Luke 2:45-47
Verse 47 Everyone who heard Him was amazed at His understanding and His answers.
Mary and Joseph must have been beside themselves when they realized Jesus was missing. They had not only lost their oldest son, they had lost the Son of God. All they had done to raise Him in the best way they knew and they lose Him during a time when people from all over were heading back to their homes from the festival. Their best hope was that He was still in Jerusalem and not on His way to who knows where.
After making the days’ worth trip back to the city their hopes of finding Him must have been fading. It doesn’t take much imagination to see Joseph trying to comfort a distraught Mary while he tried to keep himself from thinking the worst. He was supposed to be the protector of this family and he had to be feeling like a failure.
While His parents were frantically searching the city looking for their 12 year old, Jesus was doing something which set Him apart from His peers. He was learning the ropes of adulating at Passover and the place He finds Himself is sitting with the teachers at the Temple. Unlike our typical scenario of the teacher standing at the front of the class talking, teachers of Jewish law would sit among their listeners and teach through their answers to questions.
While the teachers would be used to lots of questions, they were less likely to be used to having questions from such young students. Though His parents, and maybe those of His hometown, knew He was a special child, the teachers at the Temple would have been amazed and maybe even a little annoyed by the questions from this precocious young man. And He hadn’t gained just the attention of the teachers.
Our passage for the day seems to give a conflicting picture of what was happening. It talks about Jesus asking questions but the people observing His discussion with the teachers were amazed at His answers. A good teacher will often answer a question with another question so the student will think deeper about what is being talked about. In this situation it looks like Jesus and the teachers were having a discussion which would help shape Jesus’ teaching style and would cause the teachers take notice of Him. These teachers may have been some of the same teachers Jesus would clash with 20 years later.
Making It Personal
How often do you use questions to grow in knowledge? Do you ever answer a question with a question? What can you learn today by asking the right questions?
Making It Personal Kids
Why is asking questions important? Do you ask a lot of questions? Who do you ask questions of?
Closing Prayer
Father, thank You for giving us this ability to learn and reason. Give us the wisdom we need to ask the right questions so we can learn all You want us to learn. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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