Child Life of Jesus
17
But on stopping to camp for the night, they missed His helpful
hand. They looked for Him throughout the company, but in vain.
Joseph and Mary were in great fear. They remembered how Herod
had tried to kill Jesus in His infancy, and they were afraid that some
evil had now befallen Him.
With sorrowful hearts they hastened back to Jerusalem; but it was
not till the third day that they found Him.
Great was their joy at seeing Him again, yet Mary thought that He
was to blame for leaving them. She said:
“Son, why hast Thou thus dealt with us? Behold, Thy father and I
have sought Thee sorrowing.”
“How is it that ye sought Me?” Jesus answered. “Wist ye not that
I must be about My Father’s business?”
Luke 2:48, 49
.
As He spoke these words, Jesus pointed upward. On His face was
a light at which they wondered. Jesus knew that He was the Son of
God, and He had been doing the work for which His Father had sent
Him into the world.
Mary never forgot these words. In the years that followed, she
better understood their wonderful meaning.
Joseph and Mary loved Jesus, yet they had been careless in losing
Him. They had forgotten the very work which God had given them to
do. By one day’s neglect they lost Jesus.
In the same way today many lose the Saviour from their company.
When we do not love to think about Him, or pray to Him; when we
speak idle, unkind, or evil words, we separate ourselves from Christ.
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Without Him, we are lonely and sad.
But if we really desire His company, He will always be with us.
With all who seek His presence, the Saviour loves to stay. He will
brighten the poorest home, and gladden the lowliest heart.
Though He knew that He was the Son of God, Jesus went home
to Nazareth with Joseph and Mary. Until thirty years of age He was
“subject unto them.”
Luke 2:51
.
He who had been the Commander of Heaven was on earth a loving
and obedient son. The great things brought to His mind by the service
of the temple were hidden in His heart. He waited until God’s time to
begin His appointed work.
Jesus lived in the home of a peasant, a poor man. Faithfully and
cheerfully He did His part in helping to support the family. As soon as