Lost and Found

Wednesday, April 7, 2021

“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 (Luke 2.49-50 NIV).

I used to hear people mock those who had “found Jesus,” saying something about how they didn’t know He’d gone missing, as if they were so funny and so clever. Fact is, everyone is searching for whatever they think might make them fulfilled, help them belong, or make them know and be known and accepted. Not everyone knows that Jesus is what they seek.

Some of us won’t admit it, and others have fallen asleep, drugged into ambivalence by shiny things like technology and comfort. Deep down, though, where all our secrets are laid bare, we know lostness, and we must own it because we can’t lie forever. The nature of a lie is that at some point the truth will be made known. The whole purpose of concealment is revelation.

When Jesus asks His parents why they were searching for Him, He isn’t rebuking their search. He’s expressing incredulity at their lack of understanding about where to find Him.

So where have you been looking for life? Where have you been looking for fulfillment, belonging, and acceptance? You should know that there’s only one place you’ll find it, and that place is a Person: the Word of God made flesh; that is, made obvious, even to us, dull as we are.

Remember that His parents didn’t get it. Even after He spoke the solution to their questions and brought potential understanding out into the open, they still didn’t get it. This has far less to do with human intelligence than it does with the longsuffering love and mercy of God.

This is still the age of grace, and Jesus still stands, arms open wide, ready to receive any who would turn to Him. Our part is to participate in what He’s doing. Most of the time He’s not where we’re searching for Him, and the panic in our chests ought to be the first clue.

We will find Him in His Father’s house, about the Father’s business, pulling tax collectors and prostitutes from the threshold of hell.