Mary and Joseph took Jesus with them to the Passover festival. Unfortunately, they lost Him. This daily devotional looks at how that happened and how we lose Him.
Nuggets
- Mary and Joseph were devout in their faith, and they were raising Jesus to be the same way.
- Jesus stayed in Jerusalem when the caravan, including Mary and Joseph, left.
Devotions in the Passover Trip to Jerusalem series
Losing Jesus
We don’t know much about Jesus’ childhood. We know He grew up in Nazareth in a family unit with brothers and sisters.
The only snapshot we get of Jesus’ childhood is when the family went to Jerusalem for Passover. It started out well and ended well.
But the middle was really rocky. Mary and Joseph lost Jesus. Let’s take a look.
Program note: This devotion got long, so it has been split into two posts.
Let's Put It into Context
God instituted the Passover festival. It was the oldest festival observed by the Jewish people. Instituted in Exodus 12, the Jews celebrated it the night before their exodus from Egypt.
Glossary
The Road Trip Begins
“Every year his parents traveled to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. When he was twelve years old, they went up according to the custom of the festival” (Lk. 2: 41-42 CSB)
We talked in The Child Was Born that Mary and Joseph were obedient to God in all they did. Twelve years later, and they were still being obedient.
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I think their going to the Passover Festival was more than just being-there-when-the-church-doors-are-open obedience. I think they looked forward to the observance. They pondered all that had transpired and all that it meant.
Jerusalem was five to ten miles north of Bethlehem. That would have made it an 80-ish mile trip from Nazareth. Grimley said they would have walked it.
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This was more than just a religious festival to Mary and Joseph. It was going to the temple to be in the Presence of the Sovereign God.
Grimley read “When he was twelve years old, they went up according to the custom of the festival” (Lk 2: 42 CSB) to mean that this was Jesus’ first time at Passover.
What I didn’t know is that, if they did things then they way they did when this sermon was written, Jesus may have had a role. The Biblical Things not Generally Known sermon gave us a snapshot of the ceremony.
- At the age of 12, boys are admitted to the synagogue as members.
- After ceremonies and readings, the boy read a psalm.
- The boy was told he had reached the age of discretion since he knew right from wrong.
- Instructions were given to live his life following good rather than evil and how to interact with others.
- It ended with a prayer.
Resource
I don’t know. For one thing, I don’t know enough about Jewish customs to say if it was Jesus’ first observance or not. Just because this is the first trip listed in Scriptures doesn’t mean He hadn’t gone to previous festivals.
If pilgrims on the journey didn’t take kids younger than 12 (of which all of Jesus’ siblings would have been), with whom did they stay? Since the traveling party was made up of relatives because they thought Jesus was with another group in the party (Lk. 2: 44), who was minding the kids at home? I doubt they would have entrusted their supervision to just anyone.
Goulburn made an interesting connection. He pondered whether the place where the Holy Family stayed on this trip was the same house in which Jesus and the disciples held the Last Supper. Who knows?
Going on, Goulburn questioned whether they would have allowed Jesus to be visible. They would have remembered Herod trying to kill Him (Mt. 2: 7-17).
Resource
A Crisis Occurs on the Journey Home
“After those days were over, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. Assuming he was in the traveling party, they went a day’s journey. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him” (Lk. 2: 43-45 CSB)
Jesus stayed in Jerusalem when the caravan, including Mary and Joseph, left. They returned to the city to look for Jesus.
“After those days were over …” (Lk. 2: 43 CSB) just doesn’t do it justice. The King James Version says, “And when they had fulfilled the days …” (Lk. 2: 43 KJV).
Mary and Joseph didn’t just put in the time until the party was over. They stayed the whole eight days to attend the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
They could have gone home sooner, according to Goulburn. They stayed and worshiped.
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If Mary was to be the model mother, we shake our heads as to how she could have gone a day’s journey and not miss the Boy. Still, I can see things from her viewpoint.
Mary was trying to tie up all the loose ends before they left. If they had stayed with family and friends — especially for eight days — you don’t just pick up and leave without goodbyes.
If the rest of the kids were with them, Mary was probably running herd on them. At 12, Jesus was old enough to take care of Himself. The other four plus siblings may not have been. If they were a year apart, the youngest could have been up to seven years old.
Mary and Joseph may have already started thinking about all they had seen, done, and heard while they were in the big city. Remember, Mary was one to process things.
Goulburn noted how the traveling party was segregated. He wrote, “Moreover, we are told by some writers that it was the custom in these pilgrimages for all the men to travel in one company by themselves, and all the women in another, the boys travelling, as it might happen, either with their father or their mother. If this was the case, it is easy to understand how neither our Lord’s mother nor her husband were made uneasy by missing Him.”
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It is also easy to see how they would have thought Jesus was with family. Who wants to walk with Mom and Dad when You can walk with the cousins?
Add into this, it would have been a mass exodus. Everyone would have been heading home, not just the Nazareth group. Think holidays in an airport any year but this year.
But the caravan did leave without Jesus. They went up to 20 miles without missing Him.
That would mean a whole day’s journey back. We don’t know if the travel time is counted in the three days, or if that was the time spent looking in Jerusalem.
Making the Connections
Mary and Joseph had to have had a sinking feeling deep down when they realized Jesus was gone. Any parent would.
We also need that sinking feeling when we realize we have turned away from God. We have to backtrack and diligently search for Him.
Solomon pointed that that Jesus was lost in the city, one that was filled to the brim at the time because of the Festival. We might could say that He was lost in a crowd.
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Don’t we feel that way sometimes? There are all these people around, but they mean nothing to us. The One person we need isn’t around.
Mary and Joseph started back immediately after they realized that Jesus was gone. Unfortunately, when we have turned away from God, we don’t always recognize it. Worse yet, there are times we don’t care that we have turned away.
Let’s face it. There are times when it is really easy to turn away. We have to be diligent in keeping our relationship right with God.
How Do We Apply This?
Wordsworth contended that this passage taught us the importance of quietness and modesty in youth. Really, if we think about it, that is what God is calling disciples to be regardless of age.
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God instructs us to be meek and humble.
Glossary
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We have to watch to see what turns us away from God. We don’t want to put more stock in the worldview perspective than the Godview perspective.
We want to seek God every day.
Searching for and Seeking God
Hearing His Word (Rom. 10: 17).
Reading His Word (Rev. 1: 3).
Praying to Him (Heb. 4: 16).
Studying His Word (Ac. 17: 11).
Meditating on His Word (Ps. 1: 1-2).
Memorizing His Word (Ps. 119: 11).
As Wray and Spurgeon said, we can’t suppose our relationship with God is in good standing. We have to make sure.
Resource
One way we can do that is to take stock. We had a fairly comprehensive worksheet back when we were talking about losing our first love.
Run through this and see where you stand. If you did it before, compare your answers to see if you have improved.
Related Links
Click on the button below to access the worksheet discussed above.
We don’t want to lose Jesus. Luke would have equated that with getting sick.
When we do, we want to be able to find Him – we want healed. That is for the next devotion.
Father God. We never want to lose Jesus. We want our relationship with You intact. Help us to be obedient so that we are always where we should be. Amen.
What do you think?
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