Scripture: Luke 2:41-51 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 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. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”
“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
Devotion: We don’t have a lot of information on Jesus’s childhood. In fact, other than the story from today, the Bible largely goes from the birth of Jesus to His ministry as an adult. But the passage of Scripture from today about Jesus in His adolescence helps us to greater understand the concept that He is both fully God and fully man.
It is pretty easy to get caught up in the idea from this passage that Mary and Joseph lost Jesus. They left the Son of God behind. That is a little hard to fathom! But in reality, they were likely travelling with a large group of people (this is why they looked among the relatives) where kids moved about within that group. Regardless, I’m sure that the range of emotions that took place when they realized that Jesus was not with them was vast. But as intriguing and relatable as this part of the story may be, it is not the main thing to be gleaned.
When they found Jesus, He was in the temple courts. He was listening to the teachings about God and contributing to the discussions. When Mary and Joseph tell them that they have been anxiously searching for Him, He more or less says, “Why were you searching? Where else would I be but here?” We learn a bit about the character of Jesus and His desire to be with His Heavenly Father through this story. He is only twelve years old, yet He is in the temple courts to learn more and to grow in His faith. Yes, He was fully God. But He was also fully man (and twelve years old). He was eager to learn, to share, and to sit in the presence of God. He was continuing to grow “in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (v. 51).
Perhaps we can learn from this and use this as an encouragement in the midst of a busy season. We can have such a desire to learn about our Lord and to commune with Him that when people are looking for us, they know that they can find us at the feet of Jesus.
Reflect:
- Have you ever thought about what it means that Jesus continued to grow in wisdom and stature?
- What takeaways do you have from the idea that Jesus stayed behind in Nazareth to sit under the teachings about God that were happening?