(Lk 2:41-52)

Luke 2:41 His parents went up to Jerusalem every year for the feast of Passover.

Luke 2:42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up again according to the custom;

Luke 2:43 But when the days of the feast were past, and they were on their way back, the boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem, without his parents noticing.

Luke 2:44 Believing him to be in the caravan, they made a day's journey, and then set out to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances;

Luke 2:45 not having found him, they returned in search of him to Jerusalem.

Luke 2:46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the doctors, listening to them and questioning them.

Luke 2:47 And all who heard him were filled with amazement at his intelligence and his answers.

Luke 2:48 When they saw him, they were amazed, and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you done this to us? Behold, your father and I, distressed, were looking for you."

Luke 2:49 And he answered, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must attend to the things of my Father?"

Luke 2:50 But they did not understand his words.

Luke 2:51 So he departed with them and returned to Nazareth and was subject to them. His mother kept all these things in her heart.

One of the most difficult passages in all the Gospels, and one that opens up numerous questions: is it possible that the two parents were so clueless and superficial as not to ascertain where their first-born and only son was before they left? Is it possible that they only realised after a day's walk that Jesus was not with them? Is it possible that a young boy can sit quietly for three days in a row in the Temple, debating with the teachers of the Law, without the slightest concern for his family? And all this time who gave him food and sleep? And after the debate, where did he go? What did he do? How is it possible that this young boy, portrayed here as a seasoned and experienced adult, was completely indifferent to his parents' anxieties and rebukes, indeed it is he who rebukes them? One could continue with these questions, but Luke here is not chronicling an unfortunate incident, he is making theology and constructing his narrative in function of it; certainly not to satisfy the curiosity of his readers, let alone the logic of modern criticism. To continue down the road of questioning is to go nowhere. Here one must follow the author's thought and intent.

The scrupulous observance of the Torah by Jesus' family is an established fact. Its faithful and persevering observance is emphasised here: 'his parents went every year to Jerusalem for the feast of Passover'. The obligation to make the pilgrimage to the Temple of Jerusalem burdened only males, although women and children were not excluded. A journey, that of the twelve-year-old Jesus, which is referred to as "according to custom" and therefore performed according to the prescriptions of the Torah.

Jesus' remaining in Jerusalem at the age of twelve indicates the place of Jesus' dwelling, where the Father's will will find its full fulfilment. Here the mission that the Father has assigned to him will find its definitive end and fulfilment. This is why the twelve-year-old Jesus, having arrived in Jerusalem, does not go back, but remains there in conformity with the will of the Father (v. 49). Significant is the verb that Luke uses here to indicate Jesus' "remaining" in Jerusalem: "hypémeinen", which among its various meanings also includes "to endure, to cope with, to support". His remaining, therefore, is dense with meaning and hints at the suffering of his suffering and death in Jerusalem, the place where the mysteries of salvation will be fulfilled. 

Vv. 44-45 narrate the bewilderment of this small family community as it realises that it has lost Jesus. Mary and Joseph's search is based on human logic: they look for him among relatives and acquaintances, hoping to find him among them, but to no avail. To find Jesus it is necessary to "return to Jerusalem". It is there, in the place of the fulfilment of the Mystery, that Jesus can be found. And they will find him as he speaks; they will discover him as the Word that resounds in the Temple; the Word that teaches; the Word that imposes itself amidst the astonishment of the ancient teaching of the Torah. To find Jesus, therefore, it is necessary to return to Jerusalem.

The finding of Jesus is framed in a significant double framework: temporal, "after three days"; and spatial, "in the temple, sitting among the doctors". The finding of Jesus "after three days" may allude to his resurrection, when, after the bewilderment of his passion and death, Jesus is found by his disciples. The question that Luke addresses here, however, is not so much the resurrection of Jesus, but 'how' Jesus is found after the 'three days': he is found 'in the temple sitting among the doctors'. Temple and doctors allude to the heart of Judaism: worship and Torah. "In the midst" of all this is Jesus in an unequivocal stance: "sitting", the characteristic position of one who teaches. In this position Jesus is described by Luke: "while he listened to them and questioned them", the two parameters within which the teacher-disciple relationship moved. The Risen One, therefore, is positioned within Judaism as the new Word, the new Teaching, the new Torah, destined to take the place of the old Teaching.

V. 48 attests to the astonishment of Mary and Joseph, who see their son sitting among the teachers of the Law, but do not understand what they see: 'Son, why has he done this to us? Behold your father and I, distressed, were looking for you". The answer Jesus gives them reveals Jesus' amazement at his two parents' inability to understand: "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must attend to the things of my Father?". A rebuke and an invitation to reflect on the motivations of their search, dictated more by human concerns than by a true understanding of the mystery that lives and permeates Jesus.

With v. 49, after a long preamble of misunderstandings and mutual amazement, we come to the revelation: "Did you not know that I must be concerned with the things of my Father?". Jesus never moves of his own accord according to his personal plans, but his actions, as well as his speech, have as their only referent source the Father, without whom he does nothing. 

After Jesus' act of 'insubordination', Luke wants to reassure his reader that Jesus was not a daredevil, but a good boy, respectful of his parents and was always submissive to them (v. 51). However, one should not exclude, in this submission of Jesus, a theological note that in some way refers back to Phil 2:5-11, where Paul highlights a process of emptying the Son of glory until he assumed human nature and "humbled himself by becoming obedient unto death and death on a cross". This faithful submission of Jesus to his parents is also, therefore, part of the process of inner stripping.

"His mother kept all these things in her heart". An attitude, this of Mary's, that also constitutes an invitation to "keep" the Mystery, which by its nature is not immediately accessible to reason, in the silence of one's heart while waiting for the light of the Spirit, who knows the depths of God, to illuminate the mind as well.

 Argentino Quintavalle, author of the books 

- Revelation - exegetical commentary 

- The Apostle Paul and the Judaizers - Law or Gospel?

Jesus Christ true God and true Man in the Trinitarian mystery

The prophetic discourse of Jesus (Matthew 24-25)

All generations will call me blessed

 Catholics and Protestants compared - In defence of the faith

(Buyable on Amazon)