The Story of Mary: Catholic Version: II Another Special Birth – Chapter 17 Staying in the Temple

When the Passover Festival came to a close, the family from Nazareth prepared to return. They all said their farewells to their Jerusalem family, Joachim and Anna and their relatives form Ein Kerem, Elizabeth and John, and set out. The streets were full of people and it was hard to keep together. Joseph and Mary had all they could do to keep their family together. At the same time, they knew the older children, having made this trip often enough before, knew their way back. As for Jesus, they had already seen him joining some friends so knew he was in good company.

When they passed beyond Jerusalem and joined the throngs of pilgrims heading east, they still assumed Jesus was with his friends or siblings somewhere in the crowd. However, when they got to their first night stop and Jesus was nowhere in sight, they did begin to feel some concern. They searched the area where they were staying and asked many fellow travellers if they had seen Jesus or the older children. Of course, they had to provide a description but it was still all to no avail; there were dozens of young people on the road. They did find the older children but not Jesus. They decided they had no option but to return to Jerusalem next morning to find him.

They went straight to Joachim and Anna’s but he had not returned there. Now they were even more concerned, and so were Jesus’ grandparents. This was not like Jesus, to do things without telling them. Mary’s parents and the other children joined Joseph and Mary in the search as much as they could. It wasn’t until the third day of searching they found him. Some citizens had told them they had seen a boy in the temple for the last couple of days surrounded by rabbis who all seemed to be taking a keen interest in the boy.

Joseph and Mary left their older children with their grandparents and went to the temple. Sure enough, there was Jesus, surrounded by rabbis, scribes, and even some Pharisees and members of the Sanhedrin. Joseph and Mary were not sure what they should do in the face of this august gathering. They indicated to some of the men in the outer circles that this was their son and they needed to take him home to Galilee from the passover feast. Some said, “Well, then you must simply inform these men and claim your son.” The group was so intent on their discussion they hardly noticed Joseph then trying as respectfully as possible to push his way in until he was right behind Jesus. Mary was right behind him. Some in the circle started to look at who this was intruding but before anyone could say anything to them Mary had reached Jesus and, touching him on the shoulder and said, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety (Luke 2:48).”

Jesus looked up at her, almost too innocently, and placed his hand over hers, “Why were you searching for me? Didn’t you know that I must be in my father’s house (Luke 2:49)?”

“I’m not sure what you mean by that,” Joseph interjected, “But can you come home with us now?” 

The learned men around them murmured approvingly and some of them said to Jesus, “Yes, now you must obey your parents and return home with them.” Turning to his parents they said, ‘This boy is unbelievably knowledgeable and mature. Take care of him. See to it that he gets the best schooling you can afford. I am sure we will hear more of him.”

The three from Nazareth bowed and thanked the men for their interest and their praise as they backed away from them, with Mary grasping Jesus’ hand tightly in hers. Then, Joseph, Mary and Jesus turned and made their way to her parents to collect the other children and explain what had happened. Joachim reprimanded Jesus gently for the worry he had caused them all and Jesus apologized. He seemed genuinely sorry for the anxiety he had caused but at the same time did not suggest he had really been doing anything wrong in what it was he was doing. Mary noted this change with some concern.

Just the same, they said farewells once again and started over on their return trip to Nazareth. This time jesus’ parents made sure they kept Jesus near and he obliged. He seemed quite happy to be travelling back with his parents and brothers and sisters. Eventually, they all reached home together. 

Mary kept pondering over the strange things that had happened in her life, not the least being this last action of Jesus himself. She still did not know what to make of it all. Nor did she know where it was really leading. However, things settled down again. 

Jesus was enrolled in the advanced synagogue school for promising boys. He loved this and delighted in coming home and sharing with his parents what he was learning form the scriptures. They, in turn, were amazed at what he gained from them, how he seemed to speak of what he read with such authority. He also often seemed to see things in the law, the prophets especially, and wisdom literature that no one else did. He started at the same time to learn to help his father in his trade and Joseph noted that he was a quick learner and did very good work. He soon became a real asset to his father’s business. This made him proud of this unusual son. All told, Jesus continued to grow and seemed to become unusually wise for a boy his age. However, no unusual or unacceptable behaviour followed for quite some time.