Although we know little about Jesus’ early years after his birth, Luke records him visiting the temple as a twelve-year-old Luke 2:41-52 . Three times a year, the Israelites were commanded to make the pilgrimage to Jerusalem to celebrate the three major Feasts: the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Harvest, and the Feast of Tabernacles Exodus 23:14-17 Exodus 34:22-23 Deuteronomy 16:16 . However, in the first century, it was common for people living in the region of Galilee to travel to Jerusalem just once a year since it was about an eighty-mile trip from Nazareth, assuming they went around Samaria. The Passover celebration occurs on the fourteenth of Nisan in the Jewish calendar, which would be in March or April. This festival is the first day of the eight-day observance of the Feast of Unleavened Bread Leviticus 23:5-6 .

Mary and Joseph, as pious, God-fearing Jews, took Jesus on their yearly trip to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of the Passover. After the festival, while his parents left to return to Nazareth, Jesus stayed behind at the temple listening to the teachers and asking questions. We see Jesus as an emerging young man who gains the respect of the teachers of the law with his questions and knowledge. Worshippers traveled home together, often with men in one group and women in another. It wasn’t until Mary and Joseph were a day away from Jerusalem that they realized Jesus was not with them. Like all parents, Mary and Joseph, having already traveled one day out and one day back to Jerusalem and another day of searching, were in great distress when they finally found Jesus in the Temple.

Jesus’ response is his first spoken word in the Gospels. He stated that he was in his Father’s house or about his Father’s business, revealing his divine mission. Jesus clearly understood that he was the Son of God. Jewish tradition taught that a Jewish boy became responsible before God to keep the law themselves at the age of thirteen. It is much later that the current custom of a Bar Mitzvah arises. Although Luke does not state this, Jesus’ age suggests that his parents were taking steps to prepare him for his coming covenantal responsibilities. Jesus’ interaction with the teachers of the law and their amazement at his answers reveals his maturity and readiness to fulfill the law. While his parents did not fully understand, Jesus obeyed them and returned with them to Nazareth.

Today, all that is left of the temple in Jerusalem is the platform or temple mount where the temple once stood.

The Kingdom of Israel Divides

Athens in the Bible

Beginnings

The Life of Abraham

Exodus from Egypt

The Assyrian Empire