Jesus was a middle schooler

Luke 2:41-52 NASB

Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.  And when He became twelve, they went up  there  according to the custom of the Feast;  and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents were unaware of it,  but supposed Him to be in the caravan, and went a day’s journey; and they  began  looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances.  When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for Him.  Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.  And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.  When they saw Him, they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, "Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You."  And He said to them, "Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?"  But they did not understand the statement which He had made to them.  And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all  these  things in her heart.
  And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

My thoughts -

Maybe it's that I'm a parent now. My oldest son is almost twelve. Maybe it's that. But for whatever reason this account didn't used to faze me and now it does.

Jesus's family went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And, presumably, every year went back home. All of them. Without incident. That is, they all made it back home every year except for when Jesus was twelve.

Was this foreshadowing? Mary and Joseph would lose their son. Like all people their son did not belong to them but to God. Their son was in their care but he was not theirs. Unlike most other's children, though, Jesus was also the Son of God, the Chosen One, the Messiah. This may have hammered home the temporary nature of their relationship just a bit more.

Twelve year olds are children. They may not think of themselves as such. My son alternates between wanting to be much, much older and wanting to be a child. Sometimes you can see that cute little boy you sent off to kindergarten seemingly just last week. Other times you see a confused but defiant teenager or even a productive, together adult. They're all wrapped up in there somewhere. But he is a child. Our child. Even if he doesn't always want to be.

Jesus was at that awkward age, too. We have no trouble with the image of the baby Jesus. We see it every year at Christmas in the manger. We see that image in paintings, on greeting cards, in churches, even in the mall. We're used to that image.

We are equally used to the image of Jesus as a thirty-something with long hair, a beard, and sandals, even if he's maybe a little too white for the region of his birth. We see this image everywhere. This is the image of Jesus that dominates pop culture. This is what people see when they picture Jesus.

What we have a hard time with, or at least I do, is the image of Jesus as a middle schooler. But if God became fully human in the form of Jesus then God was subject to the entire growing up experience, including this awkward adolescent stage. So who had the authority, God incarnate or his mom?

Jesus stayed in the temple. His parents left, like they always did, every year. It was assumed that Jesus was with the group they were traveling in. It was assumed that someone had him. It was assumed that they were all together heading home just like always. But Jesus was still in the temple.

Mary and Joseph discovered that Jesus was not with them and responded as parents should. They freaked. They looked desperately for him. And when they found them they were relieved. But, as parents know, this relief gave way to anger at having been panicked.

"We searched EVERYWHERE for you!" they exclaimed. "Are you trying to give us a heart attack?"

Jesus responded by telling them they should have known that he would be in his Father's house.

This adolescent Saviour had been teaching the adults. He amazed them with his understanding of scripture. But he was still a child. His time had not come. I wonder if he, like my son, like all at that awkward stage in development, was trying to skip ahead to adulthood. He was ready. He knew it. They all do. He could do anything.

But he was still a child. He was still in the care of his parents. His adulthood and ministry would come soon enough. But it was not time. Not yet.

So Jesus went home with Mary and Joseph. He subjected himself to their authority. They got to care for him for a few more years. And those years, it seems, always go by so fast.