Searching for Jesus
Excerpt
The explanation for Jesus’ behavior here rests, I believe, in the genuineness of his incarnation and his growing awareness of who he was. Accepting the Incarnation at face value means that Jesus was genuinely a twelve-year-old. Though fully God, he was also human. Choosing not to avail himself of all the prerogatives of deity, he learned in the same way we do. As a child, he had to learn that two plus two equals four, and as a twelve-year-old, he was still learning about every part of life—including faith and relationships. As a twelve-year-old, he did not have the fine-tuned social awareness he would have at age thirty.
The point is, he was capable of unknowingly causing his parents distress; but as a sinless being, he was incapable of knowingly doing it. Here, Jesus unknowingly brought anxiety to Joseph and Mary. Moreover, he unintentionally caused his parents to worry because his twelve-year-old mind was totally absorbed with the massive spiritual realization of his identity as the Messiah that had come to him that week. The combination of his authentic adolescence and the immensely absorbing revelation regarding his own person so occupied his mind that he did not imagine that staying in the temple would cause anyone alarm. Jesus did not sin in any of this. The sinless twelve-year-old Son of God was simply following the logic of the massive spiritual revelation of that week. More
Hughes, R. Kent. Luke: That You May Know the Truth. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books, 1998. Print. Preaching the Word.
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