Mary and the family returned to Nazareth after the death of Herod (Matthew 2:19-23). While in Nazareth, they continued their life as a family and also committed to taking part in Jewish religious activities. Luke's gospel records that "every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover" and when Jesus turned twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom (Luke 2:41-42). In the Jewish culture 12-13 year old boys are ushered into Bar Mitzvah or Son of the Commandment. This ceremony is still held in Jewish communities. Thus, the Passover would have been Jesus' official visit to the temple as an obligatory event for a Jewish boy. The Temple was held with so much honour and significance and at the Passover, the teachers of the Law in the temple would come out to teach all the people. The boy Jesus would have had the opportunity to see what happens in the temple and also to engage in some of these lessons from the teachers.
However, after the ceremony was over, while Mary and Joseph were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. Mary and Joseph were unaware of it and they thought Jesus was in their company. After they had travelled for a day, they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him (see Luke 2:43-45). Imagine the worry and the anxiety the parents went through. The journey back to Jerusalem would have been swift and short. They would have thought of all the worse case scenarios. How could they leave the Son of God behind? Why didn't God prompt them sooner? Where would Jesus be in Jerusalem? What was he eating and who was hosting him? These and many more questions would have been on their minds as they rushed through the streets in Jerusalem.
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.” (Luke 2:48)
Mary did not experience extraordinary parenting. She saw Jesus cry, hungry, tired among many other childhood memories. Mary also had a missing child and experienced all the anxieties that come with it. Mary and Joseph scouted the streets of Jerusalem for days and they finally went to the temple. Luke 2:46 records that after three days, Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Thus, if the parents had begun the search in the temple, they wouldn't have searched that long. Jesus' intelligence was on display and "everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers" (Luke 2:47). 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” (Luke 2:48). Mary was real, they were anxious about Jesus.
Jesus asked his parents, “Why were you searching for me?” “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49). This seems to imply that Jesus expected his parents to know where to find him: the temple. Jesus referred to the temple as his "Father's house". Thus even at twelve years, the boy Jesus was fully aware of his assignment on earth. Mary and Joseph did not understand what he said to them (Luke 2:50). They knew that Jesus was the Son of God but they missed the fact that the temple was the earthly depiction of the house of God. After this encounter, the family returned to Nazareth and Jesus was obedient to them (Luke 2:51a). The second part of Luke 2:51b states that "But his mother treasured all these things in her heart." Mary kept all these details in her heart. It is appropriate to state that this childhood event of Jesus might have been shared by Mary. She knew the details. She encountered the amazing experiences that Jesus' pregnancy, birth, childhood and life brought to her.
Mary thought her son was missing in Jerusalem, what she didn't realize was the fact that Jesus was in his Father's house. Sometimes, parenting doesn't always go as planned, what we should know is that, we will always have answers in the house of God. We should be intentional to take our children to the house of God. Most importantly, our Christianity and lifestyles should not contradict each other. Our children are watching us, they are experiencing Christ through us, they are reading the Bible through the way we live. Can God trust you with His child? Will you show the child the ways of God?
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