I went for a walk by myself in the cool of the late afternoon today. Meditations ensued. I started tropologizing the story of the boy Jesus returning to his temple.

Here’s what I was thinking: We all, like Mary and Joseph, can lose sight of Jesus. We can assume his presence by relying on other caretakers. We can presume that someone else will remain with him. But we will find him again where he was always to be: in his Father’s house, attending to his Father’s business. It’s not mainly the church building that is the new covenant antitype of the old covenant temple. It is Christ himself and the people he is building into a spiritual house: the church. Perhaps you feel like you have lost sight of Jesus. We all do from time to time. But we will find him again in the place he has promised to be: in the preaching of the Word, at the Lord’s Table, and on mission with him, building his Spiritual temple.