Lesson 15 - Elementary

Memory Verse

"I must be about my Father's business"  (Luke 2:49).

Notes

The Wise Men Looked for the King

When the wise men asked Herod where the child was who was born a king, Herod was no doubt alarmed and jealous. He did not want anyone else to be king. He planned to kill all the boy-babies under two years of age, so that he would surely get rid of the king the wise men talked about. But God was taking care of that child.

God Told Joseph What to Do

In a dream God told Joseph to take Jesus and His mother into another country where they would be safe. Joseph always obeyed God, and he did as God had told him. They stayed in Egypt until Jesus was at least four years old.

When the wicked king who wanted to kill Jesus had died, God sent an angel to show Joseph in a dream that it was now safe for them to go back to their own country.

Nazareth Was the Boyhood Home of Jesus

Joseph brought Jesus and His mother to a place called Nazareth. It is one of the most interesting towns in the world because it is where Jesus lived. We think of Him as a little boy looking at the great cliffs at the edge of the town. Perhaps these were the same cliffs that the people who did not love Him tried to throw Jesus over when He was a grown man and they did not know that He was the Son of God.

There was just one spring in the town, but that spring never went dry. We can picture Jesus going with His mother to that spring to draw water. Perhaps Jesus thought of that well when He preached to the people. He saw the fruit on the fig trees, and the flowers in the fields, and the fields of grain, and spoke of those things later to the people.

Jesus Was Called the Carpenter's Son

The angel said God would give Mary a son, and Jesus was that Son. He lived with His mother and Joseph, and was called the carpenter's son. Most of the houses in Nazareth were made of stone or sun-dried mud, but the carpenters in those days made cabinets, tools, yokes for oxen, and many other things. Jesus perhaps worked with Joseph and made the yokes just as comfortable as He could make them for the oxen to draw their heavy loads. He said that those who would work for God would have a yoke that was not hard to wear.

Jesus Was Found in the Temple

Jesus had been taken up to Jerusalem before, but when He was twelve years old, his parents took Him to the Temple. After a few days they started back to their home, and when they had traveled a day's journey, Jesus' mother and father found that Jesus was not with them. Then they had to go back to Jerusalem and look for him. After three days they found Him in the Temple listening to the teachers there and asking them questions. The men in the Temple were surprised at what Jesus knew. No doubt His mother had told Him the things the angel had said to her, and He was beginning to realize that He had very important work to do for God, His Father. When His mother said that they had been looking for Him, He said He must be doing the work His Father wanted Him to do. His mother, perhaps, did not understand just what He meant, but she never forgot what He said. When He grew up and was put on the Cross to die, she perhaps understood it better.

We should like to know more about the boyhood of Jesus, but we are certain that He obeyed His parents and loved to pray to His Father in Heaven Who also loved Him most of all.

Questions

1. What was Jesus doing in the Temple? [LUK:2:46].

2. What did Jesus say to His parents when they found Him? [LUK:2:49].

3. What did He mean? [JHN:9:4].

4. Did Jesus obey His parents? [LUK:2:51].

5. How old was Jesus at this time? [LUK:2:42].