PT-2 “The Incident At Twelve” (Luke 2:41-51)

 

EVENING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 4/15/2026 8:38 PM

My Worship Time                                                             Focus:  PT-2 “The Incident At Twelve”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                                Reference:  Luke 2:41-51

            Message of the verses:  “⁴¹ His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. ⁴² And when He was twelve years old, they went up there according to the custom of the feast; ⁴³ and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days required, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but His parents were unaware of it. ⁴⁴ Instead, they thought that He was somewhere in the caravan, and they went a day’s journey; and then they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances. ⁴⁵ And when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, looking for Him. ⁴⁶ Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers. ⁴⁸ When Joseph and Mary saw Him, they were bewildered; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You!” ⁴⁹ And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” ⁵⁰ And yet they on their part did not understand the statement which He had ^[made to them. ⁵¹ And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued to be subject to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart.”

            This evening’s SD is a continuation of this morning's SD, and as mentioned this section will take a number of SD’s to finish this section.  I will pick up from where I left of this morning.

            We are looking at the time when Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem when He went to His first Passover celebration, and He stayed behind as His parents thought He was in the caravan, but after a day they found out He was not in the caravan and so they went back to Jerusalem to look for Him.  Now Jesus’ staying behind was not an act of disobedience to His parents, nor was it irresponsibility on their part.  I think we could say that it was all in the plan of God for this to happen. His parents had never before known Him to do anything other than what they had experienced Him to do, and what He did was perfect.  He was responsible, obedient, sensitive, thoughtful; in every way sinlessly perfect.  This act, however, marked a transition.  Jesus was moving from responsibility to His earthly parents to responsibility to God.  Let us look at verse 49: And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?’”  Now I will have more to say about this verse later on.

            MacArthur writes “Finally, after three anxious days (One day’s journey away from Jerusalem, one day back, and one day searching Jerusalem for Jesus) Joseph and Mary found Jesus in the temple.  Incredibly, He was sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.  This was a typical, traditional setting for teaching in Israel.  The teachers would be seated, with the students, sitting in their midst.  Only here does Luke use didaskalos to refer to Jewish teachers; in the rest of his gospel the term is reserved for John the Baptist (3:12) or Jesus.  No one is called ‘teacher’ after Jesus became the teacher.”  Now I want to quote Luke 3:12 here:  “12 Tax collectors also came to be baptized and said to him, “Teacher, what shall we do?’”

            He goes on to write “Many eminent teachers would have been in Jerusalem for Passover.  Jesus seized this opportunity, which would never have been afforded Him in tiny, insignificant Nazareth, to dialogue with some of the greatest minds in Judaism.  He had a burning, passionate, consuming interest in the Word of God, and must have wanted to hear their views on the Old Testament, especially messianic prophecy, the sacrificial system, and the Law.  The dialogue method was the customary pattern for teaching in Judaism and was employed by the apostle Paul (Acts. 17:2, ‘reasoned’ translates a form of the Greek verb dialegomai, ‘to discuss’).  Students would gather around a teacher or teachers and stimulate the discussion by asking questions.  Only here in the Gospels is Jesus portrayed as the student; after this He is always the teacher—who would ask questions for which the Jewish teachers had no adequate answers (cf. 11:19-20; 13:2-5; 20:41-44).

            “So impressive was Jesus’ performance that all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.  Jesus’ questions and answers were penetrating, insightful, and profound; His wisdom and knowledge far exceeded that of any twelve-year-old boy that they had ever known.  This was not the first (cf. 2:18, 33), nor would it be the last time Jesus elicited wonder and amazement in Luke’s gospel (cf. 4:22, 32, 36; 5:9; 43; 11:14; 20:26; 24:41).”  Now we are getting closer to verse 49, as was mentioned earlier in this SD.

            Now finally after hours of anxious searching, Joseph and Mary found their missing son.  When they saw Him, they were astonished along with everyone else, not so much by the dialogue, but by His location, and perhaps when they thought about this they would have understood better, as Mary would say that she kept this in her heart.  Assuming that He was lost, they no doubt expected Him to be searching frantically for His parents, but Jesus was not lost at all for He knew where He wanted to be, but as mentioned His parents did not know this.  They did find Him sitting calmly in the temple, dialoging with the elite teachers in Judaism.

            “As anxious as any parents would be under the circumstances, Mary was both relieved and upset.  In exasperation she said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us this way?”  Her question was designed to make Jesus feel guilty, as if He had intentionally caused His parents to suffer.  Mary’s next statement intensified her rebuke.  “Behold,” she continued, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You.”  As mentioned above, Jesus’ behavior in this incident was totally unlike anything Joseph and Mary had ever experienced and thus to them inexplicable.”

            I will stop here and pick up more of this in the Morning’s SD, which will take us into verse 49 as mentioned earlier in this SD.

4/15/2026 9:12 PM