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.
Read Luke 2:41-52 in context and/or in other translations on BibleGateway.com!
One of the almost funny parts of the Bible is the story we find in Luke when Jesus is left in Jerusalem when He was twelve years old. I am positive that Mary and Joseph did not think it was funny at that moment, but perhaps months or even years later, they may have laughed at what had happened. After all, it isn’t anyone who can literally lose the Messiah.
But unfortunately everyone can lose the Messiah.
A day’s worth of separation led to three days of searching before Mary and Joseph found Jesus.
Perhaps they should have known He would have been at church (i.e. the temple), but perhaps that was the place they thought would have been the least likely place for Him to be. With as wide and discerning as the passage tells us Jesus was at that age, He probably had already displayed some interesting and countercultural ideas regarding the Old Testament Scriptures, and the last thing that Jesus would want to do is get into an argument with the Jewish leaders – well, at least this early in His life.
But in this simple event are two things that really stand out in my mind.
Firstly, it is harder to find Jesus after we have lost Him than it is to stay connected with Him. The one day without Jesus resulted in three days of searching. In our own lives, while we are busy juggling life, if we don’t prioritize spending time with Jesus, we may find that one or two days without Him result in many more days trying to get back to where we were with Him.
Secondly, Jesus often can be found in the places where we least expect Him to be. While it makes perfect sense for Jesus to be at “church”, knowing how closed-minded the religious leaders were during His ministry, in many ways it is surprising that this was the place that Jesus would have been. However, perhaps this also tells us that no matter how far a church has fallen, if we are looking for Jesus, we can find Him there.
Both these ideas blend into one big thought: It is better to prioritize our time with Jesus and stay connected with Him because it may be harder for us to find Him if we end up losing Him.
This thought was inspired by studying the Walking With Jesus “Reflective Bible Study” package. To discover insights like this in your own study time, click here and give Reflective Bible Study a try today!
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