Jesus Reveals His Identity Luke 2:41-52

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Football game you'd say, good morning, Faith Bible Church, right? Can you say, good morning?

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Good, good, good. Well, we're glad to have you each here with us today.

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And we look forward to a blessing from our Lord today.

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Enjoy the Sunday school service. And I just put in a plug if you are not used to coming out for the

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Sunday school, it was really great as we studied the Lord's Word in Psalm 51.

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Wanted to remind you of some of the things coming up.

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We have our annual business meeting coming up next Sunday, the 29th, following the morning service.

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I was just thinking this morning, Psalm 51 had a lot to do in my life.

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And talked about the Holy Spirit leaving in the Old Testament, but staying with you in the New Testament.

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My father and mother were concerned there was a period of time that I was away from the Lord. And so they sent me records.

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Does anybody know what a record is? And I listened to these songs when I was away from the Lord. But one of them was the song,

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Psalm 51. And David when he wrote that had been in sin for over a year.

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And he was broken. And I thank the Lord for Psalm 51.

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Thank the Lord for the Holy Spirit dealing in my life. And as my father said, he tried to keep track of me and straighten me out.

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But he said, I realize the Holy Spirit kept better track of you than I ever could. And thank the

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Lord that the Holy Spirit does that to each one of us. So, let's open in a word of prayers. Thank you

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Heavenly Father for the blessings that you are to us. We thank you for your word that you give to us.

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We thank you Heavenly Father for directing us. And having your loving kindness towards us even when we are ashamed and afraid to come and confess to you.

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We would pray Father if there is any here today that are in a state where they feel far from you, but they might keep short accounts with you

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Lord. And that they might realize that the joy that you have can be returned.

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And we would thank you for that. Pray for each individual that has come in here today. Pray that you might meet the desires of their heart through your word.

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And through the things that the pastor has in message. And through the songs that are sung.

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And we look forward to a blessing from you today. And we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

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>>[music and singing in the background for the rest of the Let all that I am praise the Lord with my whole heart. I praise his holy name.

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May I never forget the good things he has done for me. >>[music and singing in the background for the rest of the day and the rest of the week.]

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>>[music and singing in the background for the rest of the Today's scripture reading is going to be on Hebrews 2 verses 14 through 18.

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Hebrews 2 verses 14 through 18. Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is the devil.

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Fear God for us because we have deceived and deliver all those who, through fear of death, were subject to lifelong slavery.

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For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham.

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Therefore, he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God.

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To make propitiation for the sins of the people, because he himself has suffered.

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When tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted. This is the word of the

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Lord. One of the awesome parts of scripture that I've read is, but everything that hath breath, praise the

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Lord. And let's sing to our Lord. Let's stand. ♪

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There is a

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God so strong ♪ Please turn with me to Luke chapter two, verses 41 through 52.

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Luke chapter two, verses 41 to 52.

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Luke chapter two, verses 41 through 52. His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the

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Passover. And when he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast.

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When they had finished the days as they returned, the boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem.

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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.

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So when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem seeking him. 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.

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And all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. So when they saw him, they were amazed.

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And his mother said to him, son, why have you done this to us? Look, your father and I have sought you anxiously.

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And he said to them, why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business?

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But they did not understand the statement which he spoke to them. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them.

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But his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.

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This is the word of the Lord. Let us pray. Father, we're thankful that we get to know what

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Jesus was like, even as a 12 -year -old boy. We are thankful that he knew what his mission was and for whom he was living, even as a 12 -year -old boy.

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We pray that we would celebrate and worship this Messiah, this

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King, the Son of God, in Jesus' name, amen.

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Now, the first two chapters of the gospel, according to Luke, revealed

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Jesus and his mission before the start of his earthly ministry.

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And today's text is the conclusion of that section, the first two chapters.

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And just as this section of the revelation of Jesus and his mission started in Jerusalem, in the temple with Zachariah in chapter one, it will also end in the temple, but this time with the presence of Jesus himself.

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And we have to remember the temple was the location of God's meeting place for Israel.

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As the New Covenant people, we often don't think about this because we get to encounter

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God through the Holy Spirit who lives in us. But for the ancient

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Israelites, they relied on God and his chosen meeting place, the temple, to experience his presence.

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The temple was where they said sorry to God. The temple was where they thanked

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God. The temple was the location of praise and worship. Now, from chapter one to chapter two,

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God revealed his Son Jesus and his mission through various ways.

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The heavenly angels and the earthly shepherds both celebrated the birth of Christ.

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Songs of praise burst out from the mouths of the elderly priests and the betrothed virgin.

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And last week, the elderly prophet and the prophetess rejoiced and prophesied about the fate of Jesus and his work on earth.

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And today's text reveals that Jesus himself revealed himself about God.

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Jesus himself revealed himself to be the Son of God who is fully committed to his calling from the

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Father. In fact, Jesus' identity as the Son of God was so important in the early church that they made an acronym to proclaim who

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Jesus is. And it is actually the Christian fish that you see on the back of cars.

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We even had the Christian fish in one of the announcement pages that Emma designed.

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There was that Christian fish over the biblical counseling course that's coming up. That has been the main symbol of the process of proclamation of Jesus' identity since the second century.

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Now, oftentimes people misunderstand it and say it's one of the fish of the multiplication of bread and fish, right, in the gospel accounts.

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However, that is not what the fish means. The word for fish in Greek is ekthos.

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Ekthos. And what it is is that each letter is an acronym.

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It stands for something about Jesus. So in that order, without me having to speak

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Greek up here, in that order, it's Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.

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So each letter of the word for fish in Greek, each letter stands for something about Jesus' identity.

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It's Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior. So every time that the word fish was written in the ancient

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Christian manuscripts, or every time you drive by and there's a fish on someone's car, that's what it's proclaiming.

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It's Jesus' identity as the Son of God and Savior. And this morning, what we believe about Jesus' identity is crucial.

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What we believe about Jesus, who he is, determines life or death, heaven or hell.

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Who Jesus is and what you believe about him has your eternity on the line.

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And this morning, the best source that reveals Jesus' identity, of course, is

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Jesus himself. And we will see a 12 -year -old

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Jesus proclaiming who he is and what he was sent for.

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So the main point, the main question this text asks us this morning is how does

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Jesus reveal himself? How does Jesus reveal himself?

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First, when Jesus reveals his complete commitment to his Father as the

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Divine Son, people misunderstand him. When Jesus reveals his complete commitment to his

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Father as the Divine Son, people misunderstand him. In this section, verses 41 through 50, the first two verses shows us the context that leads

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Jesus and his family to Jerusalem. His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the

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Feast of the Passover, and when he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast.

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For many of us who have gone through Exodus together just previously, just even a couple weeks ago, we know that the

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Lord commanded the Jewish men, specifically Jewish males, adults, to gather before the

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Lord's presence for three festivals. And one of them was the

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Feast of Unleavened Bread, which happened in the same week of the Passover. For both the

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Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Passover symbolized and commemorated

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God's deliverance of the Israelites from the enslavement of Egypt.

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It was because of the unleavened bread they were able to rush out of Egypt without having to wait for the bread to rise with the leavening.

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And it was through the Passover lamb that purchased, that redeemed every firstborn of the

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Israelites that the judgment on Egypt, the last judgment, the most crucial judgment, the most excruciating judgment did not fall on God's people.

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So those two happened in the same week and every male of Israelite was commanded to gather before God's presence.

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Now, the fact that Jesus' whole family was there showed that this family really was devoted to God.

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Remember, women did not have to gather before God's presence for the

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Feast of Unleavened Bread, but Mary was there. And Jesus, here is only a 12 year old, it was even before the

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Bar Mitzvah, right? Him becoming an adult, yet he was there.

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It showed that this family was really devout. They were devoted to God.

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Now, verse 42 tells us that, in fact, this was a custom for them every year.

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Jesus, even before the age of responsibility, Bar Mitzvah, was taught to devote himself to God.

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As they raised the Son of God, Joseph and Mary went above and beyond the call of duty to instill, to teach

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Jesus of the importance of worshiping God and obeying his commandments.

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Now, however, verses 43 to 44 introduce a problem to this rosy picture.

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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.

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Now, were Mary and Joseph just neglecting their son? No, verse 44 tells us the reason why

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Mary and Joseph were unaware of Jesus' absence. But supposing him to have been in the company, they went a day's journey and saw him among their relatives and acquaintances.

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Remember, the journey to Jerusalem, to Nazareth, from Nazareth, their hometown, was about 80 miles if you go around the land of Samaria.

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And they would go around Samaria because the devout Jews considered the

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Samaritans as heathens. They were kind of mixed bloods, right?

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They said they worshiped the Lord, but they didn't really care for the temple, right?

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They said they worshiped the Lord, but they had their own Torah, slightly different edition.

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So because of that, to show that they don't even wanna associate with the

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Samaritans, oftentimes, Jews went around, took the longer route, and that would've been 80 miles, and it would've taken multiple days, at least three or four days.

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Now, because it was a dangerous trip to go for 80 miles with just a single family, after all, there were highway robbers and beasts, they traveled in a caravan with other relatives and family members, extended family.

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And verse 44 tells us Mary and Joseph just assumed Jesus was with their relatives, right?

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The Jewish family, especially the ancient Jewish family, they were a very tight -knit group.

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Now, the frantic search begins in verse 45, shows us that they end up in Jerusalem again, right?

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Verse 46 shows us the resolution to the problem as they find the boy

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Jesus in the temple. 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.

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Now, unlike the school system today, where the students just listen, the

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Jewish education system was that the teachers and students would sit around together and dialogue.

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The teachers would post questions, and then the students would answer, and the students even would ask questions to the teachers, and the teachers would answer, or even answer back with more questions.

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It was a very relational type of learning environment.

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And inside God's dwelling place, the temple, Jesus, the son of God, is learning from the

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Jewish teachers. And it shows that even as a 12 -year -old, Jesus was interested in the things of God.

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He was interested in scripture. He was interested in who

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God is and what he has to say. And this will actually be the only time that we see

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Jesus learning from the Jewish teachers. From this point on, it would not be a friendly interaction with the

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Jewish teachers and Jesus. Now, what is the response to Jesus?

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And all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.

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Now, remember, this is not the adult Jesus here. This is a 12 -year -old. It was not just Jesus' interest in the spiritual matter that was shocking, but his insight.

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He had an insight that was astonishing and surprising to even the

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Jewish teachers who heard him. This 12 -year -old's answers are so insightful that even the ancient rabbis are awestruck.

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Now, however, we find out that it's not just the rabbis who are astonished by Jesus. Verse 48, so when they saw him, they were amazed.

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And his mother said to him, son, why have you done this to us?

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Look, your father and I have sought you anxiously. With the overwhelming relief of finding

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Jesus, learning in the temple, Mary and Joseph are astonished, in fact, in a different way than the teachers.

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And to any mother, Mary's immediate complaint is natural and logical.

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Why did you do this to us? Do you not know how much we worried about you?

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Son, you were gone for three days. You didn't tell us.

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However, Jesus' response to this question raises more questions than resolves the problem itself.

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Jesus, in fact, replies with two questions. Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business?

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I actually prefer the NASB's translation of this verse because of the phrase here, my father's business.

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My father's business, the phrase is an idiom. It's a Jewish idiom to mean my father's house.

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So did you not know that I must be in my father's house? I think that translates better, shows why

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Jesus was in the temple and why that was expected, why he was expected to be there.

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Now, because they're in the temple of God, Jesus here is not referring to his stepfather

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Joseph when he says my father's house, but God himself. And when

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Jesus calls God my father, he is proclaiming who he is, who

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Jesus is. First, the phrase my father shows a deep personal relationship that Jesus has with God the father.

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His intimacy with God is revealed through how

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Jesus viewed his father. In fact, in the Old Testament, it is very rare that any person calls

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God my father. It is very rare. In fact, the main character who calls

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God and who starts to call God the father, my father, is

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Jesus himself. And what this means is that even the most devout saints are not capable of even imagining the love of God that Jesus enjoys daily, the satisfaction and delight that he is filled with when he is communing with his father.

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Second, my father signifies Jesus' identity as the son of God. It's a relational term, after all.

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Now, unfortunately, the modern mindset has difficulty understanding what the son of God implies.

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And in fact, I think many Christians, after they admit that yes,

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Jesus is the son of God, they have to add on to this, attach it, stick it on later, oh yeah, and Jesus is also

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God, right? We want to make sure that his divinity is not in question.

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Just because in our modern mindset, when we say the son of God, we don't want, we think we're trying to say as if Jesus is less than God or inferior to God.

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However, that could not be further from the truth. In the ancient world, sonship meant that the son represented the father.

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The son will inherit everything that the father owns. The son would be whatever the father was.

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For example, the son would become a baker if the father was a baker.

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If the father was king, the son would be king. And in a similar sense, here the son of God would signify that he, like his father, is

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God. And this son of God language gets used two other ways in the

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Old Testament. In one sense, Israel's called God's son as well.

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And that's because like God, Israel is holy among all the nations.

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So the son metaphor for Israel signifies Israel's holiness and separateness from other nations.

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And also the Israelite kings are called God's sons. And that's because like God, Israel's human kings would be reigning over God's people.

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And in Job, angels are called God's sons, sons of God gathered around. And this is because like God, angels are heavenly beings.

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Right? So that's the use of the son language, but when it comes to Jesus, the context tell us it can't be nothing but his own divine status.

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When we proclaim Jesus as the son of God, it is equivalent to saying

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Jesus is God. And how would we know this? All throughout

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Luke's gospel account, there is a confirmation and challenge to the divine sonship.

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At Jesus' baptism and the Mount of Transfiguration, God will confirm that Jesus is his beloved son publicly.

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And then in the wilderness, Satan will challenge Jesus' sonship to God.

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Right? The main phrase is if you're the son of God, then do this.

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As if Jesus himself has to prove to Satan his identity which has been secure for all eternity.

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And when we finally get to the Acts of the Apostles, also written by Luke, Jesus the son of God will be seated on the right hand of God with full divine authority.

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And in the ancient context, the right hand of God, anyone on the right hand of the king had the same authority as the king himself.

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So what Luke tells us and unfolds all throughout his writing is Jesus the son of God is none other than God himself.

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So when Jesus questions directly to answer Mary's question, why have you done this to us?

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What Jesus is answering through his question is, if you had known that I am the son of God, then you would have known that I would be with my father in the temple.

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If you had known that I'm the son of God, you would have known that all my allegiance is toward my father.

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If you had known that I am the son of God, you would have known that my complete commitment is to my father's will.

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If you had truly known who I am, mother, you wouldn't have searched for me elsewhere.

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I am always with the father. That is what Jesus' question to Mary is answering.

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However, for Mary and Joseph, Jesus' revelation of himself only leaves them more confused than before.

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But they did not understand the statement which he spoke to them. And this thread of misunderstanding of Jesus' identity will continue on.

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His disciples will not understand him after seeing great miracles. The crowd will not understand him after witnessing great miracles.

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And they will even question Jesus' calling to save the world. And the fact that the world does not understand

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Jesus' revelation of himself and his mission is not new. Over and over again, false teachers and heresies attack

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Jesus' identity. The very identity that Jesus himself reveals in scripture.

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And in fact, that is how we know if someone is a true believer or not.

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What is your view of Jesus? The standard isn't, you know, do you like Jesus?

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The standard is not even, do you love Jesus? The standard is, do you believe

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Jesus to be who he says he was? That's the standard.

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Do you believe Jesus? Do you trust Jesus revealed to us in scripture by Jesus himself?

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And anything less than that is not a sufficient view of Christ. And any doctrine or teaching that is held that's less than that is a false doctrine and that's not the true savior.

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That distinguishes the true church from the false churches and cults.

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And this question of who do you say Jesus is and does your view of Jesus align with the

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Jesus view of himself in scripture? Those are some of the most pressing questions for us this morning.

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In fact, many secular theologians stubbornly argue how Jesus was just a moral human teacher.

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The miracles, the resurrection, his teaching are just myths. Now Jesus, they would say, he never claimed to be divine.

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That's people like Bart Ehrman. However, what

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Jesus reveals to us this morning flat out contradict those statements.

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Jesus is the son of God. Jesus fully represents

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God the father as the son. In authority and in essence, the son of God is

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God. That's the language of the son of God. And to claim that he is the son of God is also to claim that he is

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God. And this is why the Pharisees wanted to crucify him later in the gospel account,

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Luke 22. The last question that the religious leaders asked during this kangaroo court is, are you the son of God?

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Are you the son of God? If Bart Ehrman, all these secular theologians are correct,

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Jesus' affirmative action would not really mean anything. However, immediately after Jesus' affirmative answer, you have said so, they stopped their interrogation because they knew what

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Jesus was claiming. Jesus claimed to be divine. A human being claimed to be

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God. And that was worthy of execution in Israel.

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And for any who are interested in trusting in Christ, one cannot dodge the question, is he the son of God?

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Do you believe what he has revealed about himself to us?

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Any other view of Jesus would be a false God. It's an idol.

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Any picture of Jesus that is less than the son of God is a false

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Jesus. He cannot just be a moral teacher.

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He has to be the son of God, the very essence of God. And this is important to us this morning because if Jesus is not the son of God, if Jesus is not

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God, then we are believing in vain. We're just worshiping another human being who has no power to save.

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He cannot take away our sin if he's just another human being. He cannot rise from the dead if he's just another human being.

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And it's because Jesus is God, in the end, your sins are forgiven.

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It's because Jesus is God, in the end, he wins. And it's because Jesus is the son of God, the resurrection happened.

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And it's because Jesus is the son of God, he intercedes for you even now.

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There is no moment in which Jesus has stopped praying for your soul.

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That's who the son of God is. Second, despite his divinity,

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Jesus is humbly obedient. Despite his divinity, Jesus is humbly obedient.

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Now, after such an astonishing revelation of himself, the son of God, Jesus submissively goes back to Nazareth with his earthly parents.

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Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them. But his mother kept all these things to herself.

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She kept all these things in her heart. After such an amazing announcement, one would expect

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Jesus to guide his parents instead. I'll show you the way. However, that's not what we see here.

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The creator of the world subjected himself to his own creation to follow the will of God.

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After all, Jesus, who is fully God, is also a fully human. In fact,

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Jesus would submit himself to his parents for more than a decade after that until the beginning of his ministry.

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The fact that Jesus is fully human is very important. And I'll uncover that more.

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But primarily, a human being represents other human beings.

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In the sacrificial system, goats and bulls could not fully represent humans.

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Hence, their sins weren't fully forgiven. They were just covered temporarily until the ultimate sacrifice in which a human would represent the humanity.

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Now, after witnessing such a bizarre event, Mary keeps this account securely in her heart.

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She treasures it. Her son, who just proclaimed to be God, yet obediently followed them home.

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It is an astounding thought that Jesus himself obeyed his parents. The judge obeyed those whom he will judge.

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The king obeyed the subjects. God obeyed his creation.

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That's an astonishing thing to even ponder. And verse 52 then fast forwards the life of Jesus to adulthood.

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Unlike the fake writings, fraudulent writings of the Apocrypha, the

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Gospel of Thomas and whatnot, there is no fixation on his childhood stories.

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We don't get all the details of all the first things that Jesus might have done.

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Because the focus, again, for Luke and also Jesus himself is what

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God has sent Jesus to do. Which is to take away our sin in order that we would be forgiven and rise from the dead.

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Verse 52, and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.

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We only get to see a glimpse of Jesus' childhood. And after that, Jesus grows up.

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And this is the second time Luke tells us that Jesus grew both physically and spiritually in wisdom.

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Moreover, his external and internal growth are noticeable by the heaven and earth.

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Both God and humans witnessed Jesus' growth. And the question is, what kind of person is he?

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What kind of being is Jesus? And right after learning about Jesus' divinity, that he is

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God, we see Jesus' humility. And Jesus' humility and his divinity will always be mysterious to us who are so used to the powerful and pride perpetually paired together.

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We expect those in power to abuse it, right? Lord Acton once said, power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

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That's the human nature. That's the sin nature. We witness those in power subjecting others, not subjecting themselves to others.

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Sure, they say they're serving the country, they're civil servants, but in the end, whose bank account's getting bigger?

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At whose expense? Who's serving whom? However, we see a reversal in Jesus.

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Christ, who is God and has full authority as God, refuses to boast and flaunt his power and his identity as the divine son of God.

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Jesus, the second person of the Trinity, chose to become man.

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He entered into the world that he created as a man. This means

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Christ has experienced the harshness of the world as you do today.

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He's experienced hunger and thirst and tiredness.

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He has been betrayed. He has been mocked. He has been gossiped about.

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He has been falsely accused. He has been misrepresented. He has been misunderstood.

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He has been beaten. And lastly, he has faced death.

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He was crucified. And the fact that Jesus' humility and divinity paired together is a great news for us.

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The text that Hezekiah read to us this morning, Hebrews 2 .18, ah, makes it so tender and precious.

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For since he himself was tempted in that which he has suffered, he is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted.

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You would think that Jesus, in all the power and glory, as the son of God, he looks at your frail, fragile heart.

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He looks at you being tempted, that he might just condescend and say, they're there.

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That he might not understand the hardship that you're going through. But that is not what we see here or in Hebrews 2 .18.

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Jesus also was tempted too. He knows the difficulty of your life.

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He's been there with you. He's not some distant deity who shakes his head with disapproval, oh, you sinned again, oh, you little sinner.

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That is not what comes out of his mouth. Jesus is the humble son of God who entered the filth himself to be with his people.

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To suffer alongside his people. Any human suffering that's known to us, he's suffered too.

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If not in a greater intensity, yet he prevailed. And he knows the hardship, the difficulty of suffering that you're going through.

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And he's not watching from above. In one sense he is, but he's not just above.

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He's down below with you. His heart is with you.

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And this is important because he compassionately comes alongside you because he himself has experienced brokenness and suffering himself.

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For those of you who are hesitant to approach Jesus, the divine son of God this morning,

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Jesus reveals to us that he is utterly approachable. And when you draw near to him, he does not reserve any part of himself.

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And he does not have critical remarks to unload at you. He takes you in as his own because he personally died to have you.

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He is there in your suffering and temptation because he himself has suffered and was tempted too.

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That's the type of compassionate God you worship.

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That is his identity as the son of God. He's the humble son of God who does not take his divinity for granted.

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He does not abuse it to enslave you.

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He uses it to save you. Let us pray.

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Father, we are thankful that there is a mysterious tension of his humility and his divinity, his humanity and divinity.

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And because he is both, that we can approach him without fear of rejection.

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We can go to him, cry out to him in the most desperate circumstances and know that he is with us.

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And Father, this morning, if any of us is feeling this desperation,

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Father, we pray that you would show us your son of God.

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The son of scripture, the divine king who is also humble, the glorious king who is always approachable.

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In Jesus' name, amen. The Lord is my salvation. There is no salvation in any other.