Twelve-year-old Jesus has been at Passover all week with His family, where they have worshiped, prayed, eaten, and sang. At the end of the week, when everybody is ready to go home, Jesus stays behind and heads to the temple

In the temple, He sits among some of the greatest teachers of the time, having a conversation with them. Now, at twelve years old, Jesus has been training
His whole childhood with the rest of the boys in His Jewish community by memorizing the Torah (the first five books of the Bible).

Simply put, Jesus knows His Scripture. He knows what He’s talking about. And He’s listening to these teachers speak—listening so well that He asks some incredible questions. Then, when they ask questions, His answers leave them amazed.

Mary and Joseph, Jesus’ parents, eventually find Him and ask, “What are you doing?” To which He replies: “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49).
Mary and Joseph don’t understand. In fact, they are astonished, which tells us this is unusual behavior for Jesus.

*His Father’s house?*

This is a pivotal moment in Jesus’ life. Jesus is becoming more aware of His identity. That feels weird to say because we often only think of Jesus as the divine Son of God. He should know who He is, right? We forget He was also the human son of Mary, and this truth matters a lot.

In order for Jesus to redeem you and me, He had to live a fully human life. Which means He had to be fully a twelve-year-old boy. Jesus was and is fully God and fully man and, because of that fact, His death and resurrection make it possible for us to be saved from sin and death. This is the good news!


Have you ever felt like you don’t know who you are? Where do you look to form your identity?

Jesus placed His identity in the truths of Scripture—God’s Word. Why is it important that God is the source of our identity?

Why is it important that Jesus is fully God and fully human?