LUKE n. 41—62.
41 Now Mb parents went to Jem- lalem every year at the feast of the Passover.
42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.
43 And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem ; and Joseph and his mother knew not
of a.
44 But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.
45 And when they found him not, thev turned back ag^dn to Jerusalem, seeiing him.
46 ijid it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and ask-
ing them questions.
47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.
48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and nis mother said unto him. Son, whv hast thou thus dealt with us } behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.
49 And he said unto them. How is it that ye sought me } wist ye not that I must be about my Father' s business ?
50 And they understood not the sajdng which he spake unto them.
51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was sub- ject unto them : but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
Thbse verses should always be deeply interesting to a reader of the Bible. They record the only fact which we know about our Lord Jesus Christ during the first thirty years of His life on earth, after His infancy. How many things a Christian would like to know about the events of those thirty years, and the daily history of the house at Nazareth ! But we need not doubt that there is wisdom in the silence of Scripture on the subject. If it had been good for us to know more, more would have been revealed.
Let us, first, draw from the passage a lesson for all married people. We have it in the conduct of Joseph and Mary, here described. We are told that "they went to Jerusalem every year, at the feast of the passover." They regularly honoured God's appointed ordinances, and they honoured them together. The distance from Kazareth to Jerusalem was great. The journey, to poor