And it came to pass, after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers and hearing them and asking them questions.
Jesus is twelve. His parents leave Jerusalem without Him, and it takes them three days to find Him. The details are few, so every word counts: where He was, what He was doing, and why His parents had not thought to look there.
Twelve is an awkward age. What Jesus did with it is the point.
A more attractive sight morally there is nowhere even in God's Word. At this age a boy usually has neither the simplicity of a child nor the tested good sense of a man. Yet this is how we find Jesus. Others of the same age were no doubt set on their play, or on feeding their curiosity in such a city. They were wasting the most valuable time, which never comes back. But Jesus was lowly and filled with wisdom at once, and He used the golden opportunity. He sat among the teachers and heard them — a proof of His humility. He asked them questions — a proof of His interest in the Scriptures.
Older Bible versions call these men "doctors."
Literally teachers; also called doctors, or teachers of the law. They were men who gave themselves to the study and teaching of the Jewish law.
He had every right to speak in that building as its Master. He did not.
Had He acted on His rights, He was the Lord of that temple. He might have taken up the word of Malachi, which testified of His coming there in power and glory. He might have claimed, as Jehovah, to "suddenly come to His temple." "But who can endure the day of His coming?" … But no. He, the Master, is found there as the disciple of the Word of God. He did not set that Word aside for Himself. Instead He would gain from that Word which was on the lips of these teachers. It was, after all, His Father's Word: so He hears them and asks them questions… His questions led to the showing of divine truth.
He was there to receive as well as to ask. A writer compares what He took in to butter and honey.
He was making no display of His knowledge. He took the place that suited a twelve-year-old, gladly listening to the explanations of the teachers and asking them questions… Butter stands for the Word of God made good to the soul through exercise. It is the Word itself. Honey stands for the ministry of the Word. The worker bees gather and digest it, then give it for the good of the whole hive. It is what believers gather to share with others. What the learned teachers gave of the law that was really from God was honey, and the Lord received it. But the butter came first — God's own Word made good to the soul in personal exercise. If the blessed Son of Man needed this, how deeply we need both the Word itself and the ministry of the Word, so that we may tell good from evil and choose the good.
The three days were not an accident.
They could not find Him among their relatives and friends, so they turned back to Jerusalem to look for Him. For three days their search filled them with worry and distress of heart. God surely arranged this. Nothing could interrupt the "child Jesus" until He had done His Father's will.
Their three days of searching say something about them, not about Him.
Why did they have to look for Him at all? If their hearts had been set on the will of God, it would have led them straight to Him… Most children of that age would have little interest in the temple and in the learning of the teachers of the law. But did they not expect Him to care deeply about it? This should have been the first place they looked for Him. It was His first chance to ask the learned men about matters of the highest importance.
He sat there as a learner, and He was the Son of God at the same time. Neither truth weakened the other.
Though He was the Son of God and fully conscious of it, He was also the obedient man, perfect and sinless in His very being and always so. He was an obedient child, whatever sense He also had of another relationship — one that in itself had nothing to do with being subject to human parents. Consciousness of the one did not injure His perfection in the other. His being the Son of God secured His perfection as a man and a child on the earth.
- Found — Luke shows Him in the temple at an age when others were at play, using time that never returns.
- Sitting — He took the learner's seat in a house He owned; the Master of the temple came as a disciple of His Father's Word.
- Hearing — He received both the Word itself and the true teaching of it from others — the pattern for anyone who wants to know good from evil.
- Sought — God arranged those three days. Nothing interrupted the Father's will.
- Missed — They looked everywhere but the temple. Hearts set on God's will would have led them straight to Him.
And all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.
A twelve-year-old sits among Israel's teachers in the temple. Everyone listening is amazed — not by a show of learning, but by the way He hears, asks, and answers. Who is this child? Where did such understanding come from? And why does amazement at Him so often stop short of knowing Him?
The scene is remarkable for what Jesus does not do. He listens and He asks. One writer finds three things in this short account: how He behaved, what He knew Himself to be, and where He went next.
First, as a child, He kept the place, and behaved as a child. He heard the recognised teachers speak as becomes a child. He asked questions like a child. But He did not try to teach. That would not have been fitting for a child. Second, as the Son of His Father, and conscious of it, He was about His Father's business, as He told His mother. Yet with the full knowledge of His Godhead, the Father's Son, He was then a child, and kept the place of one. All were amazed at His understanding and His answers. But no one could raise a finger against how He conducted Himself. And third, as the child of His mother, He went down with her and Joseph to Nazareth, and was subject to them.
He had every right to act otherwise. The temple was His, and Scripture had already announced His coming to it in power.
He might have claimed His right as Jehovah to "suddenly come to his temple." "But who can endure the day of His coming, and who can stand when He appears?" But no. He, the Master, sits there as a learner of the Word of God. He does not set that Word aside for Himself. Instead He would seek the profit of that Word which was on the lips of these teachers. It was, after all, His Father's Word. So He hears them and asks them questions. "And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers." His questions brought out divine truth, and His answers did so even more. We see this, because they also put questions to Him.
Where did a child get such understanding? Crowds asked the same question later in His life.
Later His public ministry made His hearers exclaim, "Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?" (Matthew 13:54). And again, "How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?" (John 7:15). This shows that His knowledge did not appear to come from the usual sources, that is, from rabbis or from writings. It was personal and intuitive.
Amazement at Jesus is not the same as receiving Him. One writer sees the gap in two groups: those outside, and those already saved.
In the temple, the place of Jehovah's Name, He heard the teachers and asked them questions. His own answers and understanding astonished those who heard Him. Even honoured Joseph and Mary did not understand when Jesus spoke of His Father's business. Many today are astonished at the teaching of Christ, but have not themselves received Him as their own Saviour! In the same way, many whom He has truly saved understand little of the vast business He came to carry out for His Father's glory.
One commentator explains the scene through a picture in Isaiah. (He works from an older translation that reads "butter" where the ESV has "curds".)
Butter is the cream of the milk in solid form, typically the Word of God made good to the soul through exercise. It is the Word itself. Honey is typical of the ministry of the Word, gathered and digested by the worker bees before being given for the good of the whole hive — so, what believers gather to share with others. Whatever the learned teachers gave of the law that was truly of God was honey, and the Lord received this, though the butter was first, that is, God's Word itself made good to the soul in personal exercise. If the blessed Son of Man needed this, how deeply we need both the Word itself and the ministry of the Word.
- Place — He kept a child's place: hearing, asking, never teaching. No one could fault His conduct.
- Posture — The Lord of the temple sat as a learner of His Father's Word. He did not claim His rights.
- Power — His understanding did not come from rabbis or books. It was personal, and it showed in His questions and in His answers.
- Pattern — He received both the Word itself and the ministry of the Word; if the Son of Man valued both, we need both.
- Problem — Everyone who heard Him was amazed, yet amazement is not faith. Many marvel at His teaching and never receive Him for themselves.