Don't Suppose Jesus Is With You; Seek Him

Devotional

Day 1: The Boy Among Teachers

Jesus lingered in the temple courts at twelve years old, asking questions and astonishing rabbis with His understanding. His parents searched three days before finding Him there. He declared, “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” Mary stored these words in her heart, struggling to grasp His divine purpose. [56:10]

Jesus prioritized His Father’s work even as a child. He modeled seeking God’s presence over human expectations, showing that spiritual hunger starts young. The teachers marveled not at His age, but His alignment with heaven’s wisdom.

Where have you assumed Jesus’ presence instead of actively seeking Him? When responsibilities or routines distract you, pause. Ask: “What is my Father’s business here?” What practical step will you take today to prioritize His agenda over yours?

“After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.”
(Luke 2:46-47, NIV)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to reveal one area where He’s calling you to seek Him instead of assuming His alignment with your plans.

Challenge: Read Luke 2:41-52 aloud. Underline every action Jesus takes in the passage.

Day 2: When Assumptions Blind Us

Mary and Joseph assumed Jesus traveled with their caravan. Panic struck when they realized He wasn’t there. Their unchecked expectation delayed finding Him. Like them, we often mistake cultural familiarity (“He’s with the relatives”) for true spiritual connection. [55:27]

Assumptions about Jesus’ location breed complacency. The disciples once assumed He’d overthrow Rome; Peter assumed He’d avoid the cross. Every miscalculation revealed their limited vision of His mission.

What modern “caravans” do you assume Jesus automatically joins—political movements, church traditions, or personal agendas? Where might He instead be waiting for you to backtrack and seek Him?

“But they supposed he was in the group, and went a day’s journey.”
(Luke 2:44, ESV)

Prayer: Confess one assumption you’ve made about Jesus’ priorities that needs correction.

Challenge: Identify a relationship or situation where you’ve projected your views onto Jesus. Write down three questions to ask Him about it.

Day 3: The Reward of Seeking

Zacchaeus climbed a tree to see Jesus. The bleeding woman pushed through crowds to touch His robe. Both found more than answers—they found the Healer Himself. Hebrews 11:6 promises God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. The reward? Deeper communion with Christ. [01:10:33]

Jesus told Mary, “Why were you searching? Didn’t you know…?” His gentle rebuke highlights our tendency to seek Him in predictable places. True seeking requires dismantling preconceptions of where He “should” be.

When has Jesus surprised you by showing up outside your expectations? How might your prayer life change if you pursued His presence more than your predetermined outcomes?

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
(Jeremiah 29:13, NIV)

Prayer: Thank Jesus for three specific times He revealed Himself in unexpected ways.

Challenge: Spend 10 minutes in silent prayer before opening your Bible today. Write down impressions.

Day 4: Not Lost, But Purposeful

Jesus wasn’t lost in Jerusalem—He was exactly where His Father wanted Him. While others journeyed home, He lingered to engage Scripture. His deliberate choice to stay teaches us: God’s assignments often interrupt human schedules. [53:42]

The temple teachers gained fresh insight because a twelve-year-old prioritized divine dialogue over tradition. Jesus’ questions pierced religious formalism, just as His presence today disrupts our empty routines.

What “Nazareth-bound” routine have you prioritized over lingering with Christ? What would it look like to let Him redirect your schedule today?

“And he said to them, ‘Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?’”
(Luke 2:49, NKJV)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to interrupt one planned activity this week with His divine agenda.

Challenge: Cancel one non-essential appointment to create space for uninterrupted prayer.

Day 5: From Supposing to Seeking

Mary stored mysteries in her heart, choosing wonder over quick conclusions. Her example invites us to hold tensions—Jesus was both her son and her Savior. Like her, we grow by pondering His paradoxes rather than forcing Him into boxes. [01:00:15]

The resurrected Christ told Mary Magdalene, “Do not cling to me”—a warning against freezing our understanding of Him. Seasons change; fresh seeking keeps us current with His movements.

What spiritual box have you constructed for Jesus? How might He be inviting you to seek Him beyond its walls this month?

“But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”
(Luke 2:19, ESV)

Prayer: Ask Jesus to replace one rigid belief about Him with childlike curiosity.

Challenge: Share a recent “treasured moment” of encountering Christ with someone under 18 this week.

Sermon Summary

Psalm 23 names the Lord as the good shepherd who leads, provides, and makes a way where there seems to be none. The God of Jacob, Moses, Mary, and David shows up the same today, raising valleys, lowering mountains, and doing the impossible in the middle of ordinary gathered worship. That confession frames Luke’s account in 2:39-52, where Luke shows Jesus fulfilling the law to the last detail, being presented, circumcised, and growing strong in spirit, wisdom, and grace. The text keeps saying it this way because Jesus keeps the commandments people could not keep, even the fifth, and he does it on their behalf.

At twelve, the custom draws Jesus to Jerusalem again, and then a surprising verb carries the weight of the moment. Jesus lingers. He stays on purpose. He is not lost, panicked, or careless. He takes responsibility for his own spiritual development, exactly as a Jewish boy entering accountability should, and he remains in his Father’s house to do his Father’s work. The scene in the temple is not a spectacle but a posture. Jesus listens and asks. He also answers. The real Jesus is really impressive, and all who hear him are astonished at his understanding and replies.

Mary and Joseph suppose. They suppose he is with the company, with the relatives, with their plans, under their parental claims. Their anxious search finally finds him in the only place he “must” be. “Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?” The Father named here is not Joseph. The identity and mission sit right in that sentence. Even so, Jesus goes down to Nazareth and is subject to them, and Luke ties a ribbon on it with a quiet sentence of holy arithmetic. Obedience brings increase, in wisdom, in stature, and in favor with God and people.

That storyline names a needed correction. People often suppose Jesus is tagging along with their politics, their theological boxes, their denomination, their methods, their worship style. But Jesus does not follow people. People follow Jesus, and following him costs something. The call then lands plain. Do not ever suppose. Always seek. Seek Jesus where he actually is, in the Father’s business, and seek him by opening the book that reveals him on every page. Hebrews 11:6 promises a reward for those who diligently seek, and the first and greatest reward is Jesus himself, his presence, his peace, his wisdom, his salvation. So the response sounds like repentance for unbelief, repentance for unchecked assumptions, and fresh reflection on creative ways to partner with Jesus to seek and save the lost. It is Jesus only. Nothing more, nothing less, nothing else.

Key Takeaways

1. Jesus does not follow people [01:08:13] Jesus calls disciples to take up a cross and come after him, not to draft him into personal agendas. A Jesus who never confronts cherished loyalties or comforts is likely a projection, not a person. The living Christ stands free, sovereign, and unmanageable, and he leads into the Father’s will even when it cuts across preference. The path is costly, but it is the only path that is alive. [68:13]
2. Do not suppose. Always seek. [01:09:15] Unchecked assumptions make people a day’s journey down the wrong road. Seeking turns them around and brings them to the place Jesus actually is. The difference is humility that asks where he is and what he is doing, rather than presuming he is where it feels convenient. Seeking is faith in motion, and God rewards it. [69:15]
3. Open Scripture and imitate Jesus’ posture [01:11:50] Jesus is found listening and asking in the temple, and Scripture is the surest place to take that posture now. Reading, studying, and meditating are not box-checking, they are table fellowship with the living Word who meets readers on every page. The goal is not information but recognition, where his voice grows clear and his will becomes plain. [71:50]
4. Obedience brings quiet increase [01:01:03] Nazareth obscurity is not spiritual stall, it is the greenhouse of growth. Submission to God’s order, even when it feels small or slow, forms wisdom, stature, and favor. Increase is God’s to give, but obedience is the soil where he loves to plant it. [61:03]
5. The reward is Jesus himself [01:12:56] The prize for seeking is not merely answers or outcomes, but the presence of the Lord. His joy, peace, guidance, and salvation are not add-ons to the Christian life, they are the life. When the heart receives him as the reward, lesser rewards find their proper size and place. [72:56]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[05:46] - Good Shepherd and Waymaker
[18:41] - Miracle child testimony
[23:53] - House of miracles dedication
[31:12] - Prayer for healing and salvation
[45:56] - Capital campaign update
[47:08] - Title and purpose: Supposing him to have been
[50:38] - Jesus fulfills the law and grows
[53:29] - Jesus lingers as parents suppose
[56:10] - In the temple listening and asking
[57:41] - My Father’s business, not theirs
[61:03] - Obedience and increase in Nazareth
[61:59] - Application: Jesus does not follow people
[69:15] - Big takeaway: Do not suppose, seek
[71:50] - Seeking Jesus in Scripture and response

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
Luke 2:41-52 (ESV)
41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. 43 And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.

Observation Questions

What two specific actions did Jesus take in the temple when his parents found him (v. 46)? How does this contrast with Mary and Joseph’s assumptions about his location?
How does Jesus respond to his parents’ anxiety in verse 49, and what does his use of “my Father” reveal about his identity?
What four areas of growth are highlighted in verse 52 as a result of Jesus’ obedience to his earthly parents?

Interpretation Questions

Why might Mary and Joseph have assumed Jesus was “in the group” (v. 44) rather than considering he might be in the temple? What does this reveal about human tendencies in relating to God?
Jesus says, “I must be in my Father’s house” (v. 49). What does the word “must” imply about his priorities, and how does this challenge common assumptions about where God “should” be at work?
The sermon emphasizes that “obedience brings quiet increase” [01:01:03]. How does Jesus’ submission to his parents (v. 51) connect to his growth in wisdom and favor?

Application Questions

In what areas of life (politics, relationships, church preferences) do you most easily “suppose” Jesus aligns with your assumptions? What practical step could you take this week to seek Him instead of relying on those assumptions?
The sermon warns against a Jesus who “never confronts cherished loyalties or comforts” [01:08:13]. Where has following Jesus cost you something recently? How did that experience deepen your understanding of His leadership?
How could you imitate Jesus’ posture of “listening and asking” [01:11:50] in your engagement with Scripture this month? Consider one habit (e.g., journaling questions, discussing with others) to cultivate.
The text says Jesus “increased in favor with God and man” through obedience. What small, daily act of submission (to God or others) might God be using to grow you in wisdom or character right now?
The sermon states, “the reward for seeking is Jesus himself” [01:12:56]. How would prioritizing His presence over outcomes change your approach to prayer, service, or relationships?
Reflect on a time when you realized Jesus wasn’t where you “supposed” Him to be. How did that experience redirect your faith? What did you learn about seeking Him?

Sermon Clips

Mary and Joseph thought Jesus was with them. They supposed it. A lot of people supposed Jesus is with them. But this is the truth. Jesus doesn't follow people. People follow Jesus. Jesus said, take up your cross and follow me. Now Jesus took up a cross on our behalf, but Jesus didn't follow us. We follow him. And I know that sounds so simple and so obvious, but it's so easy to forget this truth. [01:07:50] (29 seconds)

There's a lot of ways to do it, but I think the easiest, the most straightforward way is to open a bible, to read, to study, and to meditate on what it says. Because from cover to cover, this is the revelation of Jesus. This reveals who Jesus is. Jesus is on every page. He's in every chapter, in every verse, in every line. If you wanna see Jesus, open the book. [01:11:33] (25 seconds)

Mary and Joseph supposed Jesus was following them. A lot of people, and myself included, we suppose Jesus is following us. That Jesus is tagging along with our political ideology. A lot of us suppose that Jesus is a conservative. That Jesus is on the right wing of politics and he's against everyone on the left wing of politics. You know, we sometimes assume or suppose that Jesus is aligned with our political ideology. [01:03:01] (37 seconds)

By way of introduction, let me say this. In our story, Jesus was not lost. His parents didn't lose him. Jesus didn't get lost. Jesus wasn't home alone. He didn't make his family disappear. Jesus didn't panic. He was calm. He knew what he was supposed to be doing and where he was supposed to do it because he chose to stay in Jerusalem that day. [00:48:55] (30 seconds)

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