Amy C Walters

Boy Jesus at the Temple – Luke 2:41-52

When Mary and Joseph go searching for Jesus after their Passover trip to Jerusalem, they find him at the temple. Jesus tells them that he had to be in his Father’s house. In this post, we explore Jesus’ pursuit of his Father’s purposes and how it plays out.

We already got a little sneak preview of today’s key truth in the previous post, “In Our Image.” We talked about Mary and Joseph mainly, and their experience of not being able to find Jesus. They traveled for a day and then couldn’t find him, went back to Jerusalem to look for him, and after three days, they finally found him in the temple, sitting with the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.

Mary and Joseph were understandably upset by this. They had been anxiously searching for him. They felt like Jesus had treated them poorly in this situation. And yet we know Jesus was without sin, and we see that he intentionally allowed this situation to happen for them to see that he was going to follow the Father’s purpose.

So our key truth for today, (and we’re going to learn it already, because there’s more to dive into about how we get there), is that Jesus pursued his Father’s purpose.

We see this when Mary and Joseph find Jesus at the temple. He is sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And everyone who heard Jesus was amazed at his understanding and his answers. These teachers of the law were amazed at Jesus.

Even as a boy, he wasn’t just a casual observer. Jesus was an active participant, enough that they took notice. This stood out to these teachers.

Mary and Joseph too were astonished when they found him there. They had been searching everywhere else. Mary says, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” And Jesus asks a question back. He says, “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know I had to be in my father’s house?”

So his first question is, “Why were you searching for me?” That’s not a rhetorical question, but it feels like one, right? “Because we couldn’t find you! We had to search for you. We didn’t know where you were.” 

But it’s almost a rhetorical question because Jesus is saying, “You should have known that I would be here. Think about what you know about me. God the Father sent me here for a purpose, so I am coming here to pursue that purpose, pursue my Heavenly Father.” 

I don’t know if you know of many 12-year-olds. They can be a rather squirrely bunch. So I can understand why Mary and Joseph might have looked anywhere else but the temple for their 12-year-old son.

I have an 11-year-old son, and he is an amazing, wonderful, brilliant kid. But if he got left behind in a big city after a major festival, I can guarantee you I wouldn’t find him at a church. 

Any other 12-year-old, you’re going to look in the fields where they might play or the campsite that you stayed at while you were there or the market where there was food. But Jesus clearly is not a normal kid because he is at the temple. He is at his Father’s house.

It’s interesting, too, how Mary says, “Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” And Jesus says, “I had to be in my father’s house.”

Mary is talking about “your father Joseph,” but Jesus is talking about his heavenly father. It’s like he’s saying, “Mom and Dad, you may have purposes for me, but my ultimate purpose is to pursue my heavenly Father and the specific role he has for me.” Jesus knows what that purpose is, and he is there to pursue it, even though it will eventually cost him everything.

It’s interesting how we’re told at the end of this story that “Mary treasured these things in her heart.” This is a phrase we’ve heard several other times already in these stories in Luke.

At the birth of John the Baptist, when Zechariah starts speaking again, word of this spreads to everyone, and they’re “treasuring it in their hearts, wondering what kind of child this will be, for the hand of the Lord was with John.” So people are intentionally putting this to memory.

And for Mary, when the shepherds came on the night that Jesus was born, and they told her everything that they had heard and seen, “Mary treasured up these things, pondering them in her heart.” Mary is intentional to remember the things that the shepherd said.

And here she’s remembering it again, although we’re told that “Mary and Joseph did not understand what Jesus meant when he said this.” They were still wrestling with it.

But Jesus knows, and Jesus is intentional in pursuing his heavenly Father’s purpose for him.

This is important to remember because, if you recall, the purpose of Luke writing this book was to give Theophilus confidence that what he heard and what he believes is the truth. And there might be some who were saying that Jesus’ disciples made up this idea of him being this Messiah and foisted it upon Jesus after the fact, that Jesus never affirmed this himself.

But we see in this story that even as a 12-year-old boy on the cusp of adulthood and on the cusp of taking responsibility for his own relationship with the law, that Jesus already recognized that he had a special purpose and was intent on pursuing that with the Father. So this was not an idea that was come up with afterwards and placed upon Jesus. This was something that even as he was growing up, he was pursuing.

So our key truth once again is that Jesus pursued the Father’s purposes.

What about you? You don’t have the particular role that Jesus does. He alone is Savior. But God has created good works for you to do. He’s got them planned out. 

Are you pursuing your own purposes, the things that you want to see happen in your own life? Or are you pursuing the Father’s purposes? Are you seeking to understand what those might be, even when there are obstacles that might get in the way?