Mary and Joseph Find Jesus in the Templeby CBPepper
2:50Luke 2:50
And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.
At the Passover when He was twelve, the age for taking part in the sacred feasts, Jesus remained in the temple among the teachers and answered His sorrowing parents by declaring He must be occupied with the business of His heavenly Father, not Joseph, thus revealing for the first time His understanding of His Sonship to God and the special work He had come to do. Joseph and Mary did not grasp His meaning, being only amazed, because they lacked deep insight into the prophecies and the solemn significance of the Passover and found it difficult to keep His divine mission before them while viewing Him in ordinary life as their child. Even so, Mary in great measure understood much of His import, knowing He meant Jehovah and was beginning to realize His relation to His heavenly Father, and she kept His sayings and pondered their meaning for the future although it was not yet clear to her. He then returned with them to Nazareth and remained subject and obedient to them for years, and His life of filial obedience stands as the pattern for every soul, showing that lack of understanding does not excuse disobedience and that any lowly post of duty can be made honorable by fidelity.
Setting and Saying
The saying belongs to Jesus' Passover visit to Jerusalem at twelve years old, the age when Hebrew boys became sons of the law and sons of God and were expected to take part in the sacred feasts. In the temple He sat among the doctors and learned teachers, listening to them and asking questions that threw great light into their minds. Even as a child He was already doing the work He had come to do, revealing God, explaining God's word to Israel's leaders, and showing a new significance in the sacrifices and offerings.
The meaning of the feast was profound to Him while many observed it as a mere formality. The temple rites were helping the mystery of His mission and the work He would do for the heirs of the covenant promises dawn upon Him. On that visit He realized He was indeed the Son of God with a special work before Him, and though God's Son He already felt the burden of His mission.
By saying He must be occupied with His Father's business He meant His heavenly Father Jehovah, not Joseph His earthly father. He pointed upward to show this, declaring His Sonship to God and the work He had come to do. As He spoke, divinity was revealed through His human appearance, divinity flashing through humanity, with the light and glory of heaven and the light of divinity shining from His face in a most solemn manner. His answer showed for the first time that He understood His relation to God and was beginning to realize His relationship to His heavenly Father.
Why They Misunderstood
Joseph and Mary did not, or at least did not fully, understand the saying He spoke to them in answer to Mary's sorrowful question why He had dealt so with them while they sought Him sorrowing. Though He pointed upward as He spoke of being occupied with His Father's business, they did not grasp that He was declaring His Sonship to God and the work He had come to do, and were only amazed at His answer. His answer showed for the first time that He understood His relation to God, yet Mary, though she believed He was Israel's Messiah, did not comprehend His mission.
They lacked a deep insight into the prophecies and into the solemn significance of the Passover, which would have helped them recognize the mission of the child entrusted to them. Their ordinary view of Him as their own child made it difficult to keep His divine mission before them, and His stay in Jerusalem served as a gentle reminder of their duty and of the special trust God had placed in their care. Christ's own parents could not understand His life of perfect obedience as One who had laid off His royal robe and kingly crown to labor as the son of a poor family without offending in a single instance. The Passover-visit account itself does not explain why His parents did not understand His saying.
Even so, Mary in a great measure understood much of the import of His words and profited by them, although their meaning was not yet clear to her. She knew He did not mean Joseph His earthly father but Jehovah His heavenly Father. She recognized that He was beginning to realize His relationship to His heavenly Father. Though divinity flashed through humanity and the light and glory of heaven illuminated His countenance, they were only amazed and did not grasp His meaning.
Mary laid those words away in her heart, kept all these sayings, and pondered and reflected on their meaning for the future. She marked His words, His spirit, and His willing obedience to all their requirements. Joseph and especially Mary already kept ever before them the realization of His divine Fatherhood and instructed Him in accordance with the sacred character of His mission, yet understanding did not come then. Though Jesus was God's Son and already felt the burden of His mission, Mary kept His words in her heart although their meaning was not yet clear to her.
What Followed After
Though His parents did not grasp His words about His Father's business, He went down with them to Nazareth and lived subject and obedient to them. There He worked with His father as a carpenter and helped support His family. He made His home in Nazareth for thirty years, unhonored and unknown among people proverbial for wickedness and considered the worst in Palestine, in a town of bad reputation from which no good was thought possible.
Even while subject to them He never lost the realization of His future work and the knowledge that He must labor to save the lost. He kept faithful watch over every faculty lest Satan gain advantage, living in every action as the Son of God to represent the Father and to make others sons of God, losing no opportunity to work so that youth and adults would see the need to become intellectually qualified to be co-workers with God. He waited eighteen years before entering public ministry while constantly ministering to others and speaking words of comfort and tenderness even in childhood, not like all children but with a constant inclination to the right that gratified His parents. He went from infancy to manhood without committing sin because the God of salvation protected Him, doing everything with all faithfulness and taking great pains, even breaking into songs of heaven until the children around Him were singing.
Their separation from Him for three days after the Passover prepared them for the later sorrow of His death, when He would be lost to them for three days. Afterward He would reveal Himself and be found by them, and their faith would rest on Him as the Redeemer of fallen humanity and their Advocate with the Father.
His life of filial obedience was given as an example and was to be a pattern for every human soul, calling all to the same consecration to the will of God in order to see His salvation. Lack of understanding did not excuse disobedience, for having laid off His royal robe and kingly crown to labor as the son of a poor family He lived without offending in a single instance. By becoming a citizen of that lowly place and setting His feet on the paths the poor and neglected must tread, He as the Light of the world pours contempt on human pride of place, station, honor, and fame. Though He might have made His home in places of renown, He who left the courts of heaven to live out a pure human character made His abode among those far down in popularity and morality, to demonstrate that any hard and lowly place, if it is the post of duty, can be made honorable by fidelity, leaving His followers who are compelled to live in lowly places no excuse for sin and for rough, hard, discourteous character.
Because He shared childhood and was once a little child, mothers should deal gently with little ones and for His sake honor them as a sacred charge belonging to God and loved by Him. They are not to be indulged, petted, and idolized but to be taught to live a pure, noble life, with parents co-operating with God in helping them to form perfect characters. His childhood teaches parents not to rule with an iron rod and unjust rule, but to want Christ who bore much, to sing the songs of heaven with pleasurable notes in the voice, and to have salvation every day.
At the Passover when He was twelve, the age for taking part in the sacred feasts, Jesus remained in the temple among the teachers and answered His sorrowing parents by declaring He must be occupied with the business of His heavenly Father, not Joseph, thus revealing for the first time His understanding of His Sonship to God and the special work He had come to do. Joseph and Mary did not grasp His meaning, being only amazed, because they lacked deep insight into the prophecies and the solemn significance of the Passover and found it difficult to keep His divine mission before them while viewing Him in ordinary life as their child. Even so, Mary in great measure understood much of His import, knowing He meant Jehovah and was beginning to realize His relation to His heavenly Father, and she kept His sayings and pondered their meaning for the future although it was not yet clear to her. He then returned with them to Nazareth and remained subject and obedient to them for years, and His life of filial obedience stands as the pattern for every soul, showing that lack of understanding does not excuse disobedience and that any lowly post of duty can be made honorable by fidelity.
Setting and Saying
The saying belongs to Jesus' Passover visit to Jerusalem at twelve years old, the age when Hebrew boys became sons of the law and sons of God and were expected to take part in the sacred feasts. In the temple He sat among the doctors and learned teachers, listening to them and asking questions that threw great light into their minds. Even as a child He was already doing the work He had come to do, revealing God, explaining God's word to Israel's leaders, and showing a new significance in the sacrifices and offerings.
The meaning of the feast was profound to Him while many observed it as a mere formality. The temple rites were helping the mystery of His mission and the work He would do for the heirs of the covenant promises dawn upon Him. On that visit He realized He was indeed the Son of God with a special work before Him, and though God's Son He already felt the burden of His mission.
By saying He must be occupied with His Father's business He meant His heavenly Father Jehovah, not Joseph His earthly father. He pointed upward to show this, declaring His Sonship to God and the work He had come to do. As He spoke, divinity was revealed through His human appearance, divinity flashing through humanity, with the light and glory of heaven and the light of divinity shining from His face in a most solemn manner. His answer showed for the first time that He understood His relation to God and was beginning to realize His relationship to His heavenly Father.
Why They Misunderstood
Joseph and Mary did not, or at least did not fully, understand the saying He spoke to them in answer to Mary's sorrowful question why He had dealt so with them while they sought Him sorrowing. Though He pointed upward as He spoke of being occupied with His Father's business, they did not grasp that He was declaring His Sonship to God and the work He had come to do, and were only amazed at His answer. His answer showed for the first time that He understood His relation to God, yet Mary, though she believed He was Israel's Messiah, did not comprehend His mission.
They lacked a deep insight into the prophecies and into the solemn significance of the Passover, which would have helped them recognize the mission of the child entrusted to them. Their ordinary view of Him as their own child made it difficult to keep His divine mission before them, and His stay in Jerusalem served as a gentle reminder of their duty and of the special trust God had placed in their care. Christ's own parents could not understand His life of perfect obedience as One who had laid off His royal robe and kingly crown to labor as the son of a poor family without offending in a single instance. The Passover-visit account itself does not explain why His parents did not understand His saying.
Even so, Mary in a great measure understood much of the import of His words and profited by them, although their meaning was not yet clear to her. She knew He did not mean Joseph His earthly father but Jehovah His heavenly Father. She recognized that He was beginning to realize His relationship to His heavenly Father. Though divinity flashed through humanity and the light and glory of heaven illuminated His countenance, they were only amazed and did not grasp His meaning.
Mary laid those words away in her heart, kept all these sayings, and pondered and reflected on their meaning for the future. She marked His words, His spirit, and His willing obedience to all their requirements. Joseph and especially Mary already kept ever before them the realization of His divine Fatherhood and instructed Him in accordance with the sacred character of His mission, yet understanding did not come then. Though Jesus was God's Son and already felt the burden of His mission, Mary kept His words in her heart although their meaning was not yet clear to her.
What Followed After
Though His parents did not grasp His words about His Father's business, He went down with them to Nazareth and lived subject and obedient to them. There He worked with His father as a carpenter and helped support His family. He made His home in Nazareth for thirty years, unhonored and unknown among people proverbial for wickedness and considered the worst in Palestine, in a town of bad reputation from which no good was thought possible.
Even while subject to them He never lost the realization of His future work and the knowledge that He must labor to save the lost. He kept faithful watch over every faculty lest Satan gain advantage, living in every action as the Son of God to represent the Father and to make others sons of God, losing no opportunity to work so that youth and adults would see the need to become intellectually qualified to be co-workers with God. He waited eighteen years before entering public ministry while constantly ministering to others and speaking words of comfort and tenderness even in childhood, not like all children but with a constant inclination to the right that gratified His parents. He went from infancy to manhood without committing sin because the God of salvation protected Him, doing everything with all faithfulness and taking great pains, even breaking into songs of heaven until the children around Him were singing.
Their separation from Him for three days after the Passover prepared them for the later sorrow of His death, when He would be lost to them for three days. Afterward He would reveal Himself and be found by them, and their faith would rest on Him as the Redeemer of fallen humanity and their Advocate with the Father.
His life of filial obedience was given as an example and was to be a pattern for every human soul, calling all to the same consecration to the will of God in order to see His salvation. Lack of understanding did not excuse disobedience, for having laid off His royal robe and kingly crown to labor as the son of a poor family He lived without offending in a single instance. By becoming a citizen of that lowly place and setting His feet on the paths the poor and neglected must tread, He as the Light of the world pours contempt on human pride of place, station, honor, and fame. Though He might have made His home in places of renown, He who left the courts of heaven to live out a pure human character made His abode among those far down in popularity and morality, to demonstrate that any hard and lowly place, if it is the post of duty, can be made honorable by fidelity, leaving His followers who are compelled to live in lowly places no excuse for sin and for rough, hard, discourteous character.
Because He shared childhood and was once a little child, mothers should deal gently with little ones and for His sake honor them as a sacred charge belonging to God and loved by Him. They are not to be indulged, petted, and idolized but to be taught to live a pure, noble life, with parents co-operating with God in helping them to form perfect characters. His childhood teaches parents not to rule with an iron rod and unjust rule, but to want Christ who bore much, to sing the songs of heaven with pleasurable notes in the voice, and to have salvation every day.