Jesus from Age of 12: Departing from the Masses and Declaring the Lord Jesus Christ

Luke 2:41-52

Click for a description of the mark of the beast.

The journey to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover was personal for Jesus Christ who was the age twelve at that time. It was personal for these reasons,

1. When a boy turns the age of twelve, He would be personally responsible for living by the Jewish laws and customs. Jesus couldn’t do that because He would be the New Testament and the fulfillment of the Old Testament.
2. The Feast of the Passover was the celebration of the blood that brought salvation and deliverance from bondage to Egypt. Jesus Christ would have realized they were actually celebrating Him because He is the fulfillment of that prophecy as He shed His blood to bring Salvation and Deliverance from sin.
3. When He was in the temple with the Pharisees and Sadducees, they were astonished at His understanding and answers to the Scriptures. Jesus was not so astonished with their understanding of the Scriptures as explained in the next point.
4. Even at the age of 12, Jesus had no intention of following the teachings, laws, and customs of the Pharisees and Sadducees. About twenty years after His twelfth birthday, they accused Him of blasphemy and plotted to kill Him for His claims of being the Son of God. As a boy of 12, He started implying that He is the Son of God, as He said to Mary and Joseph, “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”
5. Mary and Joseph took Jesus away from the Pharisees and Sadducees and they began their journey back home. Mary kept everything in her heart that happened during the comings and goings of the Feast of the Passover. Of course, she would not be able to talk about Him doing His Father’s business nor could she discuss Him as being the fulfillment of the meaning behind the blood of the Passover. And she definitely wouldn’t be able to discuss how wrong the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees were.

Below is a list of the context of this post.

• There is a time when customs have an entirely different meaning than customary.
• It’s necessary to break away from the expectations of the world’s majority.
• We are set apart to learn and understand the Word of God.
• As a child of God, we are doing His business.
• Followers of Jesus Christ grow in Him while subjected to the authorities of this world.

There is a time when customs have an entirely different meaning than customary. The parents of Jesus followed Jewish requirements and customs while raising Him, and as a family they went to celebrate the Feast of the Passover. The Passover represents the blood of Jesus Christ that was shed for Salvation and deliverance from slavery to sin. As a boy of 12, Jesus is attending a celebration of the blood He would be shedding on the Cross to make atonement for sin. That would happen about twenty years later. For Mary and Joseph, it was more of a formality but for Jesus it was personal and spoke to Him of His destiny. “His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast.” Luke 2:42 As followers of Jesus Christ, the message of the Cross is not a required custom we acknowledge, it is a personal matter of the blood of Jesus atoning for our sin to make our body the temple of the Holy Spirit.

It’s necessary to break away from the expectations of the world’s majority. At the age of 12, Jesus makes a break from customary practices by lingering in Jerusalem for a little while longer, where the shedding of His blood for the Salvation of the whosoever had been celebrated. His parents didn’t know. “When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. And Joseph and His mother did not know it;” Luke 2:43 As followers of Jesus Christ, there is a time when we have to break away from customary expectations of staying with the crowd. Today, it is customary that people adapt to the “community family” indoctrination, but Jesus Christ is not found within the “community family” frame of mind. That is the frame of mind which dominates the Christless churches and communities around the world, which is humanism empowered by the mark of the beast. Jesus Christ is not found within the “community family,” “…but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day’s journey, and sought Him among their relatives and acquaintances.” Luke 2:44

We are set apart to learn and understand the Word of God. Jesus broke ranks with the crowd to enter the temple of God in Jerusalem. When a boy turned twelve, he was required to become responsible to the Jewish laws and customs, but we know how Jesus Christ felt about those laws and customs. When He was supposed to be saturated into the ways of the Pharisees, He is being reminded of His purpose through the Feast of the Passover. At the same time of being aware of His destiny of the Cross, He enters a temple filled with teachers and He listened to them and asked them questions. They would be the same brood of vipers that detested His teachings, called Him blasphemous, and plotted to kill Him. Already, everyone who heard Him were astonished by His understanding and answers. “So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.” Luke 2:45-47 As followers of Jesus Christ, we choose to be set apart from the masses of this world to listen to the Word of God. We want to increase our understanding of Him and to be able to give an answer for the faith we hold in Jesus Christ.

It’s not unusual for a boy of 12 to be separated from their parents during a trip to a major event. It was near to an eighty mile walk back to Nazareth from Jerusalem, and the trip was made in a caravan, like we see the migrants walking in nowadays. The women started the trip earlier than the men because the men walked quicker, and they would meet in a designated place to camp for the night. Mary probably thought Jesus was with Joseph and Jospeh thought He was with Mary, and both figured he would be among relatives and friends. The unusual part is that Jesus left the masses of people entirely to enter into the temple of God. As followers of Jesus Christ, let’s be set apart entirely from the masses and devote our life as the temple of the Holy Spirit.

As a child of God, we are doing His business. Everywhere we go in this world there are expectations of who we should be according to those who govern by the mark of the beast in the name of humanism. Those expectations are different than the expectations that God has of us as His children. Who is our parent, who is our father? Is it those who have no belief in the Deity of Jesus Christ or is it God who raises us through Jesus Christ? If we choose God as our Father through Jesus Christ, then they “gaslight” us making us feel crazy for not choosing them. A similar thing happened when the parents of Jesus found Him in the temple of God after He left the masses, “So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.” Luke 2:48 No matter how wrong society makes us feel for living for Jesus Christ, it is always right to live in the presence of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. The parents of Jesus understood that at the age of 12 He was responsible for learning Jewish laws and requirements, but they were taken back when He denounced Joseph as His father and made it clear that God is His Father. “And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.” Luke 2:49-50

At the young age of 12, Jesus has already began declaring that His Father is God, that He is the Son of God. Apparently, all of the listening He was doing in the presence of the Pharisees and Sadducees did not corrupt Him. They crucified Him about twenty years after that day for making those same claims as a man of about the age of thirty-three.

Followers of Jesus Christ grow in Him while subjected to the authorities of this world. Jesus Christ, as a young boy of twelve, subjected Himself to Mary and Jospeh, and stayed with them all the way back to Nazareth. Which was about an eighty-mile walk, which took about four days. I can imagine how closely His mother kept Him near to her, especially after the experiences they just had. Jesus implied He was the Son of God, not the son of Joseph, and that was said immediately after being in the presence of the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees. What He learned was from God not the church leaders. If Jesus said what He said too loudly in the midst of the caravan, it would have been awkward for Mary and Joseph. Also, Mary and Joseph probably sensed something relating to the behavior of Jesus at the celebration of the Feast of the Passover. Something would have stirred within Him to have knowledge that He is the Passover Lamb. I think the walk home would have been one that was solemnly quiet and where both parents took a hard swallow. “Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Luke 2:51-52

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11