Luke 2:41-52
This is the passage where Jesus is a 12 year old boy and his parents leave him behind in Jerusalem. I think it is interesting that it takes a whole day for them to realize that he is gone. It is understandable since they were traveling with a group and he's a 12 year old boy. What 12 year old boy wants to hang out with his parents all day, when he could be hanging out with his friends? No 12 year old boy I know would choose parents over friends. So anyway, they realize he is gone and travel back, which takes a whole day. This makes a total of 2 days that he has been "missing". Then it says they found him in the temple after 3 days, which means they searched for 1 day before they found him in the temple to make a total of 3 days. I can just imagine the panic Mary was going through.
I think it's funny because we know the end of the story. I know that they find him in the temple teaching, and all of that. But since I am studying Mary and trying to see things through her eyes, lets look at it from her perspective. Mary realizes that Jesus is not with them. After going around to all their relatives she finds out that he is not traveling with them, and they've gone a whole day's journey. I bet she did not get very much sleep that night. I'm sure she was worried sick about him, and wondering how he was doing and if he had a safe place to sleep that night. She was probably hoping no one had kidnapped him, and hoping he wasn't in any danger. Then the whole next day is just them traveling back which probably was killing Mary. She probably wanted to get back to Jerusalem as fast as possible. Then when they get there it still takes them a whole day of looking before they find him in the temple. Thinking about it that way, I can understand why she said the things she did to him.
Mary says to Jesus "Why have you treated us so?" Which I think in modern english would be more like "What were you thinking?!?! Were you trying to give us a heart attack?!?!" I think that is the idea of what Mary is trying to get across. What mother wouldn't say something like that to her son who has been missing for 3 days? then she says "your father and I have been searching for you in great distress" which could be translated "We have been looking all over for you!" I think that is exactly what I would say to my son if this happened to me. Then he answers graciously, but it says that they did not understand. But since Jesus was sinless, he did not argue with them. I am just trying to imagine a world where kids did not argue with their parents. I am at home for Christmas break and being here with younger siblings still living at home, I remember are the ridiculous arguments that high school students can come up with to argue with their parents instead of just submitting to their authority. That's what Jesus did. He was submissive and did not argue with his parents, but rather obediently followed their requests. That is such a cool show of obedience. and what an example to the rest of us. It is not important to argue with our parents and make sure they understand our point of view on the situation. Jesus didn't. If anyone is going to have a good excuse for not doing what their parents said, it was Jesus, but he did not argue and demand answers. He simply obeyed.
Then I like the second to last verse in the chapter. It says once again that Mary treasured these things in her heart. I just think it is so cool that even something as difficult as this was a moment and memory that Mary never wanted to forget so she treasured it in her heart.
What can I learn from all this... well, 1. I think it is important to remember that submission is a big deal to God. Whether that means submitting to parents, husbands, or other authority figures, submission is important. It is even something that Jesus models for us, and if we truly do want to be more like him, then we will work hard to even be like him in the area of submission. 2. How often do I treasure things in my heart? and i don't mean like things I just want to remember, but things that God is doing. The blessing I received from Carl yesterday was something I want to treasure in my heart for a long time. There will come a time where I will have to face struggles, but I need to have some special God moments tucked away in my memory so that when those things happen, I have a time where I know God was faithful and I can look back to that. He really is a faithful God and he really is a great God to serve.
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