The Boy Jesus
The Second Sunday of Christmas
Luke 2:41-52
Summary
The Gospel of Luke begins in the temple with Zechariah’s vision and ends in the temple (Lk. 24:52-53). The Holy Family comes to the temple for the ritual purification after childbirth (see Lev. 12) 40 days after Jesus’ birth and then returns to Nazareth.
After Jesus is 40 days old, we learn nothing about the child until another temple visit when Jesus is 12 years old. Mary and Joseph take Jesus with them to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. On their return to Nazareth, they realize Jesus is not in the caravan. They search for Jesus frantically for three days when they finally find him in the temple among the teachers. There, Jesus impresses the teachers with his understanding but his mother is understandably exasperated : “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress” (Lk. 2:48). Jesus responds with his first recorded words in the Gospel: “Why were you seeking me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
They didn’t understand Jesus’ reply, but Jesus obediently returned with his family, and for the second time, Luke tells us Mary “treasured up all these things in her heart” (Lk. 2:51).
The boy Jesus, though understanding that his true father is Yaweh, the Lord of the temple, grows up as any other boy would. But Jesus’ boyhood maturity will be exceptional: the understanding he demonstrates among Israel’s best teachers at an early age will only grow. And the misunderstading of Jesus, not just of his own family, but of others will also grow in the Gospel.
This episode at the temple previews the end of the Gospel, when Jesus is raised from the dead. Jesus’ parents find him on the 3rd day, a day of revelation in Scripture, and the day of resurrection in the Gospels. Jesus says, “Did you not know that I must be [about my Father’s business]?” On the road to Emmaus, the resurrected Lord will likewise tell two followers who were seeking Jesus but couldn’t find him, “Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” (Lk. 24:26). Once again, it seems we lost Jesus but he turn up in places and in ways that astonish us.
The passage is surrounded by statements of Jesus’ growth and maturity (Lk: 2:40, 52).
The Growth of Jesus in wisdom (v. 40)
Jesus and family journey to the Temple (vv. 41-42)
Jesus Remains at the Temple (v. 43)
Jesus' parents search for and find Jesus on the third day (v. 44-47)
Jesus Must be about his Father’s House (Temple) (vv. 48)
Jesus and family return to Nazareth (v. 51)
The Growth of Jesus in wisdom (v. 52)
The opening of Luke’s Gospel parallels 1 Samuel in key ways. Hannah gives birth to a son Samuel, sings a song of praise, and the son is devoted to service in the Tabernacle. Mary gives birth to a son Jesus, and sings a song of praise modeled on Hannah’s, and takes Jesus to the temple. Samuel “continued to grow both in stature and in favor with the Lord and also with man” (1 Sam. 2:26). The echoes of Luke 2:52 are unmistakable.
Jesus is a new and greater Samuel, but in what ways? Samuel has a message of judgment against the Lord’s house. Jesus will also bring a word of judgement against the temple and the corrupt practices of worship. But Jesus will also bring a word of salvation: he will replace everything the temple represents. He is the meeting place of God and man, the ultimate sacrifice of sins, the presence of God on earth.
The Boy Jesus
What was Jesus like from the time he was 40 days old to 12 years old? Regardless of what some apocryphal gospels might lead us to believe (he healed pet birds, etc), we don’t quite know. But what we learn of Jesus at 12 years old can help us understand what he was like as a boy. He was thoroughly human. He experienced all the normal, natural things that young boys experience. Luke makes it a point to tell us that Jesus grew up physically, socially, intellectually, and spiritually (Lk. 2:52). Jesus learned and asked questions. And he submitted to his parents’ authority.
But clearly Luke wants us to see that Jesus—even at the age of 12—Jesus has a strong sense of his vocation and mission: he’s the Son of God and he’s about his Father’s business.
Thus, this scene of Jesus at 12 gives us both a glimpse of his full humanity and his divine identity as God’s son.
Seeking, Finding, and Understanding Jesus
The first words of Jesus in Luke’s Gospel are his response to Mary: “Why are you seeking me?” This is similar to the first recorded words of Jesus in John’s Gospel: “What are you seeking?” (Jn. 1:38). Jesus’ parents thought he was with them, but they lost him. They finally found him and he surprised them while he was holding court at the temple.
The Gospel is an invitation to seek Jesus. And we should be prepared to be surprised when we find him. “But if and when we sense the lack of his presence, we must be prepared to hunt for him, to search for him in prayer, in the scriptures, in the sacraments, and not to give up until we find him again."1
1 Tom Wright, Luke for Everyone (London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 2004), 30.