‘The Boy Jesus at the Temple’ from Luke 2 v 41-52
The Feast of the Passover drew ever near,
And Mary and Joseph (who came every year)
Had come to Jerusalem with everyone,
And brought along Jesus, her twelve year old son.
The feasting was over; his parents returned,
And for the first day they were quite unconcerned.
They thought he was with them, for they had allowed
Him to go with his friends in the travelling crowd.
They didn’t know he had decided to stay
In Jerusalem city, whilst they walked away;
They searched among family, and his friends too,
But Jesus was missing - what should they do?
Back to Jerusalem both of them raced,
And searched for their boy with desperate haste.
But after three days of rushing around,
There in the temple they finally found
That Jesus was sat with the teachers and men,
Asking them questions and listening to them.
All those around were amazed at his speech,
His deep understanding, his power to teach.
His parents were shocked and they scolded him: ‘Son,
We’ve both been so anxious! What have you done?’
Jesus asked ‘Why were you searching for me?
Didn’t you realise where I would be?
I’ve been in the house of my Father’ - but they
Did not understand what the boy had to say.
Then Mary and Joseph and Jesus went down
The long winding road back to Nazareth town.
And so, Mary treasured these things in her heart,
And Jesus obeyed them; but right from the start
He knew that his Father was Lord God above,
And grew up in wisdom, so blessed with God’s love.
© Kerensa Stephens 2013