Temptations of Christ
And [Jesus] said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. Luke 2:49-51a (ESV)
In the first chapter of Paul’s letter to the Colossians, Jesus is called “the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.” Paul remarks that “by Him all things were created . . . all things were created through Him and for Him,” and “He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”
Yet in this account from Luke, the Firstborn over all creation was rebuked by His two sinful, mortal parents. The absurdity of the situation is striking. Surely Jesus would respond by asserting His divine authority and humbling His parents. Yet, that’s not what He does. Instead, we read these remarkable words: “He went down with them . . . and was submissive to them.”
In that humble act, Jesus shows the life He came to live. He was not here to conquer in power and reign in strength – at least, not the power and strength we’re accustomed to. Rather, the Image of the invisible God humbled Himself not only to become a human, but a human child. He subjected Himself to the wisdom and care of His parents, and deferred to their judgment. Why?
Jesus came to do what we could not. He was to live a perfect life of submission to the will of His Father. Part of the Father’s will is that a child should obey his parents. And so we see this seemingly absurd situation, where the Son of God submits to the will of His sinful, mortal, human parents.
What a profound love our Savior has shown to us!
Thou art a mighty Monarch, as by Thy Word is told,
Yet carest Thou but little for earthly goods or gold;
On no proud steed Thou ridest, Thou wear’st no jeweled crown
Nor dwell’st in lordly castle, but bearest scoff and frown.
The Lutheran Hymnal 130: 3