"Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and
man."--_Luke 2:52._
WHEN Herod died, Joseph brought our blessed Lord and His mother back
from Egypt, and went to live at Nazareth. We do not know any more about
Him till He was twelve years old, and then He went up with Joseph
and His mother to Jerusalem to keep the Feast of the Passover. That
great feast the Jews always kept in remembrance of the night when God
delivered them out of their troubles in Egypt.
[Illustration: KILLING THE MALE CHILDREN UNDER TWO YEARS OLD.--Matt.
2:16.]
When the time came for going home, the blessed Mary and Joseph could
not find the Child Jesus. They thought at first that He was among the
other boys of the company who had come up from Nazareth, and they
went on a day's journey; but when He did not come back to them in the
evening, they turned back to Jerusalem to seek Him. They looked for Him
during three days all round the city, and found Him at last in the
Temple, among the boys who came to be taught by the learned men there.
Everybody who listened was astonished at His understanding and His
answers; but when His mother came to call Him, He went home with her
directly; and He obeyed her and Joseph in everything, and helped and
worked for them, though He was really their God and King.
[Illustration: JESUS TEACHING IN THE TEMPLE.--Luke 2:46, 47.]
That was to teach us all how good children should behave at home to
their fathers and mothers, for Joseph was like a father to Him, though
His real Father is God. And as He grew older He lived on with them, and
worked as a carpenter with them till He was thirty years old. So, you
see, He knows just what it is to be one of us, and a poor hard-working
man. For God from heaven came to be one of us men, and just like us.