerry plays piano and teaches it. So, from infancy Sammy had music in his house and there was a piano. One day, after having played for a while, Jerry was astounded to hear a melody line that he had just played coming from the room with the piano. He looked in and there was two year old Sammy picking out the melody line on the piano. He was doing this without any training.

Sammy’s younger brother, Jonathan — Jona as he’s nicknamed — was a child prodigy on the drums. As children, they appeared on a television program called Little Big Shots. On YouTube do a search for “Little Big Shots J J Brothers” and you’ll still find them.

Jesus was a child prodigy in Scripture, theology and spiritual wisdom. Of course, He was much more than a child prodigy. He is the author of Scripture and the source of all wisdom. But no one knew that then. As we just read in the Gospel lesson, at the age of twelve — bar mitzvah age — Jesus astounded the learned scribes and rabbis in the Jerusalem temple. We only know this because Luke was able to interview Mary or someone who had interviewed Mary.

Jesus had gone up to Jerusalem for Passover with his family, extended relatives and other families from Nazareth. They had traveled as a group. So, when the day came to return home, the group traveled one day out of the city. That’s when Mary and Joseph discovered that Jesus hadn’t accompanied the group. They went back and spent three days frantically searching the city for Jesus. We don’t know why they finally looked in the temple. But there He was, and in the middle of a crowd of learned rabbis. As we read, Luke 2:46-48, “46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished.”

So look at Yahweh’s setup for sending the Son in human flesh. If Jesus had been raised in king’s houses, he would have had the best tutors in the world. No one would have been amazed at His knowledge and understanding. The same thing would have been true if He had been raised in a rabbi’s home. But He was raised in the home of a day laborer from backwoods Nazareth. Like any other Jewish kid of the time, Jesus would have been immersed in Scripture, memorizing it on a daily basis. But from childhood, Jesus was being trained by a day laborer — Joseph, His guardian — to be a day laborer — a man who could build anything. He was definitely not trained in the ways of intellect or in theology. Yet, He amazed all with the sophistication of His understanding.

As an adult, during His three year teaching ministry, Jesus visited Nazareth. The account of this incident in Matthew and Mark is very similar. Luke focuses on a detail that would be interesting to the Gentile Christian audience he is writing to. John doesn’t mention the incident at all, but records a saying Jesus made during it — namely that a prophet is not without honor, except in his home town.

So, let’s read in Mark 6:1-6, “1 He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. 2 And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, ‘Where did this man get these things? What is the wisdom given to him? How are such mighty works done by his hands? 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? And are not his sisters here with us?’ And they took offense at him. 4 And Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.’ 5 And he could do no mighty work there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and healed them. 6 And he marveled because of their unbelief.”

Do you see what’s going on here? Once these people who knew Jesus from childhood got over their amazement at what He had become, they started saying, “wait a minute. We know this guy. He’s a day laborer. We know His family. They don’t have famous rabbis in the family line. He’s never sat at the foot of any famous rabbi for training. Who does this guy think He is — just because He can do some miracles?” And so, they did what? They took offense at Him. Who does He think He is?!

And throughout the narrative of all four Gospels, that was the attitude of most of the Jewish leadership toward Jesus. Who does this day laborer think He is? But, that’s the wrong question. Yahweh set things up so that Jesus would be amazing — a day laborer who could teach the best teachers Israel could produce, and who could command demons to leave. Therefore, the question should have been the one the disciples asked when Jesus calmed the storm. Luke 8:25, “. . . ‘Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?’” Indeed, who is this? That’s the real question. It’s the one that every soul on earth must answer. For, when Jesus is matched up with everything the Old Testament has to say about Yahweh and about the Messiah, the answer comes clear. He is the Son of God. He is the promised Messiah, sent to undo what Adam did. And that’s why at age twelve He briefly revealed Himself as a child prodigy.

Long after Jesus lived, writers speculated about what it must have been like to know the child, Jesus. So, there are ancient apocryphal documents that have Jesus performing miracles as a child. But in the four Gospels recognized as divinely inspired Scripture, the only event in which Jesus partially uncloaked His divinity during childhood is the one we read today. And from what Luke says, he wrote accurate information from Mary herself.

So, was it hard for Joseph and Mary to raise this divine child? Apparently not. For as we saw, even the townspeople of Nazareth were absolutely amazed by the man who had grown up among them. In His ministry Jesus was doing things that the townspeople would never have expected from the day laborer. Apparently, God the Son almost totally cloaked His divinity throughout the first twenty-nine years of His life, so that no one suspected. He totally fit in as a normal person. And in a culture thoroughly devoted to Yahweh’s Law, Jesus’ own devotion and piety would not have stood out in the crowd. He successfully hid His real identity. And that’s what made Jesus such a surprise when He began His ministry.

There’s another event that confirms that Jesus had cloaked His identity. It’s found in Mark 3:20-21, “20 Then he [Jesus] went home, [meaning to his house in Capernaum] and the crowd gathered again, so that they [meaning He and the twelve] could not even eat. 21 And when his family heard it, they went out to seize him, for they were saying, ‘He is out of his mind.’” Why would they say that about Jesus? Why would they take such action? The only logical reason is that during His spectacular ministry, Jesus was not the son and brother they had known for the first twenty-nine years of His life. That’s how well Jesus had hidden His identity as the Son of God. That’s how “normal” He had been in that period of His life.

Today, January 5th, is the twelfth day of Christmas. Tomorrow, January 6th, is the Feast of the Epiphany, sometimes called Little Christmas. The Gospel text for the Epiphany is the arrival of the Magi. What was it that the Magi came for? We read in Matthew 2:1-2, “1. . . wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, ‘Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.’” Assuming that these were Jewish wise men residing in what is now Iraq or Iran who had traveled to Jerusalem, it’s utterly astounding that they would have come to worship — worship — a human child as if He were God. No wonder all of Jerusalem was disturbed by their coming. But that’s what they did. We read in Matthew 2:11, “And going into the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then, opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh.”

Certainly, Joseph and Mary must have been stunned by this turn of events, and the necessity of their subsequent flight into Egypt to escape Herod. But, then again, angels, visions, dreams, a prophet and prophetess were involved in Jesus’ conception and birth. His entire birth narrative is hardly ordinary. But, then, all goes quiet for twenty-nine years with the exception of today’s incident when Jesus was twelve. Yahweh had mercy on Joseph, Mary, the family and the entire population of Nazareth. The Son of God was carefully hidden in Nazareth. They raised an obedient child. Things were quite normal — very normal until the time was right, and God, the Son, revealed Himself.

And there’s one more thing in today’s incident that points to the normality. When Joseph and Mary found Jesus in Yahweh’s Jerusalem temple this dialogue took place. Luke 2:48-50, “48. . . And his mother [Mary] said to him [Jesus], ‘Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.’ 49 And he said to them, ‘Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ 50 And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them.”

Mary and Joseph didn’t understand the saying because nothing further had happened out of the ordinary since Jesus’ birth. Except for this one incident, they were raising a normal child. Therefore, Mary stored this one incident in her heart because it was so different. 

It wasn’t until Luke was writing the incident down that it could be seen what Jesus had meant. For, at that point Jesus had been crucified, raised from the dead and was ascended into heaven. The Jerusalem temple was the house of Yahweh, the living God. And somehow Yahweh, the Son, had left His place and become incarnate on earth in mortal flesh born of a virgin as the Son of Man. Therefore, as both God and man in a twelve year old’s body, Jesus had rightly called the Jerusalem temple His Father’s House. Therefore, with the Magi let us also worship and bow the knee!

Tomorrow will open the Epiphany season. In Greek, Epiphany means a revelation — taking what has been hidden and exposing it for all to see. So, in the initial months of His ministry, God the Son, whom Yahweh had carefully hidden in the person of a day laborer from Nazareth in Galilee, revealed Himself to the world. As Simeon had prophesied at the time of Jesus’ birth, Jesus was and is light for the Gentiles and the glory of Yahweh’s people, Israel. 

And certainly as Simeon prophesied, Jesus is a sign that is opposed. That will come when we get into the Lenten season and the Passion.

But on this final day of Christmas 2024, let us consider well the mystery that has been revealed to us — Yahweh, the Creator God, come to us in our own flesh and blood — so that we might not perish in our sins, but have eternal, righteous life in Him. And the mystery continues. Because Yahweh, the Creator God, resurrected in righteous, immortal human flesh and blood is at the right hand of Yahweh. (Figure that one out some time.) And from there Jesus will return to judge all who have ever lived on earth and to redeem His own. As it says in Revelation 1:7, “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him. . . .”

Therefore, what is hidden needs to be revealed while there is still time. That’s the task of Messiah’s Church and Lord Holy Spirit working in union. That’s why we publicly worship every Sunday. It’s why we teach and preach Jesus.

Unlike atheists, Marxists and the practitioners of other religions, we do not proclaim cleverly devised myths. What we have to offer is eyewitness testimony. Just because the events happened long ago doesn't make the testimony unreliable. The tests for eyewitness testimony are the same today as they have always been. And when these tests are applied to the lives of the Apostles, there is proof that they weren’t lying.

And, as far as whether Jesus was a real person, really died on a cross and was really bodily resurrected, there is more than adequate testimony from many ancient written sources. In fact, the amount and quality of the ancient documentation available to us concerning Jesus far outweighs the documentation available to us about any other figure of ancient history.

Yahweh’s endgame with us comes down to what Jesus called the New Birth. Without it, we cannot see or enter the Kingdom of God. Check out John chapter 3. This New Birth is the gracious gift of God. This New Birth comes to us in Word and Sacrament. 

There can be a delay in realizing the fullness of what has been done for us and to us in the New Birth. There can be a delay in understanding the fullness of the truth the New Birth opens to us. There also can be falling away from the truth. For, sin, death and the devil don’t want any human to escape their oppression.

However, Jesus is more powerful than all His enemies. He is more powerful than all your enemies. So, where true doctrine is preached and the sacraments are rightly administered, there, Lord Holy Spirit is present to allow all who hear to receive grace upon grace; truth upon truth. Through Word and Sacrament, the oppression of Yahweh’s enemies is broken. The gates of righteous, eternal life with Yahweh are opened before us.

The Spirit also brings divine wisdom by which to apply divine grace and truth to the daily tasks of this life. The Spirit brings divine wisdom by which to apply grace and truth to all the relationships of this life. In Jesus there is meaning and satisfaction available to us — even in the midst of suffering.

By Word and Sacrament, the Spirit brings real reality into focus. And that reality is that in the end Yahweh’s righteousness will triumph in Messiah Jesus. We can either be part of His triumph or opposed to Him. Therefore, may the Spirit open our hearts to Yahweh’s eternal truth in Messiah Jesus. May His truth override all the obstacles to Him in our paths. May He who was hidden be revealed to you. Amen.

All Bible quotes are from the ESV.