Verse by Verse

The gospel accounts don't tell us much about the childhood of Jesus Christ. We can read about the miraculous events of his birth, but that's kind of all we get story wise Except for one short story offered by Luke. In Luke chapter 2 verse 41, he tells us that Jesus's parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover and when he was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. The first thing worth noting here is that Jesus and his family routinely celebrated God's holy days. He didn't stop celebrating them and neither did his disciples, but that's another discussion and you can find out more in the show notes The really interesting thing about this passage is Jesus's age He was 12 years old The reason that matters is because of what happens next So after the feast days are over Jesus's family heads home in a big caravan and the group is big enough that Mary and Joseph make it through a whole day of travel before they realize that oh, no.

Jesus isn't with any of his friends or relatives. Their child is missing. So they turn around, they head back to Jerusalem, and they turn the city upside down looking for him. As a parent, I can only imagine the sheer terror that they were experiencing. But when they find him, he's not lost or in any danger He's still in the temple Luke says that Jesus was sitting in the midst of the teachers both listening to them and asking them questions and all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.

Luke 246-forty 7 Here was from a human perspective a 12 year old boy astounding some of the best religious leaders in Jerusalem with his knowledge and understanding of God's Word Now, there's a reason for that, obviously. He wasn't just a clever preteen with a quick wit. Physically, he may have been a 12 year old boy, but he was also God. He had existed with God the father since before time began, so, of course, he had exceptional insight into the scriptures. He inspired the scriptures.

Those were his words. I'm emphasizing this because I want to make it very clear that I don't think the incarnate Son of God is a great yardstick for where we should developmentally expect to be at 12 years old. But I also think it's encouraging to know that the incarnate Son of God didn't see being 12 years old as a hurdle for engaging with scripture. He didn't think that it was somehow inappropriate for him to be in the temple of God, discussing the word of God with the teachers there asking and answering questions What about us? If you're a preteen or a teen how comfortable do you feel sitting down and discussing the Bible with either your minister or just older Christians?

Do you feel like you could ask tough questions and get honest answers? Do you think you could answer the questions that they might have for you? And if you're an older Christian, how comfortable do you feel with the idea of a preteen coming to you with a bunch of difficult questions you're not sure how to answer? What about questions that might challenge the way you've always done things? Would that make you too uncomfortable?

Or would you find a way to engage with this young person seeking answers? The point is God's church should be a place where these interactions can happen if we shy away from questions and answers especially difficult ones, everyone loses. While none of us can have the knowledge and the wisdom of Jesus even when he was 12 years old, We can all learn from his example by learning to engage with each other through discussion Questions and answers are how we grow Avoiding them is how we stagnate.

Verse by Verse is a companion podcast to the daily bible verse blog, which you can find on the Life, Hope and Truth Learning Center. Check out the show notes for more.