Jesus the young boy

At age 12, a Jewish boy becomes more responsible for his actions . No longer can he get by with saying ",Hey I'm just a child"or" I didn't know any better. Jesus is 12, nearly 13, when he goes to the feast of the Passover in Jerusalem with his parents. Jerusalem is about 65 miles from Nazareth, so after the seven- day festival, Mary and Joseph join a caravan(it's usually safer to travel in a large group)and head home. As a rule, the woman leave earlier in the morning because they walk slower and have children to contend with. Then the men leave, and the two groups meet and camp together in the evening. During the journey, Mary probably figures Jesus is with Joseph, while Joseph figures He's with her. It's quite a shock when they get together in the evening and discover He's not with either of them!Mary and Joseph comb the camp looking for Him., then spend three days looking for Him, then spend three days searching the streets of Jerusalem. They hit all the festival attraction that should interest a boy of Jesus' age. The last place they'd expect to find Him is in the temple. But there He is, politely listening and asking questions of teachers amazing all of them with His solid insights and answers. Mary is naturally upset and asks Jesus why is He being so inconsiderate. Jesus' response? "Why were you searching for me? Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?"These are the earliest words of Jesus quoted in the New Testament . Before this time ,no one had ever used the term"My Father" as Jesus had. No one had ever referred to the Creator in such a personal way. If we reread Jesus' words, we discover two things about our young Messiah: He knows who He is! And He knows His life mission.