Luke 2:36-52 Sermon for Jan. 18, 2026

There was also a prophetess, Anna, a daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was well along in years, having lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and was a widow for eighty-four years. She did not leave the temple, serving God night and day with fasting and prayers. At that very moment, she came up and began to thank God and speak about him to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem. (36-38) Here, we meet a woman named Anna. And, when we take a look at any given passage in Scripture, we need to understand what it DOES say and what is DOES NOT say. Another thing we need to do when it comes to any passage of Scripture is to hold it in light of the entire Word of God. Because, we can all take any verse or passage in the Bible to “support” any number of beliefs we hold, which is a serious misconduct in how one handles Scripture. Alright, here is what we know. She is the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. Asher was one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Asher was considered one the “lost tribes” after the northern tribes were disperses following the Assyrian exile in 722 BC. Of course, we can get deep into this, but not tonight. What is for us to know tonight is that Anna is identified as ‘of the tribe of Asher’ which shows that her family preserved their lineage and that God is faithful to His people even when disperses. Now, we read that Anna was a prophetess. That she was well advanced in age. Her husband died 84 years ago! She was married for 7 years. So, now let’s do that math. If she was married at the average age of 15, she is most likely 106 years old! I mean, not the youngest in the story. We read that she did not leave the temple. She served God day and night. She fasted. She prayed. She thanked God. She told others about God. She was doing a lot of Kingdom work! Here’s our first takeaway: the church today has a lot to learn from those who are advanced in age. Listen, one of the biggest mistakes churches do today is ignore the widows, the old, and the obscure women of the church, and this is a grave mistake. It’s a mistake to think that the ins and outs of church planting belong to the hip and young. False. I would be a fool to think that. There is a lot to be learned from those who have gone before us. Anna’s age, her obscurity in the temple, and the fact that she is a widow does not disqualify her from Kingdom usefulness. And one thing about this passage is that she is attentive to what’s going on. Jesus is presented at the temple. Last week, was saw that a man, named Simeon, recognize who Jesus was that very moment, and now we see that Anna does so too. And, there’s a very important lesson for us here and it’s this: spiritual attentiveness leads to spiritual recognition. Here’s what I mean: so many of us are having a hard time seeing God move and recognizing where God is present in our life and world today and it’s because you are not in tune with the Holy Spirit. Whenever someone comes to talk to me and begins to spill out their life and how everything is miserable, off balance, dark, and so forth, I ask them this question: when was the last time you genuinely worshiped the Lord? When was the last time you sought His face? When was the last time you prayed or fasted? When was the last time you spent intimate time with the Lord? Usually, it’s never. And one thing I know is this: if we are not spending time with the Lord as often as we can, we can miss the Lord’s work and hand in your life and around your life. For years, Anna worshiped and served in obscurity and the day of revelation came about this baby Jesus and immediately she know. Why? Because she didn’t let the loudness and distractions of life handcuff her. She let the Holy Spirit drive her. And, before we press on, it’s important that we recognize the importance of Anna’s role here. While many will use this passage to justify women pastors, this passage does not. You have to do some serious scriptural gymnastics to do this. Again, we need to be careful reading into Scripture what is not there. At the same time, none of that diminishes her role and usefulness in the kingdom of God, as we see so clearly here. Let’s press on. When they had completed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. The boy grew up and became strong, filled with wisdom, and God’s grace was on him. (39-40) So, now we have Jesus as a twelve year old boy. For the last twelve years, Jesus grows up in a home that’s shaped by Scripture, obedience, and reverence for the Lord. It’s really important not to complicate the nuts and bolts of how we raise kids who love the Lord. We do so by a simple Christian upbringing. Sure, we can talk about getting our kids to do this and that, Awana, Trail Blazers, and all that…and none of that is bad, but kids need parents who are doing simple Christianity, being obedient and reverent to the Lord, and who saturate their homes with Scripture. Let’s trust that this will work. Faithful households shape future faithfulness in our kids. Let’s continue. Every year his parents traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. When he was twelve years old, they went up according to the custom of the festival. After those days were over, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming he was in the traveling party, they went a day’s journey. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. After three days, they found him in the temple sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all those who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers. 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.’ (41-48) So, this is interesting. The family went to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. That’s a full one-day trip. Jesus is twelve years old. After it was over, they head back, most likely in a pack with other families on the road. After traveling a bit, they didn’t see Jesus and just assumed he was somewhere in the traveling pack. But when they didn’t find him (most likely had reached home and discovered their missing child), they had to make a full one day trip back to Jerusalem. Once there, they searched for 3 whole days. That’s five full days not knowing where your kid is. Ok, in our helicopter parenting generation, this story would give most families anxiety. I remember I couldn’t find my son, Elijah. I searched everywhere. Victoria and I searched. We called out. We looked outside. We looked in closets. We started to panic. I was getting worried. The kid was intentionally hiding from us under a table, and he thought it was funny. That was about 15 minutes or so. I freaked out after 15 minutes. Mary and Joseph looked for 5 days. 5 days! So, if the parents of God lost their child, give yourself some grace folks. The story gets a bit interesting now. They find Jesus in the temple sitting among the teachers. Those in the temple listened to the twelve-year-old boy and were astounded at his teaching, understanding, and answers. When his parents approach Jesus, most likely in a panic, they said, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” Prior to this, I’m sure both Mary and Joseph blamed each other for who was responsible for losing the savior of the world, but that’s besides the point. Let’s read what Jesus says to them when approached. ‘Why were you searching for me?’ he asked them. ‘Didn’t you know that it was necessary for me to be in my Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what he said to them. (49-50) This is Jesus’ first recorded statement. He knows who He is. He knows why He came. He knows where He belongs. And because of this, his response to his parents is the way it is. He had clarity of his identity while his parents sort of has confusion. They didn’t quite understand. What’s important for us here is that you live differently when you know Who you belong to. I want to speak into this a bit tonight because I believe that there is a severe identity crisis in our churches today. This text talks about Jesus and it’s super clear that Jesus knows that He is God and that He knows exactly what His mission is. Even if his parents are sort of trying to piece things together. I am wondering if the reason for there being such a lack of priority among believers when it comes to their spiritual activity, mission, and purpose is due to a lack of spiritual identity or mis prioritization? You see, for Jesus, before he went out to heal, teach, gather disciples, perform miracles, walk on water…He knew who He was. His identity was not unclear. His identity preceded his going forth. He spent the last twelve years being formed, growing in maturity, increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people. That’s what it says in verses 51-52. Over the last several years of ministry, one thing I’ve noticed is this increase in a fractured identity in God’s people. They’re not sure what their purpose is in life when it comes to the Kingdom of God. They’re not sure what it means to be men and women of God in their workplaces outside of a few good moral choices. They’re not sure of their giftings. My challenge to you tonight is to capture your identity as a child of God who has been forgiven, adopted, redeemed, sealed, and commissioned to be citizens of God’s Kingdom here on earth. My challenge is for you to see what this means outside of Sunday. Your work is kingdom work. Your role as a parent is kingdom work. Your job as a student is kingdom work. When you frame your life in kingdom lenses, what will that look like for you? You need to process this because if we are to be effective as kingdom workers, we need to have a deep sense of who we are and to Whom we belong to. Let’s read these last two verses and I’ll leave you with two more thoughts. Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them. His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people. (51-52) My thoughts here sort of continue what we were just talking about. Jesus’ parents responded in bewilderment. One thing you should know is that those closest to you will often respond in bewilderment when you choose to obey God above them or anything else. Here’s what I mean: Here, Jesus gently but firmly reveals a higher allegiance. At the same time, he honored his parents and obeyed them. Both can be true. Jesus affirms that his calling from God warrants a higher allegiance than anything else. How many of us had expectations put on us by parents growing up? How many of us still have parents who think we should do certain things even while we are adults? That’s nothing new. One of the pledges I took towards my kids is this: As long as you honor the Lord’s calling in your life, you are free to go wherever you want in this world. If the Lord has called you to move away, I’ll honor that. If the Lord has called you into missions, I’ll honor that. If the Lord has called you to do such and such, I’ll step out of the way and honor that. Why? Well, because our kids don’t belong to us. They belong to God and God has asked that we steward that call in them. We are not to get in the way. My highest goal in life is for my kids to follow the Lord and where the Lord leads them. My highest goal is to understand that their highest allegiance is to Jesus; not me. And yet, in the text, that can be true while still honoring their parents. Jesus does it here. It says that Jesus went back down to Nazareth with them and obeyed them. If the son of God can do this, so can kids today. Jesus didn’t compromised His identity or mission. And yet, he still loved his parents. As parents, we shouldn’t ask our kids to compromise their identity in Jesus and we shouldn’t ask our kids to do things that dishonor the Lord. If our kids truly are following Jesus, we should support that. And we shouldn’t give in to the temptation to think we know how this honoring and following the Lord should look like. That belongs to God only. As I invite the worship team back up, I’ll leave this one thing for the older kids. Listen, we know that you know everything and it’s nothing new. When I was younger, I knew everything too. But, you should know this: you don’t know everything and neither do we. My challenge here for you is to follow what Jesus does here and to honor your parents. Your parents are not going to be around forever and, as parents, we truly do love you more than you can imagine. Submit to your parents as Jesus “the true wisdom of God” (1 Cor. 1:24) does to His parents. Parents, my challenge here for you is to help your kids steward their gifts and calling from Jesus. Help them to find their true identity in Jesus and as Jesus makes it clear to them their calling in life (work, relationships, etc.), help them to honor God.