When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you." "Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" But they did not understand what he was saying to them. Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them.
-Luke 2:48-51

Teenagers do some pretty questionable things. I should know...I used to be one. They are idealistic, brilliant and full of wonder. At the very same time, they wander, aimlessly, within the no-man's-land that exists between child and adult; slaves to new and interesting hormones that dominate their mood and motivations. Indeed, at that age, independence is everything and nothing seems at all fair. The truth is, for many, the reality of just how unfair life could be comes much, much too soon for comfort.

In the above scripture, we read about a 12 year old who goes to a feast in a far away city with his parents and decides that he is going to covertly stay behind, while his parents walk back home. As it turns out, they walked for an entire day before they realized he was gone.

Can you imagine the sheer panic his mother must have felt? I mean, this was a long time ago...there were no Amber alerts to help find missing children. No, and as far as she was concerned, he could be anywhere. They looked all over. Finally, they resolved to return to where they had just come from. It took three days to find him! Three days! That's three days of torture; three days of wondering if he was dead or kidnapped or worse; three days of going back and forth between feeling rage and then desperation; three days of wishing this was all just a terrible dream.

Then, finally, they found him. He was in a church, talking to the teachers there. Notice, in the scripture, how he answers the question his mother asks: I can't help but wonder if there is a little sarcasm in that reply. Of course, many of you already know that the 12 year old boy in the scripture is Jesus. And yes, I know that many of you, right now, are putting up your dukes to defend Jesus' response. Simmer down.

I am putting forth the question: Is it possible that, on some level, in addition to being the Son of God, Jesus was also a regular 12 year old kid who really wanted to stay behind and do what he wanted, when he wanted? Sounds like a 12 year old boy to me. But I know some people who would say that Jesus was "testing" his parents in some way. Really?

It is interesting that the Bible mentions that he then left with them and was obedient to them. Of course he was obedient. His parents were, undoubtedly, very upset. Wouldn't you be? Son of God, or not...moms tend to freak when their babies go somewhere without saying anything or asking.

I wonder if Mary gave him an earful.