WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:10.080 Born Stevlin Hardaway Judkins to Calvin Judgins and Lula May Hardaway on May 13, 1950, in Saginaw, Michigan. 00:00:10.240 --> 00:00:19.120 He was born six weeks mature, premature rather, with a condition called retinopathy, which meant when he was born, he was born blind. 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:26.640 But even with this disability, he made his landmark as a pioneer and innovator in the music industry. 00:00:26.879 --> 00:00:35.520 His mother, Lulamey, and his family moved to Detroit when Stevlin was four years old. 00:00:36.159 --> 00:00:41.359 She changed his name from Stevlin Judkins to Stevlin Morris. 00:00:41.920 --> 00:00:57.439 And he showed an early gift for music, first with his church choir in Detroit, and then later with a range of instruments, including the piano, the drums, and the harmonica, all which he taught himself before the age of 10. 00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:11.519 He was discovered by Gerald White, who persuaded his brother Ronnie White, who was a famous singer at the time, to visit and listen to him perform. 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:20.959 Ronnie, after seeing Stevlin perform at age 11, invited him and his mother to Motown Records to visit Barry Gordy, a name you might know. 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:30.799 Barry Gordy wasn't that impressed, though, by his singing or by his drumming, but he was impressed when Stevlin played the harmonica. 00:01:31.120 --> 00:01:32.640 In fact, he was amazed. 00:01:32.799 --> 00:01:46.959 And so in 1961, at the age of 11, Stevlin was signed by Motown Records with a stage name that reflected his amazing ability to play musical instruments while singing. 00:01:47.200 --> 00:01:49.599 His stage name was A Little Wonder. 00:01:49.840 --> 00:01:55.200 He released his first number one hit in 1963 at 12 years old. 00:01:55.439 --> 00:02:01.200 The hit was a half-improvised fingertips part two, recorded live in concert. 00:02:01.439 --> 00:02:05.359 In fact, it was the first pop single ever to reach number one. 00:02:05.599 --> 00:02:13.919 Listening to the recording, you can actually hear the musicians struggling to keep up with the young musician as he improvises. 00:02:14.000 --> 00:02:19.680 And at one point in the recording, you can even hear a musician shouting, What key? 00:02:19.759 --> 00:02:20.800 What key? 00:02:21.280 --> 00:02:31.360 The song was added to his debut album, and he became the first singer ever to record a number one album and a number one single simultaneously. 00:02:31.599 --> 00:02:35.759 He dropped little from his stage name as his voice began to change. 00:02:35.919 --> 00:02:45.919 And he wrote hits like Uptight, Everything's Alright, and he even wrote a song for Smokey Robinson called A Miracle of Tears. 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:53.280 I'm sorry, The Mirac for Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Tears of a Clown. 00:02:53.680 --> 00:03:02.240 Other songs, which were big hits in the 60s and 70s, were I Was Made to Love Her for Once in My Life and signed, sealed, and delivered. 00:03:02.400 --> 00:03:06.240 I'm yours, which he stated was an idea that he'd gotten from his mother. 00:03:06.319 --> 00:03:14.240 And if you've not guessed it by now, Stevie Wonder went on to receive 21 Grammy Awards, his first at the age of 23. 00:03:14.960 --> 00:03:20.479 And he was inducted into the Hall of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame at the age of 33. 00:03:20.639 --> 00:03:23.360 So Stevie Wonder was a child prodigy. 00:03:23.599 --> 00:03:34.800 And this is uh similar but not quite the same situation you have with Jesus, uh, where he astonished his parents and he amazed his teachers. 00:03:35.120 --> 00:03:39.360 And we're going to look more closely at that passage. 00:03:40.800 --> 00:03:57.120 So imagine this was Jerusalem back in the first century, and every year Jesus' family went to the Feast of Passover, and that was like a 60-mile walk because they walked to Jerusalem. 00:03:57.360 --> 00:04:00.240 They would basically do about 20 miles each day. 00:04:00.319 --> 00:04:03.280 So if you can imagine, that's that's 20 miles. 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:13.120 That's like from here to Decatur, day one, Decatur to Conyers, day two, and Conyers to Social Circle. 00:04:13.439 --> 00:04:15.520 Anyone know what's in social circle? 00:04:15.840 --> 00:04:17.439 I know my wife does. 00:04:17.680 --> 00:04:21.839 It's the Blue Willow Inn, which is a great place to eat. 00:04:21.920 --> 00:04:24.959 It's like this old, any any of you been there? 00:04:25.279 --> 00:04:26.160 There, a few. 00:04:26.319 --> 00:04:30.079 It's like this old house, southern cooking, very nice. 00:04:30.399 --> 00:04:31.120 You'd enjoy it. 00:04:31.439 --> 00:04:33.279 Lynn took me there once on my birthday. 00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:34.240 It was a lot of fun. 00:04:34.399 --> 00:04:44.240 But so 60 miles, 20 miles each day, all the way to all the way to social circle, and they've arrived in Jerusalem. 00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:52.319 So Passover is one of three major festivals to which the Jews would make a pilgrimage. 00:04:52.399 --> 00:04:55.040 Um, this was the most important of the three. 00:04:55.199 --> 00:05:03.120 And it was especially important for the uh all good Jews, especially men, to make this this uh trip every year. 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:14.720 Um that Joseph and Mary both went along with their family, and by this time Jesus would have had brothers and sisters, so you know, several of them went along. 00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:16.959 That that tells us a lot about their family. 00:05:17.120 --> 00:05:19.120 They were very devout Jews. 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:24.399 So why Jerusalem? 00:05:24.720 --> 00:05:30.560 Jerusalem, because that's where the temple was, and the temple was where God's presence was. 00:05:30.800 --> 00:05:34.879 So it's you know very different than the way that we think of God today. 00:05:35.120 --> 00:05:41.759 It's like I've I've got we've got to go to Jerusalem where the temple is so we can be in the presence of God. 00:05:41.839 --> 00:05:45.360 And that's that's the way they would have thought back in the first century. 00:05:46.160 --> 00:05:49.839 The temple, by the way, nothing like our church. 00:05:50.079 --> 00:05:54.639 Um it, as I said, is a place where God dwelled. 00:05:54.879 --> 00:06:00.560 It was where the Jewish people went to meet with God, but they couldn't meet directly with God. 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:03.519 They had to meet with God through a priest. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:09.279 And so, if you can imagine, they they have this wonderful temple where God dwelled. 00:06:09.360 --> 00:06:12.720 But God dwelled in one place in the temple. 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:14.560 It was called the Holy of Holies. 00:06:14.800 --> 00:06:21.360 And the Holy of Holies was inside the holy place, and the holy place was inside the courtyard. 00:06:21.519 --> 00:06:25.519 And the courtyard was a place that only the priests could go. 00:06:26.399 --> 00:06:35.759 The holy of holies, where God actually dwelt, only the high priest could go, and he could only go once a year to actually meet with God. 00:06:35.920 --> 00:06:53.839 And we're not going to talk about that today, but that was that was a very holy, a very awe-inspiring, a very special day when the high priest went in and actually physically met with God with his presence. 00:06:54.720 --> 00:06:58.720 Um, this was not the first time, by the way, that Jesus had been to the temple. 00:06:58.800 --> 00:07:04.160 The very first time is recorded back in Luke 2, verse 22. 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:19.279 And it was when Mary and Joseph took Jesus up for his purification to the temple, which was something that the male children, babies, uh, went through when they were born. 00:07:19.439 --> 00:07:22.160 Basically, that's where when he was circumcised. 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:26.720 And it was not the first time that Mary had been amazed by God. 00:07:26.959 --> 00:07:44.399 And you remember, the first time was probably, no doubt, when when here's Mary, this, I don't know, maybe maybe 13-year-old teenager, and and God comes to her and says, says, Mary, do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God. 00:07:44.639 --> 00:07:47.360 And that that in itself is amazing. 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:57.759 But then he tells her, and behold, you will receive, conceive, rather, in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:01.519 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. 00:08:01.759 --> 00:08:04.480 And there were other times that Mary was amazed. 00:08:04.879 --> 00:08:14.639 Remember, and Russ talked about this a couple of weeks ago, remember when Mary, after she was pregnant, went to visit her cousin Elizabeth. 00:08:14.800 --> 00:08:18.480 And Elizabeth was pregnant, of course, with with John the Baptist. 00:08:18.720 --> 00:08:27.519 And when Elizabeth saw Mary and heard Mary, John the Baptist in Elizabeth's womb jumped. 00:08:27.600 --> 00:08:29.839 And they were both amazed. 00:08:30.079 --> 00:08:34.879 And then when the shepherds visited the stable after Jesus was born, remember that? 00:08:35.360 --> 00:08:50.799 And then another time when Mary and Joseph had taken Jesus to the temple for circumcision, they were amazed when they met Simeon and Anna, the prophet and the prophetess, and both of them told about who Jesus was. 00:08:50.960 --> 00:08:57.200 And so Mary and Joseph, no doubt, they knew and they understand, understood who Jesus was. 00:08:57.360 --> 00:09:05.519 And this is important because as I began to study this passage, um, I thought, boy, how on earth am I gonna preach this? 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:12.080 And then there's something in it that is even more amazing than what we're looking at right now. 00:09:12.159 --> 00:09:17.360 And now I'm not gonna, it surprised me, and I'm not gonna tell you what that is until we get there. 00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:19.120 It'll be just a minute. 00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:28.080 And so anyway, um, here Mary and Joseph, they made the three-day trek to Jerusalem. 00:09:28.320 --> 00:09:33.360 They were probably there about a week, participating in the feasts and the festivities. 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:38.080 Most important, they participated in the sacrifice of the Passover Lamb. 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:48.879 And it's important to mention that because you remember the Passover Lamb, a type of Christ, who would be Christ, who would be the real Passover Lamb. 00:09:48.960 --> 00:10:00.799 So all of the the entire um the entire week, everything that happened, if you study it and think about it, it's all pointing to Jesus. 00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:12.559 And Jesus, that 12-year-old boy who is now in the town in Jerusalem where the Passover um uh sacrifice is being made, which will one day be him. 00:10:13.759 --> 00:10:21.279 Anyway, by the end of the week, um they've they've had all of the feasts, all of the festivities, they're on their way home. 00:10:21.440 --> 00:10:28.320 Um they're on their way home and they're making that first day trek, and then Jesus stays behind. 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:34.080 This is kind of an interesting thing because we think of Jesus as Jesus never did anything wrong. 00:10:34.399 --> 00:10:35.519 He never sinned. 00:10:35.759 --> 00:10:42.240 And so you're thinking, well, the 12-year-old Jesus stayed behind, that's that's not good, is it? 00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:49.600 And Mary and Joseph, one whole day of travel, and they didn't know he's not with them. 00:10:49.679 --> 00:10:53.440 And you think, well, gosh, that that too is not very good. 00:10:53.600 --> 00:10:56.320 I mean, his parents aren't really watching out. 00:10:57.120 --> 00:11:04.000 And um, but if you think about it, first century Jerusalem, first century Jews, that that's not uncommon. 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:10.960 It would have been a big crowd of people, it would have been a lot of relatives, a lot of friends, and they were all together. 00:11:11.039 --> 00:11:17.440 And so I'm sure it was uh um quite normal for the children to be apart from their parents. 00:11:18.159 --> 00:11:25.519 Nonetheless, um, no doubt Mary and Joseph had a couple of sleepless nights. 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:29.600 And if you think about it, it's it's kind of like leaving your child in target. 00:11:30.080 --> 00:11:42.399 And I'm I'm sure nobody here has ever done that, but I'm sure one of the things that some of you have done is when you're in the parking lot about to leave, you look in the back seat and count if I got them all. 00:11:42.639 --> 00:11:47.200 But you know, you kind of those are things parents kind of worry about, leaving leaving their children. 00:11:47.440 --> 00:11:48.720 I've never done that. 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:59.039 Um I will confess one thing I did do once was I left one of our daughters when she was a baby on the changing table one night. 00:11:59.360 --> 00:12:06.559 And in in my defense, we had we had twins, so there were I put two of them to bed. 00:12:06.799 --> 00:12:10.320 I was tired, and I I just lost count. 00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:22.559 So she she was on the changing table, and Lynn comes in and finds Laura on the changing table, which, as you can imagine, was not good for me. 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:32.480 So they walked a whole day back to Jerusalem and began looking for Jesus. 00:12:32.559 --> 00:12:35.679 And I'll bet you that was a long day for Joseph. 00:12:38.799 --> 00:12:41.200 Um, because I'm sure it was his fault. 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:48.080 Anyway, they they found they found Jesus and he was sitting in the temple. 00:12:48.480 --> 00:12:50.559 Um He was sitting in the temple. 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:51.519 Think about this. 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:55.919 Jesus was sitting in the temple, the very place of God's presence. 00:12:56.159 --> 00:13:02.639 Um he had been there three days, and all who heard him were amazed. 00:13:02.799 --> 00:13:07.919 And I, boy, I really, don't you just wonder, what on earth were were they talking about? 00:13:08.320 --> 00:13:13.519 Like Jesus was asking questions and he was answering questions, and what what was that like? 00:13:13.679 --> 00:13:29.360 And and you know, we talked about Stevie Wonder being a child prodigy, and some people say, well, Jesus must have been a child prodigy because obviously he had an uncanny understanding about life, and he had an uncanny understanding of the Old Testament. 00:13:29.600 --> 00:13:36.000 But but maybe I think more likely Jesus was a lot more than a child prodigy. 00:13:36.879 --> 00:13:41.600 Um but but nonetheless, they were amazed. 00:13:43.679 --> 00:13:45.039 I mean, think about this. 00:13:46.799 --> 00:13:51.759 It's like the carpenter's son sitting with the PhD theologians. 00:13:51.919 --> 00:13:54.159 I mean, it just I don't even make sense. 00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:58.080 And so Mary and Joseph finally find him. 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:04.480 There he is, sitting with the these these teachers, and they're just astonished. 00:14:04.960 --> 00:14:11.840 Um but but Mary then says, son, why have you treated us so? 00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:15.840 And so it sounds like Mary is scolding or admonishing Jesus. 00:14:16.000 --> 00:14:24.080 And I'm thinking, and and I would if it was my child, you know, running off and being gone, and I'm searching for him for three days. 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:33.440 And and I think it's understandable that she did that, but um for sure she didn't understand what was really going on here. 00:14:33.679 --> 00:14:37.279 And this is not the last time, by the way, for Mary that'll happen. 00:14:37.440 --> 00:14:41.440 When when Jesus does something that she simply doesn't understand. 00:14:42.000 --> 00:14:47.360 Um in fact, Jesus did a lot of things that the people that were closest to him didn't understand. 00:14:47.519 --> 00:14:54.559 In fact, Jesus does things in my life, in your life, that I don't understand and that you don't understand. 00:14:55.279 --> 00:15:10.879 Um three days of worrying about where is Jesus, what what has happened to him, um, how do we respond to those kinds of unexpected difficulties? 00:15:11.039 --> 00:15:11.919 Because we have them. 00:15:12.000 --> 00:15:13.120 We have them in our lives. 00:15:13.279 --> 00:15:14.399 We have them all the time. 00:15:14.559 --> 00:15:37.440 When when when troubles happen and we simply don't understand what's going on when when Jesus seems to be absent from our lives, it's um it's like, and Jesus is going to speak up in a minute, but it's like I I think in my own life I realize that sometimes my understanding of Jesus is just too small. 00:15:37.600 --> 00:15:50.320 I I don't see the big picture, I don't see what's really going on here, and yes, I'm going through a difficult time, but there's something much bigger that's going on, that's even better than what I can comprehend. 00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:54.799 Um so, like Mary, we can't always see the big picture. 00:15:54.960 --> 00:16:05.919 Um certainly Jesus was much bigger than Mary's frantic search for him, and he's much bigger than the circumstances of our less than perfect lives. 00:16:07.840 --> 00:16:15.919 So what is it that that Jesus, or why did Jesus rather stay behind in the first place? 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:21.519 And that that that's kind of an interesting thing to contemplate, and and I can think of two possible reasons. 00:16:22.000 --> 00:16:24.159 One was to be in God's presence. 00:16:24.399 --> 00:16:27.200 And why would Jesus want to be in God's presence? 00:16:27.360 --> 00:16:29.919 Because Jesus is, of course, God's son. 00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:36.480 And and then the second reason, and we're gonna see it in a minute, I think to make a statement about God. 00:16:37.759 --> 00:16:44.799 The teachers were amazed, his parents were astonished, and and I'm I was blown away by what he says next. 00:16:44.960 --> 00:16:49.919 Because he says, he says to them, Why were you looking for me? 00:16:51.360 --> 00:16:54.240 Did you not know that I must be in my father's house? 00:16:54.480 --> 00:16:58.159 By the way, these are the first recorded words of Jesus. 00:16:58.480 --> 00:16:59.679 Think about that. 00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:05.200 And you think, well, wait a minute, he's like talking back to his mom? 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:07.119 Why are you looking for me? 00:17:08.160 --> 00:17:20.079 His response seems disrespectful, and if one of my children had wandered off and it took me three days to find them, and then they responded to me with a question, that wouldn't have been good. 00:17:21.200 --> 00:17:23.680 But I don't think that's what's going on here. 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:35.440 Um in my father's house is actually an interesting phrase because some of your Bibles will have I'm about my father's business, which sounds different. 00:17:35.680 --> 00:17:45.759 But, and I'm no Greek scholar, but I went and looked up what somebody else said about this passage, and they said, What the literal translation is in thee of my father. 00:17:46.640 --> 00:17:52.240 So the translation's not exactly clear, but what is clear is that he says, My father. 00:17:52.640 --> 00:17:54.240 Think about that for a minute. 00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:56.960 And Mary, by the way, is speechless. 00:17:59.119 --> 00:18:04.880 When Jesus said, My father, and I looked this up, that was a first. 00:18:05.519 --> 00:18:10.000 No one had ever said that about God, my father. 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:13.599 Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, they didn't say it. 00:18:13.920 --> 00:18:15.839 Joseph never said, My father. 00:18:16.000 --> 00:18:19.119 Moses never said my father, David never said my father. 00:18:19.279 --> 00:18:20.720 Jesus was the first. 00:18:21.519 --> 00:18:26.400 And and and think about this a little bit more, you have to understand the way the Jews thought. 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:36.880 Um to the Jew, to say, my father in reference to God was just completely unthinkable. 00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:40.720 I mean, unthinkable, not in the sense of you should never do that. 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:45.920 Unthinkable in the sense, I would never think of to say that because it's just inconceivable. 00:18:46.160 --> 00:18:55.599 God, who is untouchable, unsearchable, unknowable, and beyond such casual mention, God's presence was simply unapproachable. 00:18:55.759 --> 00:19:08.400 And you you would never say anything as casual as my father, because it it presumes a closeness or an intimacy that's just simply unthinkable. 00:19:12.640 --> 00:19:24.319 So Jesus at the age of 12, he what he's doing here is ushering in a cataclysmic shift about the way we think about God. 00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:31.920 God is no longer or not simply the way some of us grew up thinking about God. 00:19:32.000 --> 00:19:36.079 He's some far-off deity that I must try my best to appease. 00:19:37.279 --> 00:19:41.599 He's not a hard, harsh dispenser of justice. 00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:44.799 He's not an approachable and unknowable force. 00:19:45.119 --> 00:19:49.119 Jesus, my Father, is now approachable. 00:19:49.440 --> 00:19:52.079 He's personal and he's relational. 00:19:53.119 --> 00:19:54.319 That's big. 00:19:54.880 --> 00:19:55.839 That is good. 00:19:56.000 --> 00:19:57.440 That is good news. 00:19:57.519 --> 00:19:58.799 That's the gospel. 00:19:59.119 --> 00:20:02.480 Jesus is personal and approachable. 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:11.200 His love is a never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, unending, always and forever love. 00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:17.920 And that 12-year-old Jesus is basically saying, This is new. 00:20:18.400 --> 00:20:22.000 And I'm thinking, because I really thought about this. 00:20:22.960 --> 00:20:26.799 Why doesn't Mary then fuss at Jesus some more? 00:20:26.960 --> 00:20:30.480 I mean, she'd already said, why did you make us walk all the way back for you? 00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:36.640 And then he gives them this answer, I must be about my father's business, and she says nothing. 00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:49.440 I think my opinion, the Bible doesn't say this, but it sure seems like she's just, she's completely blown away because he says, My father, which was to a Jew. 00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:51.680 Think about this. 00:20:52.319 --> 00:21:00.799 Mary knows that Jesus is the Messiah, but she doesn't understand what that's going to look like or how that's going to unfold. 00:21:02.079 --> 00:21:07.359 But Jesus is basically announcing that his name is Emmanuel. 00:21:07.599 --> 00:21:08.480 God with us. 00:21:11.279 --> 00:21:20.240 So one of my favorite authors, Rankin Wilburne, says this even the best and most intimate human relationship has its limits. 00:21:20.640 --> 00:21:25.279 No relationship can cure our loneliness, but the one who we were made for. 00:21:25.519 --> 00:21:31.759 The one that is more central, more defining, and closer to you than any other relationship you could ever have. 00:21:31.920 --> 00:21:33.920 Your relationship with Christ. 00:21:34.240 --> 00:21:40.160 Jesus offers you what no other partner could, unwavering and eternal fidelity. 00:21:40.400 --> 00:21:43.599 No sickness, not even death, will part you. 00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:52.079 And this is what Jesus is beginning to tell, and what he's beginning to minister to the people there in Jerusalem. 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:54.400 So everything has changed. 00:21:54.559 --> 00:22:01.039 No longer is my world a world where I struggle to measure up to expectations, my own or others. 00:22:01.279 --> 00:22:12.960 Jesus has declared that Almighty God, who controls all, who has made all, as his father, and not only his father, but your father, my father. 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:18.240 For sure they didn't understand what he said to them. 00:22:18.319 --> 00:22:21.599 They were astonished, they were speechless, maybe awestruck. 00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:23.920 But pause for a minute. 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:26.240 Think about what this means to us. 00:22:27.039 --> 00:22:36.160 It means very simply that God loves us, He adores us, and He wants to have a relationship with you, with me. 00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:41.839 That is the only reason that Jesus Christ showed up. 00:22:42.400 --> 00:22:43.839 This is the gospel. 00:22:44.480 --> 00:22:49.440 Mary has just been told that all of her dreams have come true. 00:22:49.759 --> 00:22:51.039 As have we. 00:22:56.559 --> 00:23:02.000 Brendan Manning says it this way: God created us for union with himself. 00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:05.119 This is the original purpose of our lives. 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:09.119 And God defined it as love. 00:23:09.599 --> 00:23:15.119 Living in awareness of our belovedness is the axis around which the Christian life revolves. 00:23:15.440 --> 00:23:19.519 Being the beloved is our identity, the core of our existence. 00:23:19.680 --> 00:23:26.319 It is not merely a lofty thought, an inspiring idea, or one name among many. 00:23:26.559 --> 00:23:31.359 It is the name by which God knows us and the way He relates to us. 00:23:33.039 --> 00:23:38.079 So who is this boy who amazes the most learned teachers? 00:23:38.240 --> 00:23:45.519 Who is this boy that caused the untouchable, all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the universe? 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:46.720 My Father. 00:23:48.720 --> 00:23:54.079 And that in itself is scandalous, unthinkable, incomprehensible. 00:23:54.799 --> 00:23:59.359 But this simple statement, my father, is not just life-changing. 00:23:59.759 --> 00:24:02.319 This simple statement changes everything. 00:24:02.559 --> 00:24:03.599 Let's pray. 00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:08.319 Heavenly Father, thank you for Jesus. 00:24:08.640 --> 00:24:22.720 Thank you that you have made a way for us to know you, to for us to relate to you, for us to find all of our answers to life in you. 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:37.279 I pray, Lord, that even as we think about Jesus as a 12 year old, that we'll think about our own lives and what we most need and recognize that in that what we most need is you. 00:24:37.759 --> 00:24:41.279 Thank you, Jesus, that you have provided that to us in Christ's name. 00:24:41.440 --> 00:24:41.759 Amen.