If the word “investigate” is used within the first few minutes of a television show, I am hooked. It’s a set up for a good story. It’s even better if while an investigation is going on the investigator has to overcome obstacles.
Remember the name Dr. Richard Kimble? Wrongly convicted of murdering his wife, Dr. Richard Kimble escapes from a prison bus and tries to find out why she was killed and who the murderer really was. He is relentlessly pursued by Samuel Gerard, a U.S. Marshal, and is forced to keep out of contact from any friends or relatives. However, his determination and ingenuity soon produce results and he comes to the frightening realization that he can trust no one. What an obstacle!
Here’s another. After the unsolved murder of his wife, Adrian Monk develops obsessive-compulsive disorder, which includes his terror of germs and contamination. His condition costs him his job as a prominent homicide detective in the San Francisco Police Department, but he continues to solve crimes with the help of his assistant and his former boss.
So when the writer of Luke, who happens to be Luke says that he has set out to “Investigate”…..I’m in!
Luke’s obstacle may have been as simple as maintaining a medical practice while he did his research. We don’t know that for sure, but we do believe he was a doctor.
Luke 1:3 “it seemed fitting for me as well, having investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus;”
At the end of the second chapter, after a traditional journey for the Feast of the Passover, Jesus and his parents are traveling home. Thinking that Jesus is with relatives they travel for a full day before they notice that he is nowhere to be found. They head back to Jerusalem to look for him, now missing 3 days find him in the temple “talking shop” with the temple teachers, and amazing them, of course.
Luke’s investigation leads him to the conclusion of chapter 2 and the first words of Jesus quoted, “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” Luke then says, “But they did not understand what he was saying to them.”
Obviously, Jesus thought that his parents could have seen clues, clues they missed that would indicate no search was necessary. Mary, Luke says, “treasured all these things in her heart.” Mary was connecting the dots….an ‘ah ha moment’ for her.
One of my the most investigative questions I ask myself often is, “God, where are you?”
I’m struck by my own internal conversations at times. Have you ever said to your self of out loud, “God where are you?” Jesus simple yet complex answer to his parents was a question, “Why are you searching for me?” And then an answer, “in my Father’s house.”
Traveling with Mission Discovery groups to serve God in the world has given me opportunities to see where and how God is working first hand. I’ve made some conclusions about where God’s house is today, but I’m curious, where do you think God is? Love to hear from you.
