Luke chapter 2

vs 41

Again in accordance with religious duty. I'm not trying to suggest that there weren't many who did these things, just that Mary and Joseph did.

vs 42

Now I'm sure the age of 12 is vitally important. Either Jesus is still a boy, or has just become a "man". I'll leave you to find out the details, but sufficed to say that it's an important age one way or the other. I'm actually going for boy, because I think the story is meant to be fairly unbelievable.

vs 43

See, this is completely believable. I'm sure people everywhere have had children do things like this.

Just to let you know how children were treated back then - the greek word for 'boy', pais, means "child (boy or girl), servant, slave".

vs 44

In those days, when you travelled by foot, you travelled in large enough groups that bandits didn't think you were easy prey. Easily done at Passover, when so many people are going.

vs 45

Which seems a pretty dangerous thing to do, leaving the group, but it's their son who is so special, better look after him! Although then you could argue that losing him wasn't really the best way of looking after him in the first place.

vs 46

I think we gloss over the fact that they looked for him for three days. There's no police (there are law enforcement bodies, but not like a police service today, where if your child was missing they'd put up posters etc). They would have had to find accommodation, and search the capital city until they found him.

The thing that usually grabs us, that Jesus as a child is there interacting with the teachers of the Law, is also interesting. I just never fully realised the first bit.

vs 47

So even at a young age, his knowledge of the Scriptures and of the will of God is very much there.

vs 48

At about this point in time, you could argue that Jesus was disobeying the commandment "honour your father and your mother". I mean, it's all well and good to be hanging out at the temple with the religious types, but they are still his parents. You can come up with various arguments, some of which are more reasonable than others, but it is still a difficult question. While I probably lean towards one or two camps or a mixing of a few, the important thing is that I don't think Jesus is sinning here.

vs 49

His point being, I think, that they should have known where he'd be, instead of searching all the places in town that were probably more interesting to a child first. Having said that, please note that a little child has kept the religious leaders interested for three straight days.

vs 50

It was 12 years ago that all that stuff happened to him. Perhaps they just got busy with life and it went to the back of their minds.

vs 51

So he was an obedient child. And again, we have this reminder that these stories come from Mary, who treasured them.

vs 52

And we have a second "he grew" clause, which almost indicates that there was some sort of insertion of this story. I'm not some sort of source critic - all I'm saying is that perhaps Luke only got to meet Mary later in his writing, and put these stories in later or something. In any case, this verse covers 18 years of Jesus life.