“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s House? But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. (Luke 2:49-51)
It’s fun planning the lives, adventures and redemption, for the characters in my novel. I spend a lot of time editing to make my story real and fun. It’s amazing how God gets the story right the first time for billions of His children throughout eternity. He has a plan for all of us just as he had a plan for His Son.
We are not privy to the plans for our lives because not knowing keeps us coming back to God for direction. But Jesus, a twelve-year-old youth, still part of the relational trinity of God, knows the plan for His life. He shows us here. In the time ahead when Jesus is gone for three days, He will resurrect to His Father in heaven. So, of course, now after being gone three days, He would also be in His Father’s house. Mary and Joseph didn’t understand Jesus was foretelling his future. But this is a pivotal point in Jesus’ life, and He’s also letting His parents know His priorities have changed. He will now respond to the will of God, not Mary and Joseph’s will.
We are left with a summary of His young adulthood. Jesus was obedient, learned to cope with what life threw Him in a body of flesh, and taught and interacted with those around Him in a loving way, growing in favor with God and everyone. Mary’s son was with her, and she treasured having Him and all that He did. In the next chapter of Jesus’ and Mary’s lives, everything will change.
Yes, I believe that Jesus did know his future. As I look at my grandson at the age of five, his understanding of the world around him grows daily. Is that the way Jesus grew in his knowledge of his own future? Everyday did he learn more about himself and what his future would be? Did God teach him slowly or did he have all of this knowledge from birth?
It’s fun to watch children grow. I wish the Bible had more information about Jesus’ childhood. Most Bible scholars believe Jesus had all of His knowledge from birth, but they could be wrong. The only thing we are sure that He didn’t know was when His second coming would be. He knew what His death would entail because it was prophesied in the Old Testament