41 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. 42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. 43 After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 44 Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 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.”
49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
There are two observation I'd like to make from today's passage. The first comes from verse 46 and 47. Jesus spent his time "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." In these verses, it seems as if Jesus is learning, even though he is the son of God, he's sitting amongst the teachers of the law, listening to them and asking them questions. The thing that struck me the most was the teachers' reactions to a 12 year old Jesus in verse 47, "Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers." Even though, Jesus may be challenging them or their teachings, they marveled at his intelligence. A total opposite reaction to how they'd perceive him about twenty years later. It also seems like they just brushed him off as a bright, smart twelve old kid. He was no real threat to them.
The second observation came from verse 49. Mary is chastising Jesus for making her and Joseph worry over losing him. She said, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” Mary Mary says, "Your father and I have been searching for you...", but Jesus answered “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” So in other words, Jesus has made it obvious to his parents that he knew who his real Father was and it clearly wasn't Joseph.
Ultimately, this incident points out that Jesus is indeed different from Man, and he made it very clear of his wisdom and divinity through his birthright, not the the general public like he did when he begins his ministry, but to the teachers of the law and to his parents, Mary and Joseph. It's subtle and they don't take great offense or quite understand what he's saying because Jesus is simply a child in their eyes. It's also strange because these would be the people who would have the most difficult time in accepting the true nature of who Jesus was and his mission for why he came down to this earth.
I hope you all have a happy New Year!!!
2 comments:
Thank you Michelle ! Jesus knew where he belongs.. We should too. Happy new year to all of you!! Love you and miss you guys so much! I just had the song goo young shin service ! New year came earlier here :)
thanks michelle for your reflection. the part of this narrative that always strikes me is when mary and joseph travelled from jerusalem "thinking Jesus was in their company" when He was actually not. a sermon i once read said that this is a fatal mistake many churchgoers make: blithely believing that Jesus is in their midst when He is actually not in their company at all. what a panic arose when they looked for Him and "did not find Him". we should always be vigilant in our own lives that "Jesus is in our midst"--to merely suppose that He is and to be mistaken about this all-important truth would be fatal indeed. if we do find, however, that He is not, then we should follow the example of mary and joseph who "went back to jerusalem to look for Him". may we never cease searching until we find Him. we need not look far for He will always be doing His Father's business.
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