Jesus and the Temple

The Adventures of Jesus Christ
Episodes from the Life of Jesus for Young Readers
by Vincent Cheung
[ Contents ]

Chapter 6. Jesus and the Temple
OH NO, WE LOST THE SON OF GOD!

Jesus and his family had escaped to Egypt. After Herod died, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to take his family back to Israel.

When Joseph learned that Archelaus was the new ruler of Judea, he did not want to go there. Archelaus was the son of Herod, the man who wanted to kill Jesus. Like his father, Archelaus was a cruel and dangerous man.

So Joseph went to the district of Galilee, a region in northern Israel. Then he and his family settled in the town of Nazareth. And Jesus grew up there. God also told the prophets about this, and they predicted that the Christ would be called a Nazarene.

Jesus appeared like other children, but he was special. He was super interested in thinking about God. He spent a lot of time studying the writings of the prophets, or what we would call the Bible. And he was good at it. He was a prodigy, a spiritual genius. But his wisdom did not come only from study. He was the Son of God. He was God himself. He was the Word.

Every year, Jesus and his family took a special trip to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, an important holiday for the Jewish people. The Passover reminded them of how God rescued their ancestors from Egypt long ago. It was a time of celebration and remembrance.

When Jesus was 12 years old, his family made the trip to Jerusalem as usual. But this year, something unexpected happened. After the celebration was over, Mary and Joseph started the journey back home to Nazareth with a large group of family and friends. They assumed Jesus was walking among them, but he had stayed behind in Jerusalem, and his parents did not know it.

They traveled for a whole day before they realized that Jesus was not with them. Oh no, they lost the Son of God! They rushed back to Jerusalem to look for him. For three whole days, they looked everywhere for Jesus. Finally, they went to the temple, and there was Jesus sitting and talking with the teachers! The teachers were amazed at the things that Jesus said and the things that he understood.

Mary and Joseph were astonished. And Mary asked, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been very worried. We went everywhere looking for you.” But Jesus answered, “Why did you need to search? Did you not know that I must be in the Father’s house?”

Jesus meant that his parents should have known that he was at the temple. They should not have searched for three days. Jesus knew that God was his Father, and the house of worship was where he belonged. He thought that Mary and Joseph should have known this too. But they did not know him well enough.

Even though the life of the boy had been surrounded with angels, prophets, and other special visitors and events, Mary and Joseph still did not know Jesus well enough. They did not learn from what they heard and what they experienced. They still treated him too much like any ordinary child.

There was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout, and who spoke by the power of the Holy Spirit. He took Jesus in his arms and called him the salvation that God had sent. Then Simeon said to Mary, “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel.” There was a prophet in the temple called Anna. She also confirmed what Simeon said.

However, even though the angels and prophets told them who Jesus was in such clear words, his parents still did not know him. They still failed to appreciate who he was. Just because they were the parents of Jesus, this did not make them special.

Jesus was a man, but he was not an ordinary man. He was the Word. He was sent by God to save the world. And he would become the hero of humanity. To appreciate who Jesus was, it was not enough to see that he was a clever boy or that he was a good man. You must see Jesus as the Word, the Son of God, who had come as a human person according to the promise of God.

Of course Jesus would be in his Father’s house, but Mary did not understand this, although she should have known. We must never think that Mary was as great as Jesus. It would be silly to compare a tennis ball to the sun. But the distance between Mary and Jesus is far greater than even the difference between a tennis ball and the sun. It was a lesson that Mary herself had to learn.

When you see the greatness of Jesus, you will gain much more understanding of God and more understanding of everything in the world. If you will listen and believe when God tells you something in the Bible, then you will know the truth. But if you will not do this, then you will not know the truth even if God sends angels and prophets to speak to you.

It might surprise you when I tell you this. Many years later, when Jesus was teaching people everywhere, Mary still did not understand him. She appeared to have been part of a family group that thought Jesus was crazy and wanted to take him home! Jesus responded that his true family members were those who would hear the word of God and obey it, those who would do the will of God.

Yet Mary eventually admitted the truth, that Jesus was the Son of God who came to save her from sin, and she joined the hundreds of other people who were already following Jesus. God’s kindness saved her. Do not be like Mary. It should not take this long for you to admit the truth. When God tells you something to your face over and over again, pay attention, and believe it. This will take you very far with God and in life.