Treasure All These Things
Luke 2:41-52
Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover.42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. 43 After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 44 Thinking he was in their company, they travelled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”
49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
Yesterday we looked at the first part of this story of Jesus going to the temple for Passover and saw the difference between Mary’s and Jesus’ understanding of God’s plan. I love these last two verses as they seem to show us the character of Jesus and Mary following on from a situation that would have been full of anxiety for Mary. The stand out for me in this passage is Mary’s response. This is the second time in this chapter that talks about Mary treasuring all these things up in her heart. Back in Luke 2:19 following Jesus’ birth and the visit from the shepherds Luke says: “…Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart.” What a beautiful attitude that Mary has – even when she does not fully understand what is happening she treasures them all up in her heart. Mary knows Jesus is special and that he is the Son of the Most High (Luke 1:32) and so she treasures up all the things that are happening in Jesus’ life. It reminds me to treasure up in my heart the words of God we see in the Bible.
The other part I love is that even after Jesus tells his parents that he needed to be in his Father’s house (the temple at that time) he was still obedient to his parents because he knew it was not yet the time for it to be revealed that he is the Messiah the world had been waiting for. It is a beautiful picture of him taking the time to be obedient, and grow in wisdom. I see it as a real display of patience, waiting for the right time for God’s plan to be revealed. As a kid sometimes it is hard to be obedient, but Jesus has displayed for us that even when his parents didn’t understand the plan he was still obedient to them. I think this was a display of being obedient to his heavenly Father.
Head: What do you think it meant for Mary to treasure all these things in her heart?
Heart: Are you treasuring the words and life of Jesus in your heart? Are you being obedient to your heavenly Father’s words?
Hands: Try to treasure a verse or passage in your heart today, remember and dwell on it throughout the day. Treasure it above all the other voices you hear today.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you that we have your word in our own language so that we can treasure it up in our hearts and share it with others. Thank you that we have a record of Jesus’ life and death so that we can see his obedience and patience on display. Please help us to daily dwell on and remember your words. In Jesus’ name, amen.
A song to listen to: Your Words
Emily Andrews
For these holidays, we are revisiting our Grow Dailys from the beginning of Luke.
