1 00:00:06,510 --> 00:00:12,280 Lord, thank you that you are a holy God and that you sent your 2 00:00:12,290 --> 00:00:14,940 only son to die for us. That you like we saw you 3 00:00:14,950 --> 00:00:16,190 earlier. You're beautiful beyond 4 00:00:16,200 --> 00:00:20,040 description and yet it sing of Jesus. 5 00:00:20,350 --> 00:00:24,860 God crushed you for my sin. Lord, we thank you that when we 6 00:00:24,910 --> 00:00:28,800 couldn't get the message, you came as the message in person 7 00:00:29,110 --> 00:00:35,060 and we thank you for that. We thank you for what it took to 8 00:00:35,130 --> 00:00:37,660 pay for our sense and we don't take that lightly. 9 00:00:37,670 --> 00:00:41,140 Lord, we thank you for the chance to worship you for that 10 00:00:41,150 --> 00:00:42,960 this morning. We thank you for being able to 11 00:00:42,970 --> 00:00:45,170 sing a little. We just pray for Mark as he 12 00:00:45,180 --> 00:00:47,430 brings your word to us. We pray for our Sunday school is 13 00:00:47,440 --> 00:00:50,660 the kids go out or just just pray that they'll be able to 14 00:00:50,730 --> 00:00:53,900 connect with with you and with your word in in a way that's 15 00:00:53,910 --> 00:00:55,820 relevant and understandable to them. 16 00:00:56,130 --> 00:00:59,380 Lord, we thank you for also as part of our worship, this this 17 00:00:59,390 --> 00:01:02,800 chance to present our offering to you, knowing it all comes 18 00:01:02,810 --> 00:01:06,180 from you in the 1st place. But we thank you for blessing us 19 00:01:06,190 --> 00:01:08,240 far beyond what we deserve. All. 20 00:01:08,250 --> 00:01:10,940 We just pray as we hear your word that it would change us 21 00:01:11,030 --> 00:01:12,450 this morning. We just pray these things in 22 00:01:12,460 --> 00:01:17,700 Jesus name, Amen. Have any of you ever met a 23 00:01:17,710 --> 00:01:22,930 perfect child? No one. 24 00:01:26,270 --> 00:01:28,360 Have any of you ever been a perfect child? 25 00:01:30,530 --> 00:01:33,050 What would a perfect child be like? 26 00:01:33,810 --> 00:01:38,370 Would a perfect child be academic? 27 00:01:39,890 --> 00:01:42,750 Sporty. Photogenic. 28 00:01:44,300 --> 00:01:49,860 Musical. Would a perfect child always be 29 00:01:50,940 --> 00:01:55,660 pleasing to their parents? What kind of metrics, what kind 30 00:01:55,670 --> 00:01:59,220 of measurements should we put on childhood perfection? 31 00:01:59,990 --> 00:02:04,380 And if you were to meet a perfect child, what might you 32 00:02:04,390 --> 00:02:09,710 think and how would you respond? Let's meet 1 today, shall we? 33 00:02:09,780 --> 00:02:13,110 Let's meet a perfect child. Would you turn with me to Luke 34 00:02:13,260 --> 00:02:18,150 chapter 2? And our passage this morning is 35 00:02:18,160 --> 00:02:23,090 from verse 41 onwards, but we'll take up the reading from verse 36 00:02:23,100 --> 00:02:29,010 40, Luke chapter 2, and verse 40. 37 00:02:29,080 --> 00:02:32,400 This is the word of the Lord, and this is a perfect child. 38 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:38,060 And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and 39 00:02:38,070 --> 00:02:43,170 the favour of God was upon him. Now his parents went to 40 00:02:43,180 --> 00:02:47,280 Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover, and when 41 00:02:47,290 --> 00:02:50,340 he was 12 years old they went up according to custom. 42 00:02:50,610 --> 00:02:54,040 And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy 43 00:02:54,050 --> 00:02:57,060 Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. 44 00:02:57,290 --> 00:03:01,210 His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the 45 00:03:01,220 --> 00:03:02,690 group, they went a day's journey. 46 00:03:03,440 --> 00:03:06,190 But then they began to search for him among their relatives 47 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:09,550 and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned 48 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:14,440 to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days, they found him 49 00:03:14,450 --> 00:03:18,280 in the Temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and 50 00:03:18,290 --> 00:03:22,480 asking them questions. And all who heard him were 51 00:03:22,490 --> 00:03:24,910 amazed at his understanding and his answers. 52 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:28,540 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. 53 00:03:28,750 --> 00:03:31,720 And his mother said to him, Son, why have you treated us so? 54 00:03:32,070 --> 00:03:34,990 Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great 55 00:03:35,000 --> 00:03:39,080 distress. And he said to them, Why were 56 00:03:39,090 --> 00:03:41,800 you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be 57 00:03:41,850 --> 00:03:45,550 in my father's house? And they did not understand the 58 00:03:45,560 --> 00:03:49,410 saying that he spoke to them, and he went down with them and 59 00:03:49,420 --> 00:03:52,590 came to Nazareth, and was submissive to them. 60 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:58,180 And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart, and 61 00:03:58,190 --> 00:04:03,180 Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature, and in favour with God 62 00:04:03,410 --> 00:04:08,120 and man. Thanks be to God for his word. 63 00:04:08,330 --> 00:04:13,480 I find this passage surprising. In fact, I find the description 64 00:04:13,530 --> 00:04:16,839 as a whole, or lack thereof, of Jesus boyhood surprising. 65 00:04:17,930 --> 00:04:20,660 In proportion to how long he lived on earth. 66 00:04:20,790 --> 00:04:24,500 This is a fairly significant chunk of time, and this somewhat 67 00:04:24,510 --> 00:04:29,900 strange temple narrative is the only picture portrait we get of 68 00:04:29,910 --> 00:04:32,960 Jesus between 40 days and about 30 years. 69 00:04:33,330 --> 00:04:37,720 This is the only thing I went to a 21st last year and I did not 70 00:04:37,730 --> 00:04:40,240 say who it is because it's someone in this room potentially 71 00:04:40,590 --> 00:04:44,760 and my friend's mum spent half an hour listing my friend's 72 00:04:44,970 --> 00:04:47,160 achievements. There was a sporting 73 00:04:47,170 --> 00:04:50,730 achievements, there were his scholarships, there were the 74 00:04:50,740 --> 00:04:54,620 speeches he said in Year 6, there were the friends he made, 75 00:04:54,700 --> 00:04:58,250 there were the jobs that he'd had, the overtime that he'd 76 00:04:58,260 --> 00:05:01,090 done. And my friend's pretty amazing. 77 00:05:01,100 --> 00:05:05,050 But I think Jesus is perfect and we don't even get a report card 78 00:05:05,060 --> 00:05:07,890 or anything for Jesus. And it would be nice to know for 79 00:05:07,900 --> 00:05:11,810 a perfect child at least who he who was playmates were, maybe 80 00:05:11,820 --> 00:05:16,090 what he ate, just a few more details, what he was like as a 81 00:05:16,100 --> 00:05:18,970 carpenter's apprentice. But this is it. 82 00:05:19,780 --> 00:05:22,770 This is all. And so this, this is really how 83 00:05:22,780 --> 00:05:25,730 we we start our passage is the previous conclusion of the 84 00:05:25,860 --> 00:05:29,240 passage before that Jesus grows in strength, wisdom and favour. 85 00:05:29,250 --> 00:05:31,720 And that's meant to suffice us for 12 years. 86 00:05:32,660 --> 00:05:37,650 That's all that Luke gives us and as we make our way through 87 00:05:37,660 --> 00:05:42,250 this morning, I intend to plagiarise as much as possible 88 00:05:42,260 --> 00:05:46,430 of the structure that Luke gives and will follow this through and 89 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:49,190 find out some details about our perfect child. 90 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:52,220 But as Jesus, this is all that we know. 91 00:05:52,280 --> 00:05:55,770 The curtain has closed from 12 years ago with the the strange 92 00:05:55,820 --> 00:05:58,790 somewhat terrifying prophecies in the temple. 93 00:05:58,860 --> 00:06:03,110 And all we know is that Jesus grew up and strength, wisdom and 94 00:06:03,120 --> 00:06:07,690 grace. And we pick up with the word now 95 00:06:07,700 --> 00:06:11,780 in verse 41. And we do find out one thing 96 00:06:11,790 --> 00:06:17,760 about the intervening 12 years. We find that Jesus parents every 97 00:06:17,770 --> 00:06:24,070 year went up to Jerusalem and we think of Jesus seeing this 98 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:28,010 example year after year of his parents making the trek. 99 00:06:28,800 --> 00:06:32,890 It's not a walk in the park. I checked in the distance is 100 00:06:32,940 --> 00:06:35,540 pretty much the same as from here, this building to the 101 00:06:35,550 --> 00:06:37,950 Auckland Harbour Bridge. But there's no Expressway, 102 00:06:37,960 --> 00:06:39,130 right? The highway. 103 00:06:39,140 --> 00:06:43,230 And those times are filled with bandits, with thieves, and they 104 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:47,020 travelled in large caravans, being groups of people walking 105 00:06:47,030 --> 00:06:50,890 or leading animals together so as to protect themselves against 106 00:06:50,900 --> 00:06:52,530 robbers. And that's going to become more 107 00:06:52,540 --> 00:06:56,910 relevant in a few minutes. So the journey is geographically 108 00:06:56,920 --> 00:07:00,750 to the South, but it is up to Jerusalem. 109 00:07:00,760 --> 00:07:06,250 The reason being the reason being that it is topographically 110 00:07:06,260 --> 00:07:09,450 up, it's upwards. And so that's why in the Psalms, 111 00:07:09,460 --> 00:07:14,260 there's 15 psalms called Songs of Ascent as the worshipper 112 00:07:14,270 --> 00:07:18,900 prepares to worship God and it's like a mirror of his upward 113 00:07:18,910 --> 00:07:23,240 climb to the temple. So Jewish men are meant to go 3 114 00:07:23,250 --> 00:07:28,050 * a year to the temple. But the tradition at the moment 115 00:07:28,060 --> 00:07:32,230 is because the nation is so spread abroad that those far 116 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:37,070 away only come once a year. And so that's what Joseph does. 117 00:07:37,220 --> 00:07:40,690 And also we see that tradition tells us that the journey was 118 00:07:40,700 --> 00:07:44,290 not a requirement for women, but Mary has faithfully gone along 119 00:07:44,300 --> 00:07:47,230 each year. What's their festival of choice? 120 00:07:47,240 --> 00:07:51,610 Well, it's the Passover which commemorates celebrates Israel 121 00:07:51,780 --> 00:07:55,070 miraculously being delivered by God out of Egypt. 122 00:07:55,400 --> 00:07:59,660 God killing those first born plans by his Angel of death who 123 00:07:59,670 --> 00:08:03,300 did not have the blood of the lamb on their doorposts, but 124 00:08:03,310 --> 00:08:06,980 saving, passing over the houses of those who had the blood of a 125 00:08:06,990 --> 00:08:10,590 perfect lamb on their houses. And so this is a journey that 126 00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:15,130 Jesus is going to make again one day as the Passover lamb. 127 00:08:15,220 --> 00:08:18,320 Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed for the rights. 128 00:08:19,000 --> 00:08:24,280 But at this point, imagine young Jesus, What might he have talked 129 00:08:24,330 --> 00:08:27,320 about with his companions? What might he have thought about 130 00:08:27,730 --> 00:08:31,280 as he sees their lamb being led along? 131 00:08:31,450 --> 00:08:36,309 Does he know that in 20 years time he's going to meet a fate 132 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:41,370 far worse than that lamb? I think it's worth mentioning 133 00:08:41,380 --> 00:08:45,490 here that the faithful example of the parents imagine Jesus 134 00:08:45,500 --> 00:08:48,470 singing a sum of ascent. We sometimes sing all glory Be 135 00:08:48,480 --> 00:08:52,090 to Christ which contains a line from one of those sums. 136 00:08:52,160 --> 00:08:55,710 Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labour 137 00:08:55,720 --> 00:08:59,020 in vain. Imagine your Lord singing on his 138 00:08:59,030 --> 00:09:02,960 way to the Passover. And so U they go, and Jerusalem 139 00:09:02,970 --> 00:09:04,810 they get there. It's probably Beadlam. 140 00:09:04,820 --> 00:09:06,810 This is like the busiest time of the year. 141 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:10,240 People from all over the empire are converging on the city. 142 00:09:10,460 --> 00:09:14,230 There's biggers, there's pickpockets, there's lambs 143 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:18,410 bleating, there's priests slaughtering silent lambs. 144 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:22,410 It's chaos, really. There's probably Roman soldiers 145 00:09:22,420 --> 00:09:24,670 out on patrol trying to keep a semblance of peace. 146 00:09:25,380 --> 00:09:29,430 And in the calendar, Passover is immediately followed by the week 147 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:33,550 long Feast of unleavened Bread. And so collectively, they're 148 00:09:33,560 --> 00:09:37,620 often celebrated together. And I can understand those 149 00:09:37,630 --> 00:09:40,640 people who would just go for part of it and then leave. 150 00:09:40,830 --> 00:09:47,240 But we get a hint in a verse 43, when the feast was ended, we get 151 00:09:47,250 --> 00:09:49,340 a hint that they'd stayed for the whole thing. 152 00:09:49,770 --> 00:09:53,320 And these parents are committed to raising their child and the 153 00:09:53,330 --> 00:09:57,560 knowledge of their faith. I think it's worth thinking 154 00:09:57,570 --> 00:09:59,600 about from the perspective of a child. 155 00:09:59,690 --> 00:10:01,920 If you're, if you have the privilege of being a parent in 156 00:10:01,930 --> 00:10:05,120 this room, Do your children see your concern for things of the 157 00:10:05,130 --> 00:10:07,520 faith? Do your parent, do your children 158 00:10:07,530 --> 00:10:11,680 understand the symbolic things of the faith, baptism, the 159 00:10:11,690 --> 00:10:14,120 Lord's Supper? Do you talk about these things 160 00:10:14,130 --> 00:10:16,940 with your children? If that's you in this room, do 161 00:10:16,950 --> 00:10:21,740 they see this kind of example modelled Jesus family stick 162 00:10:21,750 --> 00:10:26,340 around for the whole faced. Now we get to the point the 163 00:10:26,350 --> 00:10:30,360 feast has ended verse 3043 and they're returning. 164 00:10:30,370 --> 00:10:32,230 It's home time. The family are sitting off in 165 00:10:32,240 --> 00:10:35,300 their group and the tide. They've got the same long 166 00:10:35,310 --> 00:10:41,560 journey on the way back, and after a day's journey, I like to 167 00:10:41,570 --> 00:10:46,710 imagine Mary and Joseph having a little catch up, a little chat 168 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:51,600 about how the day has been. Joseph, it's been a good week. 169 00:10:52,380 --> 00:10:55,000 I'm glad to be going home. I'm quite tired but it's been a 170 00:10:55,010 --> 00:11:00,110 good week, but I just can't shake the nagging feeling that 171 00:11:00,120 --> 00:11:05,800 we've forgotten something and it's really unsightly. 172 00:11:05,810 --> 00:11:09,490 I don't know what it is. Well, well. 173 00:11:09,500 --> 00:11:10,990 Have you have you packed the clothes? 174 00:11:11,000 --> 00:11:11,920 Yes. Yes, of course. 175 00:11:11,930 --> 00:11:13,910 We're we've got the clothes. OK. 176 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:16,420 Have you packed the food? Yes, yes, we're we're eating the 177 00:11:16,430 --> 00:11:17,490 food. That's that's all Good. 178 00:11:17,500 --> 00:11:20,790 OK, what else is essential? If you what about the lamb? 179 00:11:20,800 --> 00:11:22,500 Ohh, well we, we sacrifice the lamb. 180 00:11:22,510 --> 00:11:24,800 That's that's gone. The lamb's gone. 181 00:11:24,850 --> 00:11:27,420 That's okay. What? 182 00:11:27,430 --> 00:11:32,290 What have we forgotten? You know who I haven't seen all 183 00:11:32,300 --> 00:11:35,770 day? I haven't heard or seen anything 184 00:11:35,780 --> 00:11:37,350 of? Jesus. 185 00:11:41,940 --> 00:11:43,400 Jesus. I thought he was with you. 186 00:11:45,340 --> 00:11:47,470 You mean he wasn't? He wasn't with you? 187 00:11:47,480 --> 00:11:49,780 Well, I I thought he was with the Cousins, at least. 188 00:11:49,790 --> 00:11:57,340 Surely have we forgotten the Messiah? 189 00:11:58,140 --> 00:12:01,610 Have we forgotten the Saviour of the world? 190 00:12:02,670 --> 00:12:07,320 We've lost Jesus. Who says that sentence, right? 191 00:12:07,330 --> 00:12:12,600 We lost Jesus and justice. Imagine as the panic sets in and 192 00:12:12,610 --> 00:12:15,370 and they search that they're like, you know, is it? 193 00:12:15,380 --> 00:12:18,190 Is he with the cousins? No Is he is he among the baggage 194 00:12:18,200 --> 00:12:19,970 kind of King Saul style? No. 195 00:12:20,030 --> 00:12:22,980 Is is someone sitting on him like Rachel? 196 00:12:22,990 --> 00:12:24,680 No. What else is hide and seek in 197 00:12:24,690 --> 00:12:27,360 the Old Testament? Is there is he under a tint 198 00:12:27,470 --> 00:12:29,540 Aiken style? No, no. 199 00:12:29,950 --> 00:12:32,860 Does anyone know where our child is? 200 00:12:34,180 --> 00:12:39,780 No, has anyone seen him at all? No, no one knows where a child 201 00:12:39,790 --> 00:12:42,470 is. And there's if you're me, like 202 00:12:42,530 --> 00:12:45,140 I've got so many logistical questions going on here. 203 00:12:45,150 --> 00:12:48,640 And I think there's only two things that we do know. 1 is 204 00:12:48,650 --> 00:12:51,310 that the text doesn't blame the parents, even though they forgot 205 00:12:51,320 --> 00:12:52,080 him. Like he's a kid. 206 00:12:52,090 --> 00:12:55,360 It's not Jesus fault, but the parents aren't blamed, which is 207 00:12:55,370 --> 00:12:57,720 interesting. And Jesus is certainly not 208 00:12:57,730 --> 00:12:59,540 disobedient, right? Because that would create a 209 00:12:59,550 --> 00:13:02,280 whole host of other issues for our faith. 210 00:13:02,390 --> 00:13:05,940 So the the text doesn't apportion blame, which is 211 00:13:06,010 --> 00:13:07,540 fascinating. But then I've also got other 212 00:13:07,550 --> 00:13:08,820 questions. What did Jesus eat? 213 00:13:09,510 --> 00:13:14,200 Where did he sleep that night? Like he's got a human body as he 214 00:13:14,210 --> 00:13:18,050 worried, as he concerned about where his parents are. 215 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:21,400 And we just don't know. The text doesn't stretch that 216 00:13:22,130 --> 00:13:25,410 it's we just know that day one closes with no answers for the 217 00:13:25,420 --> 00:13:30,530 parents and they make the choice on day 2 to trip, to take the 218 00:13:30,540 --> 00:13:33,070 trip back. And it must have been pretty 219 00:13:33,080 --> 00:13:38,190 agonising because no news is not good news in a situation like 220 00:13:38,200 --> 00:13:40,840 this. No phone, no, you know, no 221 00:13:40,850 --> 00:13:44,050 ability to message Jerusalem and raise the alert and start the 222 00:13:44,060 --> 00:13:46,590 search ahead of time. They just have to travel back 223 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:50,270 and pray and no speculation is going to turn up anything. 224 00:13:50,280 --> 00:13:51,870 They don't know where the child is. 225 00:13:52,100 --> 00:13:56,250 All they can do is travel and pray and imagine them reaching 226 00:13:56,260 --> 00:14:00,820 Jerusalem, this probably still crowded city after the feast. 227 00:14:02,100 --> 00:14:04,870 Have you seen our child? Well what is what is look like? 228 00:14:04,880 --> 00:14:06,540 Ohh, he he looks a bit like Mary. 229 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:09,960 OK, Do you have a picture of him? 230 00:14:09,970 --> 00:14:11,770 No, we don't have a picture of him. 231 00:14:12,560 --> 00:14:15,690 OK, well where did you last see him? 232 00:14:17,630 --> 00:14:23,180 We had him with the Lamb. We had him when we came. 233 00:14:24,100 --> 00:14:26,410 We hit him in the temple. Should we check in the temple? 234 00:14:26,480 --> 00:14:30,840 OK, let's check in the temple. And Jesus, in the mean time, is 235 00:14:30,850 --> 00:14:36,090 hidden somewhat in plain sight. So imagine, just imagine that 236 00:14:36,100 --> 00:14:39,400 parents were searching, searching, searching, and 237 00:14:39,410 --> 00:14:41,270 they're into the temple and there's a bit of a crowd. 238 00:14:41,280 --> 00:14:44,290 There's some teachers of the law and there's a little crowd among 239 00:14:44,300 --> 00:14:46,170 them. And the teachers are doing 240 00:14:46,180 --> 00:14:48,810 question and answer dialogue with their pupils. 241 00:14:49,200 --> 00:14:51,730 But then they start hearing this familiar voice. 242 00:14:51,840 --> 00:14:56,180 I like to imagine that he asks very intelligent question about 243 00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:59,430 who is the Messiah, what's the nature of his Kingdom, something 244 00:14:59,440 --> 00:15:03,080 like that. And the crowd kind of murmur 245 00:15:04,650 --> 00:15:06,500 and, and he's just, he's in the temple. 246 00:15:06,510 --> 00:15:08,240 He's, he's not, he's not playing hide and seek. 247 00:15:08,250 --> 00:15:14,600 He's just in the temple. And one day he's going to ask 248 00:15:14,610 --> 00:15:19,040 questions which really reveal the Jewish teachers hypocrisy. 249 00:15:19,110 --> 00:15:22,260 But at this point, all we see from his questions is that he's 250 00:15:22,270 --> 00:15:26,760 a boy who really wants to know more of the God of this book. 251 00:15:27,010 --> 00:15:32,970 He loves his father and he wants having this strange opportunity 252 00:15:32,980 --> 00:15:36,320 where he's been left behind. He he wants to be in the place 253 00:15:36,670 --> 00:15:41,260 where his God is worshipped and taught about. 254 00:15:43,010 --> 00:15:46,670 This is the only place we see in the New Testament where Jesus is 255 00:15:46,780 --> 00:15:50,700 receiving instruction. By the way, This is the word of 256 00:15:50,710 --> 00:15:54,780 God, after all. This is the teacher, and he's 257 00:15:54,790 --> 00:15:59,260 sitting at their feet and he's just discussing it in humility, 258 00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:02,940 asking questions, and it's probably not an opportunity he 259 00:16:02,950 --> 00:16:06,200 likely would have had in Nazareth, and so he's making the 260 00:16:06,210 --> 00:16:08,710 most of it. I think it's worth commenting 261 00:16:08,720 --> 00:16:11,760 that this is the perfect child, and if this is the only portrait 262 00:16:11,770 --> 00:16:16,450 of Jesus that we have from 40 days to 30 years, what better 263 00:16:16,460 --> 00:16:20,990 example of how to live our childhood, our youth, our young 264 00:16:21,000 --> 00:16:25,370 adulthood, then Jesus himself? He's hungry for spiritual 265 00:16:25,380 --> 00:16:28,130 understanding. He wants to know more and talk 266 00:16:28,140 --> 00:16:33,170 about his faith. Would we make that all like the 267 00:16:33,180 --> 00:16:38,770 pursuit of knowing God, the the desire and the passion of our 268 00:16:38,910 --> 00:16:43,970 young years will never regret any drop of scripture. 269 00:16:43,980 --> 00:16:46,260 We learn of things, we learn about God. 270 00:16:48,050 --> 00:16:53,720 Don't waste your young years. Imitate your Lord. 271 00:16:55,670 --> 00:17:00,240 It's a somewhat strange scene because Jesus may be poor and he 272 00:17:00,250 --> 00:17:04,040 may be 12 and he may be from Nazareth, which, as we've 273 00:17:04,050 --> 00:17:06,210 learned through this series, is fairly irrelevant. 274 00:17:07,280 --> 00:17:12,109 But he's respected in this scene because he is wise and he is 275 00:17:12,119 --> 00:17:15,490 therefore highly respectable. He's got insight. 276 00:17:15,500 --> 00:17:20,770 His understanding and his answers amazed all those who 277 00:17:20,780 --> 00:17:27,040 hear the word for amazed that is used here in verse 47 is the 278 00:17:27,050 --> 00:17:30,810 same word that Paul uses when he says if we are beside ourselves, 279 00:17:30,820 --> 00:17:34,510 this isn't just like well it's amazing, this is amazing. 280 00:17:34,520 --> 00:17:40,060 This is astonishing that the boy Jesus at 12 years old is the 281 00:17:40,070 --> 00:17:46,590 wisest person in the land, going toe to toe and amazing the elite 282 00:17:46,740 --> 00:17:50,500 religious leaders of the day. It's stunning. 283 00:17:52,090 --> 00:17:57,210 Jesus is wise. You may have heard it said that 284 00:17:57,390 --> 00:17:59,570 there is no such thing as a dumb question. 285 00:17:59,580 --> 00:18:02,330 That's not true. It's very much not true. 286 00:18:02,640 --> 00:18:04,470 But there is such a thing as a dumb question. 287 00:18:04,620 --> 00:18:07,130 But Jesus doesn't ask any dumb questions. 288 00:18:07,540 --> 00:18:11,390 Even the wisest of people would ask dumb questions in every now 289 00:18:11,400 --> 00:18:15,790 and then, but Jesus does not. He's never not wise. 290 00:18:16,840 --> 00:18:23,380 He is always wise. Paul calls him Christ, the power 291 00:18:23,390 --> 00:18:29,170 of God and the wisdom of God. Cause this boy is wisdom, his 292 00:18:29,240 --> 00:18:35,390 wisdom through and through. And so such wisdom is staggering 293 00:18:35,400 --> 00:18:39,050 to the crowd. And it's also staggering to see 294 00:18:39,060 --> 00:18:41,950 this parents who turn up and see this and they're looking for 295 00:18:41,960 --> 00:18:45,100 this lost boy. And here he is debating, you 296 00:18:45,110 --> 00:18:49,450 know, well, not debating, but asking questions and, and wowing 297 00:18:49,460 --> 00:18:52,270 everyone with his wisdom, but in a really humble way. 298 00:18:52,340 --> 00:18:54,540 And and they've got a bit of a complaint at this point. 299 00:18:54,550 --> 00:18:58,220 And I can, I can understand that cause maybe, you know, they've 300 00:18:58,230 --> 00:19:01,540 just spent three days worried about him and maybe they were 301 00:19:01,550 --> 00:19:04,740 hoping that he'd be a little bit frantic, a little bit lost 302 00:19:04,750 --> 00:19:07,550 looking, and he'd see them and burst into tears and ran into 303 00:19:07,560 --> 00:19:09,440 their arms and they'd be able to go, You know, they're there. 304 00:19:09,450 --> 00:19:11,190 It's okay. We've been looking for you and 305 00:19:11,200 --> 00:19:13,840 we've found you and just downplayed the fact that they've 306 00:19:13,850 --> 00:19:16,180 forgotten in Jerusalem and all would be well. 307 00:19:16,190 --> 00:19:20,420 But Jesus is quite calm here. He's quite self assured. 308 00:19:20,430 --> 00:19:23,180 He's, he's okay, He's in his elements. 309 00:19:23,510 --> 00:19:28,880 And so, so Mary asks a fairly natural question in verse 48. 310 00:19:29,970 --> 00:19:34,120 She asks Son, why have you treated us so? 311 00:19:34,770 --> 00:19:38,740 Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great 312 00:19:38,750 --> 00:19:43,980 distress. I think if I was 12 at this 313 00:19:43,990 --> 00:19:45,670 point, I would be really embarrassed. 314 00:19:48,080 --> 00:19:51,410 You know, Jesus, he's, he's talking to the teachers. 315 00:19:51,420 --> 00:19:57,810 He's everyone's amazed at him and here comes his mother and 316 00:19:59,110 --> 00:20:02,740 asks about his wellbeing and accuses him of treating them 317 00:20:02,750 --> 00:20:06,580 wrongly and shows her emotion and it's unclear like this could 318 00:20:06,590 --> 00:20:08,080 be in front of them. We don't know from the text 319 00:20:08,090 --> 00:20:10,110 whether it's a private conversation afterwards or if 320 00:20:10,120 --> 00:20:13,320 it's at the scene. I think I would have been pretty 321 00:20:13,330 --> 00:20:18,090 mortified if I was Jesus. But Jesus is the perfect child. 322 00:20:20,110 --> 00:20:24,420 Jesus perfection extends to the way that he treats his parents. 323 00:20:24,530 --> 00:20:27,400 He doesn't say Mum. That's yeah, no, that's that's, 324 00:20:27,410 --> 00:20:29,340 that's cringe. I'm, I'm fine. 325 00:20:29,510 --> 00:20:31,680 Don't talk, don't, don't ask questions like that. 326 00:20:31,690 --> 00:20:33,460 I'm fine. You know, I was doing fine. 327 00:20:33,470 --> 00:20:37,040 I don't need you. He, he actually shows compassion 328 00:20:37,050 --> 00:20:43,020 to her even in this moment. But he does make clear to her 329 00:20:43,370 --> 00:20:47,320 that he has a mission from God that they need also to learn to 330 00:20:47,330 --> 00:20:50,210 understand. And so he asks, Why were you 331 00:20:50,220 --> 00:20:54,610 looking for me? Did you not know that I must be 332 00:20:54,620 --> 00:20:59,090 in my father's house? This is debated. 333 00:20:59,100 --> 00:21:02,050 The meaning of this if you've got a King James or a new King 334 00:21:02,060 --> 00:21:05,750 James, it will have Did you not know that I must be about my 335 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:08,290 father's business? And the reason this is debated 336 00:21:08,300 --> 00:21:15,520 is because it's literally, did you not know that I must be in 337 00:21:15,530 --> 00:21:18,300 the dot dot dot? Like there's a gap there of my 338 00:21:18,310 --> 00:21:20,560 father. So how else has been implied in? 339 00:21:21,050 --> 00:21:23,940 But I don't think it's satisfying to have it as my 340 00:21:23,950 --> 00:21:27,420 father's business, because Jesus could have been doing his 341 00:21:27,430 --> 00:21:31,880 father's business in any place. But why was he there in his 342 00:21:31,890 --> 00:21:35,500 Father's house? I think Jesus here is showing 343 00:21:35,570 --> 00:21:39,170 that he understands his identity and his mission even as well, 344 00:21:39,930 --> 00:21:43,020 which is quite amazing. Again, there are a lot of other 345 00:21:43,030 --> 00:21:46,180 questions in this text too. Like when did Jesus learn who he 346 00:21:46,190 --> 00:21:51,530 was that he with his wisdom put to win two together and figure 347 00:21:51,540 --> 00:21:54,390 out I'm the Son of God, I'm the Messiah? 348 00:21:55,210 --> 00:21:57,700 Did his faithful parents tell him? 349 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:03,780 You know, like try, try, imagine explaining the virgin birth to 350 00:22:03,790 --> 00:22:07,340 your son? Like did his parents tell him? 351 00:22:07,350 --> 00:22:09,370 Did God the Father reveal it to him? 352 00:22:10,300 --> 00:22:16,990 We we don't know, but Jesus knows that in this situation he 353 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:20,270 needs to be in the place where God has taught and worshipped 354 00:22:20,400 --> 00:22:25,040 and where his presence is expected to dwell. 355 00:22:26,070 --> 00:22:29,670 So this is stunning of Jesus at this age, but far more stunning 356 00:22:29,680 --> 00:22:32,120 than where he is. And his knowledge of where he 357 00:22:32,130 --> 00:22:38,770 should be is who he says he is in relation to God. 358 00:22:39,980 --> 00:22:43,670 What does he say? He says I must be in my father's 359 00:22:43,680 --> 00:22:47,510 house. Now Israel collectively would 360 00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:50,040 probably be happy with saying our Father. 361 00:22:51,590 --> 00:22:55,500 Individuals might be happy with saying my Father in heaven right 362 00:22:55,510 --> 00:22:57,860 with the qualifier. But Jesus doesn't even have the 363 00:22:57,870 --> 00:23:01,210 the qualifier on it at all. He just says my Father. 364 00:23:02,580 --> 00:23:07,590 And Jesus declares himself in this narrative as who he really 365 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:09,630 is. He is the Son of God. 366 00:23:10,980 --> 00:23:14,590 He's come to earth to make his father known. 367 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:19,270 He's perfectly the Son of God. What I mean by perfectly the Son 368 00:23:19,280 --> 00:23:21,170 of God? Well, when we talk about being 369 00:23:21,180 --> 00:23:23,290 the son of something, we could mean a couple of things. 370 00:23:25,300 --> 00:23:30,470 Few weeks ago my brother Sam preached here at Hook Annoy and 371 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:34,730 I called him a couple of weeks ago and it was like, hey, how's 372 00:23:34,740 --> 00:23:36,590 the how the sermon go? Was it all good? 373 00:23:36,650 --> 00:23:38,780 And he was like, yeah, it was good. 374 00:23:40,200 --> 00:23:44,420 I've got some feedback. After the sermon, Isaac Gilling 375 00:23:44,430 --> 00:23:48,370 came up to me and he was like, you know, that was a really 376 00:23:48,380 --> 00:23:52,020 strange experience. Just some constructive feedback. 377 00:23:52,030 --> 00:23:57,310 You know, it's really strange because when you stood up and 378 00:23:57,320 --> 00:24:03,960 you walked to the front, I was like, that's Jonathan's walk. 379 00:24:07,320 --> 00:24:10,790 And then you got to the front and you turned around and you 380 00:24:10,800 --> 00:24:15,620 smiled and you looked at the congregation and I thought, ohh, 381 00:24:16,330 --> 00:24:24,590 but that's Andrew's face. And then, but then you opened 382 00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:29,510 your mouth and I was like, but that's Mark's voice. 383 00:24:32,700 --> 00:24:36,930 I think Isaac nails the understanding that there are two 384 00:24:36,980 --> 00:24:39,110 parts to being the son of something. 385 00:24:39,160 --> 00:24:41,850 And so does Scripture when it talks about the Son of Thunder 386 00:24:41,860 --> 00:24:45,340 or the sons of destruction. There's the obvious way in which 387 00:24:45,350 --> 00:24:50,010 I'm Andrew's son, but there's also the sense in which to be 388 00:24:50,020 --> 00:24:54,320 the son of something means to share its nature, to share its 389 00:24:54,330 --> 00:24:58,030 nature. And so I'm the son of Andrew, 390 00:24:59,520 --> 00:25:04,630 but I'm also, I wish I was also more the son of Andrew and that 391 00:25:04,640 --> 00:25:09,120 I wish I was more like my dad. But the same thing can't be said 392 00:25:09,130 --> 00:25:11,800 of Jesus. He's the Son of God, but he's 393 00:25:11,810 --> 00:25:17,030 perfectly also the Son of God. He completely shares the nature 394 00:25:17,040 --> 00:25:20,880 of God. Bradley preached on this very 395 00:25:20,890 --> 00:25:24,800 topic last week, and he read from these verses long ago. 396 00:25:24,810 --> 00:25:28,460 At many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the 397 00:25:28,470 --> 00:25:32,760 prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, 398 00:25:32,970 --> 00:25:37,080 whom He appointed the heir of all things, through whom also He 399 00:25:37,090 --> 00:25:40,240 created the world. He is the radiance of the glory 400 00:25:40,250 --> 00:25:44,480 of God and the exact imprint of His nature, and He upholds the 401 00:25:44,490 --> 00:25:46,660 universe by the word of His power. 402 00:25:48,420 --> 00:25:52,530 Jesus in saying, my Father reveals himself to be the Son of 403 00:25:52,540 --> 00:25:55,430 God, and Jesus is uniquely the Son of God. 404 00:25:55,700 --> 00:25:59,750 Jesus is the exact imprint of the nature of God. 405 00:25:59,800 --> 00:26:02,470 He's not just a chip off the old block. 406 00:26:02,520 --> 00:26:10,540 He is the Son of God. He is God as the imprint of God. 407 00:26:10,550 --> 00:26:13,540 He is God of God. As we sing, when we sing. 408 00:26:13,550 --> 00:26:17,570 Ohh come all you faithful at Christmas time Jesus is in the 409 00:26:17,580 --> 00:26:22,200 temple to do the will of the Father because he is by nature 410 00:26:22,330 --> 00:26:26,940 the Son of God. And so his parents, they hear 411 00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:29,880 Jesus statement of did you not know that I must be in my 412 00:26:29,890 --> 00:26:32,040 father's house? And naturally, they don't fully 413 00:26:32,050 --> 00:26:36,290 understand, they don't fully follow at this point. 414 00:26:37,620 --> 00:26:41,240 The implications of this are really going to be the sword 415 00:26:41,250 --> 00:26:43,890 that passes through their hearts for the rest of their lives on 416 00:26:43,900 --> 00:26:48,830 account of Jesus. But see then the gentleness of 417 00:26:48,930 --> 00:26:53,520 Jesus, who, having just spoken of his heavenly Father in front 418 00:26:53,530 --> 00:27:00,310 of his earthly father, who's not his actual Father, to then go 419 00:27:00,360 --> 00:27:05,230 down to Nazareth with them and be submissive to his parents. 420 00:27:07,010 --> 00:27:12,080 I think he's incredibly gracious in these years of submission. 421 00:27:12,850 --> 00:27:17,160 Submitting to parents is harder in some situations than others, 422 00:27:17,170 --> 00:27:18,830 and there's a lot that could be said there. 423 00:27:19,160 --> 00:27:23,000 But think about it. For Jesus, whose actual Father 424 00:27:23,010 --> 00:27:26,940 is perfect, think of the contrast as he comes to earth 425 00:27:27,010 --> 00:27:31,460 and submits willingly, voluntarily, to imperfect 426 00:27:31,790 --> 00:27:34,670 parents. Mary doesn't understand. 427 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:38,290 We see in verse 51 that she treasures up all these things in 428 00:27:38,300 --> 00:27:40,910 her heart, together with the virgin birth, together with the 429 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:43,780 prophecies, together with everything that's happened. 430 00:27:44,650 --> 00:27:49,100 Her story is not over. Her story is a hard story, but 431 00:27:49,110 --> 00:27:56,050 she remains trusting in God. But meanwhile Jesus grows. 432 00:27:56,340 --> 00:27:58,590 He grows in stature, wisdom and favour. 433 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:03,250 And here again Luke closes the curtain on these years of Jesus 434 00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:06,190 life. That's your wisdom in favour 435 00:28:06,200 --> 00:28:11,150 with God and men. Next week we're gonna jump just 436 00:28:11,160 --> 00:28:15,130 about two decades forward, and we're not going to hear anymore 437 00:28:15,180 --> 00:28:19,970 of the time in between. But for now, we have the same 438 00:28:19,980 --> 00:28:23,210 statement reiterated, just as it was at the start. 439 00:28:23,340 --> 00:28:26,980 Luke bookings this with Jesus growing in wisdom and strength 440 00:28:26,990 --> 00:28:30,700 and favour with God and man. And again, just like through the 441 00:28:30,710 --> 00:28:33,930 start of Luke, we've seen the comparison of his birth 442 00:28:33,940 --> 00:28:37,850 narrative with his cousin John. In the same way of John, it was 443 00:28:37,860 --> 00:28:40,710 said that he grew and became fervent in spirit. 444 00:28:40,760 --> 00:28:43,430 But again, Jesus is greater in every way, and he grows in 445 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:45,520 stature, wisdom and favour with God and man. 446 00:28:46,650 --> 00:28:52,370 To quote Bradley from last week, at the heart of at the beating 447 00:28:52,380 --> 00:28:55,970 heart of this passage, we have the wisdom of Jesus and it's 448 00:28:55,980 --> 00:28:59,340 framed by the wisdom of Jesus and the. 449 00:28:59,490 --> 00:29:02,400 I think that's why we don't need more. 450 00:29:02,550 --> 00:29:05,360 That's why we don't need the report cards, the the 451 00:29:05,370 --> 00:29:10,100 scholarships, the the this is what he created when he was 11 452 00:29:10,110 --> 00:29:12,580 in the workshop. Because Jesus was utterly 453 00:29:12,590 --> 00:29:16,980 consistent. He grew in strength. 454 00:29:16,990 --> 00:29:20,540 He grew as a person. His voice would have dropped. 455 00:29:20,550 --> 00:29:23,140 He would have grown taller and stronger. 456 00:29:23,150 --> 00:29:26,730 He was a man. He bore our frame. 457 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:33,400 He grew in wisdom as the perfect wisdom of God, and he grew in 458 00:29:33,410 --> 00:29:36,980 favour with God and man. He grew in these moral graces, 459 00:29:36,990 --> 00:29:42,320 like his virtues were always pleasing to God and pleasing to 460 00:29:42,330 --> 00:29:44,280 men. He wasn't obnoxious. 461 00:29:44,290 --> 00:29:49,320 He didn't use his wisdom to stun people and wow people and go 462 00:29:49,330 --> 00:29:52,120 look at me. He wasn't arrogant, he wasn't 463 00:29:52,130 --> 00:29:55,080 obnoxious, but he grew. He grew. 464 00:29:57,990 --> 00:30:02,300 I think Luke really does frame this in this way to show us that 465 00:30:02,310 --> 00:30:08,270 Jesus is perfectly consistent. There's no variation in Jesus. 466 00:30:08,280 --> 00:30:11,750 He doesn't take, as I said, 2 steps forward and one back. 467 00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:14,250 And I think that's important for us to reflect on because 468 00:30:14,260 --> 00:30:18,740 sometimes when we think about the salvation story, we just 469 00:30:18,750 --> 00:30:22,060 think about Jesus coming from coming down and being born of a 470 00:30:22,070 --> 00:30:24,600 virgin and dying on a cross and being raised to life and going 471 00:30:24,610 --> 00:30:26,550 back to heaven. And we trusted him and we're 472 00:30:26,560 --> 00:30:28,070 saved from our sins. And that's true. 473 00:30:28,350 --> 00:30:33,110 Don't get me wrong, that's true. Thus, for Jesus to be the 474 00:30:33,120 --> 00:30:36,910 perfect man in the 1st place, he had to be the perfect child. 475 00:30:38,770 --> 00:30:42,290 We refer to the active and the passive obedience of Jesus 476 00:30:42,300 --> 00:30:46,270 Christ. No one in this room has ever 477 00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:50,120 been a perfect child, let alone a perfect adult. 478 00:30:51,730 --> 00:30:55,880 I know that at 12 I realised the seriousness of my own sin. 479 00:30:55,890 --> 00:30:59,560 But at 12, Jesus was perfect and he was able to be our 480 00:30:59,570 --> 00:31:02,700 substitute. Jesus has to be the perfect 481 00:31:02,710 --> 00:31:08,320 child to save us from our sins. That's why He can be our atoning 482 00:31:08,330 --> 00:31:15,600 sacrifice for us, and He is our gracious Saviour from our ruined 483 00:31:15,610 --> 00:31:18,500 lives. No matter what myths you've made 484 00:31:18,510 --> 00:31:22,990 of your childhood or of your adulthood, Jesus is your 485 00:31:23,000 --> 00:31:25,250 substitute if you will. But trust in Him. 486 00:31:25,320 --> 00:31:27,610 He's lived the life that you have failed to live. 487 00:31:28,750 --> 00:31:31,660 He's lived the life that we never could have and died in our 488 00:31:31,670 --> 00:31:33,810 place. I please, I beg of you, that if 489 00:31:33,820 --> 00:31:36,110 you have not done so, that you would trust in Jesus. 490 00:31:37,270 --> 00:31:39,400 He's lived a life that we could never live. 491 00:31:41,670 --> 00:31:46,900 If Jesus is really all wise, we can trust Him even when life 492 00:31:46,910 --> 00:31:50,450 makes no sense. In that verse we read earlier, 493 00:31:50,460 --> 00:31:52,840 Jesus holds all things by the word of his power. 494 00:31:52,850 --> 00:31:55,650 That would be very bad news if he was either not wise or not 495 00:31:55,660 --> 00:31:58,720 good, but as a as he is both of those things. 496 00:31:58,730 --> 00:32:00,190 And we can trust him, and we must. 497 00:32:02,910 --> 00:32:05,420 If he's perfectly wise, we can trust him. 498 00:32:05,810 --> 00:32:09,260 If he's perfectly the Son of God, we can know God's nature by 499 00:32:09,270 --> 00:32:13,460 looking at him. Learn more of Jesus and I know 500 00:32:13,470 --> 00:32:17,950 I'm heading the same drum that Bradley was last week, but look 501 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:25,490 to Jesus and learn more of God and if he's unchanging, if he's 502 00:32:25,500 --> 00:32:29,130 faithful, if he's consistent, if his childhood was perfect, he 503 00:32:29,140 --> 00:32:31,380 can save us. Only a perfect child could 504 00:32:31,390 --> 00:32:35,590 become the perfect man. He can save us, He can stand in 505 00:32:35,600 --> 00:32:40,420 our place, and He can save us now to the uttermost to the end. 506 00:32:40,670 --> 00:32:43,890 He stands in heaven waiting to save us. 507 00:32:45,370 --> 00:32:48,030 He can sympathise with you. He learned obedience through 508 00:32:48,040 --> 00:32:50,240 what he suffered. He acts as your high priest. 509 00:32:51,250 --> 00:32:54,340 He can save you. This is Jesus. 510 00:32:54,350 --> 00:32:59,260 He is the perfect child, He's the perfect man. 511 00:32:59,270 --> 00:33:03,990 He's the perfect lamb. He's the perfect priest and with 512 00:33:04,000 --> 00:33:08,410 Jesus parents and with the crowd, we should be amazed at 513 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:13,030 this perfect child. He is point here is what we 514 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:15,790 should be amazed at. This is what perfection looks 515 00:33:15,800 --> 00:33:19,690 like, and he is a man and he was a child. 516 00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:24,590 To the only wise God be glory for evermore through Jesus 517 00:33:24,600 --> 00:33:29,610 Christ. Let's pray Father, we thank you 518 00:33:29,620 --> 00:33:34,850 that we can call you Father and we can be your true children. 519 00:33:37,730 --> 00:33:41,440 We thank you for Jesus Christ wisdom from above. 520 00:33:43,730 --> 00:33:47,660 We thank you that He lived a perfect childhood in that being 521 00:33:47,670 --> 00:33:52,820 a perfect child, He is now a perfect man, our perfect Lamb. 522 00:33:52,830 --> 00:33:57,470 He has died in our place and he stands at your right hand to 523 00:33:57,480 --> 00:33:59,470 make intercession for your people. 524 00:33:59,540 --> 00:34:04,230 Thank you that we can look to this one narrative and know and 525 00:34:04,240 --> 00:34:06,490 infer the details that He is perfect. 526 00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:10,889 Thank you that that is good news because we are not perfect. 527 00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:14,449 Help us to trust Him or help us to be amazed at Jesus. 528 00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:19,949 Help us to cling to Him as our wisdom and the wisdom of God and 529 00:34:19,960 --> 00:34:24,380 our true Word. Help us to learn more about you 530 00:34:24,389 --> 00:34:28,800 as we look to Jesus, and help us to cling to Him as the only one 531 00:34:28,810 --> 00:34:31,440 who can save us because of his perfect life. 532 00:34:31,449 --> 00:34:34,580 So Lord, we thank you for your Son, the Lord Jesus, that he's 533 00:34:34,590 --> 00:34:38,360 our wisdom. And Lord Jesus Christ, thank you 534 00:34:38,370 --> 00:34:43,969 that you are our glory and our wisdom and our power, everything 535 00:34:44,030 --> 00:34:47,460 we are and have. We just cling to you, and we 536 00:34:47,469 --> 00:34:51,810 thank you, and we worship you as the wisdom of God for evermore. 537 00:34:51,880 --> 00:34:52,350 Amen.