The Boy Jesus Among the Teachers in the Templeby CBPepper
2:47Luke 2:47
And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.
At twelve years old at the Passover, He stayed behind in the temple school sitting among the grave and learned doctors, hearing them and asking questions. All who heard were astonished at His mature understanding and answers, which gave manifest proof of superior wisdom and penetration. The wonder was greater because He was poor and had never learned in their schools, yet His questions held light that opened new fields of thought to them. Though taking the modest place of a learner, He instructed the teachers, opening the prophecies of the Messiah's humiliation, suffering and death and the true meaning of Scripture they had not seen. His wisdom came not from rabbinical instruction but from God, through constant study of the Scriptures under His Father's teaching, and this was the beginning of being about His Father's business He came to do.
Setting and Circumstances
The verse belongs to the Passover visit to Jerusalem when Jesus was twelve years old. At that age a Hebrew boy was called a son of the law and a son of God, received special religious instruction, and was expected to take part in sacred feasts and observances. The Passover brought worshipers from across Palestine and the Jewish diaspora to the city. Its observance had become formal for many people, but its significance was profound to Him.
After being lost for three days among travelers returning from the Passover, He was found in the court of the temple. He was there on a special public teaching occasion of the doctors and expounders of the law, sitting in the midst of the grave and learned doctors, scribes and rabbis. The setting was a room connected with the temple used as a school where youth sat at the feet of great teachers, and He sat with other youth listening as one wishing to be taught. Large numbers were flocking to hear, with crowds gathered before the teachers and people flocking to the temple.
Astonishment and Wisdom Seen
All who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers, for His discreet questions and answers gave manifest proof of superior wisdom, penetration, mature judgment, superior knowledge and deep understanding. That astonishment reached also to the depth of His understanding as He both heard and answered and imparted light. The wonder was greater because His parents were poor and He had not received the usual advantages of education nor attended their schools. The question therefore passed from lip to lip, whence this youth had such wisdom having never learned. His voice was marked with solemn melody and with a grace that charmed the learned men. His parents gazed in astonishment at the scene and were gratified to see Him thus honored. His words revealed a wisdom that distinguished Him from other children and made a lasting impression on those who heard His questioning and replying. Yet His divine mission was veiled in ordinary human life. His understanding showed that He knew His work and what lay before Him, for His questions and answers concerned the promises centered in Himself.
Learner Who Instructed Teachers
He took the place of a learner among the doctors, sitting with them and hearing them and asking questions with eagerness to obtain information, in modesty and gentleness and youthful modesty and grace. He went in before the rabbis and doctors of the law as one wishing to be taught, sitting with other youth at the feet of the great teachers and listening to learn what the prophets had written. He did not openly present Himself as trying to teach them, but hid that purpose, for had they suspected it they would have spurned and rejected Him.
Yet each question held gems of light and by every question He poured light into their darkened minds. His questions gave His hearers new thoughts they had never had before, imparting light and helping open their minds to Scripture. His purity and humility and meekness rebuked sin while giving no cause for blame, and He labored constantly in this way even at the cost of His home. His youthful modesty and grace overcame prejudice so that the Holy Spirit could reach the learned teachers.
His questions were instructive lessons, and His answers to their queries opened up subjects of the deepest importance and fields of thought about the mission of Christ that had never before entered their minds. In this way He taught the learned priests and teachers and rulers and great men, displaying wisdom and deep penetration and stores of wisdom, and gave them new matter to think upon. Though He asked as a learner, His words taught them, giving an example of how thoughtful questions can convey truth without contention.
He knew the Jews held many wrong ideas about the Messiah, yet He did not contradict the learned men. He read Isaiah 53 of the Saviour's death and asked its meaning, which the rabbis could give no answer to. When they then began to question Him they were astonished at His knowledge of the Scriptures, seeing that He understood the Bible far better than they did and that their teaching was wrong, yet they were not willing to believe anything different. He was so modest and gentle that they were not angry with Him, and they wanted to keep Him as a student and teach Him to explain the Bible as they did. He introduced familiar old truths in a new and precious light, reaching His hearers without abruptly disrupting their accustomed way of thinking.
Truth About Messiah Revealed
Though taking the place of a learner, His questions and words in the temple illuminated the prophecies of the Messiah's humiliation, suffering and death. They revealed the Lamb of God who takes away sin and the plan of salvation. They brought light to willing hearers, helping them understand Isaiah's prophecies of the first coming and the Messiah's true mission, rather than expecting only earthly exaltation and the glory of the second coming.
In the temple during Passover He was discerning the meaning of its services and the mission He would fulfill for the heirs of the covenant promises. When He questioned the learned teachers about the Messiah, His questions revealed an understanding beyond their learning. Though He came before the rabbis as a humble learner and had not been taught by them, they could not always answer Him, for His grasp of the Messiah and His mission surpassed theirs. His understanding reflected the perfection of His character and included insight into the coming Messiah.
He had studied the word until He knew it well and could use it skillfully. As He listened and asked questions to learn, His questions also revealed new meaning in the Scriptures about the Messiah, meaning the teachers of the law had not seen. He presented the Scriptures in their true meaning and could withstand the scribes' arguments even though they expected a child to accept their interpretations.
This work of teaching was being about His Father's business, the very work He had come into the world to do. Each question held gems of light that gave His hearers new thoughts concerning the Messiah they had never had before. Found at twelve in the court of the temple after being lost for three days among travelers returning from the Passover, sitting in the midst of the doctors hearing them and asking them questions with a grace that charmed these learned men, His appearance was the childhood commencement of His work manifesting what God could do for afflicted bodies and souls from a whole being that was the Lord's, pure and undefiled.
Source of His Understanding
His understanding in the temple astonished His hearers because it came from God and not from the schools of the prophets or rabbinical instruction, which He never sought or attended. He needed no education from the great teachers in human science, for God was His instructor and He had access to knowledge they did not know. Those who held this most fully taught that He had access to the tree of life, a source of knowledge of which even His own family knew nothing. His questions and answers opened new lines of thought about the mission of Christ and displayed stores of wisdom, deep penetration and even scientific knowledge.
He had studied the word until He knew it well and could use it skillfully, making the Scriptures His constant study under His Father's instruction together with nature. By that study He presented Scripture in its true meaning, revealed new meaning about the Messiah that teachers of the law had not seen, and could withstand the arguments of the scribes though they expected a child to accept their interpretations. His questions exposed the gap between the teachers' practices and Scripture, so that even those displeased by His refusal to follow popular customs recognized His education was of a higher kind.
Having come down from heaven and become a little child, He was carefully watched by angels in the first years of His life, and the Lord Himself was with Him and kept Him in His younger days. Very soon the Word of God was plainly opened to Him, giving Him the knowledge by which He afterward gave instruction here and there. His growth in wisdom and in favor with God and man was according to the laws of His divine appointment, with talents developing and faculties strengthening by exercise.
He lived in childhood and youth under the supervision of men who professed to be God's chosen messengers to the people. Those men tried to make themselves His advisers and to influence Him to follow their plans and suggestions, but He did not follow the counsel of priests and rulers. He steadfastly followed the instruction of the Lord and the clear light He had from His Father, with a peculiar dignity and individuality distinct from earthly pride or assumption and without striving after greatness.
His wisdom was a surprise to His parents and brothers. His brothers were annoyed at His questions and answers because they discerned that He was an instructor to the learned teachers. They could not comprehend Him because they did not know that He had access to the tree of life, a source of knowledge of which they knew nothing.
Prophecy Example and Application
His three-day separation from His parents after the Passover foreshadowed His death for the sins of the world, when He would be separated from them, and His revealing of Himself afterward foreshadowed their finding Him again and trusting Him as the fallen race's redeemer and advocate with the Father. As He solved mysteries and resolved questions which priests and rulers had not discerned, so the same will be repeated in the closing work of the earth and in the last times. Children who receive a proper Christian education and are rightly educated will speak simply and truthfully, and their voices in their simplicity will speak words that astonish people who prize and talk of higher education.
His conduct afterward remained a mystery to His parents, yet His example taught without controversy. His quiet hours in Scripture, prayer and communion with God shaped the patient service He returned to at home, where He worked with His father as a carpenter helping support the family, thus joining intellectual learning with useful work. At twelve years of age His understanding showed that He knew His work and what lay before Him, with questions and answers concerning the promises centered in Himself, and His childhood is an example of the life people should live. From infancy to manhood He grew up without sin, protected by God, and did everything faithfully when He began His work.
He made His home for thirty years among the people of Nazareth, living there unhonored and unknown in a town proverbial for wickedness and considered the worst in Palestine, a place from which it was thought a wonder if any good thing could come. There He began His great and mighty work to uplift and regenerate the whole human soul, commencing amid moral darkness and misery by becoming a citizen of that place and setting His own feet upon the paths the poor and neglected souls must tread. As the Light of the world He pours contempt upon human pride of place, station, honor and fame, and He might have made His home in places of renown but did not, lest His followers compelled to live in lowly places should frame an excuse for their sins and for their rough, hard, discourteous characters. Having left the courts of heaven and taken humanity upon Himself to live out a pure human character, He made His abode among those far down in the scale of popularity and morality to demonstrate that any place, however hard and lowly, if it is the post of duty, can be made honorable by fidelity.
Because He was once a little child, mothers are for His sake to deal gently with little ones and honor them as a sacred charge. Children are God's property, He loves them, and they are not to be indulged, petted and idolized, but are to be taught to live a pure, noble life. He calls mothers to cooperate with Him in helping them to form perfect characters. His early life and the instruction He received in the humble home at Nazareth stand as an example of education shaped by God's word.
At twelve years old at the Passover, He stayed behind in the temple school sitting among the grave and learned doctors, hearing them and asking questions. All who heard were astonished at His mature understanding and answers, which gave manifest proof of superior wisdom and penetration. The wonder was greater because He was poor and had never learned in their schools, yet His questions held light that opened new fields of thought to them. Though taking the modest place of a learner, He instructed the teachers, opening the prophecies of the Messiah's humiliation, suffering and death and the true meaning of Scripture they had not seen. His wisdom came not from rabbinical instruction but from God, through constant study of the Scriptures under His Father's teaching, and this was the beginning of being about His Father's business He came to do.
Setting and Circumstances
The verse belongs to the Passover visit to Jerusalem when Jesus was twelve years old. At that age a Hebrew boy was called a son of the law and a son of God, received special religious instruction, and was expected to take part in sacred feasts and observances. The Passover brought worshipers from across Palestine and the Jewish diaspora to the city. Its observance had become formal for many people, but its significance was profound to Him.
After being lost for three days among travelers returning from the Passover, He was found in the court of the temple. He was there on a special public teaching occasion of the doctors and expounders of the law, sitting in the midst of the grave and learned doctors, scribes and rabbis. The setting was a room connected with the temple used as a school where youth sat at the feet of great teachers, and He sat with other youth listening as one wishing to be taught. Large numbers were flocking to hear, with crowds gathered before the teachers and people flocking to the temple.
Astonishment and Wisdom Seen
All who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers, for His discreet questions and answers gave manifest proof of superior wisdom, penetration, mature judgment, superior knowledge and deep understanding. That astonishment reached also to the depth of His understanding as He both heard and answered and imparted light.
The wonder was greater because His parents were poor and He had not received the usual advantages of education nor attended their schools. The question therefore passed from lip to lip, whence this youth had such wisdom having never learned.
His voice was marked with solemn melody and with a grace that charmed the learned men. His parents gazed in astonishment at the scene and were gratified to see Him thus honored.
His words revealed a wisdom that distinguished Him from other children and made a lasting impression on those who heard His questioning and replying. Yet His divine mission was veiled in ordinary human life. His understanding showed that He knew His work and what lay before Him, for His questions and answers concerned the promises centered in Himself.
Learner Who Instructed Teachers
He took the place of a learner among the doctors, sitting with them and hearing them and asking questions with eagerness to obtain information, in modesty and gentleness and youthful modesty and grace. He went in before the rabbis and doctors of the law as one wishing to be taught, sitting with other youth at the feet of the great teachers and listening to learn what the prophets had written. He did not openly present Himself as trying to teach them, but hid that purpose, for had they suspected it they would have spurned and rejected Him.
Yet each question held gems of light and by every question He poured light into their darkened minds. His questions gave His hearers new thoughts they had never had before, imparting light and helping open their minds to Scripture. His purity and humility and meekness rebuked sin while giving no cause for blame, and He labored constantly in this way even at the cost of His home. His youthful modesty and grace overcame prejudice so that the Holy Spirit could reach the learned teachers.
His questions were instructive lessons, and His answers to their queries opened up subjects of the deepest importance and fields of thought about the mission of Christ that had never before entered their minds. In this way He taught the learned priests and teachers and rulers and great men, displaying wisdom and deep penetration and stores of wisdom, and gave them new matter to think upon. Though He asked as a learner, His words taught them, giving an example of how thoughtful questions can convey truth without contention.
He knew the Jews held many wrong ideas about the Messiah, yet He did not contradict the learned men. He read Isaiah 53 of the Saviour's death and asked its meaning, which the rabbis could give no answer to. When they then began to question Him they were astonished at His knowledge of the Scriptures, seeing that He understood the Bible far better than they did and that their teaching was wrong, yet they were not willing to believe anything different. He was so modest and gentle that they were not angry with Him, and they wanted to keep Him as a student and teach Him to explain the Bible as they did. He introduced familiar old truths in a new and precious light, reaching His hearers without abruptly disrupting their accustomed way of thinking.
Truth About Messiah Revealed
Though taking the place of a learner, His questions and words in the temple illuminated the prophecies of the Messiah's humiliation, suffering and death. They revealed the Lamb of God who takes away sin and the plan of salvation. They brought light to willing hearers, helping them understand Isaiah's prophecies of the first coming and the Messiah's true mission, rather than expecting only earthly exaltation and the glory of the second coming.
In the temple during Passover He was discerning the meaning of its services and the mission He would fulfill for the heirs of the covenant promises. When He questioned the learned teachers about the Messiah, His questions revealed an understanding beyond their learning. Though He came before the rabbis as a humble learner and had not been taught by them, they could not always answer Him, for His grasp of the Messiah and His mission surpassed theirs. His understanding reflected the perfection of His character and included insight into the coming Messiah.
He had studied the word until He knew it well and could use it skillfully. As He listened and asked questions to learn, His questions also revealed new meaning in the Scriptures about the Messiah, meaning the teachers of the law had not seen. He presented the Scriptures in their true meaning and could withstand the scribes' arguments even though they expected a child to accept their interpretations.
This work of teaching was being about His Father's business, the very work He had come into the world to do. Each question held gems of light that gave His hearers new thoughts concerning the Messiah they had never had before. Found at twelve in the court of the temple after being lost for three days among travelers returning from the Passover, sitting in the midst of the doctors hearing them and asking them questions with a grace that charmed these learned men, His appearance was the childhood commencement of His work manifesting what God could do for afflicted bodies and souls from a whole being that was the Lord's, pure and undefiled.
Source of His Understanding
His understanding in the temple astonished His hearers because it came from God and not from the schools of the prophets or rabbinical instruction, which He never sought or attended. He needed no education from the great teachers in human science, for God was His instructor and He had access to knowledge they did not know. Those who held this most fully taught that He had access to the tree of life, a source of knowledge of which even His own family knew nothing. His questions and answers opened new lines of thought about the mission of Christ and displayed stores of wisdom, deep penetration and even scientific knowledge.
He had studied the word until He knew it well and could use it skillfully, making the Scriptures His constant study under His Father's instruction together with nature. By that study He presented Scripture in its true meaning, revealed new meaning about the Messiah that teachers of the law had not seen, and could withstand the arguments of the scribes though they expected a child to accept their interpretations. His questions exposed the gap between the teachers' practices and Scripture, so that even those displeased by His refusal to follow popular customs recognized His education was of a higher kind.
Having come down from heaven and become a little child, He was carefully watched by angels in the first years of His life, and the Lord Himself was with Him and kept Him in His younger days. Very soon the Word of God was plainly opened to Him, giving Him the knowledge by which He afterward gave instruction here and there. His growth in wisdom and in favor with God and man was according to the laws of His divine appointment, with talents developing and faculties strengthening by exercise.
He lived in childhood and youth under the supervision of men who professed to be God's chosen messengers to the people. Those men tried to make themselves His advisers and to influence Him to follow their plans and suggestions, but He did not follow the counsel of priests and rulers. He steadfastly followed the instruction of the Lord and the clear light He had from His Father, with a peculiar dignity and individuality distinct from earthly pride or assumption and without striving after greatness.
His wisdom was a surprise to His parents and brothers. His brothers were annoyed at His questions and answers because they discerned that He was an instructor to the learned teachers. They could not comprehend Him because they did not know that He had access to the tree of life, a source of knowledge of which they knew nothing.
Prophecy Example and Application
His three-day separation from His parents after the Passover foreshadowed His death for the sins of the world, when He would be separated from them, and His revealing of Himself afterward foreshadowed their finding Him again and trusting Him as the fallen race's redeemer and advocate with the Father.
As He solved mysteries and resolved questions which priests and rulers had not discerned, so the same will be repeated in the closing work of the earth and in the last times. Children who receive a proper Christian education and are rightly educated will speak simply and truthfully, and their voices in their simplicity will speak words that astonish people who prize and talk of higher education.
His conduct afterward remained a mystery to His parents, yet His example taught without controversy. His quiet hours in Scripture, prayer and communion with God shaped the patient service He returned to at home, where He worked with His father as a carpenter helping support the family, thus joining intellectual learning with useful work. At twelve years of age His understanding showed that He knew His work and what lay before Him, with questions and answers concerning the promises centered in Himself, and His childhood is an example of the life people should live. From infancy to manhood He grew up without sin, protected by God, and did everything faithfully when He began His work.
He made His home for thirty years among the people of Nazareth, living there unhonored and unknown in a town proverbial for wickedness and considered the worst in Palestine, a place from which it was thought a wonder if any good thing could come. There He began His great and mighty work to uplift and regenerate the whole human soul, commencing amid moral darkness and misery by becoming a citizen of that place and setting His own feet upon the paths the poor and neglected souls must tread. As the Light of the world He pours contempt upon human pride of place, station, honor and fame, and He might have made His home in places of renown but did not, lest His followers compelled to live in lowly places should frame an excuse for their sins and for their rough, hard, discourteous characters. Having left the courts of heaven and taken humanity upon Himself to live out a pure human character, He made His abode among those far down in the scale of popularity and morality to demonstrate that any place, however hard and lowly, if it is the post of duty, can be made honorable by fidelity.
Because He was once a little child, mothers are for His sake to deal gently with little ones and honor them as a sacred charge. Children are God's property, He loves them, and they are not to be indulged, petted and idolized, but are to be taught to live a pure, noble life. He calls mothers to cooperate with Him in helping them to form perfect characters. His early life and the instruction He received in the humble home at Nazareth stand as an example of education shaped by God's word.