The heart of a son

There is an amazing passage in Luke 2 when the twelve year old Jesus stays in the temple at the end of the Passover feast to talk to the teachers and leaders. When Joseph and Mary eventually find him he says: “How is it that you had to look for me? Did you not see and know that it is necessary for me to be in my Father’s house and about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49-51 AMP). To Jesus, it was the most natural thing to be in his Father’s house doing what his Father was doing. Mary and Joseph could not understand this, and despite his desire to start his Heavenly Father’s business, Jesus submitted to his earthly parents, returned to Nazareth and went back to work in the carpenter’s shop. He served them faithfully for another eighteen years until he started what we call his ministry.

No longer orphans

An orphan has no identity, no name, no family and no inheritance. Whereas a slave is bound to another, an orphan can try to make something happen for himself. Because nothing has been done for him, the orphan has to fight for everything he needs or wants. He has to make a name for himself and strive to gain position, possessions and pride. Once he has them, he is not going to let them go. At all costs he will hold on to them for they are his! An orphan cannot give freely because he has no guarantee that what he gives will be replaced. He is like the worker in the parable who buried his talent in the ground rather than investing it in the bank. He can trust no-one to look after it on his behalf, so he holds on to it rather than releasing it to grow and prosper.

No longer slaves

The book of Galatians tells us that Christians were once slaves to the law but have been set free through the redeeming work of Jesus. We have been taken from slavery and brought into sonship. As Paul says in Romans 8, it is a glorious sonship. No matter how hard we try, we cannot break away from this old life by our own efforts. The work of Jesus on the cross sets us free from the empty, going-nowhere life of a slave and gives us full life in him.