[0:00] Well, please take your Bibles and turn to Luke chapter 2.! Children, if you're turning in your Bibles, it's in the New Testament.
[0:11] ! It's Matthew and Mark and Luke.! Luke chapter 2. And we're going to begin reading at verse 41 and read through verse 52.
[0:22] So Luke chapter 2 and verse 41. Verse 41. Every year his parents, that's Jesus' parents, went to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover.
[0:35] And when he was 12 years old, they went up to the feast according to the custom. After the feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it.
[0:49] Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. And when they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.
[1:02] After three days, they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.
[1:16] 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.
[1:30] Why were you searching for me? He asked. Didn't you know I had to be in my father's house? But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.
[1:46] But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.
[1:57] The Bible does not tell us everything we want to know. But it does tell us everything we need to know.
[2:09] It tells us how to escape hell. And how to arrive in heaven. How to get right with God and how to live a life pleasing to God.
[2:20] What God expects of us and what he's done for us. The purpose of life. Who we are. Where we've come from.
[2:31] Where we're going. What's going to happen in the last day. The day of judgment. Everything we need for life and for godliness. It's all here.
[2:42] And it's all we need to know. Isn't that amazing? God has put all we need to know in one book for us. We have it in our own language. We ought to be very thankful to God for his word.
[2:54] But it's not everything we want to know. Is it? Some of you have questions that are not answered in the Bible. That doesn't mean that there aren't answers.
[3:06] It just means God has not revealed them. And so you're going to have to wait to ask the Lord Jesus yourself. Because the Bible does not claim to be a book to answer all of man's questions.
[3:22] It rather tells us that God has some secrets that he hasn't revealed to men. Deuteronomy 29.29. The secret things belong to the Lord our God.
[3:34] But the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever. That we may follow all the words of this law. So the Bible doesn't tell us everything we want to know.
[3:49] And I suppose that's never more true than when we think about our Lord's early childhood. Think of the scrapbooks and the journals that Mary could have compiled on the boyhood of her son Jesus.
[4:07] The only perfect boy to ever live. And she had him every day of her life. Or at least as he's growing up.
[4:18] There she was. Reams of material. Every day a new chapter in the life of her son. It would have made for interesting reading, wouldn't you say? I dare say we'd all rush out and buy a copy of such a book.
[4:35] I'd like to read what happened when Jesus was playing with his brothers and sisters. And they got in some trouble. And mom asked what's wrong.
[4:46] And they lied and said that Jesus did something wrong. I'd like to see that. I'd like to hear of that, wouldn't you? Or when some neighborhood bully shoved him. What would he do? I'd like to know what did he make as a carpenter?
[5:03] What happened to his father? How did Jesus respond to his loss? How, as a teenager, did he interact with other teenage young ladies?
[5:15] We might have many questions about the Lord Jesus. Do you have anything you'd like to know about his early life? Maybe when he was your age, children?
[5:28] Well, the Bible passes right over all of these interesting years with a strange silence, doesn't it? It gives us a lot of information about his birth and then just how he fled with his family to Egypt and then came back and to Nazareth.
[5:48] But then nothing until we find him as a 30-year-old man showing up in the wilderness to be baptized by John the Baptist.
[5:58] Wow, that's a lot of silence, isn't it? And then we have loads of information from then on about his three years of ministry, his trial, his death, his resurrection, and 40 days later, his ascension.
[6:13] But nearly 30 years of silence on the life of our Lord's earthly life of 33 and a half years.
[6:25] Now, all those critical years of early development and going through all those different stages from a preschool toddler, a little boy of grade school age, a teenager, then a young adult, a young man.
[6:42] Again, there's so much that the Bible does not tell us. Now, not all men are content with that fact, and so they have written apocryphal writings.
[6:53] They've invented fantastical stories about his boyhood miracles and so on. But the fact is, if we were meant to know, God would have told us, and he didn't.
[7:05] And so this 30-year silence is broken only once with the one incident that we have just had read for us in Luke chapter 2, when Jesus was 12 years old.
[7:19] On the eve of puberty, on the eve of his teen years, he visited Jerusalem with his parents, and he was lost to them for three days.
[7:29] And when they found him in the temple, we find that he was aware that God was his father and that he was here on his business. And then we're told what happened next.
[7:39] And it stands as a summary statement of this whole period of Jesus' life. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them, where he grew in wisdom and stature and favor with God and men.
[7:59] So, what do we want to know about these early years of Jesus' life? Well, perhaps many things. What do we need to know about Jesus in these years of his life?
[8:12] Well, that there was developmental growth, just like any other real boy. All of that was true of him mentally, physically, socially, with others, spiritually with his heavenly father.
[8:27] But as for telling us anything specifically of what Jesus did, there's just this one statement. And he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.
[8:39] He was obedient to them. That's all we need to know about these silent years. He was obedient to his father and mother. Why this, of all things?
[8:52] You know, one of the things that's wrong with us is that we ask the wrong questions. We're interested in the wrong things. And we want to know about this or that.
[9:04] But the Bible is God's great corrective to that. It tells us what we really need to know. What we really need to take an interest in. And it speaks to that.
[9:16] How a sinner can be right with a holy God. Well, the Lord Jesus, you know, didn't answer every question that was put to him either. You notice that in the Gospels.
[9:29] Rather, he gave a lot of answers to questions that no one was asking even. And in doing so, he was teaching them what is the most important thing. What ought you to be asking?
[9:40] What should you be concerned about in life? So what is it that we absolutely need to know about these silent years of Jesus' life? Just this.
[9:51] He was obedient to his parents. Now think of all our questions he doesn't answer. Think of all the years of silence that are just passed over without any words of knowledge about Jesus.
[10:07] And then think of this one thing that God does tell us about him. And see if that doesn't say something about the importance of what we're told. Maybe this is far more important than we've ever thought.
[10:21] That out of the 30 years, this is what we would be taught about him. Obedience to his parents. And so on this Mother's Day, let's consider why this information is so important.
[10:36] Well, in short, it points us to Jesus' perfect obedience to God's law. Jesus is God's eternal son. He is God as well as man.
[10:48] And as God, he is the one lawgiver and judge who is able to save and to destroy. James 4.12. Now, you wouldn't know it by looking at him, but this 12-year-old boy is the one who wrote the Ten Commandments.
[11:04] He is the one who gave God's law to man there on Mount Carmel and carved it into those tables of stone.
[11:18] The Ten Commandments, kids, you know them. They are Jesus' commands. He is the lawgiver. And they are the summary of what God expects of man in our relationship with God and in our relationship with one another.
[11:33] This is what we owe God. Now, as God, Jesus is the lawgiver. He's the only one who is above the law.
[11:44] He authored the law. He gave the law. He has authority to give the law to man. So he's above it. No one can say to him, what are you doing?
[11:56] No one can call him to account. He is the lawgiver. But Jesus Christ was more than God. He's also man. And he's on a mission to save men and women, boys and girls.
[12:09] So I want you to turn to Galatians chapter 4 and verse 4. Galatians 4 and verse 4. Jesus is the lawgiver.
[12:21] He is God, the lawgiver. And here we read in Galatians 4, 4. But when the time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law.
[12:37] So this eternal son of God, the lawgiver, was born of a woman, the Virgin Mary. And that means being born of woman, it is saying that he's a real human being, just like us.
[12:52] As well as being God, he is also man. Born of woman. And so being a real man, it also goes on to say he was born under law. Who is this?
[13:04] This is the lawgiver, the eternal son of God. Born of woman, born under the law. After all, who is it that owes obedience to God and his laws?
[13:17] It's man. And Jesus is a man. He's born of woman. And so he's born under law. It's man's duty, man's responsibility to obey this law and he will be judged one day by it.
[13:30] So that's you and me down here, isn't it? We're under law. By the way, how are you getting on with it? How have you done with all of God's commands? Well, we all have sinned, haven't we?
[13:42] We've all come short. We've all broken God's laws. Did you know that's God's definition of sin? It's to break his laws.
[13:55] And God says, don't do this. And we do it. And God says, do this. And we don't do it. We break God's law. That's sin.
[14:05] And we all have sinned, haven't we? We all have come short. How many laws do you need to break in order to become a lawbreaker? James says, whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.
[14:26] So if you just break one commandment of God, you become a lawbreaker. It shows you are a lawbreaker. James chapter 2. So when you sin, it shows you're a lawbreaker.
[14:40] And cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law. So we haven't obeyed. We are under God's curse and condemnation because we're lawbreakers.
[14:55] So we have the lawgiver and judge, Jesus, who is God, over the law. And we have us lawbreakers under law.
[15:06] We've broken the law. But notice what Galatians 4 says. What God did. He sent his son. He sent his son. Born of a woman, born under law.
[15:18] So Jesus, as a man, was under the law, owing obedience to it. And God placed him under law for a very special purpose.
[15:28] Do you notice it there? To redeem those who were under law. Us lawbreakers down here. Under law. Who had broken it. God sent his son to be born under law as a man to save us lawbreakers.
[15:48] That's the very heart of the gospel, isn't it? That's the very center of why Jesus came. He came. That he might obey God's law.
[16:00] And save those who haven't. And how does Jesus save lawbreakers? Well, he died in the place of lawbreakers. He suffered the punishment our lawbreaking deserved.
[16:11] But he also obeyed God's law in their place. He died in their place and he obeyed in their place. All God's laws. All the time. And therefore, Jesus has a perfect record of perfect obedience to give to any sinner who repents and trusts in him.
[16:31] For just as through the disobedience of the one man, Adam, the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man, Jesus, the many will be made righteous.
[16:42] It's by his obedience to God's law. And for Jesus, you remember, one of those laws was to go to Calvary and die. And he was obedient even to the death of the cross.
[16:53] And because he, the lawgiver, became the lawkeeper, he's able to save us lawbreakers. Well, Jesus' death then gets me out of hell.
[17:06] But Jesus' perfect obedience gets me into heaven. He gives me a righteousness that gains my entrance into heaven. I could never get it myself.
[17:16] I'm a lawbreaker. But he gives it to anyone who trusts in him alone to save them. His death removes my punishment of hell. He suffers it for me.
[17:26] And his obedience wins my reward of heaven. He qualifies me for eternal life. That's what Galatians 4.4 says. The lawgiver born under law to become the lawkeeper to save us lawbreakers.
[17:42] Now, what does all this have to do with Mother's Day? I'm glad you asked because we're going to shift into that direction.
[17:55] He went down to Nazareth and was obedient to his parents. That means that Jesus obeyed the fifth commandment. Remember, he became a man under the law and he gave obedience to it.
[18:08] And now we're being told about his obedience to the fifth commandment. Children, you know this commandment. Honor your father and your mother. Well, that's the thing we need to know about these silent years of Jesus.
[18:22] He honored his father and his mother. So what does it mean to honor your mother? Well, it means to respect her. It means that you esteem her. You hold her up high.
[18:33] She's someone important to you and you treat her as such. And you do that because of who she is. She's the mother that God has handpicked and assigned to be your mother and to bring you up.
[18:50] And since God gave you your mother, he gave her authority to teach you and to command you. And so you are to respect her because of who she is.
[19:02] She is the mother that God gave to you to bring you up. But you not only respect her for who she is, your mother, God-given mother, but you respect her for what she does and what she's done for you.
[19:19] For nine months, she carried you around with her wherever she went. You were always with her. And then she went through that great ordeal of giving birth to you and bringing you into this world.
[19:31] And then she cared for you when you were helpless and you couldn't do a thing to save your life. She fed you. She bathed you.
[19:43] She protected you. She changed your diapers. And then as you grew, from beginning, she cleaned your clothes. She cooked your meals. She wore out tires driving you to all those places that you go.
[19:58] And all along the way, she taught you. She taught you. Don't do this, Johnny. Do this. Perhaps she even taught you about God.
[20:13] But she taught you. And you learned from her life and from her lips. And she's done all this at great cost for herself. Pastor Jason asked, how many of you remember being up all night with your children?
[20:26] Yes, mothers have given up sleep and rest and money and personal time and ambitions. And the burdens that she carries, your burdens that she carries herself.
[20:39] In many ways, she's put you above herself and sacrificed her own life for you. And she does it because she loves you.
[20:50] And loves you like only a mother could. I recently heard a new mother say of her month-old baby, I never knew that I could love someone that much.
[21:07] It's a mother's love. It's a strange thing. It's something God puts into mothers for their child. No wonder God says, honor your mother.
[21:17] She's put out for you. She's done all this for you. Honor her. You owe her honor for who she is. Your mother, handpicked by God and put there for your good.
[21:28] And because of what she's done in all her labors on your behalf. Well, you are to respect her then. That's what it means to honor her, to respect her.
[21:40] And that respect will be shown in how you speak about her to others. When you talk to your friends, how do you refer to your mother? You don't dare cut her down and trash talk her to your friends.
[21:55] No, no. That's not treating her with respect. You speak of her in a way that shows that she's important to you. You respect her in the way you talk about her.
[22:05] But also you respect her in the way you talk to her. Because you do talk to your mothers, don't you, children? So you must speak to her with respect as befitting of your mother.
[22:19] You don't call her by her first name. No, that's what other people call her. But you call her by a term of affection and honor. Maybe mom or mother. There used to be that when mothers told their children to do something that they responded to her, Yes, ma'am.
[22:38] You still do that in the South. I wonder if any of you grew up saying, Yes, ma'am, to mother. Anybody? Yeah, a few of you. That practice made its way up to 523 West South Street somehow.
[22:52] But it's just another way of recognizing that I'm not an equal with this woman. She's above me. God's made her my mother.
[23:03] And I speak to her with respect. With respect. Kids, if you've not been used to saying, Yes, ma'am, don't start doing that today.
[23:15] We don't want any mothers passing out of shock on Mother's Day. But you will speak to her with respect. That means no sassy backtalk.
[23:26] No lipping off. No disrespectful tones and words. She is over you. And you are to show that. You recognize that in the way you speak to her.
[23:40] With respect. What you say. And how you say it. Here's a good test. If you wouldn't talk that way to Dad, don't talk that way to Mother.
[23:52] Because it's honor your father and your mother. The same honor is due to each. Respect. Respect. And Dad's just a word to you.
[24:02] It's your job. To see to it that your children do respect their mother. She shouldn't have to defend her authority and place over them.
[24:13] That's your job as the head of the home. To demand that the children respect their mother. I told you this story before. But when I was a wee boy. And we were driving in the station wagon going home.
[24:26] And Dad's in the front seat driving. And Mom's beside her. And I'm in the back. And Mom said something. And I was feeling too big for my britches that day. And answered back with some sassy talk.
[24:39] Dad looked in the rear view mirror. And just said, John, you'll meet me in the bathroom when we get home. And that was never good news. It usually meant the paddle.
[24:51] But this day it meant something worse than the paddle. I had a filthy mouth. That needed to be washed out with soap.
[25:02] And he took that bar of ivory soap. And he filled every cavity in my teeth with it. And I was blowing bubbles the rest of the day. And whatever Mom had for supper, it tasted a whole lot like soap.
[25:17] Not thanks to her labor of love over us. But I learned that I owe my mother respect. And Dad will not allow me to treat her any other way.
[25:29] Dads, you need to make sure your kids have got that message about respecting their mother. That's the fifth commandment. Children, you are to honor, respect your mother.
[25:45] What else does it mean to honor her? Not only respect her, but it means to obey her. Ephesians 6, 1. Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
[25:59] And then Paul, writing, quotes one of the commandments to prove that it's right. How do you know this is right? Honor your father and your mother.
[26:11] That's what God's law says. He says, honor your father and mother. That means obey them. Obey them. You see, children, honoring your mother means you obey your mother.
[26:23] And that means when she tells you something to do, you do it right away, without delay, and with, excuse me, you do it right away, not delaying, not putting it off till later.
[26:41] That's the first thing that obedience means, doing it right away. Then doing it all. You don't do a half-baked job. You don't leave it half undone. She didn't say, clean up your room halfway.
[26:52] She said, clean up your room. So you clean it all up. And then you do it with a right heart attitude. Thirdly, that means without sulking, without complaining, without grumbling, whining under your voice, even while you go about doing it.
[27:10] Remember the little boy that was told to go stand and stick his nose in the corner. And he went over the corner, and he defiantly said to his mother, I may be standing on the outside, but I'm sitting on the inside.
[27:25] You see, was he obeying her? Well, in one sense, outwardly, but not from his heart. No, true obedience to your mother is obeying right away, doing it all, and doing it with a right heart attitude.
[27:39] Kids, have you ever been mad? Even while you're doing what your mom or dad told you to do? I have. That's a rebellious heart on the inside, and that's where God looks.
[27:52] That's what God is interested in. Remember, he wasn't pleased with his own children, the Israelites. He said, these people come near to me with their mouths, and they honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
[28:05] God had some children who on the outside were doing some things right, but inside their hearts were far. He didn't count that as God glorifying obedience.
[28:16] So children, it's God who commands you to obey your mom. So to honor her means that you obey her. And when you disobey mom, you disobey God.
[28:27] You see? He's got her back. She's there, and his authority is behind her. And so when you disobey her, you disobey God. And when you disobey your mother, you break the fifth commandment.
[28:41] And by breaking the fifth commandment, you show yourself to be a lawbreaker. You see? The fifth commandment. It's one of our earliest sins by which we prove that we're all lawbreakers in heart.
[28:57] Think of the Ten Commandments. Think how that fifth commandment shows such early on. Mom shakes her head and says, don't touch. And two-year-old Johnny looks her right in the eye and slowly reaches out and does what she said not to do.
[29:15] He knows what she said, but he did it anyway. And he proves he's a lawbreaker. He's got a lawbreaking heart. It's one of the earliest ways we show that.
[29:27] Susie's told to go clean up her room, and she just keeps on playing as if mom never spoke at all. It's by the fifth commandment that we show ourselves early to be lawbreakers.
[29:39] And so this commandment catches us all, doesn't it? We've all had mothers. We've all dishonored and disobeyed our mothers, and so we're all lawbreakers in God's eyes and in need of a Savior.
[29:52] Oh, but to be our Savior, he must have obeyed his mother without fault. Do you know if Jesus just once disobeyed and dishonored his mother, he could not be our Savior?
[30:12] Because if he disobeyed, then he would be another lawbreaker needing another Savior. He'd be with us. He can't be our Savior.
[30:22] It's only a perfect life that can be laid down for lawbreakers. Lawbreakers. It's only the perfect lawkeeper who can lay down his life for us lawbreakers.
[30:35] So can you see the importance of Luke 2, 51? Why it is that out of 30 years, the Holy Spirit reaches in and says, this is what you need to know about the secret years of Christ.
[30:47] You need to know that he obeyed his mother. He went down to Jerusalem and was obedient to them. And that word for obedience is in the imperfect tense, which means it was continuous.
[31:03] It's not just stating of something that happened once. That that evening, mother called him in and he came when she called him. No, it's a continuous sense. It's saying this is the pattern of his life.
[31:15] Continuous obedience to all that his mother told him to do. And all that his father said. That means he never once lipped off to his mother like I did.
[31:28] He always spoke to her with respect. He never once ignored her command. He always responded with prompt obedience. He never once was mad at her on the inside while being obedient on the outside.
[31:42] He always gave her willing obedience from the heart. So yes, there's a lot that we might like to know about Jesus' early years. But here's what we lawbreakers need to know.
[31:56] That we have in this Jesus one who is qualified to be our savior. For unlike us, he was obedient to his mother all the time in all that she said.
[32:10] He succeeded precisely at the point where we show that we have failed in the fifth commandment. Not honoring our fathers and our mothers.
[32:23] And so he was tempted in every way like we are yet without sin. Tempted to disobey his mother. But he never gave in to that temptation.
[32:34] Maybe the brothers were all doing something bad and said, Come on, Jesus. Tempted. But he wouldn't disobey. He obeyed her. He honored her.
[32:47] And you remember that he knew more than his mother being God. Knew more than the rabbis in the temple being God as to his divine nature. As to his human nature.
[32:58] He grew in wisdom. He grew in knowledge. But even as a 12-year-old, he had this awareness that God was his father and he's here on his business. And that becomes more and more clear to his human nature as he lived and read the scriptures.
[33:13] And the father was pouring in truth into his heart. Jesus didn't have a perfect mom. Mary was a godly young woman.
[33:24] But godly young women sometimes are wrong, aren't they? Godly women sometimes lose their tempers. and sometimes misjudge and sometimes blame the wrong child.
[33:36] Say the wrong thing. Set the wrong example. But even then, Jesus perfectly obeyed. He was not deterred. that he might have a perfect record to give to any lawbreaker who would take refuge in him.
[33:54] That he might save even his mother by a perfect righteousness that she needed in order to be right with God. This is our Jesus.
[34:05] He's here to redeem. This 12-year-old boy was about his father's business. Whether he's visiting the temple in Jerusalem or whether he's at that home in Nazareth obeying his mother.
[34:18] Fulfilling all righteousness. Working out a perfect righteousness to give to his trusting people. So children, here's the bad news. We've disobeyed and dishonored our mother.
[34:31] We've become lawbreakers. We are lawbreakers. And we show it by our not obeying and honoring mother. But here's the good news. God, the eternal son, the lawgiver became a man, was born under law, and gave perfect obedience to the law so that he might save us lawbreakers and give us a righteousness, a perfect report card in heaven with straight A's that will set us in good standing with God so that we might be redeemed, bought, and made the people of God.
[35:10] So what do you need to do? You need to own that you're a lawbreaker, that you sin. And what do you do with your sin? You bring it to Jesus, the only lawgiver who's kept the law.
[35:21] And you trust in him. You confess your sins to him. You trust in him to save you. And the promise is, he never will turn away any who come to him.
[35:33] Whoever believes on him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Jesus not only forgives sins, he puts a new heart into all that he saves.
[35:46] A heart that wants to obey mom and dad. A heart that wants to honor our parents. This he gives to each of his children. Do you know, sometimes I think kids might think they've got the short end of the stick on Mother's Day.
[36:02] You know, honoring your mother is not just for young children, is it? If you have a mother or have ever had one, this commandment is for you regardless of your age.
[36:18] You must honor your father and your mother. In fact, Jesus accuses grown Pharisees, doesn't he, of breaking the fifth commandment. They ask Jesus, why do your disciples break the traditions of the elders by not washing their hands before they eat?
[36:33] And Jesus says, and why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, honor your father and mother. But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, the situation is they need help, they need financial help, and you say to your father or mother, whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God.
[36:55] He's not to honor his father or mother with it. Thus, you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You see, God, Jesus was condemning grown-ups for not honoring their elderly fathers and mothers who were in need.
[37:13] The fifth commandment requires us to take care of the fathers and mothers that we've been given when they get old. And when old age reduces them to the place of dependency, we are to care for them, not shun them, but care for them and do what they did for us.
[37:30] when we couldn't do it for ourselves. And that at even financial cost, honoring our father and our mothers.
[37:42] So Proverbs 23, 22 says, Do not despise your mother when she is old. That's not just for young children. That's for grown-ups who need to honor their mothers when they're old.
[37:57] In fact, 1 Timothy 5 says, Caring for your elderly mother is putting your religion into practice. What good is a religion that's not put into practice? Well, that's right.
[38:08] It's not worth anything. And if anyone does not provide for his father or mother, he's worse than an unbeliever. He's denied the faith. Isn't it interesting that we see Jesus keeping the fifth commandment at both ends of his life?
[38:24] The one statement of him here as a summary statement at 12 years of age. What's that summary statement? He went down with his parents to Galilee and was obedient to them.
[38:37] Fast forward, 33 years, and he's hanging on a cross, and there's his mother standing beside John looking up with a sword going through her heart out of sympathy with her son.
[38:51] And Jesus says, Dear woman, behold your son. And to John, behold your mother. And she went home with him that day and he took care of her.
[39:05] Jesus, dying to redeem lawbreakers. And to the very end, he's obeying that law. Because if just one commandment is broken, all that he did would have been in vain.
[39:22] Let's look at the one thing we're told of those early years as something important to us. It holds the gospel in a nutshell. That we're lawbreakers.
[39:33] We've all disobeyed and dishonored mother. Jesus did not disobey, dishonor mother, but kept the law perfectly to redeem us lawbreakers.
[39:44] He kept it right to the very end. Here's a Savior who perfectly meets our needs. Perfectly meets our needs for a righteousness that will make us right with God.
[40:00] A death to pay the punishment for our lawbreaking. He paid it in full. And the Holy Spirit to come into our hearts and to make us want to keep his commands.
[40:13] Even the fifth commandment to our dying day to honor our fathers and our mothers. And even after they're gone, to honor the memory of our mothers.
[40:26] to live in such a way that honors mother. It shows that we took the biblical principles that she taught us. And we didn't despise them and trash them, but we took them on board and we lived according to them.
[40:42] And a wise son brings great joy to his mother. But a foolish son brings great grief.
[40:56] How are you living your life? Is it in a way that pleases the Lord and therefore pleases your mother? Bring her joy, not grief, all the days of her life.
[41:10] Well, whatever our age, let's honor our mothers today and every day as wise children rather than foolish.
[41:24] Live in a way to make mother glad that we are living wisely that she who gave you birth may rejoice. Let's pray together.
[41:39] Lord, we could wish for more information about our Lord Jesus' early life, but you have shown us this morning that you gave us exactly what we needed to know about him.
[41:52] what more can you say than to us you have said in the scriptures. And from what you said to us it shows us that this Jesus was obedient to his mother and father and therefore was obedient to all the commands of God and was not a lawbreaker at heart.
[42:15] He's unique, he's different from us and therefore he's able to save us. thank you for showing us our saviors. Thank you for showing us his honoring of his father and mother.
[42:30] And we thank you that he became a man in order to save us lawbreakers. We thank you that he is present in the preaching of the gospel saying to any lawbreaker, come to me, trust in me and I will give you rest.
[42:47] Bring one and all this day to rest in Jesus Christ, to rejoice together as families in your saving grace brought to us in Jesus Christ.
[42:59] We pray in his name. Amen.