Jesus found in the temple

[debraran]

I was thinking about this mystery the other day and wondered when Mary really knew what Jesus had to do. On EWTN’s site, the passage, “How is it that you sought Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business” was explained that Mary didn’t really know the complete picture yet, but trusted God and her son that it would come. Since the amount of time from that point to his actual ministry was so long, I wonder about those “missing years”.
A Catholic comedian once joked that you should never underestimate the power of Mary. I don’t think she meant it to be disrespectful since she didn’t put down the church in her talks, but she went on that when Mary found Jesus in the temple and told him he had to go home, that was the longest grounding you ever heard about! You didn’t see the poor guy for over a decade!

I wondered if anyone had any thoughts on the hows and whys of that timing. I wondered if Joseph’s death was part of it, Jesus needed at home, but maybe it was for reasons that we will never really know, at least on earth.

 

[DebChris]

I always heard that Jesus was in the Temple for his Bar Mitzvah, the time when a Jewish male becomes a man and takes on adult responsibilities.

 

[debraran]

That’s what I thought years ago, but wouldn’t Mary and Joseph been a part of that?

 

[foundthelight]

I always heard that Jesus was in the Temple for his Bar Mitzvah, the time when a Jewish male becomes a man and takes on adult responsibilities.

The Bar Mitzvah didn’t exist then.

From the Wikipedia article on Bar Mitzvah

The modern method of celebrating one’s becoming a Bar Mitzvah did not exist in the time of the Bible, Mishnah or Talmud. In passages in the books of Exodus and Numbers, the age of majority for army service is noted to be twenty.[3]
The term “Bar Mitzvah” appears first in the Talmud, the codification of the Jewish oral Torah complied in the early 1st millennium of the common era, to connote “an [agent] who is subject to scriptural commands,”[4] and the age of thirteen is also mentioned in the Mishnah as the time one is obligated to observe the Torah’s commandments: “At five years old a person should study the Scriptures, at ten years for the Mishnah, at thirteen for the commandments…”[5][6] The Talmud gives thirteen as the age at which a boy’s vows are legally binding, and states that this is a result of his being a “man,” as required in Numbers 6:2.[7]
According to the Jewish Encyclopedia, the term “Bar Mitzvah…in the sense now used…can not be clearly traced earlier than the fourteenth century, the older rabbinical term being “gadol” (adult) or “bar 'onshin” (son of punishment); that is, liable to punishment for his own misdoings; see Rashi Nidda 45b, on the word.”[8] Many sources indicate that the ceremonial observation of a Bar Mitzvah developed in the Middle Ages,[9][10

Plus, the age of majority is generally calculated at 13. Jesus was 12.

Luk 2:42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom.

He was not in his majority. They had a right and obligation to be concerned.

Just my 2 cents

%between%

 

[debraran]

I think with so many things left out of the bible, that this was in it, had significance. I find it humbling that someone as perfect as Mary was “in the dark” for a while about her son’s whereabouts. Even Mary had some anxiety (or that is how it has been portrayed)
Sometimes I find myself especially with the rosary, thinking about all the “hidden time”, even with things that maybe aren’t that important, but would be interesting. What was a typical day like, what was Jesus’s personality like, what was their “family time” like in the evening,(conversations,etc.) did they go to temple together (at least the men)when did Joseph die? It can go on and on…

 

[Joe_Kelley]

Many of those present at the Temple must have been there for his Presentation in the Temple 12 years earlier and heard Simeon’s prophecy.

Some of the younger one would have made up the Sanhedrin that condemned Him twenty years later.

Were they aware that this was the same person? How did they fit it all together?

Just my musings.

 

[debraran]

I know what you mean, it isn’t like he walked around with a light around his head or something like that. Some people said later, “isn’t he the carpenters son?” That’s why I find it fascinating that he interacted and talked to people long before his preaching as “God’s son”. I bet many of those conversations were very interesting too…and some pretty mundane.
I remember thinking, did Jesus play with the other children (I assume so) did he like one game over another, was he a good carpenter? Might sound silly, but he did live a long time that we have info on at all. They ate, played, went to services, all the everyday things we all do. Helps it all seem more approachable.