![]() ![]() ![]() He was called to his “Father’s business,” and that must be attended to, even if his parents did not understand. But he knew even at the age of 12 that he was not like other boys. On the human side, he grew in knowledge as he grew up. On the divine side, he certainly knew all things. We need not inquire into how much Jesus understood about his future destiny at this point. It was a solemn reminder that even as a young boy Jesus was conscious of God’s divine call on his life. We aren’t surprised when the next verse tells us they didn’t understand what he was saying. Jesus’ reply to his worried mother reminds us about the higher priorities of life: “Didn’t you know I had to be about my Father’s business?" (Luke 2:49). But this would be like a 12 year old boy spending hours discussing the minutiae of constitutional law with the partners at a big law firm. In our day we could imagine a boy spending hours playing video games. He stayed behind in Jerusalem so he could discuss weighty matters with the “doctors of the law,” the scribes and priests who spent a lifetime studying the written law and the oral commentary. ![]() It’s also conceivable that a mischievous boy would hide or even run away. That part of the story is understandable. It’s fairly easy to imagine that in the great crowd of family and friends making the long journey from Jerusalem to Nazareth, a child might disappear for a few hours, only to reappear at supper time. While there are many things we would like to know about Jesus as a young boy and as a teenager, this is all we are given. The biblical record moves from his infancy to the beginning of his public ministry at the age of 30 with only this one episode in between. The site is marked today by the Church of the Holy Family, a church built by the Crusaders in the 12 th century.Offers us the only glimpse we have into Jesus’ growing up years. Now, when Jesus was 12 years old, it was time to go once again to Jerusalem for this feast. Passover in Jerusalem Every year His parents and family went to Jerusalem to keep the festival of Passover. Jesus grew in spiritual strength and wisdom, and God was with Him ( Luke 2:40 ). The spot where Mary and Joseph discovered that Jesus was missing on the journey home is believed to be the town of Al-Bireh near Ramallah, a full day’s journey north of Jerusalem. There Joseph and Mary raised their family ( Matthew 2:23 ). Jesus had travelled with Mary and the other children on previous occasions, but as he is fast approaching manhood, Mary probably assumes that he is travelling with Joseph and the other men.Įventually, Mary and Joseph find Jesus in the courtyards of the Temple in Jerusalem, and are astonished when he says to them “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49) Jewish parents would have been surprised to hear that a lively teenager was so keen to spend time discussing his heavenly Father’s words with the teachers in the Temple. The women and children (who travel more slowly) set off before the men, and when the men catch up with them later in the day, Jesus’s absence is noticed. 2:44-52 When it’s time to leave after the festival, Mary and Joseph travel a whole day before realising that Jesus isn’t with their relatives and friends from Nazareth. It’s quite normal for a Jewish boy like Jesus to be invited to read the scriptures in public on his thirteenth birthday, but the rabbis are amazed and fascinated by the maturity of Jesus’s questions and his understanding of the Jewish law.Ĭolonnaded porticoes on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem (Luke 2:46) It’s quite possible that Jesus celebrates his thirteenth birthday during the Passover festival (see the feature on Beit Sahur earlier in this section for a discussion on the date of Jesus's birthday). Just before his thirteenth birthday, in c.7AD, Jesus goes up to Jerusalem, as usual, with his family for the Passover festival, and soon becomes totally engrossed in discussing the Jewish scriptures with the teachers in the Temple courts. They are usually invited to read publicly from the Jewish scriptures, having been taught Hebrew as a child at their local synagogue. They become responsible for their own actions, and play a full role in Jewish religious ceremonies. 2:42-43 As in Jesus’s day, Jewish boys are traditionally considered to become adults at the age of thirteen – when they become a ‘Bar Mitzvah’ (a son to whom the commandments apply). They live too far away to visit Jerusalem three times a year, but always manage to get there for the Feast of Unleavened Bread (the ‘Passover Festival’) (see Exodus 23:14-17) and Jesus no doubt goes with them. Every year, his parents follow the Jewish custom of going up to Jerusalem for a religious festival. 2:40-41 As a child, Jesus grows in wisdom and in stature, close to God and popular with all those he meets. ![]()
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