After Jesus (1) and His family returned to Nazareth (2) from their Flight into Egypt (3), the Holy Bible (4) mentions Him only one other time before His Ministry (5) begins. The account of the young Jesus in the Temple is recorded only in the Gospel (6) according to Luke (7) (Luke 2:41-52). The Gospels of Matthew (8), Mark (9), and John (10) do not mention it.

Every year in the Spring, Jesus and His family would travel to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. This Festival of the Lord (11) commemorated God's mercy when He directed His angel to "pass over" the houses in Israel on the night the firstborn of Egypt were slain (Exodus 12:12-13), leading to the subsequent liberation (12) of the Israelite nation (13) from Egyptian bondage. This particular year, Jesus was twelve years old as His family made the pilgrimage. This endeavor was probably by way of a sizable caravan, together with other families from their region.

Once the week-long Festival was over, everyone packed up for their respective journeys home. Unbeknownst to Joseph and Mary, Jesus did not leave with the caravan headed to Nazareth. Instead, He stayed behind in Jerusalem. After a day's travel, His parents noticed Jesus was not in the caravan, so they returned to Jerusalem to look for Him.

After three long days of searching for their missing boy, Joseph and Mary located Jesus in the Temple courts. He was sitting amongst the teachers, asking them questions and listening to them. His parents were astonished and everyone there was amazed at His understanding and answers.

Mary's recorded exchange with Jesus reveal her fear and frustration that had built up during the three day search for Him. Mary asked Jesus, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” The young Jesus replied, “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?" Nobody understood what Jesus meant by this.

Luke's account concludes with Jesus and His parents returning home to Nazareth. The narrative further shares that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God (14) and man. We don't hear anything more of Jesus for almost twenty years.

Footnotes are listed below. For a printer friendly version of this webpage, please explore the PDF offered in the lower sidebar.

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FOOTNOTES:

  (1) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/jesus-christ

  (2) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/return-to-nazareth

  (3) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/flight-into-egypt

  (4) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/the-good-news

  (5) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/ministry-of-jesus

  (6) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/the-four-gospels

  (7) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/luke

  (8) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/matthew

  (9) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/mark

(10) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/john

(11) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/festivals-of-the-lord

(12) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/exodus-from-egypt

(13) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/twelve-tribes-of-israel

(14) https://www.downriverdisciples.com/god-of-the-bible