LOST AND FOUND
Opening Prayer
Father God, You are all-wise, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving. I am in awe of You.
Read Luke 2:41–52
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?”[a] 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.
Footnotes:
a Luke 2:49 Or be about my Father’s business
New International Version (NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?I don’t know if you’ve ever done the figures on the information we have here, but by the time his parents had tracked Jesus down in the Temple they’d been separated for five days: one day’s travel in one direction, a day to get back to Jerusalem, and three days of searching. As grown up as many 12-year-olds feel themselves to be, Jesus was still a child at this point, and Mary and Joseph’s anxiety is perfectly understandable.
Luke doesn’t go into how it came about that Jesus didn’t leave with the rest of his family, but we can be certain that he wasn’t being difficult or disobedient (51). If Mary and Joseph had been thinking clearly, as soon as they got back to Jerusalem they would have gone straight to the Temple to find him. This story is not about a naughty pre-teen; it is a glimpse into the extraordinary childhood of God-incarnate. Of course Jesus would want to stay in his “Father’s house” for as long as possible (49). He knew where he belonged and who he was, even at this young age.
Apply
Spend some time imagining yourself at the Temple as Jesus interacted with the teachers. What can you see, hear, smell? What are you learning about Jesus?
Closing prayer
God, give me the constant desire to be “in my Father’s house,” in Your presence.
Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.
© 2024 Scripture Union U.S.A. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents without written permission is prohibited.
Discovery is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.