The sermon by Jason Dohm focuses on the passage from Luke 2:41-52, highlighting the unique waypoint in the Gospels where a 12-year-old Jesus is found in the temple, engaging with religious teachers. This event marks a significant point between Jesus' infancy and his public ministry, showcasing his understanding of his identity as the Son of God and his mission to do his heavenly Father's will. The annual pilgrimage to the Passover by Jesus' family reflects their obedience to the law. The text emphasizes that Jesus, while honoring his earthly parents, prioritized his divine mission and identity. His interaction with the temple teachers is remarkable, showcasing his wisdom and understanding. Despite his divine nature, Jesus' obedience to both his heavenly and earthly fathers is crucial for fulfilling the law, making him a sinless substitute for humanity. The sermon underscores the importance of recognizing Jesus as both fully God and fully human, and encourages believers to measure their lives by their commitment to their heavenly Father's business.

The title of the message this morning is about his father's business. It's picking right up on something that Jesus himself says. The point is that Jesus' father is his heavenly father and not Joseph. And so while he honors his earthly father, he understands exactly who he is. He is the son of God and he understands exactly what he's been sent to do.

He's been sent to do the will of his father. That's not a bad summary of the whole text. So if you go to sleep now, you will have gotten something. Hopefully you won't. Okay, what is this text?

It is a text that takes us from Jesus as a newborn. In last week's text, Jesus was a 40-day-old. And it fast-forwards us 12 years from then. Now Jesus is 12 years old. And we'll get this one account of one thing that happened in Jesus's boyhood and then it will transition us another 18 years to when Jesus was 30 years old when John the Baptist was baptizing and Jesus began his public ministry.

So it is a waypoint, the one waypoint we have in all the gospels between Jesus as an infant and Jesus' public ministry. So it really is a very unique text. None of the other gospels gives us this in between point. Matthew starts with the things that lead up to the birth of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, and then goes immediately to Jesus baptism and his public ministry. Mark doesn't mention anything about the birth at all.

It just begins with Jesus' public ministry. John doesn't begin with anything historical at all. He begins with theology. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and then goes right to his public ministry. So only Luke gives us this in between point and in this in between point that Luke gives us, we learn some very interesting and extremely important things.

So this is what you can hope for. Some very interesting things and some extremely important things. Let's pray. God, we do pray. We do cry out to you that you would enter into the time of the preaching of your word.

Your word is so precious. And I pray that you would give us an eagerness to hear from you today. We pray in Jesus name, amen. Alright, hopefully your Bibles are still open to Luke chapter 2. Follow along as I reread verses 41 and 42.

Luke writes this, his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover and when he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. In these two verses we have the annual pilgrimage to the Passover. If you're taking notes on the handout, Passover fills in the blank. The annual pilgrimage to the Passover. What is happening in this text, going to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover feast, was something that happened every year for this family.

This is an annual event in the life of Joseph and Mary and their family. What was the Passover feast? It was a seven day period where at least every male was expected, required by Old Testament law to go to Jerusalem. So women and girls were welcomed, encouraged to go, but the males in Israel were required to go for this seven-day period and it was a remembrance. Its whole existence was so that the people of Israel would never forget how God brought them out of slavery in Egypt.

They were slaves in Egypt. Pharaoh would not let them go. More requests, more no's. No, I will not let you go. And so God orchestrated this sequence of ten plagues where he's increasing the pressure on Pharaoh in Egypt and increasing the pressure on Pharaoh in Egypt and increasing the pressure on Pharaoh in Egypt and increasing the pressure on Pharaoh in Egypt to comply with what God was commanding that the people would go would be set free and the tenth and final plague was the death of the firstborn in every home, every Egyptian home.

The exception would be Israelite families who heard what God had said and obeyed, God said to his people, if a family would kill a lamb without blemish and take the blood and paint the blood on the door post. Imagine this, the painting of blood on your door post. Then the angel of death who was coming to visit death on every household, the angel would see the blood of the innocent painted on the doorpost and he would skip that house. So if your house didn't have the blood of an innocent on the doorpost the angel of death would visit that house and every home would have a dead firstborn in it. But if you heard what God had said to his people and you obeyed that and you killed the lamb without blemish and you painted the blood on the door post, then the angel of death would see the blood of the innocent and would pass over for the sake of the blood of the innocent.

And so the people were supposed to remember this forever. At the time of Jesus, it had been about 1, 500 years since the Exodus from Egypt. So if you stacked 100 year old people back to back to back to back, you'd have 1, 500 year old people's life, 15 really long lifetimes in a row. And even so, even though it's been 1500 years since the event that is supposed to be remembered, this continues to be arguably the focal point of the national calendar. 1500 years later.

You can find the actual command In Exodus 23 and in Deuteronomy 16 and in several other places too, Exodus 23 and Deuteronomy 16 are the clearest and most comprehensive places where you find the command to never forget this event. I bet there are other places too. So Joseph and Mary every year did this according to the law. The law requires it. This is what you find them doing.

This has been a theme so far. We're only in chapter two. But you continue to see things required by the law are the things that Joseph and Mary do. These are the people that God raised up to be the family for his son. Jesus grew up in a home.

God had raised the earthly parents of his son to be ones who feared God and obeyed the law. Nazareth is something like 70 to 75 miles from Jerusalem, so this is a hike. If you're traveling with a family you can make something like 20 to 25 miles a day that's hard traveling 20 to 25 miles a day so this is a big commitment three days there seven days for the Passover feast three days back So you're committing two weeks every time you do it. As of 52 weeks in the year, two weeks every year is given to this. So this is a big commitment, but the law requires it.

So Joseph and Mary do it. Verse 42 takes us from their general yearly practice and gives us one specific year. So we don't know anything about any other year of them going up to the Passover, though we know they went up every year to the Passover. Verse 42 gives us one specific year when Jesus was 12 years old. This is the Passover feast Luke wants us to know about.

So let's continue. Verses 43 through 45. Follow along as I reread verses 43 through 45. When they had finished the days, as they returned, the boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem, And Joseph and his mother did not know it. But supposing him to have been in the company, they went a day's journey and sought him among their relatives and acquaintances.

So when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem seeking him. In these verses we have a son lost lost fills in the blank a son lost Luke doesn't give us a single detail about the Passover itself. So they go, they observe this seven-day feast. Not one thing said about anything that happened in those. It's not the point of this history.

Luke goes right to the end and Joseph and Mary's departure from the feast. Nothing about the feast, just straight to the departure. The New King James says the boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. I have to say I don't love the translation, lingered behind, because that sounds active on Jesus's part as if Jesus snuck away or something like that. But the Greek word simply means remained.

That's all you can squeeze out of the Greek word. Jesus remained. They left, Jesus remained, and they didn't know that Jesus remained. That's all the text is communicating. So, What exactly did Jesus do?

What exactly did they do? What exactly was Jesus thinking? Why didn't they know? We don't know any of that. The text isn't trying to communicate any of that.

Jesus remained. They left. They didn't know that Jesus remained. That's it. Now Since it was a national command, this is the nation of Israel, it's a national command for at least all the males to go to Jerusalem, there would be significant numbers going from every community.

Going from every community. A big number from every community that had a big number. And families and friends and acquaintances would travel together. Why? Well, for fellowship.

It would be more fun to travel together. You get three long days of travel. You could have lots of conversation with family and friends. For practical considerations, like you help with me and mine, I help with you and yours, and for security, all these things. In fact the Greek word translated company, supposing him to have been in the company, literally means caravan.

So It is the word for a significant number traveling together. It's a traveling group word. Literally means caravan. If you had an oldest child who was low maintenance, probably describes Jesus. Who was the least of your worries probably describes Jesus.

You might not have your eyes on him or her and you might lose track of him or her until you gathered at the end of the day to get settled for the night. You could travel all day. This is you got a low-maintenance oldest child who's the least of your worries. You haven't put eyes on him or her, but at night you gather to eat and to settle in for the night and you count noses and there's a nose missing. This is what happens.

Where's Jesus? I thought he was with you. He's not with us. He's not with us either. I haven't seen them all day.

They make a thorough search. They make, they take an inventory of everyone in their caravan. Jesus is nowhere to be found so Joseph and Mary return to Jerusalem seeking their son. They probably head back in the morning. So that is a son lost.

Let's keep going, verses 46 through 49. Now, so it was that after three days, they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. So when they saw him, they were amazed, and his mother said to him, son why have you done this to us? Look your father and I have sought you anxiously.

And he said to them, Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business? But they did not understand the statement Which he spoke to them These verses we have a son found if the son was lost now the son is found Verse 46 begins Now so it was that after three days most commentators say Joseph and Mary leave Jerusalem they go a day's journey so 20 to 25 miles back towards Nazareth. They discover Jesus isn't with them. That is day one.

Then they go back to Jerusalem. That is day two because it was a day's journey. And they find Jesus in the temple on day three. Linguistically it is also possible that the search itself takes three days but most commentators don't think it's that. I leave it with you to choose.

You can't tell from the actual Greek whether the search took three days or whether it's a day out a day back and they find him on the third day. You choose. Joseph and Mary find Jesus. He's in the temple sitting in the midst of the religious leaders. So religious leaders are in the temple and They're teaching, they're taking and answering questions, and there's Jesus in the midst of them.

He's sitting among the rabbis. He's listening to them as they teach, and he's asking them questions. But it's clear that it isn't the religious leaders who are the focus of what's happening. So you have a twelve-year-old listening to rabbis. Rabbis is just the honored title for the teachers.

He's listening to the honored teachers and he's asking them questions. But it's really clear when Joseph and Mary get there, the teachers aren't the focal point of what's happening here. Our son is. Our son is what's happening here. It's Jesus who is the focus of what's happening.

Why? Because by the questions that 12-year-old Jesus asks, you know, all questions are not created equal. They say there are no dumb questions. That's not true. There are dumb questions.

All questions aren't created equal. Okay, so by the questions that 12 year old Jesus asks, and by the understanding that 12 year old Jesus is displaying and by the answers that 12 year old Jesus is giving when he's asked questions, Jesus is astonishing everyone. Jesus is what's happening here. How can that be? Listen to Psalm 119 verses 99 and 100.

Psalm 119 verses 99 and 100. The psalmist says this, I have more understanding than all my teachers for your testimonies are my meditation I understand more than the ancients I understand more than the ancients because I keep your precepts kids kids you want to get more understanding than all your teachers? Learn the Word of God and obey it. If you learn the Word of God, Genesis to Revelation, just give yourself to studying and meditating and memorizing the Word of God and you obey it. You'll know more than the ancients.

That is true. People who have been alive and around and walking with the Lord for a long time have seen people who know more than their teachers, have seen young people who know more than their teachers because they have studied the word of God, they know the word of God, and they obey it. They know it by experience. They know it by knowledge and they know it by experience and they know more than their teachers and they understand more than the ancients than the graybeards. In the first verse of the Gospel of John, Jesus is identified as the eternal Word.

In the beginning was Jesus. No, in the beginning was the Word. That is Jesus, but he's identified as the eternal Word of God. In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. So even though Jesus is only 12 years old, he has a grasp of the Word of God and a keeping of those precepts, he obeys them, that makes his understanding more than all the religious teachers.

He understands more than all the religious teachers who are in the temple, ground zero, in Jerusalem, ground zero. Okay, so where can we find the best teachers? In the temple, in Jerusalem, on Passover week. Who's astonishing people? The 12 year old.

I should note that people being astonished by the understanding and teaching of Jesus is a hallmark of all four Gospels. So this is the beginning of it. He's 12 years old. But you see it all through Matthew, all through Mark, all through Luke, all through John. People saying, no man speaks like this man speaks, he speaks like one who has authority.

Seeing Jesus in the temple, astonishing the teachers obviously amazes Joseph and Mary but although they're amazed Mary is not yet past the fact that Jesus did not leave when the caravan left. Okay, so something amazing is happening and they're amazed but Mary's not past it. Not past what? We left and you didn't leave. We live in a world of evil.

Don't think Jerusalem was different. And when you don't know where your child is, your imagination runs wild. Would this be any different than any of us? If we were three days separated from a 12 year old, would your imagination run wild or wouldn't it? It would.

Matthew Henry says it this way, a thousand imaginations we may suppose they had concerning him each more frightful than another. Yeah that's exactly what the text is communicating. You've heard people ask, what's the worst that could happen? Well, moms actually always know the answer to that question. What's the worst that could happen?

Ask a mom. She'll Ask a mom. She'll know at all times. Mary says, son, why have you done this to us? In other words, How could you treat us this way?

Your father and I have sought you anxiously. In other words, you scared us half to death. No other mother has said these things. Now the Bible declares Jesus to be without sin from his first breath to his last. So whatever happened when Joseph and Mary left and Jesus remained, it wasn't sinful.

It wasn't disobedience to his parents. It wasn't rebellion against their authority. It wasn't sin. So his mother's rebuke is misplaced. She's wrong to rebuke him.

Jesus answers verse 49, Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business? Okay, let's unpack that. The Greek is a little difficult to translate. It is very translate.

It is very literally, I must be in thee of my father. I must be in thee of my father. That's the Greek. So, the new King James fills in that blank with business I must be about my father's business or to go very literal I must be in the business of my father. Must be in his business.

The NASB and the ESV and the NIV, other good translations, fill in that blank with house. I must be in my father's house. Or to go very literal, I must be in the house of my father. Both of those are fine. First, let's have some compassion on the translators.

They didn't write the Greek. Did you expect the translators to just put I must be in the of my father and leave it at that. They had to add something. So translational decisions are made. Some fill it in with business, some fill it in with house.

I personally believe and I want to urge you to believe that the Greek is left open on purpose. It's left with a blank. It is ambiguous on purpose meaning that Jesus is saying that everything in his life is going to be about the will of his Heavenly Father. Everything. Where his Heavenly Father sends him, he's going.

The words his heavenly father gives him he's speaking. The miracles his heavenly fathers gives him to establish his teaching as being from heaven he's performing. The death that his heavenly father has appointed him to for the saving of sinners, he's dying. I must be in thee of my father. Listen to Luke 443.

But he said to them, I must preach the kingdom of God to the other cities also, because for this purpose, I have been sent. Listen to John 4 34. Jesus said to them, My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. John 5 36. But I have a greater witness than John's for the works which the Father has given me to finish the very works that I do bear witness of me that the Father has sent me.

John 9 verse 4, I must work the works of Him who sent me while it is day. The night is coming when No one can work. Where you send me, I'll go. The words you give me, I'll say. The works you have for me, I'll do.

Every minute of every day, My food is to do your will. I think that's what this is saying Mary says Son why have you done this to your father and I Jesus has to gently say my father is God Mom you know that my father is God. You of all people know that my Father is God. I have to attend to His business. The temple is my Father's house.

J.C. Ryle says this, a mild reproof was evidently implied in that reply, meaning Jesus is giving his mother a mild reproof, a respectful reproof. It was meant to remind his mother that he was no common person and had come into the world to do no common work. It was a hint that she was insensibly forgetting that he had come into the world in no ordinary way and that she could not expect him to be ever dwelling quietly at Nazareth. His mother needs to know that he cannot be ever dwelling quietly at Nazareth.

It was a solemn remembrancer that as God he had a father in heaven and that his heavenly father's work demanded his first attention. I think that nails it. Joseph and Mary didn't really understand verse 50, but they did not understand the statement which he spoke to them. In fairness, it has likely been 12 quieter years, meaning the lead-up to his birth and his birth and the period just after his birth were anything but quiet. An angel visits Mary.

An angel visits Joseph. Her old aunt is pregnant miraculously with a child and there's prophecies around that. The baby is born and there are angels and there are wise men coming from the east. Theologians call these 12 years the silent years. Catholics make up crazy stories about all the things that happened in those twelve years.

Theologians call them the quiet years. So yes, leading up to and including his birth There were angels and shepherds and prophetic utterances and witnesses in the temple, but that was over a decade ago. We have it all. And It's still confusing. God in the flesh is still hard to understand.

So don't be surprised to see Joseph and Mary grappling with this. Mary grappling with this. Know this. At age 12, Jesus understood exactly what he was doing, his father's business. Perfect comprehension that his father is really God in heaven and that he has been sent to do his father's will.

So that is a son found. The last three verses. Last two verses, 52, 51 and 52. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them. But his mother kept all these things in her heart.

And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men. In these two verses we have the transition. We just made a 12-year leap. He's in the temple at 40 days old. Now he's a 12 year old.

He's back at the temple for the Passover feast and we're about to make an 18 year leap. Look ahead to chapter 3 verse 23. Now Jesus himself began his ministry at about 30 years of age. So we're going from 12 years old to 30 years old, another 18 year leap. This is the bridge.

So we're given a couple of verses to transition us from 40 days to 12 years old and then from 12 years old to 30 years old. This is the transition. With what Jesus just said, He was not announcing, you no longer have authority over me. I'm only doing my heavenly Father's will from now on. I'm not going back to Nazareth with you." Jesus is not announcing any of those things by saying that he must be about his father's business.

This doesn't mean that. No, Jesus went home to Nazareth with his earthly parents and submitted himself to the authority of his earthly parents. He was subject to them. The word used is the same word used in Ephesians chapter 5 for husbands and wives, the church, and Christ. In other words, this is amazing.

So tune back in. In other words, just as the church is under the authority of Jesus, is that in dispute? The church is under the authority of Jesus, not in dispute. Jesus placed himself under the authority of his earthly parents, Joseph and Mary. Same word.

Just as the church is under Jesus's authority, no one disputes that. Jesus put himself under the authority of this earthly father and mother. This was brother. This was necessary for Jesus to be the law keeper in our place. Before the service we were praying for the service And Connor prayed something to the effect that if he was dishonoring to these parents just once, disobedience to these parents just once, We're without hope in the world.

The gospel depends on a sinless substitute. If Jesus has a five-year-old, a twelve-year-old, a sixteen-year-old dishonors or disobeys his parents once, we don't have a savior among all men we're the most to be pitied because we're dead in our sins. That's the argument Paul makes in 1st Corinthians 15. This was necessary. Jesus submitting himself, subjecting himself to his parents, was necessary for Jesus to be the law keeper in our place.

The fifth commandment is honor your father and your mother. Jesus kept that commandment. He honored Joseph and Mary, these earthly parents that his actual father, his heavenly father had given to him. I already have my first Christmas present. Do You have your first Christmas present?

I already have mine. Rebecca and Abby gave me a sweater and it has John Calvin with a Santa hat and he's And he's saying, you're all on the naughty list. You're all on the naughty list. So here's my response. Someone on the nice list has said he will trade places with me.

I know it's true. I'm on the naughty list I earned it. But Jesus is without sin and he says I'll trade places with you. The perfect man Jesus honored and obeyed and submitted to imperfect parents. Perfect man, imperfect parents.

He says, I'll submit to you. Kids, if ever there were a case for skipping the whole obedience thing, this is the case. Perfect man comes from heaven. Imperfect parents. He says, I'll honor you.

I'll obey you. If ever we were going to be able to skip the whole obedience saying this was the time. Jesus doesn't think he should skip the whole obedience saying because he's perfect and they're imperfect. Mary kept all these things in her heart. This reads just like verse 19.

If you just go back to verse 19, this is 12 years before. This is right as Jesus has been born, and the shepherds come saying that they've seen angels and telling them, I'm sure they told them what the angels said. This is what we read in chapter two, verse 19, but Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. And at the time I said, she's getting puzzle pieces. She keeps getting puzzle pieces and fitting them together.

And she's getting more and more understanding of who this son of hers really is. And now, at 12 years old, Jesus is in the temple, astonishing the ones who are supposed to be the honored teachers. She's getting another puzzle piece. But now from Jesus himself, not from an angel or shepherds or witnesses in the temple now she's watching this start to play out before her eyes As her son has more understanding than his teachers and knows more than the ancients. Finally verse 52, and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.

This verse reads very much like the closing verse of last week's text. Verse 40 was the very end of last week's text, and the child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. So it's essentially a repetition of that, saying a little differently, but it reads very much the same. Last week it said that as he was growing he was filled with wisdom. Isn't that on display in our text this week as he's astonishing the teachers in the temple?

As difficult as it is to get our heads around, Jesus matured. Explain that fully to me. I can't do that. And you probably couldn't understand it if I could. Jesus matured.

He became more mature. He got bigger. He got stronger He became more mature he increased in favor with God and men I think Matthew Henry says it helpfully. He often does Let me tell you how Matthew Henry says it. Herein Christ accommodated himself to his estate of humiliation.

He's in heaven, a member of the Trinity, he leaves heaven and becomes a baby. Matthew Henry says, that's a state of humiliation. If you were God, to be a human baby would be a state of humiliation. He's saying he's accommodating himself to that state. Herein, Christ accommodated himself to a state of humiliation.

That, as he condescended to be an infant, a child, a youth, so the image of God shone brighter in him when he grew up to be a youth than it did or could while he was an infant and a child. So he's an infant and he has that much ability to shine the image of God. And in childhood he has a greater growing ability to shine the image of God. And now as a youth, 12 years old, he has a greater ability to shine the image of God. And now we're going to fast forward 30 years later, he's going to have come to full maturity with fully the ability to shine the image of God.

I think that's a helpful way to think of it. I think the important thing for us to see is that Jesus was really a human being. This was not a mirage where he was all and only God and looked like a human, but wasn't really a human. That's not actually what scripture teaches. He was really a human.

He really grew physically. He really grew intellectually. He really matured emotionally he really grew in wisdom Jesus was really a human being This makes him acceptable as a substitute for human sinners. A human can be a substitute for a human if one is innocent and the other is guilty. This makes him acceptable as a substitute for human sinners and it makes him a sympathetic high priest for human believers.

So on both fronts that's what we need. We need a human without sin who will take our place on the guilty list. And we need someone who's been through what we've been through to help us as believers. David Garland says this, this is important too, David Garland says this, the danger in church history has been to go to extremes in Christology what is Christology it's the study of who Jesus really is The danger in church history has been to go to extremes in Christology by either elevating the divine dimension of Jesus' nature to the exclusion of his human nature or discounting the divine dimension and to make him only human. No, no, no.

We hold them together. He was very God, a very God, fully God, and he was very man, a very man, fully human, all at the same time. Why don't we do that? Because it's really hard to understand. So we naturally incline to elevate one over the other, but they are not to be elevated one over the other.

They are to be held together. Today's text is a text that helps us understand and affirm that Jesus is the God man. This is essential to the gospel, embracing that Jesus is the God man. Applications, I'll give you three. Number one, Jesus is the Passover.

Luke never mentions this. He doesn't talk at all about the meaning of Passover or that Jesus is the fulfillment of that picture but think about the meaning of that. If you paint the blood of an innocent on the doorpost, the angel of death will pass over and not give you what you deserve because the innocent took your place. Jesus is that. So this is such a moment where Jesus Christ, the fulfillment of these pictures, comes to Jerusalem during the celebration of the Passover and He's the fulfillment of everything that they're doing.

Paul picks up on this in first Corinthians 5 verse 7 for indeed Christ our Passover was sacrificed for us What was all that about in Egypt It was about our need to have the angel of death pass over us and not give us what we deserve because the blood of an innocent is painted over the doorposts of our lives. That's what it's about. Jesus Our Passover was sacrificed for us. By the way, the end of chapter 9, when we come to the end of Luke chapter 9, the whole rest of Luke is going to be Jesus in Jerusalem during Passover week. So Almost all of Luke has Jesus in Jerusalem in Passover week.

When we get to the end of chapter 9, we're going to be done with anything else. The whole rest of the time through chapter 24 will be Jesus in the last week of his life there in Passover week. Number two. Jesus, by his obedience to his heavenly father and his earthly parents, they write he did both, Jesus by his obedience to his heavenly father, I must be about my father's business, and his earthly parents, he went back to Nazareth and was subject to them, kept the law in the place of all who would trust him. Kept the law for you if you if you trust him.

One of the most popular titles in Chapel Libraries offerings, they have 800 titles, one of the most popular ones, is titled, A Bad Record and a Bad Heart. And it goes after you from the first sentence about your record making you own your record. Okay? And making you own that your record just proves what's in your heart. Okay, so you got a bad record and a bad heart and then it says one with a perfect record and a perfect heart offers to trade spots with you.

We're watching Jesus in Luke. We're going to watch him fulfill all righteousness, keep the law perfectly so that he can go stand in the place of people who have a bad record and a bad heart. It's wonderful. Three, finally, believers. This tells us, this text tells us something vital about Christ-likeness, meaning walking in his footsteps, meaning having ourselves be conformed a little more and a little more and a little more to what he's like.

Okay, listen to what J.C. Ryle says. He's picking up on the phrase, he's commenting on the phrase, I must be about my father's business. The expression is one that ought to sink down deeply into the hearts of all Christ's people. It should supply them with a mark at which they should aim in daily life and a test by which they should try their habits and conversation.

Conversation in those days just meant conduct, not talking to people. It's a measuring stick for your habits and your conduct. It should quicken them when they begin to be slothful. It should check them when they feel inclined to go back to the world? Are we about our Father's business?

Are we walking in the steps of Jesus Christ? Such questions will often prove very humbling and make us ashamed of ourselves. But such questions are imminently useful to our souls. Never is such a church in so healthy a condition as when its believing members aim high and strive in all things to be like Christ. J.C.

Ryle, if he were here, he would say, hold this up as a measuring stick to your life and measure your habits and your conduct by this phrase, I must be about my father's business. It is my foods to do the will of the one who sent me. That was Jesus. If you want to become like Jesus you have to become like that. God I thank you for this text and I pray that you would help us.

If that question Humble's us and makes us ashamed of ourselves. So be it God let us look to Jesus follow Jesus make us a people who are more and more about our Father's business, hungering to do our Father's will, needing to do our Father's I pray in Jesus name, amen.