“41 Now HIS parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.
42 And when HE was twelve years old, they went up according to custom.
43 And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy JESUS stayed behind in Jerusalem. HIS parents did not know it,
44 but supposing HIM to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for HIM among their relatives and acquaintances,
45 and when they did not find HIM, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for HIM.
46 After three days they found HIM in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.
47 And all who heard HIM were amazed at HIS understanding and HIS answers.
48 And when HIS parents saw HIM, they were astonished. And his mother said to HIM, "SON, why have you treated us so? Behold, YOUR father and I have been searching for YOU in great distress."
49 And HE said to them, "Why were you looking for ME? Did you not know that I must be in MY FATHER’S house?"
50 And THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND the saying that HE spoke to them.
51 And HE went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And HIS mother treasured up all these things in her heart.”
Luke 2:19 (ESV)
“But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”
Joseph, Mary’s betrothed husband, (Matthew 1:18-25) was visited by an Angel from GOD telling him that JESUS was conceived by the HOLY SPIRIT. Mary, earthly mother of JESUS (Luke 1:26-38), was visited and told she would have a child by the HOLY SPIRIT (v35). Both were told plainly that the child would be from the HOLY SPIRIT (Matthew 1:20; Luke 1:35), but after a while it must have seemed like JESUS was theirs.
JESUS was now 12 years of age. Had they become so comfortable with JESUS in their lives that they had forgotten WHO HE was and was from? Could they SEE that JESUS was GOD IN THE FLESH, or were their eyes blinded to the TRUTH? Verse 50 above states that “....
“THEY DID NOT UNDERSTAND” the saying that HE spoke to them” when JESUS told them “Why were you looking for ME? Did you not know that I must be in MY FATHER’S house?" JESUS was gently reminding them that HIS FATHER, the ONE from which HE came, wasn’t Joseph, it was GOD ALMIGHTY!
Are we guilty of a similar thing? Every breath we breathe (Isaiah 42:5) comes from THE LORD, and yet I “just assume” that when I draw my next breath, it will be there!?! We “just assume” that we will still be here next week, next month, or next year with no guarantee that the breath in our lungs won’t be our last! Could it be that we, knowing WHO GOD is, get complacent with the normalcy of life and that HE will perform HIS work fitting into our perception of HIM? HE wouldn’t be much of a GOD if our minds could conceive HIS future acts!
“...All who heard HIM were amazed at HIS understanding and HIS answers” was written about JESUS in Matthew 1:47. These were the teachers in the Jerusalem temple, not some uneducated hacks from the backwoods!!! Now kids can surprise us, but for a 12 year old to AMAZE scholars in the temple is not in the ordinary!
THE LORD does as HE pleases (Psalms 115:3). HIS WORKS are not limited by our understanding or perception. There are far more times that I need to become more like Mary in Matthew 1:51 and Luke 2:19! Shutting my mouth and pondering HIS GREATNESS!
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