After returning from their extended stay in Egypt, Jesus and his parents chose to settle in Nazareth, a poor, crime infested city. In fact, Nazareth was so saturated with immorality and vice that it had become a byword for sin.This is illustrated clearly in the way Nathaniel responded to Philip’s invitation to go and see Jesus. 

When Philipp told Nathaniel that he believed he had found “him of whom Moses in the law and also the prophets, wrote” Nathaniel scornfully shot back “can anything good come out of Nazareth?”

But, regardless of its dubious reputation, Jesus grew up in Nazareth and inspite of the influences that surrounded him Jesus became “strong in spirit, filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon Him” 

Jesus' first Passover visit to Jerusalem proved to be a rite of passage, a turning point not just in his spiritual life as prescribed by the Jewish law but more importantly an awakening to and an awareness of who He was and what He had been called by God to do. 

Of the three annual festivals that required all the men of Israel to appear before the Lord at Jerusalem, the Passover was the most heavily attended. Perhaps this was because of all the festivals, the Passover held the most significance to the Jewish people because it marked the birth of the Hebrew Nation and God’s miraculous deliverance from Egypt. 

The journey from Galilee, the province where Nazareth was located, down to Jerusalem took several days to complete when Jesus was a boy and generally pilgrims didn’t travel alone. For safety and also for companionship they clustered together in large groups; the women and older folks riding on donkeys or oxen while the men and young boys traveled on foot. 

It was a beautiful time to travel because Passover usually took place during either the end of March or the beginning of April when spring was first beginning to make its way across the land. 

For Jesus, as a twelve-year-old boy, generally accustomed to spending time in his quiet home in Nazareth, the bustle of Jerusalem would have been fascinating. But perhaps the most fascinating aspect of the journey was when he went to the temple and watched, in awe, as the white-robed priests performed the rituals associated with the Passover. As he knelt in prayer and watched the cloud of incense plume over the courts of the temple, his heart began to awaken to the reality of his mission. 

He was drawn into deep thought as he contemplated the sacrifice that the Passover entailed. How the life of an innocent lamb was sacrificed for the salvation of a nation of slaves. How the blood of that lamb, formed the only protective barrier between the vulnerable life of the first born and the sword of the destroying angel. 

The experience changed his life. It was like a light bulb exploding with searing clarity in his mind. He understood his mission. He knew what he had been born to do. 

Needing some time to process what he was thinking and feeling, Jesus wandered away from his parents. He needed to be alone but he also needed to be in the temple, surrounded by the sights and sounds that seemed to draw him nearer to God, nearer to his mission. 

Separated from his parents and the rest of their traveling party he was eventually left behind. It didn’t really occur to him to go looking for his family. He was too engrossed in exploring everything he had realized. 

He eventually found himself in a little school room attached to the temple. The room was filled with Rabbis and their pupils. Jesus easily blended in with the group and sat listening to the teachers as they broke down scripture and explained the truths that the Jewish nation had been entrusted with. 

Seated in the midst of this group, a stranger and a country boy at that, Jesus wasn’t intimidated into silence. There was too much going on in his mind and he was too inspired by the connections firing in his brain to be self conscious. He began to ask questions. Thought provoking questions that hinted at the depth of his Scriptural knowledge and also of his spiritual insight. 

The Rabbis present were stunned that a boy they didn’t recognise and who obviously hadn’t learned under them should know so much. His questions challenged their narrow and superficial views of the Messiah and God’s purposes for the Jewish nation as a whole. Every question Jesus asked them forced them to consider scripture in an entirely new light. 

Before long the teachers were asking Jesus questions. With the simplicity and guileless eloquence of a child he recited scripture, linking passages together in a way that brought to light truths that had never been considered before. 

In the thoughtful, deeply spiritual boy, who spoke with a distinct Galilean accent the rabbis saw a potential pupil. The originality of his mind drew them with a desire to mould him into an image of their choosing. 

Meanwhile Mary and Joseph had managed to travel a considerable distance before they noticed that their son was missing. Initially they supposed he was with someone else in their group but when darkness fell and they couldn’t find him, like any other parents they began to worry. 

A thorough search of their traveling party showed that he wasn’t with them. Edging towards panic, the stricken parents set  off for Jerusalem to find their missing boy. They spent the next three days in a haze of panic and desperation, scouring every possible place they could think of that he might be. 

When they finally found him, he was sitting calmly in the midst of a group of rabbis, asking them questions and answering the questions they posed him in return. At first Mary and Joseph were too stunned to speak. They couldn’t believe the depth of wisdom and understanding their son was displaying. 

When they managed to extricate him from the crowd and hustle him away, Mary, as any mother weak with relief would do when she located her lost child, reprimanded him for causing them so much worry. Responding to her censure Jesus calmly replied “Why did you seek me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

Mary and Joseph were mystified by his enigmatic statement but it was a precursor of both his developing self awareness and of the events that would unfold in their lives in the future. Mary and Joseph always knew that their son was special, divine even but in the busyness of daily life and in the familiarity that comes with a parent child relationship they had lost sight of what that truly meant. 

Jesus was their son but He was also the Son of God. As much as he was bound to honor and obey them, He was to a greater extent bound to honor and obey the will of His heavenly father and the mission he had been sent to do. 

It was a moment when Jesus, with painful clarity, made known to his parents the claims that God had on his heart and his time. It was a turning point in His life and in theirs as well. When Mary and Joseph left Jerusalem, Jesus willingly went with them and like any good son, he submitted to their authority.

But the Passover visit to Jerusalem had changed Him. No longer was his first allegiance to His parents; it was to God. His obedience and loyalty to His parents now came from His obedience and allegiance to God. 

He had started down a path that would take Him to the final destination of His earthly life; calvary and beyond.