In our gospel reading today, the twelve-year-old Jesus goes missing on the way home from the Passover festival in Jerusalem. And Mary and Joseph react as any parent would – they are frantic, and in the course of three painstaking days, they search the entire city for him. Finally, they track down Jesus in the temple, and they are angry at his lack of consideration for them. But Jesus has already come to realize his role as God's only son, and so he asks his folks the obvious question, “Why did you waste three days looking for me? Where else did you EXPECT to find me, other than in my Father's house?”....
Does your family have the tradition of shopping on Boxing Day? I'm not talking minor league shopping like a half hour at The Red Apple in town. I mean leaving EARLY in the morning to hit West Edmonton Mall at the moment it opens! Apparently, many people do have this tradition, because last year, Boxing Day was the mall's busiest day of the entire year. And if you have never been to WEM when it's crazy busy, it's an overwhelming experience. Especially when you have young children or grandchildren in tow. With all the people and all the commotion, it feels like if you take your eyes off your child for more than about 5 seconds, they'll be gone. And there is no guarantee with the world being as it is, that you would ever see them again.
That's the anxiety that Mary and Joseph felt in our gospel reading today. Yes, we find it strange that a whole travel day passed without Mary and Joseph noticing Jesus' absence, but times were different then, and so was transportation by group caravan. Twelve-year-olds had more responsibility as well, so it is no wonder that Mary and Joseph were angry. It took them three long days to be reunited with Jesus. Three days worth of that intense anxiety, of not knowing where your child is, or what has become of him. Where did Jesus go?
We sometimes find the same question on our lips, “Where did Jesus go?” As we deal with our aches and pains, our bouts of loneliness and anxiety, the losses we have suffered, and the people who see us as bat-ahem crazy for our beliefs, it's easy for us to imagine that Jesus has gone missing from our lives too. And it's easy to get angry about it.
But then, Jesus' question applies to us as well. “Where are you EXPECTING to find me?” Have we been looking for Jesus in the midst of gossip and entertainment and social media, or in the media God designed for us to find him in, the Word of God? Have we been looking for Jesus in our self-indulgence and complaining, or in thankfulness and singing? Have we been looking for Jesus in OUR temple, where we worship ourselves, and praise ourselves for the awesome work we are doing in the world, or have we been looking in GOD's temple? Before we get mad at JESUS for staying away, we need to question if it isn't US who are staying away!