Pious Lutheran

The Finding of the Saviour in the Temple,  William Holman Hunt, 1854/1855 Founding the family on faith. The family is under assault. The most important element for a successful family is faith. Parents must raise their children to be faithful Christians. Living faithfully is worth it, even if it’s more difficult. “ His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. ” I suppose that sounds a bit quaint and uninteresting today. The whole story of Jesus getting left behind in Jerusalem seems a little unimportant, given the whole scope of the scriptures and all. Yet, in the decades between Jesus as an infant and Jesus at 30 years old, this is the only story recorded in the Bible. While at first glance this lesson may seem a bit unimportant, it does indeed teach a very important lesson. It teaches us about the significance of founding the family on faith. Afterall, the family has been under assault f...

Today’s Gospel is the singular account of Jesus’ life between His nativity and when He’s 30 years old, beginning His public ministry. Nevertheless, although we may have just one short passage describing these 30 years, it does reveal significant insight into His life and ours. First, it foreshadows Christ’s eventual crucifixion in Jerusalem. Second, it shows us where Christ is found today and where we children of the Heavenly Father also ought to be found. Third, with what we are to fill our lives. Our text says “ His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. ” Every year the Israelites celebrated the feast of the Passover by returning to the temple in Jerusalem. This feast commemorated the event which precipitated their exodus out of Egypt and eventually into the promised land of Israel. A male, first-born, unblemished lamb was sacrificed and eaten. The blood of this lamb covered them in God’s...

Where is your God? Where do you have to go to find and experience Him? Where do you look for Him? Do you search the golf course or the lake, the camp ground or the mountains? Do you find Him under the covers of your bed behind closed eyes or in your place of work where you can make a lot of money? I know many say that they can experience God in these different places, and in fact that’s their prefered location to be with God.  But you don’t need to go out and look for God; He’s not lost. God is right where He should be. Jesus is exactly where He promises to be: in His Father’s house.  The problem is not that God is lost, the problem is that we very quickly forget where He is and promises to be. The problem is not with God, the problem is with us. Joseph and Mary, the parents of Jesus, had this same problem when Jesus was but twelve years of age.  They lost their Kid. Not just any kid, not just any little boy, but they lost the Messiah, the Christ, they lost the Son...