REMAINING BEHIND AT THE TEMPLE

LUKE 2:43–52

Words fail to describe the fear and worry that washes over a mother and father when their child is missing. Parents can identify with the fear and worry Mary and Joseph experienced when they left Jerusalem for their six-day journey back to Galilee only to find they had lost contact with Jesus.41 Upon realizing he was missing, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him and ultimately found him in the Temple. The Gospel of Luke makes it clear that this separation was not accidental. Jesus remained behind at the Temple for a reason.

As God had directed, Jesus and his family traveled from their home in Nazareth to Jerusalem in order to observe the Passover (Luke 2:41).42 Luke goes on to note that this Passover was a special time for Jesus. He was twelve years old (Luke 2:42)—one year away from his Bar Mitzvah. On this trip to the Temple he may have observed other Bar Mitzvahs and had his own vows examined in advance of his confirmation the following year.43

Throughout history, Jewish pilgrims from around the world have gathered in the area of Jerusalem’s Temple to celebrate various festivals.

The walled area of Jerusalem encompasses some of ancient Jerusalem, where Jesus remained when he was twelve years old.

Prayer and study at the western wall of the Temple Mount.

Everything went according to plan until Mary and Joseph headed home. The caravan departed Jerusalem for Galilee and made camp at the end of the first day of travel. It was only then that Joseph and Mary discovered Jesus was not with them. We might be shocked that neither Mary nor Joseph realized Jesus was missing until an entire day elapsed, but there is a likely explanation. People typically traveled in caravans, with men and women in separate groups; men guarded the caravan while the women cared for the children and animals. Perhaps Jesus had traveled to Jerusalem in the company of Mary. Upon their return, Mary assumed Jesus, who had just finished his pre–Bar Mitzvah overview, was now traveling with Joseph. Meanwhile, perhaps Joseph assumed Jesus was traveling with Mary. Miles from Jerusalem they looked for Jesus but could not find him (Luke 2:44).

So why had Jesus remained behind at the Temple in Jerusalem? This was not a teenager experimenting with independence but rather a purposeful delay meant to send a message. For the first time in Luke’s Gospel and the only time before Jesus’s baptism, we hear him speak: “Why were you searching for me? . . . Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49). In this statement, Jesus himself proclaimed his identity and purpose.

This specific time when Jesus traveled to Jerusalem was different from others. Messianic expectation was particularly high because it was Passover, which reminded the Jewish pilgrims of God’s deliverance from Egyptian bondage. Also, the seventy-year cycle of Jewish nationalism had arrived. Earlier in Israel’s history the Lord God had promised and provided deliverance after seventy years of Babylonian exile (Jer. 25:11–12).44

At the time of the Gospels, Jerusalem and its Temple had again become subject to foreign rule as the Romans took over in 63 BC. Thus seventy years later (AD 7) when Jesus was in the twelfth year of his earthly life, thoughtful Hebrews were looking for a deliverer to bring in God’s Kingdom and restore true worship in the Temple (2 Sam. 7:13).45 At just that moment, we find Jesus in the Temple where he needed to be about his Father’s business, initiating God’s plan of rescue and restoration.

A young man celebrating his Bar Mitzvah at the western wall.