Teenage Jesus Gets in Trouble With His Parents ... Kind Of!

The Boy Jesus at the Temple

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.

This is one of my favorite stories about Jesus and the only one included in the gospels about his adolescence.  When people traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover they often caravaned together.  Therefore it is not astonishing that Mary and Joseph might have lost track of Jesus.  So they went back to look for him and it took them THREE days to find him.  If I were them I would have been plenty mad and probably a little scared too.  

But when they found him, he was in the temple asking questions and giving answers to questions.  He would have obviously been in AP classes if he lived in Irvine.  My daughter is 12 years old and she is pretty smart, but to imagine her sitting with all of her teachers and teaching them a thing or two is pretty remarkable.  You almost get the sense that though Mary and Joseph are mad on the outside, they are awfully proud of teenage Jesus in their hearts.  

When they question him, he answers in a somewhat cavalier fashion, "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?"  They were confused by what he said, as you might imagine.  They didn't understand it at the time but Mary, who was visited by the angel in Luke's gospel knew Jesus would be no ordinary kid.  Mary knew Jesus had a special purpose and it was beginning to unfold before her eyes.  Finally after the festival, Joseph, Mary, and their son return to their home in Nazareth.  It says Jesus was "obedient" to them. Though Jesus was the Son of God, he still obeyed his earthly parents according to the Law.  I often wonder if Jesus every got in trouble or received a "time out".  LOL

In this passage we see the humanness and divinity of Jesus.  As a teenage boy his parents were worried about him and eventually when they went home he obeyed them. As the Son of God, he was in His Father's house teaching grown men as one who had authority over them.  We will see this paradox throughout Luke's gospel.