After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 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.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. 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. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.
-Luke 2:46-52 ESV
Finally, we get to Jesus' first recorded words
(chronologically) in the New Testament!
So Mary and Joseph traveled 1 day's journey, saw Jesus
wasn't with them, traveled back to Jerusalem (1 more day's journey), and
searched 3 days to finally find Jesus in the temple talking with a group of
Rabbi's who were amazed at His understanding. What's funny is the greek word
used to describe this understanding. ἐξίστημι
literally means to amaze, to astonish, throw into wonderment, to be
out of one's mind, besides one's self, insane. You have to understand that these Rabbis were experts of the ENTIRE Old Testament! It's like some 12 year old going into NASA and a better way to travel through space and how to go light speed. You could imagine what NASA would think! *MIND BLOWN*
And then there's his parent's reaction. They were astonished, but at the same time his mom said, "Were you trying to worry us to death?!?" (That's my paraphrase...) In on sense they were elated that He was alright, but at the same time they were upset He was missing.
Jesus, at 12 years old, knew who he was and who his Father was. And the best thing was he didn't abuse that power. He submitted when his mom said they're leaving. And he did it willingly.
This may be oversimplifying things, but it's like when you're given a car. That car is yours. You can do what you want with it, go where you want, and leave when you want. But you still have to obey the law, and your parents. If dad says be home by 10, we tend to argue. Jesus didn't use the argument that everything was created for him (1 Col 1:15-20), or they weren't the boss of him. No. When she said go, he obeyed without question. I think we can learn a lot from him. (Understatement of the century?)
This may be oversimplifying things, but it's like when you're given a car. That car is yours. You can do what you want with it, go where you want, and leave when you want. But you still have to obey the law, and your parents. If dad says be home by 10, we tend to argue. Jesus didn't use the argument that everything was created for him (1 Col 1:15-20), or they weren't the boss of him. No. When she said go, he obeyed without question. I think we can learn a lot from him. (Understatement of the century?)
