The Story of Mary: Catholic Version:II Another Special Birth - Chapter 16 First Passover in Jerusalem

Life seemed to pass uneventfully for a number of years after the adventures of the first years of Jesus’ life. Joseph continued his work as a builder. Jesus was well received by his older siblings, James, Joseph, Jude, Simon and sisters Hannah and Elizabeth (Mark 6:3). 

When Jesus came of age his father enrolled him in the local synagogue school. There, Jesus began to hear even more of the scriptures than if he just went to synagogue with his father. He also learned to read and write Aramaic at an elementary level. 

Jesus was a promising student who most definitely impressed his teachers. This made his parents proud of him. It also meant that when he approached his twelfth birthday, his teachers and other friends who knew the family well began to tell Joseph and Mary that they should enrol Jesus in school beyond age 12. Only the better students were known to be given such opportunities. Friends and neighbours might not have understood, but to Joseph and Mary, all of this did not come as a complete surprise. If Jesus was a special child of God, destined for a future role as the angels had told them years earlier, it should not be surprising that he learned these things so well.

Coming of age at his twelfth birthday also meant Jesus was eligible to celebrate Passover with his parents in Jerusalem. Given Jesus’ history as they knew it, Joseph and Mary were both agreed this was something they should certainly arrange. This it was that Jesus travelled to Jerusalem with his parents in the spring of his 12^thyear. They joined an ever-growing crowd of other pilgrims bound for the same destination as they would their way southeast through Galilee and then alongside Samaria until they came to Jericho. Jesus listened to the stories he heard from his peers and his elders about the Samaritans they bypassed, but he did not join in the negative remarks that were made. Leaving Jericho he heard stories about the dangers of that leg of the journey up to Jerusalem. By this time though, the pilgrims were a steady throng of celebrants, singing together and to one another the psalms customarily sung at this time on this road when en route to the temple. Jesus had learned the songs in school and synagogue too and loved to join in as best he could. 

Jesus could feel the excitement build as the wayfarers neared Jerusalem. Passing through Bethany they crested the peak of Olivet and there lay the city and the temple, gleaming in the sun.  Jesus wondered whether the emotions that ran through him as he surveyed the scene before them were shared by his fellow travellers.  He was not filled with any sense of being superior to his peers and their parents but he felt a certain calm, growing conviction that no one else, certainly not anyone his age, understood the significance of all of this as well as he did. As they continued down and across the valley Jesus thought over the rituals and the offerings and sacrifices they were soon to take part in. 

Of course, it would all begin with a passover meal. He looked forward to this, which would take place at his grandparents Joachim and Anna’s home. That was their first destination. By this time he and his siblings had joined a number of his peers on the way and they enjoyed lifting their voices and singing the psalms as loudly as they could. As they approached the gate into the city before them the group began to disband as Jesus and his siblings and friends began to look for their parents. Eventually they spotted them and waited for them to catch up with him. 

“We were wondering whether you were going to get lost,” their father half-teased. 

“Oh, I think our son knows where he belongs,” Mary opined. 

Jesus face was beaming as he joined his parents as they made their way to his grandparents. Joyous greetings and blessings were exchanged on arrival. Jesus’ grandfather took pride in explaining to him what the procedure was going to be for celebrating the passover. Having made sure Jesus knew what it was about, he was invited to join in the preparations. Joachim had already purchased a lamb for the feast; it was tied to an iron ring in the gate to their courtyard. Jesus looked at it with a deep sense of wonder, this animal who was going to be sacrificed to take the place of the firstborn son, according to the ancient Exodus story.

When it came time to slaughter the lamb, Jesus was amazed at how willingly the lamb went with his father and grandfather, having no idea what was in store for it. It made no sound of protest and suddenly its blood was spilled on the ground and its life was taken from it. In no time it was skinned, cut up and roasting on the spit prepared over the home fire. As the family gathered for the meal, Joachim led them all through the repetition of the stories and then the prayers that his people had developed over the years as the celebration of the passover meal. Jesus drank it all in, enjoying his growing understanding, seeing how it all fit together in fulfilment of longheld understandings of the occasion. He was learning so much.