Jesus' Early Years and What We Know

Between Christmas and Epiphany of the church year, we’ve jumped over so much of Jesus’ life, from his birth to his baptism, and the beginning of his ministry. But what of those in-between years?

We know that King Herod raged over a new king. What? Take his place? And then the wise men going off home in a different direction and Mary and Joseph fleeing to Egypt for a time. Jesus went from being the star to being the hunted. I’d rather not dwell on what happened next when Herod realized he had been tricked. But I think of the earthly parents, and God, protecting this new little life. Jesus had a big purpose in his future and God was not about to let him be killed as an infant.

How did Mary and Joseph raise Jesus through his baby years, his childhood, and beyond? We know they trusted God and accepted his guidance. We won’t ever know much about those years except that eventually they returned to their home country and Jesus grew and became strong (v. 39-40).

We know that Jesus would go to school, as boys did, and learn to read and write, and understand what was in the scrolls. We also know that when they went to the temple, Jesus, at the age of 12, stayed behind. His parents and their company of relatives had already begun the journey home.

Imagine for a moment, the boy Jesus in the temple, asking questions of the priests. How did he get this knowledge? Were his parents helping him to understand who he was? Were the rabbis in his village school confounded by brilliant questions they hadn’t thought of themselves? Then what of the priests in Jerusalem? Were they also amazed?

Mary and Joseph turned back to Jerusalem to look for their son. As parents, you might imagine their mixture of fear and anxiety about where he was, and when they found Jesus, their relief and frustration. They didn’t understand Jesus’ answer when they asked him why he treated them this way.

Jesus had an answer. “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know I must be in my Father’s house?” (v 49) He was already showing his wisdom.

 Luke is the only place we read this story. Then we read that Jesus went home with them to Nazareth and obeyed

 

his parents (Luke 2:51).  Thus we learn about his his love for his parents and a growing in understanding of his 

 

purpose in life.