And when he was twelve years old, and they went up [to Jerusalem] according to the custom of the feast
Luke's Gospel skips almost all of Jesus' childhood and opens one window: a boy of twelve going up to Jerusalem with His family for the Passover, as the custom required. That single journey shows what those silent years were like, and why the Spirit of God kept this moment and no other.
Getting to the feast took real effort, and the family made the trip every year.
Verse 41 notes that Joseph and Mary made a practice of going to Jerusalem every year for the Passover Feast. Their poor circumstances did not hinder this important occasion. Nor was it a short, easy journey, but about a three or four day trip each way on foot or donkey. What a reproof to Christians who will make many excuses for not attending gatherings and conferences of the people of God!
The age matters. At twelve a Jewish boy came under the obligations of the law himself.
The Lord would now be a "son of the Law" after "confirmation." He would begin to wear fringes and tassels. He was also now required to attend the festivals at Jerusalem (Ex. 23:14 ff., Deut. 16:16).
Twelve was also the age when the schools of Israel's leading teachers first opened to Him.
This was the age at which a Jewish child began to come up to Jerusalem for the festivals. Here, no doubt, the schools of the greater Rabbis were open to Him for the first time. How strongly the teaching and the discussions of Israel's spiritual leaders must have drawn Him — the very men He would stand toward so differently later on!
Luke's wording stays ordinary — parents, a law, a custom. Older translations read "the custom of the feast" here, where the ESV has "according to custom."
We are still walking with Christ inside Jewish hopes; that is, as a Man the grace or favour of God was upon Him... He is a Man, and Scripture speaks of Him as such. Those around Him keep within the limits of His manhood, and so treat Him as a Jew, according to their place. It says: "His parents," and "according to the law," and "the custom of the feast."
Twelve is an awkward age. One writer compares how other boys spent their time in that city with how Jesus spent His.
This is just the age when a boy usually has neither the simplicity of a child nor the tested good sense of a man. Yet here we find Jesus so occupied. Boys of the same age were no doubt set on their games, or on feeding their curiosity in such a city, wasting the most valuable time of all — time that never comes back... But Jesus was lowly and filled with wisdom at the same time. He used the golden opportunity. He sat among the teachers, listening to them (a proof of His humility) and asking them questions (a proof of His interest in the Scriptures).
Almost nothing survives of the first thirty years. That silence is itself deliberate.
Twelve years passed by, and Scripture mentions only two things about this whole period... One of them is that His parents went to Jerusalem every year for the Passover. This is another testimony to the godliness of Mary and her husband, and that may be why the fact is noted. Scripture does not even say whether Mary took the child Jesus with her on these occasions. Not a word is added to satisfy human curiosity. We are given only what the purpose of the Spirit of God requires. All is perfect, because every word of Scripture expresses the wisdom of God.
Later books known as the "infancy gospels" try to fill this gap. They are worthless: "they are all legendary and unreliable," writes Arno Clemens Gaebelein.
The boy at the feast is not a rehearsal for something better later. Writers insist the quality of His life never varied.
All that time He was under the law, growing up like a pure sheaf of grain, the only pure sheaf of human fruit... One unbroken delight rested on Him from the manger to the cross — perfect delight in the mind of God. That delight might change its character, but never its measure. There was not a single flaw in it from first to last... He was just as perfect growing up in subjection to His parents as He was when the temple veil was torn.
- Custom. Every year the family kept the Passover. Poverty and a three or four day journey each way did not stop them — a rebuke to our excuses for missing the gatherings of God's people.
- Age. At twelve a Jewish boy became a "son of the law." He had to attend the festivals at Jerusalem, and Israel's teachers were open to him for the first time.
- Manhood. "His parents," "the law," "the custom of the feast" — every phrase keeps Him inside the real limits of human and Jewish life.
- Opportunity. Other boys wasted those days. Jesus spent them listening and asking questions — humble and hungry for Scripture at once.
- Perfection. God's delight in Him was as complete in a boy subject to Joseph and Mary as it was at the cross; not one flaw from first to last.
and had completed the days, as they returned, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, and his parents knew not [of it];
Luke tells us almost nothing about Jesus' childhood, and this scene at twelve years old is the exception. Three small facts carry the verse: the feast was over, the boy stayed behind on purpose, and the two adults responsible for Him did not notice.
The Gospel notes that Jesus was twelve, and Jewish custom shows why that mattered.
Jewish records suggest that twelve was the age when a Jewish youth became old enough to take up his own responsibilities before God. A boy who had reached this age was called "son of the law," and only then did he come under legal obligations. Whatever the case, we are told that Joseph and Mary took Jesus to Jerusalem when He was twelve. The account points His age out on purpose, and that must mean something. What happened at the feast is not recorded. Instead our attention goes to Jesus staying behind in Jerusalem when Joseph and Mary set off home.
The Greek verb for "stayed behind" is the root of a well-known New Testament word.
The Authorized Version usually translates this word as "patience." J. N. Darby's New Translation has "endurance." The Greek word originally meant "remaining behind." It comes from the verb "I remain behind," and that is how Luke 2:43 renders it.
Set Him beside the other boys His age in the city, and see how He spent the days.
There is no more morally attractive sight anywhere, even in God's Word. At just that age a boy usually has neither the simplicity of a child nor the tested good sense of a man. Yet here we find Jesus busy like this. Others of the same age were no doubt set on their play, or on satisfying their curiosity in such a city. They were wasting the most valuable time of all, time that never returns. Soon the rush of human life begins, with the great struggle in which so many lose themselves. But Jesus was found lowly and at the same time filled with wisdom. He used the golden opportunity. He sat among the teachers and listened to them, which proves His humility, and He asked them questions, which proves His interest in the Scriptures.
How do two parents lose a twelve-year-old for a whole day? The answer is in what they assumed.
It may seem strange that Joseph and Mary had not made sure a twelve-year-old child was with them. They did not miss Him until they had gone a day's journey. Clearly they took His presence for granted. He had proved dependable to them in every respect, so they supposed He would be in the company. But they were certainly not enjoying His company. He is so faithful. So let us not simply take His presence with us for granted, but cultivate the fellowship of His company. Their neglect cost them two days of travel as well as three days of searching for Him. We too will find that a lack of closeness with the Lord costs us something.
Their distress was real. It was also no accident.
Failing to find Him among their relatives and friends, they turned back to Jerusalem to look for Him. For three days they searched, anxious and distressed in heart. God surely arranged this. Until the "child Jesus" had done His Father's will, nothing could interrupt Him.
Did staying behind mean He had slipped out from under His parents' authority?
He was not yet anointed by the Holy Spirit. Yet He was perfect man and true God, the child of Mary, and subject not only to her but to her husband — in law, His father. The incident shows His perfection as a child feeding on the word of God. It shows just as clearly His awareness that He was the Son of God, far beyond anything Joseph or Mary thought. And with that it shows His subjection to them, "His parents," in that human place He had come down to from divine glory, in a love no less divine.
- Stayed — the Greek verb for "stayed behind" is the root of the word for patience. His staying was purpose, not accident.
- Chose — at twelve a Jewish boy became a "son of the law." Jesus spent that freedom hearing the teachers and asking questions, while boys His age wasted the hours.
- Missed — Joseph and Mary assumed He was with them, because He had never let them down. They lost His company for a day before they noticed.
- Sought — God arranged the three anxious days of searching. Nothing was to interrupt Him until His Father's will was done.
- Cost — taking His presence for granted cost them five days. Losing touch with the Lord costs us too.