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46
From Heaven With Love
and it was difficult to realize He was the Son of God. The gentle
reproof which 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 relation to God. Mary did not understand His
words, but she knew He had disclaimed kinship to Joseph and had
declared His Sonship to God.
From Jerusalem Jesus returned home with His earthly parents
and aided them in their life of toil. For eighteen years He acknowl-
edged the tie that bound Him to the home at Nazareth, and performed
the duties of a son, a brother, a friend, and a citizen.
Jesus wished to return from Jerusalem in quietness, with those
who knew the secret of His life. By the paschal service God was
seeking to remind His people of His wonderful work in their deliv-
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erance from Egypt. In this work He desired them to see a promise
of deliverance from sin. The blood of Christ was to save their souls.
God desired that they should be led to prayerful study in regard to
Christ’s mission. But as the multitudes left Jerusalem, the excite-
ment of travel and social intercourse often absorbed their attention,
and the service they had witnessed was forgotten. The Saviour was
not attracted to their company.
Jesus Helps His Mother
Returning from Jerusalem, Jesus hoped to direct Joseph and
Mary to the prophecies of the suffering Saviour. On Calvary He
sought to lighten His mother’s grief; He was thinking of her now.
Mary was to witness His last agony, and Jesus desired her to under-
stand His mission, that she might endure when the sword should
pierce through her soul. How much better she could have borne 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 Saviour; but it
cost them three days of anxious search to find Him. So with us. By
idle talk, evilspeaking, or neglect of prayer, we may in one day lose
the Saviour’s presence, and it may take many days to find Him and
regain the peace we have lost.