Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”[f] But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
Luke 2:49-50
A while back, I went shopping with my family at a certain mega store. My older son decided to go to the game corner to have fun and we left him there. When it was time to go home, we looked around and couldn’t find him. Although the search was less than three minutes, I was freaking out already. So many evil thoughts ran through my mind in the less than three minutes it took to find him. And when we found him, it took all of the gifts of the spirit within me not to yell at him.
Now, imagine how Mary and Joseph must have felt. They came to Jerusalem for the Passover convention. “After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they travelled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. (Luke 2:43-44).
It took me less than three minutes of searching for my son before I entered panic mode. How must Mary have felt after searching for twenty-four hours? After a day of search they eventually found Jesus in the temple. He wasn’t missing, he had deliberately stayed back to have some bible symposium in the temple. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.” “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:48-49).
On the surface this response of Jesus to such troubled, caring parents must have seem insensitive but when we consider that he was age twelve at this time (the age when parent introduce children to their family business), then we can understand that Jesus was simply setting priorities straight, he chose to be introduced to the business of his heavenly father first before the earthly business. The question is what is the order of your own priorities today? Is it God’s business first or yours?
Heavenly Father, I acknowledge your lordship over my life. Help me to align my priorities with your will and to be about your business in all that I do. May I seek first your kingdom and righteousness, finding joy and purpose in serving you. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.
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