Luk 2:41-52 | KingComments | STEP | The law requires that the Israelites have annual feasts on the occasion of which they, that is, the men, must go to Jerusalem. One of them is the Passover ( ; ). The parents of the Lord Jesus are pious Israelites and therefore go to the feast every year. When their Son has become twelve years old, He also goes with His parents to the feast. His parents are used to going to the feast. There is nothing wrong with habits, it is wrong if something is done out of nothing but a habit. We have to know why we do something out of a habit, otherwise it becomes a hollow form and we don’t realize that the Lord has departed from us. If we dutifully visit the meetings and take our place there as usual, we may do so with an empty heart. Then we do not realize that the Lord is not there. When the days of the feast are over, the Lord Jesus stays behind in Jerusalem, without His parents knowing. To Him, to go to Jerusalem is not simply doing what the law prescribes. To Him it has a deeper meaning. Jerusalem and the temple are for Him places that are dear to Him. These are places chosen by Himself, where He made His Name dwell. There He desires to stay. His parents do not know where His heart really is. What would be disobedience to any other child is perfection to Him. His parents suppose Him to be in the caravan, which must have been quite numerous. After looking for Him for a day, they did not find Him. That’s because they searched in the wrong places. It may also happen to us that we seek the Lord Jesus in the wrong places. This happens when we think that He is with us because we have a God-fearing family or that He is with acquaintances who know a lot about the Bible. But the point is whether we know Him personally and know that He does everything for the glory of God. Because they can’t find Him, they return to Jerusalem. They have lost their Son, they miss Him and they want Him back. That is a beautiful desire.

‏ Luke 2:41-52

The Boy Jesus in Jerusalem

The law requires that the Israelites have annual feasts on the occasion of which they, that is, the men, must go to Jerusalem. One of them is the Passover (Exo 12:24-27; Deu 16:1-8). The parents of the Lord Jesus are pious Israelites and therefore go to the feast every year. When their Son has become twelve years old, He also goes with His parents to the feast.

His parents are used to going to the feast. There is nothing wrong with habits, it is wrong if something is done out of nothing but a habit. We have to know why we do something out of a habit, otherwise it becomes a hollow form and we don’t realize that the Lord has departed from us. If we dutifully visit the meetings and take our place there as usual, we may do so with an empty heart. Then we do not realize that the Lord is not there.

When the days of the feast are over, the Lord Jesus stays behind in Jerusalem, without His parents knowing. To Him, to go to Jerusalem is not simply doing what the law prescribes. To Him it has a deeper meaning. Jerusalem and the temple are for Him places that are dear to Him. These are places chosen by Himself, where He made His Name dwell. There He desires to stay. His parents do not know where His heart really is. What would be disobedience to any other child is perfection to Him.

His parents suppose Him to be in the caravan, which must have been quite numerous. After looking for Him for a day, they did not find Him. That’s because they searched in the wrong places. It may also happen to us that we seek the Lord Jesus in the wrong places. This happens when we think that He is with us because we have a God-fearing family or that He is with acquaintances who know a lot about the Bible. But the point is whether we know Him personally and know that He does everything for the glory of God.

Because they can’t find Him, they return to Jerusalem. They have lost their Son, they miss Him and they want Him back. That is a beautiful desire.

In the Things of His Father

It still takes three days before Joseph and Mary find Him. It seems they didn’t think of Jerusalem and the temple as places where He could be. They are not like Simeon and Anna who were brought there by the Spirit. The Lord Jesus abides where God is present and where God’s Word is reflected upon, where people devote themselves day and night to the study of God’s thoughts.

So little are they aware of what really moves Him, that they probably only go to the temple as the very last place to search as a possibility to find Him there. The astonishment must have been visible on their faces when they see Him sitting in the midst of the teachers of Israel. But consider His attitude toward the teachers, how appropriate it is for a twelve-year-old Boy, Who indeed is the eternal God. He listens to them and asks them questions. Many years later they will ask Him their questions, but to tempt Him and find a reason to condemn Him.

Through this simple Boy, something is revealed to all who hear Him that they cannot explain, but that surprises them greatly. They see an ordinary Boy Who at the same time reveals supernatural features. He is the same Who gives Stephen the wisdom and the spirit to speak thereby in a way that his opponents cannot withstand (Acts 6:10). A little later the opponents of Stephen see how his face looks like the face of an angel (Acts 6:15). This is not the case with the Lord Jesus. There is nothing special about Him, He does not have “[stately] form or majesty” (Isa 53:2), but what He says makes a great impression.

His parents are surprised that He is at that place. Mary sighs a sigh of relief that they have finally found Him, and reproaches Him for letting them look for Him in this way. She speaks of Joseph as “Your Father”, indicating that she has forgotten Who His Father is. That’s at the same time the reason why she couldn’t find Him at first.

The answer He gives are the first words we hear from His mouth in the New Testament. These are words that make clear what His life is all about. His first words are that He is easy to find for those who know Him. Who knows what it is all about with Him, does not have to search for long. The problem with Mary and Joseph is that they have their own ideas about Who their Child is. They do not consider that He has come on earth with a commission and that He has constant contact with His Father to fulfill it.

The Lord Jesus is perfectly aware of His right way of doing things. He does not admonish His mother directly, but in gentle humbleness He reprimands her with questions that point out to her why He is on earth. If she had realized that, she would have known that He is in the temple. She herself came to Jerusalem because she knew God demanded it. She also left again because the obligations had been met. He is always in the things [‘house’ is not in the original text] of His Father and that is why He stayed there.

What He says, the questions He asks, doesn’t get through to them. This is because they are not focused enough on the things that occupy Him.

The questions that the Lord asks His parents are questions that children can always ask their parents. It is a questioning about why parents do things (cf. Exo 12:26; Jos 4:6). What do we answer when our children ask why we go to the church, or why we don’t go? What do we answer when they ask us why we do read, or do not read, in the Bible? These are all questions that sometimes halt us as parents, to think about how our life with the Lord looks like.

The Lord Jesus Grows Up

When the Lord’s task in Jerusalem is over, He goes home with His parents. He goes down with them to Nazareth. That is more than just describing the fact that Nazareth is lower than Jerusalem. It marks the path which the Lord has gone in humiliation.

With regard to Joseph and Mary, He takes the appropriate place. He listens to the tasks He receives from His parents and performs them directly and perfectly without contradicting them. They must have wondered over and over again about their eldest Son because He does everything He is asked to do directly and without grumbling. They have also seen His development. He is so true Man, that He physically and mentally experiences the same growth that every person goes through.

God looks upon Him in favor. He develops in complete harmony with God and responds to everything God has said that a man must be. In everything He is focused on God. God’s law is within Him; it is His delight to do God’s will (Psa 40:8). Therefore He grows up perfectly in everything as the pure fruit of the law. That goes on for eighteen years.

He is also a welcome guest with the people. His presence is a blessing to all men. They experience His presence as a benefit. Here is Someone Who always has time and attention for them and is always willing to help.