Jesus grew up in a faithful Jewish household. This passage emphasizes Jesus in the temple and his interaction with the teachers of Israel, which plays an important role in the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. According to, this passage is a reflection on the love of God demonstrated in the birth of Jesus Christ. The angel Gabriel tells Mary that she will be giving birth to a Son who will be “the Savior of the world.” This gives us the first recorded public words spoken by Jesus. What Jesus said here, at age 12, has an impact on all of our personal lives and our family relationships.

Luke 2:41-52 EASY> Jesus visits the temple as a young boy. Every year, Mary and Joseph went to Jerusalem for the Passover festival. When Jesus was 12 years old, his parents took him with them to Jerusalem. They went as usual for the festival. When the week finished, Mary and Joseph left Jerusalem to return home. But Jesus stayed behind and his parents did not know this. They thought that he was with their group on the way home. They traveled for a whole day. Then they began to look for him among their family and friends. They could not find him, so they went back to Jerusalem. They looked for him there. After three days, they found him in the temple. He was sitting there among the teachers. He was listening to what they were saying. He was also asking them questions. Everyone who heard Jesus was very surprised. He understood so many things and he could answer difficult questions. When his parents saw him there, they were also very surprised. His mother said to him, ‘My son, why have you done this to us? Your father and I have looked everywhere for you. We have had a lot of troubles in our mind.’ Jesus answered them, ‘You should not have needed to look for me. I must be doing what my Father wants me to do. You should have known that.’ But his parents did not understand what he was saying to them. Then Jesus returned to Nazareth with them. He did what they wanted. His mother, Mary, was careful to remember all the special things that had happened. She thought about them a lot. Jesus grew up into a man. He became strong and he could understand more and more things. God was pleased with him, and people were pleased with him too.