CHAPTER VI.

JESUS IN THE TEMPLE AT THE AGE OF TWELVE.

LUKE II. 40-52.

T always wakes our keenest interest to know how a great

helpless little creature, in no way distinguished from the ordinary children of men, he raised himself step by step to the height from which he commands such universal admiration; to notice the special circumstances that have contributed to develop his gifts and powers, and to bring out his noble character in all its strength. From this point of view even the most trifling details acquire a peculiar interest. But seldom indeed are we permitted to witness this fascinating spectacle. As a rule the materials are very insufficient, and imagination has to fill in many a gap that even the most careful research has left.

Nothing could be more natural than the wish to learn something of the childhood and youth of Jesus. For in his case more than in any other we long for accurate information as to the circle in which he grew up, the circumstances by which he was surrounded, and which helped to make him so great, so unique among men; in short, to hear in what way and under what influences his character, his intellect, and his affections were developed. Where his actual history opens, and he emerges from obscurity' and begins the work of his life, he stands before us fully equipped, his many-sided nature already matured into that of a great, a noble, a mighty personality. Can we possibly succeed in penetrating here and there to the silent workings of his spirit, in gathering scattered traits to throw light on the circumstances of his bringing up, in tracing scattered indications of the course that was taken by his inner life, of the forces that were brought to bear upon him at a time when the mind is specially receptive, in discovering, at least to some extent, how and by what his glorious powers were so finely and so harmoniously developed? We know what he was, and we cannot help asking how he became what we know him to have been.

With regard to this time of preparation, all our Gospels except that of Luke are profoundly silent. At the end of his

account of the birth of Jesus, Luke gives us a general description of his childhood in the words: "He grew up and waxed strong and was filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was with him;" and afterwards he thus describes his youth: "Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and men." Between these notices he inserts an account of an event intended to bring out the great intellectual gifts and the earnest piety which distinguished Jesus even as a boy. The story runs as follows:

1

The parents of Jesus were accustomed to visit the City of the Temple every Passover. The Law commanded every male Israelite to appear before the face of Yahweh at each of the three great feasts; but since this injunction could hardly be carried out completely by those who lived at a distance from Jerusalem, the most magnificent of Israel's festivals was generally selected as the occasion of the journey to the temple. Women were not ordered by the Law to come up also, though some of the Rabbis thought their presence at the Passover desirable. But Mary's pious heart urged her to accompany her husband. On these journeys the pilgrims joined to make up caravans; and on their way they raised their voices in sacred song, and their hearts were filled with the thoughts suggested by the festival. The stay at Jerusalem itself, which extended over eight days, was a time of deep and sacred joy.

Of course, no little children would be taken on such a journey as that from Nazareth to the Holy City. But when Jesus was twelve years old he had sufficiently outgrown his childhood. The people of Eastern countries are grown up at a much earlier age than here; and a boy of twelve was considered by the Jews capable of taking part in all the practices of religion, and was, therefore, called "a son of the Law." Jesus, then, was to accompany his parents on their journey for the first time in his life. What an event it was for him! His high-wrought expectations were not disappointed. The very journey was so glorious; the magnificence of the temple so imposing; Jerusalem at such a time so grand and so full of life; the Passover so splendid! Everywhere the religious wants of the youthful Israelite's heart found satisfaction, and the impressions he received could never be forgotten.

The days flew past, and Joseph and Mary set out upon their homeward journey. But Jesus stayed behind, unknown to them. When they missed him at the moment of their de1 Exodus xxiii. 17; and elsewhere.

parture, they thought he must have started already with some other company of pilgrims from Nazareth, that might have left Jerusalem a few hours before. So they hastened on their journey that day, in hopes of overtaking the friends or relatives with whom they expected to find their son. But when they reached the first station at Shiloh, and came up with the caravan of the Nazarenes, they sought and inquired for the boy in vain. No one had seen him or knew where he was. Who can describe the feelings of the anxious parents? What could have become of him? How he would wander about in that huge city, in despair at not finding his parents! He was still so young, and Jerusalem was so great! They hurried back with the utmost speed. They made inquiries of the host, under whose roof they had spent the preceding week; but he could tell them nothing of the boy. They applied to every one they knew, but all in vain; for there was no one who could give them any news. They traversed the city in every direction, and hour by hour their distress increased. At their wits' end, after three days' search, they finally ascend the mount of the temple, pass through the outer buildings of the sanctuary, and to their inexpressible relief they see him in a lecture-room, or in the synagogue of the temple, sitting among the Rabbis! Thank God that they have found him! But how came he there? And what a child he is! He does not show the smallest sign of anxiety or fear. He seems completely at home amid his surroundings. His glowing cheek and kindling eye speak to the intensity of his interest. He catches every word that falls from the teachers, and hangs upon their lips as they argue together and discuss the knotty questions of the Law. And he himself, too simple-minded to be over-diffident, sometimes puts questions to them, for the free intercourse then customary between the teachers and the taught made it easy for him to do so; and when they asked him questions in their turn, his answers showed such grasp and penetration that all around were lost in amazement at his knowledge of religious things, and the early development of such wonderful powers.

Joseph and Mary looked on in amazement, and then made their way through the crowd that yielded them a passage, wondering to see them press into the inner circle. Did the boy fly to them as soon as he perceived their presence? Far from it! Mary, as she threw her arms about him and pressed a mother's kiss upon his forehead, could not restrain the gentle reproof: "My child, why have you caused us all this

pain? Your father and I have been seeking you throughout the city, with almost broken hearts!" But he answered quietly, as one who feels that his answer leaves no room for blame: "But, mother, why did you not come straight to the temple? Did you not know that I must be in my heavenly Father's house?" 1

They did not understand his words. The child had outgrown his parents. But, at any rate, they had found the dear one they had lost; and, without thinking of opposing them, without so much as asking leave to stay a little longer in the place he found so fascinating, Jesus followed them. Then they began their homeward journey in earnest; and neither then nor in after years as long as he remained beneath his parents' roof, did he ever fail in respect or obedience, or give them the smallest cause to complain of him. This event made a deep impression, especially upon Mary. When she thought it all over afterwards, she felt that some great destiny must surely be in store for her son.

No one can say that this story is impossible. The remarkable and early development of intellectual and religious power it is meant to illustrate is far from improbable. Similar traits have been observed in the childhood of far less mighty spirits than that of Jesus, and the Israelitish boys were well instructed in the Law. To take a single instance: Josephus tells us that when he himself was about fourteen years old his diligence was universally commended, and that the high priests and chief men of Jerusalem constantly came to him for exact information and guidance in cases of difficulty! This is doubtless an exaggeration, and a specimen of the historian's ridiculous vanity (excessive modesty was never one of his failings), but it shows at least that it was considered nothing unnatural for a mere boy to be a kind of authority on points of learning. Similar stories are told by other contemporaneous authorities of boys of ten, thirteen, and fourteen.

But, on further reflection, all sorts of difficulties occur to us, and throw great doubt upon the story. We can hardly understand the parents of Jesus being so careless as to set off without exactly knowing where he was; for the Evangelist evidently does not mean to imply any intentional disobedience on his part. And how unnatural is the conduct of the boy towards his parents! for Mary says they have been looking for him for three days," and if this does not include the

66

1 After an amended version.

journey to and from Shiloh, it must have been five days since he had seen them, and yet he evinces no delight when they meet again! And where had he been all the time? Not at his parents' former lodgings, or with acquaintances, for in that case Joseph and Mary would have heard of him at once; not with any true friends, or they would have taken care to send him after his parents in suitable company. There are other difficulties, too. We find him in the midst of the Scribes. There is some ambiguity in the expression. Did he come to them as a pupil, or as one of themselves? And we are struck at once by the prominence assigned to Mary, in this as in the earlier stories of Luke,' whereas in reality the father's authority was every thing among the Jews. Nor should we expect Jesus, in his thirteenth year, to speak of the temple as the house of his Father.

8

The story is hardly to be reconciled with the history of the birth of Jesus,2 but of course that is nothing against it. It is somewhat suspicious, however, that the childhood of Jesus should be described in the same words as that of John. But our doubts rise higher when we begin to ask whence Luke, or his authority, derived the story. We cannot help suspecting that here, too, the desire to lift the veil that hung over the youth of Jesus made the later Christians fly to the traditions concerning the heroes of the Old Testament. Not to speak of the wonders reported of Moses, it is obvious that Samuel has served in some measure as the model for the story. In almost the words that Luke uses of Jesus it is said of Samuel: "He increased and grew, and was in favor with the Lord and with men." Samuel's mother, too, comes up to the sanctuary every year, and is a more prominent figure than her husband, just as Mary is here. And, lastly, we know from Josephus that Samuel was supposed" to have completed his twelfth year" when he experienced his prophetic call.

4

We will not pronounce any very decided opinion, however. The story certainly rises in our estimation when we compare it with the later elaborations of the Apocryphal Gospels. In that of Thomas we are told that, after the party had started, Jesus secretly returned to Jerusalem; that he silenced the elders and the teachers of the people by his questions; that he himself expounded the most important parts of the Law and the similitudes of the Prophets; and that the Scribes 3 Compare Luke ii. 40 with i. 80. 5 See p. 55. 6 1 Samuel üii.

1 See p. 72.

2 See pp. 56-58. 4 1 Samuel ii. 26, i. 21 ff., ii. 19.