The King Nobody Wanted | Page 9

well respected, but they
did not have any official position, like the Sadducees. All they did was
study the Law and tell other people about it. The Pharisee whom the
visitors were watching began to pray so that everyone could see him. It
seemed as if he were saying, "O Lord, I thank thee that I am better than
these other people here!"

Most of the great throng crowding the Temple were not priests, or
Sadducees, or Pharisees. They were plain people who had come to
bring their sacrifices, or to talk about the Scriptures, or simply to be in
the Temple because they loved God's house.
Nobody was paying much attention to Jesus. He was just a young boy,
lost in the crowd.
* * * * *
The days went by, and the lambs were killed and eaten. The prayers
were said and the hymns were sung. It was all over at last, and the time
had come to go home.
Joseph and Mary did not see Jesus the morning they all were supposed
to leave. They did not wait to find him, for the other travelers from
Nazareth were anxious to get started on the long journey back to
Galilee.
Joseph and Mary said to each other:
"Jesus is safe enough. There are so many of us from Nazareth that he
can't get lost. No doubt he is somewhere in the party."
The Nazareth people said good-by to the Temple for another year, and
started off for home. Out through the city gates they went, and back
into the desert through which they had come. They walked a whole day,
and still Joseph and Mary saw no sign of Jesus. This was beginning to
seem strange. Surely they would see him somewhere!
At last it dawned upon them. He wasn't there at all!
They were frightened now. What could have happened to Jesus? What
would become of him in Jerusalem? There was nothing to do but to
leave the party, and turn back alone to the city. But Jerusalem was a big
place, and they hardly knew where to hunt for Jesus. How would they
ever find one boy among all those thousands of people?

[Illustration]
They went to the Temple. But even if he were here, it would not be
easy to find him quickly. Walking through one of the courts, they
noticed a group of people gathered around a rabbi. There was nothing
unusual about that. There were a great many teachers in the Temple,
and a visitor often saw groups gathered around them to listen to their
teaching.
But there was something different about this group. Most of the men in
it were Pharisees who were themselves rabbis. And the strange thing
was that they were not doing all the talking as they usually did. They
were listening too. And they were not listening to a rabbi, but to the
voice of a boy.
Joseph and Mary moved closer. There could be no mistake about it--it
was Jesus who was talking! He was asking questions; he was
answering questions. The long-bearded rabbis were standing there,
their mouths open in astonishment. Jesus was not just a boy in the
crowd any longer. Men old enough to be his grand-father were listening
to what he had to say.
Mary's surprise turned to anger. She pushed her way through the crowd
and took Jesus by the arm.
"Why did you do this?" she cried. "Your father and I have been looking
for you everywhere."
Jesus stood just where he was. It was as though he belonged there. He
said:
"Why did you come to look for me? Don't you know that I must be
looking after my Father's business?"
Joseph and Mary stood there too, not knowing what to make of their
boy or of what he said.
They waited to see what he would do.

And then, in a minute, Jesus turned and went with them. They did not
have to ask him again. The three of them went home to Nazareth.
Jesus knew that someday he would go back to the Temple. But he was
not ready for that yet. He must do his duty to his parents. He must obey
God at home. Then he would always know how to obey God in the
wide world beyond Nazareth.
The lambs went quietly to the Temple when they were taken there to be
offered to the God of Israel. Jesus must be obedient like a Lamb of
God.

4. Jesus Goes to Work
[Illustration]
When Jesus was thirty years old, people began to talk about the great
man who had come to Palestine.
"This man is so great," they said, "that he may be the Messiah."
But it was not Jesus they were talking about. It was