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48
Humble Hero
it was difficult to realize that He was the Son of God. The gentle
reproof that His words conveyed was designed to impress them with
the sacredness of their trust.
In His answer to His mother, Jesus showed for the first time that
He understood His relationship to God. Mary did not understand
His words, but she knew He had disclaimed being Joseph’s Son and
had declared His Sonship to God.
Jesus returned home from Jerusalem with His earthly parents
and helped them in their life of labor. For eighteen more years, He
acknowledged the tie that bound Him to the home at Nazareth. He
performed the duties of a son, a brother, a friend, and a citizen.
Jesus wanted to return from Jerusalem in quietness, with those
who knew the secret of His life. By the Passover service, God was
trying to remind His people of His wonderful work in delivering
them from Egypt. In this work, He wanted them to see a promise of
deliverance from sin. The blood of Christ was to save them. God
wanted to lead them to prayerful study regarding Christ’s mission.
But as the crowds left Jerusalem, the excitement of travel and social
interaction often absorbed their attention, and they forgot the service
they had witnessed. The Savior was not attracted to their fellowship.
Jesus Helps His Mother
Returning from Jerusalem, Jesus hoped to direct Joseph and
Mary to the prophecies about the suffering Savior. On Calvary, He
tried to lighten His mother’s grief; He was thinking of her now. Mary
was to witness His last agony, and Jesus wanted her to understand
His mission so that she could endure when the sword would pierce
through her soul. How much better she could have accepted the
anguish of His death if she had understood the Scriptures to which
He was now trying to turn her thoughts!
By one day’s neglect, Joseph and Mary lost the Savior, but it
cost them three days of anxious search to find Him. It is this way
[32]
with us as well. By idle talk, evilspeaking, or neglect of prayer, in
one day we may lose the Savior’s presence, and it may take many
days to find Him and regain the peace we have lost.
We should be careful not to forget Jesus and drift along unaware
that He is not with us. Absorbed in worldly things, we separate