The Life of Christ in the Synoptic Gospels
THE BOY JESUS IN THE TEMPLE

Lesson Text:
Luke 2:40-52 (KJV)

Lesson Plan:
1. The Home at Nazareth (v 40)
2. The Boy at Home
3. The Boy at School
4. The Boy at Church & Bible School
5. The Boy in the Wide World
6. The Boy at Work (The Carpenter Shop)
7. The Boy at a Great Religious Meeting (vs 41-52)
8. The Boy's Lessons in Patriotism
9. The Resultant of the Training (vs 40, 52)
10. Conclusion

Lesson Setting:
Time: When Jesus was a little more than 12 years old
Place: Jesus' home was in Nazareth of Galilee. This story of His boyhood was enacted in Jerusalem and the Temple
Rulers: Herod died not long after the visit of the wise-men. At this time a Roman governor was over Judea. Herod Antipas, son of Herod the Great, was Tetarch of Galilee during the whole of Jesus' life after He was brought to Nazareth. The emperor of Rome was succeeded by Tiberius, when Jesus was nearly 18 years old.

Introduction: The Story of a Growing Boy – His Schools and Schoolmasters The value of this story of the boyhood of Jesus lies in tracing the growth and development of Jesus as a child to a full grown man, His human preparation for His great lifework. It is a blessed goal and ideal to always have before us. We learn about this training from three sources: (a) From the few direct notices concerning His childhood found in the Gospels. (b) From statements in His public life that refer back to His youth, such as that He was a carpenter, and His frequent references to nature and Bible history. (c) Still more do we learn from the well-known surroundings, manners and customs of the Jews in the age in which Jesus lived. In our last lesson we left Jesus at Bethlehem. Soon after the visit of the wise-men, Jesus was carried to Egypt by His parents to escape the cruelty of Herod who sought to slay Him because He 'was born King of the Jews.' To make sure that the young Jesus was destroyed, Herod ordered all the children of Bethlehem who were under two years of age, to be slain. It is probably that the number of children of that age was small. The fate of those innocents was a strange one. They died for the Christ they never knew. But the other side of this sad picture, the silver lining on the dark clouds is this: The spirits of the murdered children of Bethlehem – not a great multitude, as they are sometimes depicted, but a small band such as really played in that little village – have followed after Jesus on His flight. The Holy Child looks around, and, seeing the spirits of His playmates, welcomes them with the gladness of a divine sympathy. These children are the first of His glorious band of martyrs, and as they draw near to Him the meaning of their martyrdom flashes upon them, and their sorrow is changed into joy. Herod died early the following April. And the Holy Family were able to return to Palestine, and settle down in their own home at Nazareth.

Scripture Reading: Luke 2:40

1. The Home at Nazareth

Having returned from Egypt to Nazareth their own city, the child grew, and waxed strong. This verse we will discuss in connection with verse 52. For it stands at the beginning of the story, stating the fact as an ideal; the other at the close of our lesson expressing the accomplished result, while our studies show the way in which it was done. Nazareth is situated in lower Galilee, 5½ miles west of Mt. Tabor. It lies 1,300 feet above the sea. It was a small walled town situated in a beautiful cup-like valley open to the south overlooking the great Esdraelon Valley, the garden of Palestine, and the scene of so much of the history of Israel. Travelers tell us that the view from the place where Jesus grew up is one of the most beautiful on the face of the earth. Its white houses, with vines clinging to their walls, are embowered amidst gardens and groves of olive, fig, orange, and pomegranate trees. Outside of the town on the south is the fountain called The Fountain of the Virgin, where the water of a spring is poured out upon a pavement. Here the travelers stop to drink, and all the people of the village to wash their wool, and to fill their jars to carry on their heads back to their homes. Here Mary and the Lord Himself must often have come for water. It has been inferred from Nathanael's 'Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?' (Jn. 1:46) that Nazareth had a very bad moral reputation. Possibly he may have expressed merely the feeling of some city dwellers for a rural population. The town must have been of considerable importance, away from the great routes of commerce, and yet in touch with the currents of popular, commercial and political life. The Modern City has churches, schools, a hospital, phones, and is not far from a railroad. It is said to contain thousands of inhabitants. The House, like the oriental houses of today was square, of brick, stone, or concrete, covered with clay, and whitewashed. The flat roof is surrounded by a balustrade, and reached by a ladder or fixed staircase. The house has one, two or three rooms. In front of a narrow court. In one of the angles is the oven. The furniture consists of a few stools, a table, cushions strewed along the wall, mattresses and mats, a chandelier, an oil lamp in a corner of the wall, a large coffer for linen, clothes, and books, a meat tub, a few jars, and a stone mortar. At meal time a painted wooden stool is placed in the center of the apartment, a large tray is put upon it, and in the middle of the tray stands the dish of rice and meat, or stewed fruits, from which all help themselves in common. Both before and after the meal the servant or the youngest member of the family pours water over the hands from a brazen ewer into a brazen bowl. The carpenter's shop was probably in the house.

2. The Boy at Home

The Family consisted of Joseph and Mary, both persons of exemplary piety and character; Jesus and His brothers and sisters (Matt. 13:55, 56), at least those who were so called and members of the family. Joseph must have been a more than ordinary man to have lived so close to God as to have communication with Him, and trusted Him so perfectly. And Mary surely must have had a beautiful character, pure and sweet as the air of her mountain home. There is nothing so important to a child – all other educational forces together are not as important – as a true home and family life, where the child is at school already with the two great teachers, Nature and Love. The moral atmosphere in which a child dwells has more to do with his character and training than any direct precepts. Regarding growing children, one former is worth a thousand reformers. The Jewish mother trained her children in prayer and the Bible. She told them Bible stories, and filled their young souls with the love of country and of God. Doubtless what is said of Timothy was true of this family, 'unfeigned faith' in the parents (2 Tim. 1:5), and 'from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures.' This family was favored by belonging to that class which is neither rich nor poor. They were in the position to which every healthy and godly few could attain. One of the greatest blessings that can come to a child is the necessity and privilege of taking part in the daily home duties. Whatever father or mother wanted done in the house, such as getting water, drink, bread, meat, looking after the house, and other things of that sort, whatever He was bidden, that Jesus Christ did, just like any other child of that day. Mary washed the linen in which she wrapped Our Lord. To this fountain Mary sent Our Lord to bring water, when He was old enough to do so, and certainly He went willingly. It is this kind of helpfulness in the family that is one of the best of trainings. The necessity of working for daily living is the seed plot of the manly virtues, in which grow skill, faithfulness, honesty, sobriety, self-denial. The spiritual motive transfigures the lowliest toil, when the smallest acts are done with the highest motives, love, faith, truth, service, devotion. Jesus surely served Him mother at home, working with joy, refining the work that somehow later on makes kitchen work very natural and beautiful in our memory. It was to Him as to us a great blessing that there were other children in the family. This gives a special opportunity to exercise all the virtues taught in God's Word. A man if offering his farm for sale presented as one chief attraction that one could start from that farm and go to every part of the earth. So from the humblest home and from daily labor one may go to every virtue, to every joy, to the best on earth, and the best in heaven. As one old timer said of his garden, 'It is not very long, not very broad, but it is wondrous high.' We may be sure that with all His energy, and overflowing life, He used them in honest work, in active play, in true fun, and never in mischief, in bad habits or mean tricks; and His mother never had to sing a sad song.

3. The Boy at School

The schoolhouse in those days was in the audience room of the Synagogue – the Meeting House, the Jewish church. It was a day school and Bible school all in one. The school was for boys only. When Jesus was six years old His parents would have sent Him to this school. There He learned to read and write. He learned three languages: Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic, i.e., one form of Syriac, which was the common language of Palestine in that day. He would have the same chance of learning Greek as a boy born in the Scottish Highlands has of learning English, Galilee of the Gentiles being then full of Greek-speaking inhabitants. The chief text book was the Old Testament. The method of teaching was by audible study and by committing to memory, i.e., the children repeating words and sentences after the teacher, and learning certain passages by heart. After learning the letters and being taught to read simple words, the boys had repeated to them the sacred watchword of the faith of Israel: "Hear O Israel: Jehovah our God is one Jehovah" (Duet. 6:4), impressing on each child the fundamental truth of religion, that there is one living, true God, so deeply that though living among unbelievers, they were seldom swept away from this rock foundation. Their house was founded on a rock. The necessity of obeying God's laws was written on their souls as if engraved with a pen of iron. And with these came instruction as to the meaning of the little oblong case nailed on the right hand side of the door, and therefore called in Hebrew the Mezuzah. It contained Deuteronomy 6:4-9; 11; 13-21. The same truths, with the addition of Exodus 13:1-10 were written in the phylacteries which each boy after he was twelve years old must wear on his forehead and left hand when he daily read the Old Testament Scriptures before breakfast. (Read these passages and you will see the meaning of these symbols). Like all schoolboys, there were studies not in the curriculum, studies He could learn by practice such as the unrecited lessons of honor, faithfulness, honesty, regularity, promptness, fairness, courtesy, kindness, and brotherly love.

4. The Boy at Church & Bible School

The synagogue, their church, was called the House of David or House of the Congregation. Here Jesus would have been a constant attendant at services which were meant for instruction as well as worship. Here He surely sat in the back seats among the other boys of Nazareth, behind the chief worshippers. A chief part of the service consisted of reading the Scriptures, because the books containing them were too large and expensive for private homes. Not only were the passages read in Hebrew, the language in which they were written, but they were translated, paragraph after paragraph, by an interpreter, into Aramaic, the language spoken by the people. Such Sabbath worship was an education which the neglecter of Sabbath assemblies failed to receive, to his great loss. In the Sabbath Worship Service Jesus would have been graded; the cradle roll and primary class would have been taught at home. Above 6 years old represented the intermediate class. Then after the regular service (which was an educational service for adults), came the Seniors. Compulsory attendance for the younger children required instruction in Old Testament Scripture. Teaching was by question and answer, stories, and illustrations. There were sections for study printed separately, similar in some ways to our lessons today. The sessions of the Synagogue Bible schools, like the Synagogue services, were on Monday and Thursday as well as on the Sabbath, in order that the country people might, when they came into town to do their marketing, have the privileges of religious instruction, similar to our midweek gatherings.

5. The Boy in the Wide World

Jesus lived in a small city, away from the great centers of population, and the rush and whirl of all sorts and conditions of men. It is quite noteworthy how many of the strongest, greatest, and most prominent men in the cities were brought up in the country. It is a blessed thing for the young to be sheltered from having impressed upon them the vile and awful evils that adults must come in contact with. "We are done with Hope and Honor; we are lost to Love and Truth; We are slipping down the ladder, rung by rung; And the measure of our torment is the measure of our youth. God help us, for we knew the worst too young" (Kipling). As the child Jesus came into contact with all kinds of boys, He would surely be tempted with every temptation that assails the young. As He grew older His experience certainly widened. It's interesting to note that not far from Nazareth, within sight of the ridge that surrounded the village, were great roads thronged with travel, the road to Jerusalem thronged annually with pilgrims, the road from Egypt with its merchant caravans, the highway between Acre and Damascus along which legions marched, and princes swept with their retinues. All the rumor of the empire entered Palestine close to Nazareth. In a caravan were to be found not only merchants, but a sprinkling of scholars, philosophers, searchers after truth, and citizens of the world. The perfection of His purity and patience was achieved, not easily, as behind a wide fence, shutting out the world, but amid rumor and scandal, with every provocation to unlawful curiosity and premature ambition. It was not as a rustic preaching to rustics that our Lord went about. The chief lesson which Nazareth teaches us is the possibility of a pure home and a spotless youth in the very face of the evil world. The world is the place to grow souls in. Milton says, "I cannot praise a fugitive and cloistered virtue ... that never sallies out and sees her adversaries, but slinks out of the race where the immortal garland is to be run for, not without dust and heat." But it is absolutely necessary for one who would be really good not to choose bad companions for the love of their country. Wild oats always produce the devil's harvest.

Illustration: Two theological students were walking along an 'Old Clothes' street in the Whitechapel district of London. Suddenly one exclaimed, "What a splendid text for a sermon to young men," pointing to a suit of clothes that hung swaying in the breeze at the side of a window with a note attached that read, 'Slightly Soiled, Greatly Reduced in Price.' "That's it exactly," he went on. "We young people get slightly soiled just seeing a vulgar show in a theater or reading a coarse book or allowing ourselves a little indulgence in dishonest or lustful thoughts, just slightly soiled, yet when the time comes for our manhood to be appraised, we are 'Greatly Reduced in Price.' Our charm and strength is gone."

6. The Boy at Work (The Carpenter Shop)

In addition to the work Jesus surely did at home, helping His mother, He learned from His father the use of tools in the carpenter's trade. The word 'carpenter' meant more in our Lord's Day than with us. It included all workers in wood, i.e., cabinetmakers as well as carpenters. From this time we have no more mention of Joseph. The next we hear is of His 'mother and brethren'; whence it is inferred that between this time and the commencement of our Lord's public life Joseph may have died. Hence Jesus may have had to care for and perhaps support, a widowed mother. Jesus as a carpenter shows how daily toil can be exalted and ennobled. It was fitting employment for the early years of the Son of God. Daily toil may be made one of the great schools for learning life's lessons – a whole university for all the virtues – for skill, faithfulness, self-denial, honesty, truth, health. Labor in the mind of a poet is like 'worship,' 'glory,' 'life, 'joy,' but only when done with the highest motives, to serve God, to help the family, to give to those in need, to spread the Kingdom of heaven. Dr. William Harrison once said, "From a long experience I have to confess that this unsentimental remedy (useful work, with a concentrated effort and high purpose) is the safest and most important prescription in the prescription-book of the psychotherapist." We may be sure that Jesus always did His work faithfully, in a way worthy of a child of God. His work must stand beside the Sermon on the Mount. It is important to remember that it is almost an axiom that the happier one is in pursuit of his work the greater are his returns, both spiritual and material. One's joy in his work seems to depend primarily upon the relation which the worker sees between his work and the largest goal he is seeking to realize.

Scripture Reading: Luke 2:41-50

7. The Boy at a Great Religious Meeting

v 41 ... "Parents went to Jerusalem every year," as wisely commanded. Wisely religious people do not neglect to go to the great religious meetings. For while there are peculiar blessings in praying in secret, and practicing the presence of God with God alone; there are also peculiar blessings in large and enthusiastic religious meetings. The feelings receive new impulses, the understanding is enlightened, the heart touched, the whole religious life quickened and revived. Out of such meetings grow unity, broad knowledge, new methods, social progress, new ideas, and deeper inspiration.

v 42 ... "And when he was twelve years old." This was the age when, as a kind of turning-point from childhood, a Jewish boy became a son of the law; the age of responsibility, when he was bound to keep the law, and to go up to the festivals with his father,

v 42 ... "after the custom of the feast," as it was the custom to go, or in the customary manner of traveling. Modern science shows that this is the most hopeful age for bringing out the religious nature, and the choice of the service of God.

v 43 ... "And when they had fulfilled the days." The seven days of the Passover (Ex. 12:15; Deut. 16:3). Knew not of it. Showing the perfect trust they had learned to show their boy.

v 44 ... "In the company" with whom they made the journey.

v 44 ... "And they sought him." It was probably when the caravan halted for the night that he was first missed.

v 45 ... "They turned back again." A single act.

v 45 ... "Seeking him." A continued act, lasting all the way to the city.

v 46 ... "After three days." Reckoned from the departure of the caravan from Jerusalem: one for the journey out, one for the return, and one for the search in the city. Josephus tells us that at the request of the governor, the high priests estimated that there were 2,700,000 worshippers at a Passover in 63-66 A.D. Most of them at this time were preparing to leave the city. No wonder that it was hard to find a young boy.

v 46 ... "They found him in the temple." Not in the temple proper, but in one of the porches or chambers of the temple area, and belonging to the temple.

v 46 ... "Sitting in the midst of the doctors." The teachers, eminent rabbis who at this season would be discussing the great burning questions that were stirring the nation to its depths.

v 46 ... "Hearing them, and asking them questions." Very much as in a Bible class today. He was not putting himself forward, but was doing what was natural and proper for any boy. He was a bright student, but did not assume the part of teacher. It was, however, more than this that caused them to be

v 46 ... "astonished at his understanding and his answers."

v 47 ... "Astonished." Amazed, i.e., thrown into a maze of labyrinth. His knowledge of the Scriptures, His insight into their true meaning, His penetration into the very spirit of the truth. His...

v 47 ... "answers" to their questions displayed these same qualities.

v 49 ... "How is it that ye sought me?" Not a reproof – Jesus would not reprove His parents – but an exclamation of surprise.

v 49 ... "Wist ye not." Know ye not.

v 49 ... "That I must be about my Father's business?" In the Greek the noun is omitted. As we might say, 'in or at my father's, at his home, in his business affairs.' When Jesus was in His Father's house, He was very busy at His Father's business. This is the earliest recorded saying of our Blessed Lord. It strikes the keynote of all His life after. Henceforth He called no one on earth His father.

The Child in His Father's House: The child should be early trained to go to his Father's house, of which Bible school is one room. It should be made as homelike as possible both in its outward attractiveness, and in its atmosphere of love. The presence of children during the preaching of the Gospel tends to make the preaching more clear, simple and vivid; and to make prominent the great essentials of divine truth. The greatest of Bible subjects always contain something for children.

The Child About His Father's Business: (a) The child should early consecrate himself to God, to live henceforth as His child. (b) He will learn about his Father's business in his Father's house, and in the earnest study of his Father's Word. To study the Word is part of his business. (c) Every earthly duty, obedience to parents, daily work, and recreations are portions of his Father's business. (d) Even a child should learn to do things directly in God's service, such as helping the poor, taking flowers to the sick, invitations to Bible school, giving, etc.

8. The Boy's Lessons in Patriotism

The Jewish hopes of a Messiah-Redeemer, of a glorious national future, filled the very air Jesus breathed. The Roman yoke was irksome and galling. The taxes were heavy. Roman soldiers, laws, money, idolatry, forever reminded them of their subjection to a heathen ruler. When Jesus was about ten years old, the insurrection of Judas occurred in Galilee (Acts 5:37). All these things perhaps stirred the heart of the growing boy with patriotic impulses.

The scenes of a large portion of the heroic deeds of His nation, the victories and the defeats, the struggles for freedom, and the punishments for sin, were spread out before Him from the hills back of the city, the boys' playground, from which He could see thirty miles in three directions. The scene is a map of Old Testament history. The story was His own history – that of His tribe, clan, perhaps family. There could not be a national history, nor even romance, to compare with that by which a Jewish mother might hold her child entranced, not even the history of the Greeks which has entranced and enthused the world for more than two thousand years.

Scripture Reading: Luke 2:40, 52

9. The Resultant of This Training

Jesus Became the Ideal Boy and the Perfect Man: He chose this course, He sought this goal, and He took of His free will the training that led to it. Like everyone who follows Him He said, "I am master of my fate; I am certain of my soul." The human experience of Jesus brings the comfort, strength, and inspiration of a similarity of experience with our own, of a holy life amid the same difficulties and trials, the same temptations and battles, the same hindrances and perplexities. He passed through not only the experiences of manhood, but of childhood. Hence, He is the children's Savior and Help. (a) "And the child grew," (v 40) in body and spirit through all this training. (b) He was obedient, subject to His parents. (c) He became strong, in spirit and stature, a sturdy, active, healthy boy. This was necessary in order to do His manhood's work. (d) He was "filled with wisdom" (v 40). How? He "increased," (v 52) advanced steadily onward in spite of all difficulties. The word for 'increased' in the original is derived from pioneers in civilization cutting down the trees that stood in the way of an advancing army. (e) He drank at the very source of true success, "the grace of God," (v 40). His favor, His gracious gifts. (f) It naturally followed that He was a winning, attractive youth, "in favor with God and man" (v 52). This was one of the crowing heavenly gifts for His success in His life work.

10. Conclusion

All of us should constantly study this story of Christ's training, but we should especially teach young boys and girls, always challenging them to see how nearly like Him they can become.

    
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