They Found Him in the Temple 41-45Every
year Jesus' parents traveled to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover.
When he was twelve years old, they went up as they always did for the
Feast. When it was over and they left for home, the child Jesus stayed
behind in Jerusalem, but his parents didn't know it. Thinking he was
somewhere in the company of pilgrims, they journeyed for a whole day and
then began looking for him among relatives and neighbors. When they
didn't find him, they went back to Jerusalem looking for him. 46-48The
next day they found him in the Temple seated among the teachers,
listening to them and asking questions. The teachers were all quite
taken with him, impressed with the sharpness of his answers. But his
parents were not impressed; they were upset and hurt. His
mother said, "Young man, why have you done this to us? Your father and I
have been half out of our minds looking for you." 49-50He
said, "Why were you looking for me? Didn't you know that I had to be
here, dealing with the things of my Father?" But they had no idea what
he was talking about. 51-52So
he went back to Nazareth with them, and lived obediently with them. His
mother held these things dearly, deep within herself. And Jesus
matured, growing up in both body and spirit, blessed by both God and
people. |