Daily Bible Reading 3rd April 2026 // Luke 2:41-52
41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. 43 And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” 49 And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” 50 And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.
52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and man.
These verses give us the solitary account in Scripture of our Lord's early life, apart from the birth narratives. In this sense, they are unique, and contain lessons of great importance for us. The significance of the age of 12 is of course that at this age a Jewish boy became what was known as 'a son of the law' (bar mitzvah), 'able to accept for himself the responsibilities and obligations to which his parents had committed him by the rite of circumcision' (Caird). Until that time, a boy's parents were responsible for him religiously; from then on, however, he assumed responsibility himself.
G. Campbell Morgan points out a distinction between what is said of Jesus in 40 - 'and the child grew' - and what is said in 52 - 'Jesus increased in wisdom'. The first word, he says, refers to 'growth without responsibility', the second to 'growth in responsibility'. The derivation of the second word indicates that it was used originally of the pioneer cutting his way through brushwood, and the idea suggested here is of Jesus carving out His way into life, the bringing of all life under control. This is what He began to do at this stage of His experience. It is a highly purposive picture, full of significance.