Lon Solomon Ministries
People Jesus Met - Mary and Joseph - Part 1
Hey, you know, today we are going to begin a new series of messages entitled "People Jesus Met." And in this series, we're going to go through the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And we're going to look at the Lord Jesus' personal encounters with all different kinds of people, people just like you and me, people with problems and issues in life, just like you and me. And each week, based on how the Lord Jesus addresses their problems and their issues, we're going to get wisdom, we're going to get insight, we're going to draw hope and encouragement to deal with our problems and our issues in life based on how the Lord Jesus dealt with theirs. And we're going to learn how to deal with our problems in a biblical way and in a Christ honoring way. And so today, in part one of our series, we want to look at an encounter the Lord Jesus had with the very first people he ever met here on this earth. And that is his parents, Mary and Joseph. And to do that, we're going to be looking in Luke chapter two. Now just before we pick up the passage, let me say that it's interesting that the Bible records very little of Jesus' growing up years with his mom and his dad. In fact, once we get past the events of his birth and his infancy, the Bible only records one other incident of interaction between Jesus and his mom and his dad before he begins his public ministry at the age of 30 or so. And that's the incident we're going to look at today. So ready? Here we go. Luke chapter two, verse 41. Every year, Jesus' parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover. And when he was 12 years old, Jesus went up with them to the feast according to Jewish custom. And after the feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents were unaware of this. Thinking that he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began to look for him among their relatives and their friends. You say, "Lon, how in the world could his mom and dad travel for a whole day and not realize that their son was missing?" Well, it was because of the way people traveled in those days. To for safety, they traveled in caravans, and the way the caravans worked is that the women and the children were in the front of the caravan, while the men were in the back of the caravan in order to protect it from marauders and robbers and vandals. And many times, the people in those two groups didn't see each other until they camped at night. So, I'm sure what happened is Jesus, his mom, remember Jesus was 12, he was almost on the verge of being a man, you know, 13 years old, bar mitzvaht in Jewish society. So I'm sure his mom up in front thought, "Oh, well, he's probably in the back with the men." And I'm sure that his dad in the back, Joseph, thought, "Well, he's probably up front with the women." And when they camped at night and Mary and Joseph met, Joseph said to Mary, "Well, I thought he was with you." And Mary said, "With me, I thought he was with you." And suddenly they panicked and they head back to Jerusalem to look for him. Verse 45. And when they did not find him, they rushed back to Jerusalem to look for him. And after three days, they found him in the temple courts sitting among the teachers listening to them and asking them questions. And everyone was amazed at Jesus' understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you." And Jesus said, "Why have you been searching for me? Didn't you know that I had to be in my father's house?" I mean, like any frantic mother when she finally finds her lost child, Mary blurted out and said, "How could you do this to me and your father?" And Jesus said, "Mom, don't you realize that God has given me a special mission to carry out here on this earth?" And all I was doing was being in the temple there, trying to carry it out. Verse 50. But they did not understand what he was saying. Then Jesus went back to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. And his mother pondered all these things in her heart. Now here's the point I want you to see, is that Mary and Joseph obviously asked Jesus to leave Jerusalem and come back to Nazareth, back to his home with them. And as a child who was still under the authority of his parents, the Bible says Jesus was obedient to them. And you know, the next time we hear of the Lord Jesus in the Bible is 18 years later, when at the age of 30, he appears in God's perfect timing. God's timing is now right for him to begin his public ministry, that he kind of wanted to start when he was 12, but he didn't. Now that's as far as we want to go in the passage today because we want to stop and we want to ask our most important question. And you've had a month off, so I know you guys are a little rusty, yeah? All right, so come on now, here we go. Let's get back in the habit here, nice and loud, 1, 2, 3. Ah, yeah, you say long, so what? You say, you know, nice story, but I cannot see one possible thing in that story that could be practical for my life today. Can you help with that? Oh, you bet I can. Listen, remember what we said earlier. We said that this is the only event from Jesus' childhood with Mary and Joseph, that is between the ages of 3 and 30, the only event that the Bible records. And that ought to lead us to ask a question, and the question ought to be why. I mean, why, out of 27 years' worth of events in Jesus' life, why did God pick this particular one to record in the Bible? Well, the answer, of course, is because it contains a great spiritual lesson for us as followers of Christ today, and that's what I want to point out to all of us. You see, at 12 years old, Jesus sensed in his soul that God had called him to a special mission. He sensed in his soul what that mission was, and this is what he even said to his mom, right? He said, "Mom, don't you understand this?" But you see, God's timing for that mission was not yet right. It was not yet perfect. In fact, it was not right by 18 more years. In other words, we could say that Jesus had the right job. He just had the wrong time. And God used his parents to indicate to him that he had the wrong time when they said, we are asking you to obey us, son, and to return home to Nazareth, suddenly Jesus had a choice to make, didn't he? Number one, he could have chosen to forge ahead in his own timing and completely ignore their request. Or number two, he could choose to submit to God's timing as God was indicating it to him through his parents under whose authority he was still living. And wisely, Jesus chose the latter. He chose to submit to God's timing instead of his own timing. Now this is the spiritual principle. This is the lesson that God wants you and me to get out of this encounter that the Lord Jesus had with Mary and Joseph here. God wants to teach us that with God, timing is everything. Timing is everything. You know, Moses had to learn this, didn't he? Stephen, speaking in Acts chapter 7, recounting the events of the book of Exodus, said this, and I quote, "Stephen said when Moses was 40 years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and killed the Egyptian. Moses thought that his own people would realize that God intended to use him to rescue them and stop for a second. Did Moses have the will of God for his life figured out right, didn't he? He knew the job God had called him to do. Didn't he know it? Watch. He thought the people would understand that, but they did not. So Moses fled to Midian where he settled as a foreigner. Forty years later, the Lord appeared to Moses in a burning bush and God said, "I have seen the oppression of my people in Egypt and I have come down to set them free. From now Moses, I will send you back to Egypt." Here's the point. Watch. This same Moses whom the Israelites had rejected, God sent him back to indeed be their ruler and their deliverer. What we can say here is that this is a classic case of Moses having the right job, but the wrong time. He knew what God had called him to do when he was age 40, but you see my friends, it's just he was 40 years too early. And let's agree that with very few exceptions, that when it comes to God's timing in our lives, we are all prone to make the same mistake Moses made. I mean, we pray and we seek God in some situation and we begin to get a sense of what God's will is for us in that situation. And instead of going on from there and seeking God's timing as to when to do His will, we fail to be as diligent to seek His timing as we are His will. And instead, once we've identified God's will, we all have a tendency to charge out, do it now like yesterday, ASAP. Hear this, my friends, more blessings are lost in the Christian life because we are unwilling to seek and wait for God's timing than for any other single reason. I'd like to repeat that. More blessings are lost in the Christian life because we fail to seek God's timing and wait for God's timing than for any other single reason. Man, I need to tell you, it took me a long time to learn this. To learn that identifying the right job God has for me to do is only half the issue with God, the other half of the issue, and frankly, most of the time, the more important half of the issue is identifying the timing that God has for me to do His will and then joyfully submitting to God's timing even though it almost never is my timing. And I said almost never, but frankly, I'm not sure I can think of one single incident in 38 years where God's timing and my timing have ever been the same. I'm always too early, always. Now sooner or later, every seasoned man of God learns this lesson. sooner or later, every seasoned woman of God learns this lesson. I mean Nehemiah had come to understand this. I mean, remember the story of Nehemiah? He was living in Susa, the head of the Persian Empire. He was the cupbearer for King Artaxerxes, remember? When somebody comes to town and tells him about the walls of Jerusalem being broken down and the city being defenseless, and so he began to pray about it, and he became convinced that God's will for His life was for him to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall. But instead of running right away to King Artaxerxes in fleshly impetuousness, what did Nehemiah do? Well Nehemiah prayed about it, and Nehemiah laid it in front of the Lord. When Nehemiah waited on God's perfect timing, you say, "How long did He wait?" Ten months is how long He waited. Until one day, King Artaxerxes turns to Him and says, "Hey Nehemiah, what's bothering you? What's up with you, son?" And he was able to tell him about this passion to go rebuild the wall, and King Artaxerxes fell all over himself, providing everything Nehemiah needed to go get the job done. Visingly good things happen when we wait on God's timing. And then there was Ruth. She had to learn this very same lesson. You remember the story? Her mother-in-law Naomi had two sons. She named a mail-yone in Hilleon, which in Hebrew means weekly and sickly. Now, don't ask me why you'd name your kids weekly and sickly, but that was their name. Ruth was married to one. We don't know whether she was married to weekly or whether she was married to sickly, but the point is weekly and sickly both died, okay? And so Ruth became a widow. Now to be a widow in the ancient world was not a good thing. Without a man to provide for you, you ended up in poverty as a widow, but instead of running out in fleshly impetuosity and just grabbing a man, Ruth decided, "No, no, I'm going to wait on God's will, and I'm going to wait on God's man, and that's why we find her out in the fields, picking up charity droppings of grain when Boaz, the owner of the field, comes along outside Bethlehem and sees her and goes, "Vah, vah, vah, boom." You say, "How do you say that in Hebrew?" "Vah, vah, vah, boom." That's how you say it in Hebrew. And because she waited on God's timing, Ruth not only got a wonderful, godly man, she also got the privilege to become the great-grandmother of a fellow we know as David. You say, "You mean King David?" That's him. And she became the great-great-great-great-great-great-grandmother of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because she waited for God's timing. And Joseph had to learn the same lesson, right? In jail for 13 years, he had to learn to wait on God's timing, and David had to learn to wait on God's timing, seven years, hiding in caves, running around, trying to escape King Saul. But you know, when I think about this biblical principle, the person I can't help but think about a lot is Kurt Warner. Kurt Warner, the quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, who this past week, if you keep up with football at all, you know, led the Arizona Cardinals into their very first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history. But you talk about a guy who's had to learn to wait on God's timing. Let me tell you the story. Coming out of high school, he was snubbed by every major university. Warner finally went to the University of Northern Iowa. Now there's a big name in college sports right there. Is somebody here actually from the University of Northern Iowa? Well, there you go. Well God bless you, but it's still not a big name in college sports. And then after a great career there, he didn't even get drafted. I mean, in all the rounds of the NFL draft, he didn't even get drafted. And so he went to work stocking shelves in a grocery store where he met his wife, Brenda, who in 1995 led him to personal faith in Jesus Christ. After that, he spent two years playing arena football, then he went overseas and played overseas in the European League. Finally, in 1998, the St. Louis Rams signed him as a backup quarterback to Trent Green, but at the beginning of 1999 season, Trent Green got hurt. And in God's perfect timing, Kurt Warner became the starting quarterback of the 1999 Rams and had one of the most amazing seasons in NFL history, leading the Rams to Super Bowl 34 and being voted the most valuable player in the national football league. Wow. But you know what? God made him do it all over again. Yeah, he did. Because after that, in 2002, he suffered a number of concussions and was out most of the season in 2003. The Rams released him, in 2004, the Giants signed him, but he quickly lost his starting job to Eli Manning, and then they released him. In 2005, Arizona signed him to be their number three quarterback. You know what that means? It means if we get to the point that we have to put you on the field, we've kissed the season goodbye. That's what it means to be number three quarterback. Can you imagine how tough this must have been for Kurt Warner, huh? I mean, he's done it once, going all the way in winning the Super Bowl. He knows he can still do it in his spirit, but God made him wait and wait and wait until 2008, when all of a sudden, the quarterbacks in front of him weren't performing well. And somewhat reluctantly, the Cardinals turned to him and said, "Well, why don't you take a shot at being the start and quarterback?" And in God's perfect timing, well, he's in the Super Bowl. The rest is history, friends. Now listen, as followers of Christ, every one of us struggle with the very same conflict Kurt Warner struggled with, and that Joseph struggled with, and that Moses struggled with, and that Ruth struggled with, and that Nehemiah struggled with, and that the Lord Jesus himself struggled with, and that is the conflict between God's timing and our timing. See many of us, by this point in our life, plan to be married, but in God's timing, we're still single. And many of us plan to have that new job or that new promotion by this point in our life, but in God's timing, we don't. Many of us plan to be financially secure by this point in our life, but in God's timing, the stock market crashed, and many of us plan to have a house full of children running around our feet by this point in our life, but in God's timing, we don't have any. And some of us plan to go to a certain college, but in God's timing, we didn't get in. And some of us plan to make a certain ball team or to make a cheerleading squad, but in God's timing, we got cut. And some of us plan great futures for our children's, but in God's timing, they're really struggling right now. And for some of us, God gave us children with disabilities who will never come close to the plans that we dreamed for them. And so as followers of Jesus, what do we do with this, huh? What do we do with this conflict between our timing and God's timing? Well, I love what the book of Proverbs says. Proverbs 16, 9, it says, "The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." You see, this is the world view of a true man of God. This is the world view of a true woman of God, a man or woman of God understands Isaiah 55, 8, which says that God's thoughts are not our thoughts and that neither are God's ways, our ways, and I'd like to add, neither is God's timing our timing. True men and women of God understand that God has better ways of getting us where we need to be, when we need to be there, than we could ever plan or dream up for ourselves. And true women of God and true men of God, they submit to God's timing in their lives, even though they don't like it sometimes, and even though they don't want it sometimes, and even though they don't understand it most of the time, they submit to it anyway, because don't miss this now, because true men and women of God are totally confident that not only is God's will for their life perfect, but God's timing for their life is also perfect. Now, this is how God wants you and me to live if we're followers of Christ. This is how God wants you and me to see the world if we're followers of Christ. And you say, "Okay, Lon, I understand where you're going, I understand what you're saying, but I just have one more question, and that's good, because I only have time for one more question." You say, "Here's my last question. My question is, Lon, so how do I know when God is telling me to act and when God is telling me to wait? Or to put it another way, how do I know when God's timing is now, and how do I know when God's timing isn't now?" Well, that's a great question, and I'd like to give you a three-part answer very quickly. Number one, sometimes God uses circumstances to make it clear that His timing is not yet perfect and that we need to wait. Hey, this is what He did with Joseph, right? Joseph knew he was going to be a big shot one day, he'd had those dreams, but God stuck him in jail for 13 years, and it was a pretty clear message, Joseph, not now. And how about David? David knew he was going to be king, didn't he? But God stuck him in caves out in the wilderness for seven years and said, "Hey, David, not yet." And Moses, 40 years on the backside of the desert, often God uses circumstances to tell us not yet. Like when we don't get that promotion, or we don't get that new job, or we don't get into the college we want, or we can't get pregnant, now listen to me, when God does this, when God uses circumstances to tell us to wait, folks, it is critical. If we want God's best, if we want God's finest, it is critical that we resist the temptation that we all have to take matters in our own hands and press ahead in our own timing. Keep your eyes on the circumstances. God will often use them to tell you when His time is and when His time isn't. Second, may I say that sometimes God uses people in authority over us to indicate when His time is right and when it isn't. I mean this is precisely how He indicated that to the Lord Jesus, didn't He? By using the people in authority over Him, His parents to say Jesus come home not yet. And whether it's our boss, or it could be our parents, or it could be our husband, or it could be some government official, or who knows who, we need to hear God's voice saying to us, wait. Now, I live this all the time here at McLean Bible Church because I'm in authority to the elders of this church, and many times I will go to them, and I will say I believe we need to do this, and we need to get this done. This is where we need to go. And they will say to me, well, we're not sure you're right. We need to pray about it. Even if you are right, we don't think the timings now, say what do you do when they say that? What do I do? I wait because I understand that if I press through that and somehow go out on my own outside of authority, outside of God's timing, I could lead this church into an enormous disaster. And so I think I can honestly say in the 29 years I've been here as your pastor, I cannot recall one single time where the elders of this church ever said, "law, not now," that I ever, ever contradicted that and defied that, even when I think they're wrong. And if I do think they're wrong, you know what I tell them? I say, okay, I'll wait, but I will be back. I will be back because that's what I'm supposed to do. But you know what, when God uses someone in authority over you and says, "wait, friends, men and women of God hear the voice of God and they wait." Finally, number three, most of the time God will indicate when it's time to move and when it's time to wait by using His still small voice and speaking to us right down deep inside of our soul as a direct communication from the Lord to our heart. So what He promises to do, Psalm 32, verse 8, says, "I will instruct you and I will teach you in the way you shall go. I will counsel you and I will guide you," you say, "but Lon, how does God do this? How does God communicate this to me? What's it going to sound like?" Well friends, I can't answer that because God, you have to understand this, God communicates differently with each individual follower of Christ. He doesn't do it all the same way. And that's why we keep challenging you to have your quiet time, why we keep challenging you to be in a time of serious seeking of God every day and a time of prayer every day and spending time with the Lord and cultivating your relationship with the Lord because only by doing this will we learn to understand how God communicates with me, how He communicates with somebody else is not necessarily how He communicates with me. If we're not doing this, if we're not in the Word and on our knees and in prayer and seeking God, believe me, we will not develop this sensitivity to the voice of God and we will miss His still small voice when it says to us, "Wait," and when it says to us, "Go." Well, let's summarize. What have we learned? We've learned that with God, timing is everything. And we've also learned that when we're praying about some situation, the question we need to ask is not only have I discerned God's will for this situation, but we also need to ask, have I discerned God's timing for this situation. And I have one last suggestion. My last suggestion is if in doubt, wait. If in doubt, wait, friends, first seldom have I ever regretted waiting a little bit longer to act until I was absolutely sure of God's timing, but I'll tell you what, I sure have regretted a bunch of times where I did it the other way. If in doubt, you wait until you are sure. And let me just say as I close, I know there's a lot of us here, whom God has put in situations in our life where He's saying to us, "Wait," whether it's a pregnancy or a job or an opportunity or something with our children or getting married or whatever. Listen to me, if God is saying to you to wait, we need to be very careful, my friends, that we don't interpret this as God having ignored us or as God in some way not paying attention to us or that God's not going to be true to His promises to us, nothing of the sort. Friends, God often puts one party in neutral, even though you're ready, while He gets everything else in place so that He can marry the two and give you the greatest blessing possible. That's what He did with Ruth. That's what He did with Nehemiah. That's what He did with Joseph. That's what He did with David. He didn't forget about Joseph in jail. He didn't forget about Ruth out in the field picking up grain. It's just she was ready. He had some other things he had to get ready to marry them up. And so if God's asking you to wait, listen, you would be smart to wait, to walk by faith and say, "Lord, I don't understand this. I don't get it. I don't like it." But if you're saying, "Wait, I'm going to wait because I want your best. And I believe even though I can't see it, you're working, I'm going to wait." Friends, trust me on this. You will be glad you waited if God says, "Wait." Because when He finally says, "Act," everything will be so clicked in perfectly that you'll shake your head in amazement and go, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe how this is working out." But you've got to give God the time that He asks for. This is why David said, Psalm 27, "Wait for the Lord. Be strong while you wait, and take courage while you wait, and wait patiently for the Lord." Let's pray together. Lord Jesus, I believe that you've talked to us today about what is probably the most difficult discipline in the Christian life. Lord acting is easy. We love to do that. But waiting is very hard for us. And it demands an incredible level of maturity and faith and biblical knowledge for us to be able to wait when you tell us. And so Lord, I pray you would have used the Word of God in our life to produce those things here today. Lord, give us the courage to act when you tell us to act. And Lord Jesus, give us the courage to wait when you tell us to wait. Thanks for talking to us today about the fact that timing is everything with you Lord. Change the way we live because we were here and we sat under the teaching of the Word of God. And we pray these things in Jesus' name. And what did God's people say? What did you say? Alright, hey, this is going to be a fun series. I'm looking forward to it. Hope you are too. See you. [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO]