So when they saw Him, they were amazed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously. And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them. Luke 2:48–50
It is surprising how little we are told about Jesus’ life between the time of His birth and His baptism, the moment that marked the beginning of His public ministry. The only glimpse we get of Jesus from this 30-year span is an event recorded only in Luke’s gospel that pictures the Christ as an adolescent who tarries behind in the temple after the conclusion of Passover and discusses various points of the law with the scribes. When His parents return and find Him three days later, Mary seems overcome with emotion.
Any parent knows the feeling of dread you experience when a child suddenly disappears from view. In a crowded place full of strangers this can quickly turn to panic. Now imagine that the child you have lost was miraculously conceived and has been pronounced the Messiah! In a time long before Amber Alerts, milk carton photographs, or even police departments, Jesus was lost (at least from Mary’s perspective) for three whole days. How could this happen? Remember that by the time Jesus was twelve, He already had a number of younger siblings (Matt. 13:55–56). Mary, with all these little ones to care for, would likely have seen no reason to worry about Jesus. After all, Jesus never did anything to cause her concern! It is in this context that Jesus’ first recorded words are found. “Why do you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” More accurate is the translation offered by the ESV: “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” It is not Jesus’ activity that Mary was upset about, but rather His location. She had expected that He would come along with the family back to Nazareth, but Jesus saw His place somewhere else.
Jesus viewed His Father’s house as a special place, a place that deserved respect. The Father also saw this as a special place. God saw the need for the people of Israel to come together for the purpose of worship (Ex. 23:17), and it is here that He placed His magnificent name (1 Kgs. 9:3). When Jesus saw things wrong in this holy place, He rebuked the offenders. When He drove out merchants, John recalls His words: “Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!” (2:16). As He approached the city at the start of the week of His crucifixion, He wept over it and prophesied about its impending fall (Luke 19:41–44). As He recalled the Father’s numerous attempts to turn Jerusalem back, Jesus said, “Behold, your house is left to you desolate” (Matt. 23:38). The house in Jerusalem would no longer be His Father’s house; it would be theirs––an empty shell vacated not only by the Ark (which had probably been taken by Babylonian looters), but by the God whose presence had sanctified it (cf. Matt. 27:51). May we be as zealous for our Father’s house (1 Tim. 3:15) as Jesus was!
Although the house that Jesus loved to frequent no longer stands in the city of Jerusalem, our Father still has a house, and Jesus is there today. He told His disciples that He was going there for the purpose of preparing a place for the faithful (John 14:2–3). In that house there is plenty of room for everyone, and the only means of entrance is Jesus (John 10:9; 14:6; 8:35–36). If you want to come inside the Father’s house, there is a place for you if you will come in Jesus’ name (Acts 2:38; 1 Cor. 12:13).