Happy New Year! Crenshaw Kids back in His Word once again as we talk about Jesus at 12 years old!

 

Christmas and the Sunday lessons leading to December 25 was an amazing time of anticipation and excitement!    

Many of us came back to church in 2024 with the question:  "Now what Miss Alice".   HA HA

Well, I decided for myself that I wanted to see what happened next.   We don't talk much about Jesus when he was a boy.   But, he was 2 years old, then 3 and then on to 6, 7 and 8 etc.    The bible has little mention of those years,..but I am certain he was just like any of you.   He was exploring the simple things in life.   Playing and just being a kid.

We begin 2024 with a lesson about Jesus at age 12.    He and his mom and dad were going to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover.   They were in a big group traveling together with family and friends.   As any twelve year old boy, he bounced from person to person enjoying the trip and mom and dad figured he was around people who loved and watched out for him so they were just traveling without a worry.

Here is an exert from our teacher lesson plan!    For those of you who missed it is a great story.   For those parents reading this...ask your child questions from this past Sunday or use as a family devotional followup.

What happened to Jesus?

Imagine how a boy from the small town of Nazareth would feel when visiting the big city of Jerusalem and the temple. Has your family ever visited a big city for the first time? What was that new adventure like?

The Nash family had a trip to New York!    Ask them about their adventures!

The book of Luke doesn’t tell how Joseph and Mary traveled for a day before discovering that Jesus was missing, or why they hadn’t been looking for him sooner. In verse 44, he says that they assumed Jesus was with friends or relatives. Traveling safely in a group, men would gather with other men and women with women. Children played together. Mary and Joseph were worried. What happened to Jesus? Did he get hurt? Was he lost?

Where was Jesus?

Even from a young age, people could tell that Jesus was special.   Jesus spoke with real wisdom and authority as he sat among the teachers in the temple.  He spoke that way because God is his Father! We know this because in a Jewish school at the time, Jesus was listening to the teachers and asking them good questions. They were amazed to hear such good answers from a twelve-year-old boy. It’s interesting to wonder if some of these teachers of the law would many years later hear Jesus speak again. 

What is Jesus’ mission?

When Joseph and Mary finally found Jesus, they asked him why he had done this. Mary says, “Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”   

Now Jesus spoke his first recorded words in scripture. 

“‘Why were you searching for me?’ he asked. ‘Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?’”    (Pretty cool huh?)

Jesus’ parents—and Luke’s readers—needed to understand that Jesus knew his mission. In hindsight we can see that Jesus was telling his parents that he is God’s Son and that God has a purpose for him. At that time, the parents didn’t understand.

The bible tells us that Mary “treasured all these things in her heart.”

 Today, we can do that same thing—wonder at how Jesus is God’s Son yet fully human, how amazing it is that he gave his life for us, and how we can do our Father’s work that he has “prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10).