Introduce kids to the Savior of sinners. This is a series of audio podcasts for kids who want to meet with Jesus by using Meeting with Jesus: A Bible Reading Plan for Kids (RHB). Listen to previous episodes here.
Imagine you went camping with a lot of other families from your town. After a week or so, everyone packs up to return to your town. The kids are all mixed up: some are in their parents’ cars, some are in their friends’ cars, but they’re all heading to the same home town and everyone figures they’ll sort it out when they get back home.
But, when your family gets home, you’re not in anyone’s car. Your parents realize that you’re still at the campground many miles away. Understandably your parents are really worried and rush back to the campground and spend three days looking for you there. Imagine how they would feel for these three days. Probably by the end of it they would be sure you were dead or someone had taken you.
And what were you doing all this time? Probably swimming, playing volleyball, visiting the arcade, doing mini-golf, and so on. Eventually they find you playing spikeball with some new friends.
Something similar happened to Jesus. In Luke 2:41-46, we find him with a whole bunch of families that went up to Jerusalem for a religious holiday. They celebrated the Passover and then everyone got together to head home to Nazareth. But after three days of traveling, Joseph and Mary realized that Jesus wasn’t with them. He wasn’t with anyone. They rushed back to Jerusalem and after three days, they found him in in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions (Luke 2:46). What a relief for his parents. And what an unusual 12 year-old boy!
What does this tell us about Jesus?
JESUS LOVED THE CHURCH
- Eight days of Passover
- Three days in the Temple
JESUS LOVED PASTORS
- He wasn’t with his peers
- He sat among them
JESUS LOVED LEARNING
- He listened
- He questioned
JESUS LOVED HIS MISSION
- He hadn’t come to play with friends
- He came to save sinners
Let’s worship this 12-year-old boy and thank him for being so wonderfully unusual. And let’s be unusual kids too. Nothing wrong with playing, of course, but let’s remember it’s far more important to love the church, love our pastors, love learning, and love the mission God has given to us.
Listen to this episode on Living the Bible podcast. You can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and Spotify.