FAQ – Faithfully Asked Questions, a summer sermon series on questions asked by the children and adults of the church, week 1 of 7
Preached June 13, 2021 for the Children’s moment at the 9:30am Worship
Good morning! Today, Rev. Caitlan and I are going to TRY to answer some of the questions you or your parents and grandparents, or others in the church asked us, and I have four questions some of you turned it to us. They are all about Jesus when he was a kid!
Did you know Jesus was once your age? He was. (Not for those of you over 35, but everyone else!) Now, the only stuff we have in scripture about Jesus as a kid is in the Gospel according to Luke, Chapter 2. So let’s see what questions yall turned in, and what Luke might tell us.
Your first question was.. Where did Jesus grow up?
Luke 2:4-7
4 Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because Joseph was descended from the house and family of David. 5 He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. 7 And she gave birth to her firstborn son… (that’s Jesus they are talking about.) Then later, it says…
Luke 2:21-22
21 After eight days had passed, it was time to welcome the child into God’s family and name the child; and he was called Jesus… and 22 When the time came… they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord
So Jesus was born in Bethlehem. When he was still a baby, he lived in Jerusalem for a while. Then it says...
Luke 2:39
When they had finished everything required by the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.
That’s where Jesus grew up, in the town of Nazareth, in the area called Galilee.
Someone else asked “What did Jesus wear?” Well, when he was born, it says
Luke 2:7
…Mary gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth.
When babies are still in a mommy’s tummy, they are wrapped up in there tight. When they are born, it feels weird to them. So grownups wrap babies in blankets or cloths so they feel cuddled and swaddled like mommy’s tummy did.
It doesn’t tell us what he wore as he grew up, but we know what typical children of that time wore… they had underwear, a girdle they wore down here, around their waist and up between their legs… they had an undershirt they wore on the top half of their body… they had a larger tunic they wore that went from their shoulders all the way to their knees or maybe ankles… and they had leather sandals on their feet. They might wear a belt around the tunic, or they might wear a second tunic, like a coat, over their whole body. And sometimes, they might wear some cloth on their head, to block the sun or to keep in the warmth.
Someone else asked… What did he like to do as a kid? …And… What did Jesus do during the day?
Jesus was a member of a family, so he probably had chores to do every day like go get water from the river for washing and cooking, or help in the kitchen get the meal ready, or help with laundry, or help feed and take care of the animals.
Jesus also went to school, where he learned to read and write, and he learned the stories, the histories of his people. And Jesus went to church. They called it synagogue, or temple. That was their church.
He went on trips with his family. One time he and his family joined a big group of people from Nazareth and they all…
Luke 2:42-46
…went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover 42 when he was twelve years old, … 43 When the festival was over and (everyone) started to return, Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. 44 They assumed Jesus was in the group of travelers. They went a day’s journey, then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, (his parents) went all the way back to Jerusalem to search for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the preachers, and lawyers, and teachers, and professors, listening to them and asking them questions.
That’s one thing we KNOW he liked to do. He likes learning. He liked to ask big questions about God and life. He liked looking for what was true, and he liked hanging out at church with other people who liked thinking about and talking about God. He was a lot like you…
Will you pray with me?