New Testament Doctrine — Luke 2:41-52

In late March, faithful Jews would make pilgrimage to the Temple for Passover. The distance was some 70 miles, and only the hardiest walkers with little to carry could make it in about four days. Your average family would take a week or so, unless the children were too small to walk, which would take even longer. But since there were relatives and neighbors sharing the road, there was always a little help in rough spots.

The temperatures this time of year would be around 60°F during the day, dropping into the 40s overnight. It was the very dry season; not even dew fell. It wasn’t necessary to carry a tent, just a bedroll and a little clothing. They would carry perhaps a hot plate for simple cooking, but nothing more. The normal pita bread was carried for several days, along with dried or pickled stuff that would keep. A lot of villages along the way saw people offering prepared food for the pilgrims. It was common for larger groups to go in together and sponsor a wagon to bear the baggage.

So the journey would last a week, and then they would camp somewhere within easy walking distance of the Temple. They would have to arrive in time to prepare the Passover meal, which meant bringing or buying a lamb that would pass inspection, plus all the side dishes, and purchasing a clay cooking dish made and sold specifically for the Passover. Several families often shared the meal together. This was followed by the week of Unleavened Bread. The wealthy would stay for the festival of Weeks leading up to Pentecost. It’s not likely Joseph and Mary could afford that, so they would have to pack for a trio of weeks.

This was during the barley harvest, but the fresh crops could not be eaten until after the Firstfruits offering at the end of Unleavened Bread. Still, people would have been eager to sell the older silo grain to pilgrims to make room for the fresh harvest. The same goes for just about any food crops that could be preserved during the year, dried or pickled. It’s not likely anyone carried enough food to last a family three whole weeks. Keep in mind that, by now, Jesus had younger siblings, complicating things for Joseph and Mary. Everyone saved up during the year for this trip.

At age twelve, a major element in His journey to Passover this year was His own bar-Mitzvah (Hebrew “Son of the Law”). Up to now He would have attended classes at the local synagogue to learn basic literacy and begin learning the Covenant Law. Despite all the heavy-weight nonsense about Jesus being so miraculous in childhood, the one thing we can know for sure is that He was morally pure, and so was already highly heart-led. While still just a regular boy in every other way, He would have been morally precocious.

So during His family’s time around Jerusalem, He would have lined up with crowds of other boys for their bar-Mitzvah. He would hardly be the only one to shine at this test. However, at the first opportunity, He engaged the ranking rabbis in some question and answer. He became so engrossed in this that, when His parents left, He stayed behind. We have no idea where He stayed at night, but with such a crowd and all the food available as freewill gifts connected to the festival, He would hardly have suffered.

A boy who passes his bar-Mitzvah would have been granted a new level of freedom, so wandering off with friends was to be expected. Joseph and Mary would hardly be surprised, given that men and women typically traveled in separate companies of their own. At that first stop for the night, Jesus was missing. No one had seen Him on the road. It was another day hiking back, and the next two days seeking Him. They probably left their other children with relatives on the road.

Finally, they spotted Him in the Temple grounds among one of the many discussions sessions one might find scattered among the several acres of porticoes around the open plaza. When they remonstrated with Him, His answer would be closer in our vernacular to, “You should have thought to look here in the first place in My Father’s house.” He was surprised they had wasted so much time looking elsewhere.

At that point, what He said didn’t register with His parents. Nonetheless, realizing His duty to them was at issue, He went back home with them and was a little more careful after that. His mother savored all this, along with all the miracles of His birth. Meanwhile, He grew up more or less a model Son of the Law.

Nothing in the later narrative makes any sense if we do not get the idea that the elder rabbis with whom He was found would have made strong recommendations that He receive rabbinical training. Further, He would have sought it Himself when possible. Someone with that level of moral understanding was a natural. By the time He was ready to begin His ministry, He was recognized as a rabbi. We can’t guess how He obtained such an education in Nazareth, but it’s likely He traveled a bit to larger communities with larger synagogues, even as He learned Joseph’s building trade. His parables are loaded with references to stone masonry.