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Luke 2:41-52

The only account of Jesus’ boyhood we possess apart from apocryphal legends. Here: the story of a visit by the holy family to a festival in Jerusalem.

The Boy Jesus Stayed Behind

“Filial Consciousness”

Three Sayings:

A: What the angels said

The baby’s name was given privately before his birth, and publicly afterwards, as ‘Jesus’ (1:31; 2:21): ‘The Lord is salvation’,

First: Savior

Second: Christ

Third: Lord

B: What the prophet said

Simeon’s thanksgiving to God tells us that the salvation to be found in Jesus is for all humanity. It is a universal offer.

C: What the Child himself said

Jews: ‘You, O Lord, are our Father’

So the first recorded words of Jesus are a statement about himself, and a claim to a relationship between himself and God different from, and deeper than, anything that had ever been known before.

Questions:

• Do we underestimate the spiritual insight of young people?
• Mary and Joseph were not always able to understand what they were told. Why are we so slow to believe and grasp the word of God? (Note the difficulty our Lord’s disciples had—Luke 9:45 and 18:34.)
• What stands out to you as most important in the stories of Luke 1 & 2?