The story of Jesus’ birth and infancy ends with him going back to Nazareth. Luke is the only Gospel writer who relates something of Jesus’ childhood when he tells what happened to Jesus at the temple in Jerusalem when he was twelve years old. Twelve was the age when a boy began to prepare to take his place in the religious community the following year. The temple was the place where the Jewish people sought the Lord. Psalms 27:4 says, “One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.”
Jesus, later in his ministry, compares himself to the temple. In Matthew 12:6 he says, “I tell you that one greater than the temple is here.” In John 2:19 when asked about his authority to cleanse the temple of the money changers he said, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” Jesus, of course, was referring to his body as the temple that would be destroyed on the cross and then raised from the dead three days later. The wonderful gift that God has given us through the death of Christ is that we, too, can become a temple where the living God dwells. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3:16, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” God’s temple is where God’s Spirit dwells. Christ is greater than the temple because he is the living God.
Luke 2:41-52
The Boy Jesus in the Temple
41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. 43 And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.
COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS:
Why did Jesus’ family go to Jerusalem? (41)
Where did they find Jesus when he was lost? (46)
What did Jesus say when they questioned him about where he was? (49)
How did he refer to the temple? (49)
What did Jesus do when he returned to Nazareth? (31-32)
THOUGHT QUESTIONS:
What does this story show about Jesus?
What can you learn from this story?
PRAYER:
Thank Jesus that he made a way for us to be continually in God’s presence. Pray that his Spirit would dwell in you, that you might be a temple of the living God, and would continually seek his presence..
FOCUS VERSE: Psalms 27:4
One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.