Each year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up according to festival custom.
After they had completed its days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Thinking that he was in the caravan, they journeyed for a day and looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances, but not finding him, they returned to Jerusalem to look for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were astounded at his understanding and his answers.
When his parents saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been looking for you with great anxiety.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” But they did not understand what he said to them.
He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them; and his mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age and favor before God and man.
Gospel Trivia:
The gospel passage may strike us as portraying the adolescent Jesus as starting his ministry very early (twelve years old) and way before his baptism. Also, it shows Jesus as quite uncaring of the anxiety that his disappearance caused his parents.
But the significance of this passage is much more than the priority of his mission over his human family.
Luke uses this episode to pre-figure Jesus' death and resurrection through a series of subtle meanings and association, as follows:
- His age is twelve years old, and the number twelve suggests totality and completion. It suggests that this passage is about the complete mission of Jesus, and not just an adolescent incident.
- It took Joseph and Mary three days to find him, alluding to the three days that Jesus remained in the tomb.
- Joseph and Mary "did not understand" Jesus reply to them when confronted by his apparent neglect. Every time "incomprehension" is mention by Luke, it is always associated with Jesus' prediction of his passion and death.
- Jesus was "sitting in the midst of teachers". The nuance in the word for "sitting" suggests that Jesus was not only seated but is "seated to preside" over those around him. This suggests the eventual reign of Jesus' Kingdom of God.
To summarize, this isn't just an incident to fill a gap about Jesus' youth, but Luke's way of saying that Jesus' entire life is oriented towards fulfilling the Kingdom of God, but through a violent death and eventual resurrection.
Reference:
- Nil Guillemette, SJ, A Kingdom for All (Manila: St. Paul Publications, 1988), pp. 286-288.
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