Lost, but Found

“Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple… “ Luke 2:46.

Jesus was twelve years old and had gone to Jerusalem with His parents to celebrate the Feast of the Passover, as it was the custom of every Jewish family. There they had the opportunity of remembering the powerful and miraculous flight of God’s people from Egypt as a symbol of deliverance from sin, and to center their attention and their hope on the Lamb of God who would die on their stead to purge them from their sins. It was a solemn moment, mostly for Jesus, since He was well aware of His mission, and treasured it in His heart.

The multitude was big and noisy. There were people who met one another every year on that special occasion and experienced big joy during this meeting. But sometimes the excitement of the event which had lost its solemnity since the courtyard of the temple had become a real market place, made people get involved in idle talk, and lose sight of the purpose of their journey. On this occasion, after the celebration was over, all who had walked together for many days, started their way back and were busily commenting on all they had seen and done. Thus, chatting and exchanging opinions, ideas, and impressions, the trip did not seem so long.

Although Jesus was only a child, not yet an adolescent, he could not delete those images from his eyes. His mind was eagerly going through all the Scriptures where His mission was described in detail: Psalm 22, Isaiah 53, Psalm 69:20,21,

Psalm 50:6. He kept away from the crowd, and even from His parents who were mixed with the other believers who were involved in cheerful conversation instead of meditating upon the time in which the type would meet the antitype and Mary’s heart would be pierced like by a sword, as old Simon had prophesized. When the parents remembered their son they saw, to their amazement, that he was not there. Great was their despair to see that the precious child who had been specially entrusted to them by God, was not among them. They retraced their steps looking for Him among relatives and acquaintances, but could not find Him. It took them three days to see His lovely and gentle presence, as long as it would take His mother to met Him again after His death.

Have we maybe also lost Jesus? We have certainly many times been asked this question from the pulpit. We have also been told that we have to retrace our steps and go to the place where we last saw Him, and that this trip may take longer than we expect. But have we been told where He is to be found? “Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple :”There is where we may find Him today, in the presence of God’s Father, making intercession for everyone who comes to Him just as he is acknowledging his sinfulness. Is that where we last saw Him? Or maybe we haven’t yet had the experience of seeing Him as our Advocate, as our High Priest, as our personal Saviour? Are we maybe still sleeping next to the ark where the law is, like Samuel, who did not recognize the voice of the Lord calling Him because he “did not yet know the Lord? “ (1 Samuel 3:7)

Do we belong to those who did see Him in the temple, to those to whom the wounds in his hands and feet were revealed, the ones who have seen their names printed in the palms of his hands but because of vain talks, daily worries, too much socializing and exchanging points of view, too much planning, have lost sight of Him? If this is our case let us get on our knees and close our eyes and undo our way. Let’s mentally go through all the experiences we have had with Him, let’s confess our negligence, and ask for true repentance so that we may be forgiven once and for all and our sin may be blotted out of our heart. Let us come to Him as to the High Priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses. “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. “ Hebrews. 4:15,16. Yes, that is where we can still find Christ, and He wants to be found by us so that he may intercede for us. He considers it an honour and He tells us what Moses said to the Pharaoh: “Accept the honour of saying when I shall intercede for you. “ (Ex. 9:9) It is our choice, we set the time, and He patiently waits for us and keeps on pouring blessings upon us that we cannot enjoy because away from Him, we are spiritually dead.

“Now, so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple… “ Mary and Joseph did not know where He was, but they wanted to find Him and went ail the way back to where they had been before. We know where to find Him, in the heavenly temple, and we know that by faith we can enter the Most Holy Place and see him officiating for us, since at His death the veil that separated the two compartments was torn. He won’t be there forever, He won’t be there for iong. We know that very soon, sooner than we expect, He will put on His royal garments, leave the temple and come for His bride.
So if we have lost Jesus, let’s not waste our time, let’s ascend to the temple in heaven by faith, and fall at His feet and ask Him to give us a contrite heart if we do not have it, and let us take heed to the warning in Hebrews 3:7,8 “Today, if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts”
Amen.

Theresa Corti