When Young Jesus Surprised the Teachers

Every year, Jesus's family traveled to Jerusalem for a big celebration called Passover. It was a long journey, but they went every year because it was important to worship God. When Jesus was twelve years old, something special and surprising happened on one of these trips. Jesus was growing up and starting to understand more about who He really was.

After the Passover celebration ended, Mary and Joseph started the long journey home with all their family and friends. They thought Jesus was somewhere in the big group of travelers, maybe walking with His cousins or other relatives. But when evening came and they looked for Him to have dinner, they couldn't find Him anywhere! They searched among all their family and friends, but Jesus wasn't there. Mary and Joseph were so worried!

They rushed back to Jerusalem to find Jesus. Can you imagine how worried they were? They searched and searched for three whole days! Finally, they went to the temple, the special house where people worshiped God. And there was Jesus! He was sitting right in the middle of all the wise teachers, the smartest men who studied God's Word all day long. Jesus was listening to them and asking them questions. But here's the amazing part: the teachers were astonished! They couldn't believe how much this twelve-year-old boy understood about God!

When Mary saw Jesus, she said, 'Son, why did You do this to us? Your father and I have been so worried, looking everywhere for You!' She was relieved to find Him but also confused about why He stayed behind. Jesus answered with something very important: 'Why were you looking for Me? Didn't you know I must be in My Father's house?' Jesus was talking about God as His Father! Even at twelve years old, Jesus knew He had special work to do for God.

Mary and Joseph didn't fully understand what Jesus meant, but Mary remembered everything in her heart to think about later. Jesus went home with them to Nazareth and obeyed them, just like a good son should. He grew taller and wiser, and everyone loved Him - both God and people. This story shows us that even when Jesus was young, He loved God's Word and loved being in God's house. He knew He had a special purpose. We can learn from Jesus to love learning about God and to remember that we all have special purposes too!