A GOD YET A BOY

 

Elder Bruce R. McConkie has said that “the Gospels are not biographies of Jesus; they are a collection of faith-promoting accounts from the Saviour’s ministry that, if believed, will induce receptive souls to come unto Christ and partake of His goodness” (The Mortal Messiah Book 1, 371).

The story of the boy Jesus attending the Passover in Jerusalem when twelve years of age would have to be proof of that truth. This is the first and only event of His childhood recorded in holy writ; it would have to be counted as an event of His ministry when we consider Him teaching the doctors of the law in the temple (JST Luke 2:46); and it was the first noted declaration of His Sonship when He told Joseph and Mary that He was about His ‘Father’s business’ (Luke 2:49).

President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., the greatest LDS scholar pertaining to the life of Jesus, wrote a small booklet detailing Jesus’ Passover trip to Jerusalem, titled “Wist Ye Not That I Must Be About My Father’s Business”.

In his booklet, President Clark describes in great detail the sacrifices in the temple; of the slaying of the Paschal lamb; of the eating of the Passover meal; of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and of Jesus’ participation in the sacrificial and festive setting of the Passover, probably for the first time in His life.

At twelve years of age, Jesus was legally ‘a son of the law’ and attending the temple at Passover could very well have been His first time to do so as a rite of passage. If so, He could have had His biggest awakening as to His greatness and true identity as He witnessed for the first time the rites and performances of sacrifices and feasts in similitude of the sacrifice of the Lamb of God that He was.

Imagine how dazzled a youth of twelve would be coming to a crowded Jerusalem with throngs of men bearing their pascal lambs on their shoulders for temple sacrifice. We can only imagine what thoughts would have sailed through His mind as He saw the sacrifices performed. He knew who He was, no doubt due to the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost who whispered such truths to Him, but did He understand what that really meant at such a tender age?

In the words of President Clark: “Did the Youth see and know, on this pre-anniversary of a day yet to come, the grief He was to suffer, the spiritual and physical agony He was to endure, the death that was to come to Him, as He was sacrificed as the Lamb of God?”

If such a vision came into the mind of any twelve-year old, it would be a nightmare that would drive the fear into him forever. The Youth Jesus did not shirk from such an awakening. Not at twelve years of age, not at thirty-three.

With the knowledge of His divine destiny, ‘the son of the law’ who could now be legally heard, advanced in confidence to converse with the doctors of the law within the courts of the temple, who ‘were hearing Him and asking Him questions’ (JST Luke 2:46)…..because ‘He could not be taught, for He needed not that any man should teach him’ (JST Matthew 3:25).

For three days Jesus remained in the Temple alone, bearing witness of His Father “making some of the most profound declarations ever to fall from mortal lips” (Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah Book 1, p 378). 

Perhaps because now more than ever He knew He was the Lamb of God.

 

Did You see me Father

Giving glory to Thy name?

My words of Thee

Flowing from my tongue

Like a holy flame.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN

(Art: Return From The Temple by Rose Datoc Dal)