Jesus in the Temple

Jesus in the Temple - Luke 2

Jesus in the Temple
LUKE 2 COMMENTARY
Luke 2:41-45 Jesus’ Parents

Luke 2:46-52 Jesus in the Temple

Luke 3 Commentary
LUKE 2:46-47  46 And it came to pass, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, both listening to them and questioning them. 47 And all who heard Him were amazed by His understanding and His answers.

Where did Joseph and Mary find Jesus?
In the temple in Jerusalem.

Why did it take them “three days” to find Jesus in the temple?
Returning to Jerusalem two days after the feast of Passover ended, Joseph and Mary would have found the city’s population, which tripled or quadrupled during the feast, returning to its normal size. Since “three days” (Luke 2:46) is sufficient for combing through all of Jerusalem’s streets, the temple may have been the last place they thought to check.

Why?
If your twelve year old child is lost in a city, would you expect him to be sitting in a seminary debating its faculty?

How could Jesus give “answers” (Luke 2:47) to “the teachers” (Luke 2:46) by “listening to them and questioning them” (Luke 2:46)?
Jesus often used questions to answer questions. For example, Matthew 12:9-12 reads: Then He departed from there and went into their synagogue. And behold, there was a man who had a shriveled hand. And they asked Him, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” - so that they might accuse Him. Then He said to them, “What man is there among you who has a sheep, and if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not lay hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable then is a man than a sheep? ...”

LUKE 2:48-50  48 Then when they saw Him, they were shocked, and His mother said to Him, “Child, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have been in distress looking for You.” 49 And He said to them, “Why were you looking for Me? Did you not know that I must be in My Father’s matters?” 50 But they did not understand what He said to them.

What error does Mary’s statement contain?
Jesus’ father is not Joseph, and if they had left Jesus behind in the temple, He hadn’t “done” (Luke 2:48) anything to them.

Does Jesus correct her?
“I must be in My Father’s matters” (Luke 2:49). Also, the fact that they looked for Jesus everywhere first else wasn’t His fault either.

LUKE 2:51-52  51 Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, and His mother kept all these sayings in her heart. 52 And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and age, and in favor with God and men.

Did Mary understand Jesus’ response?
Not at the time: “they did not understand what He said to them” (Luke 2:50).

So did she reject His words?
No, she “kept all these sayings in her heart” (Luke 2:52) until they made sense to her later.

What should we do with Jesus’ words that we don’t understand today?