Hall of wisdom

Part 7 of 35 In his Father's house

Jesus grew up in Nazareth. Every year his family went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When he was twelve, his parents set off for home and did not notice that he had stayed behind. After three days of searching, "they found Him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were astounded at His understanding and His answers" (Luke 2:46–47).

"Did you not know that I had to be in My Father's house?" Jesus asked (Luke 2:49). Then he went home with them and obeyed them, "and Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man" (Luke 2:52). He learned a trade, and the people of Nazareth later called him "the carpenter" (Mark 6:3).

Imagined The hall

Every question anyone has ever asked has an answer waiting somewhere on these shelves, and there is always time to read it.

Real world The temple and its wall

The temple Jesus visited had been rebuilt by King Herod on a huge stone platform. Roman soldiers destroyed it in AD 70, but part of the platform's western wall still stands in Jerusalem. Some of its stones weigh hundreds of tons.

Real world A house from Jesus's time

In 2009, archaeologists in Nazareth uncovered the remains of a small, simple house from the time of Jesus, with a pit for storing rainwater. It suggests that Nazareth was then a small village.

Think about it

1. What questions would you have asked the teachers in the temple?
2. What do you think it means to grow "in wisdom and stature"?
3. Why might Jesus have called the temple his Father's house?

Key words

Temple

The great house of worship in Jerusalem.

Passover

A yearly feast remembering how God freed Israel from slavery in Egypt.

Stature

Height and growth.