“About the Father’s Business”
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By Rev. Marcus Zill
Have you ever wondered what Jesus would have been like as a college student?
H I G H E R
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Would He have graduated in four years? Was He a bookworm in the classics section of the library? Did He take time out to paint His face and join in with the University of Jerusalem’s version of the Cameron Crazies and root for them to squash the rival Samaritan State Bulldogs? Unfortunately, we don’t hear much about Jesus’ youth and life as a young adult. Perhaps that is as it should be though. After all, the Creed moves us from Christ’s birth straight to His passion. Why? Because Jesus, the Son of God and Son of man, was born in the flesh to die for our sin and raise us with Him to new life. He was on a mission to be about His Father’s business. But we do get one glimpse into the life of the young Christ in the story of His staying behind in the temple (Luke 2:41–42). St. Luke tells us that Jesus was subject to Joseph and His mother, that He lived under their authority and honored them according to the Fourth Commandment. This points us to His true humanity.Yet while sitting in the temple, He amazed the teachers with His understanding and His answers. He had a grasp of the Scriptures unlike any other child His age. In this, we see His true divinity. And so Jesus “increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” When Joseph and Mary finally found Jesus, they questioned Him about what He was doing. So He told them. And in His very first recorded words, our young Lord spoke to them plainly about His divine identity and mission: “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”
Yes, Jesus’ true Father was in heaven. Our Savior was begotten of the Father before all worlds. He is “very God of very God, begotten, not made.” And when Christ became man, it was the Father’s beloved Son whom the Holy Spirit miraculously conceived in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary.That is why it was necessary for Jesus to be in the temple; it was His Father’s house and, therefore, also His. There amongst the most learned, professional, and pedigreed religious scholars of His day, the young Jesus discussed the Word of God. And why wouldn’t He? He Himself was the Word made flesh, sent by the Father to redeem the world. Jesus’ response to Mary and Joseph indicates that they should’ve known all along that He would’ve been in His
Christ Among the Doctors (Opus quinque dierum) Albrecht Dürer. Thyssen-Bornemsiza Collection, Lugano-Castagnola.
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