“Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” Luke 2:49
When Jesus was a boy of twelve years old, we find Him described in Scripture as being, “…strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.” (Luke 2:40) During a visit with His parents to Jerusalem, He was separated from them for about three days, during which time his parents were very anxious for Him. They found Him in the temple in Jerusalem, “…sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.” (v.46) Those who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers. When Joseph and Mary, his parents, finally found Him, and expressed their anxiety over his absence from their care, He asked them two questions, the first of which was: “Why did you seek Me?” And the second was, “Did you not know that I MUST be about My Father’s business?” Why did Jesus ask his parents these questions, and what did He mean to communicate to all around Him?
When Gabriel the angel of God came to Mary, the mother of Jesus to announce Jesus’ birth, he declared of Him: “He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.” (Luke 1:32,33) In this declaration we have a glimpse of Jesus as a babe, a boy, a young man, and primarily the Savior of the world. When Jesus was born, being conceived in the womb of Mary by the Holy Spirit, He was given all that the Father could and would communicate to Him with regard to His calling, and the Means of accomplishing that calling and purpose by the Spirit. When Jesus was twelve years old, sitting in the midst of the teachers in Jerusalem in the temple, something of the Father’s gifts and calling of Christ began to reveal themselves. So, why did Jesus ask His parents, “Why do you seek Me?” Did they not yet realize Who He was, and Who was His Father? Did they not believe that beyond all that they could do to find Him, His Father would care for Him and provide for every need? Already, Jesus’ knowledge of the Father dominated His perspective, for He increasingly knew what it was to have communion with His Father in heaven who had brought Him into this world.
As to the second question concerning the business of the Father, Jesus’ knowledge of the Father’s will and purpose was clear as crystal. To a greater extent than Samson’s experience of the Spirit who came upon him when the need presented itself, so Jesus would know the presence and power of the Spirit of God, according to the measure of the Father’s wisdom at that time. Jesus, from the age of twelve understood that His existence was no haphazard thing, and that, not only did the Father bring Him into this world by the Holy Spirit, but that He had an eternal purpose in doing so. Jesus knew that before Him was the blessed obligation to please the Father in all things, and that He must, within the limits of the Father’s will, be about His Father’s business.
If there is one dominant theme in what is called Christ’s High Priestly prayer recorded in the Gospel of John, it is the revealed work of the Father in giving to Christ those who belonged to Him. While the mission of Christ was in part to manifest the Father, His glory, to the disciples, His prayer to the Father was that they should be kept from the evil one, sanctifying them according to His truth. He would pray for the realization of their spiritual oneness with God and also declare: “As you have sent Me into the world, I also have sent them.”
Dear Father, Show us our calling. In Jesus’ name, Amen.