Now, at first glance,
this should seem quite unusual and a bit suspicious. Jesus was in the
midst of the teachers, listening and asking questions? This is difficult to believe. Children were not afforded respect in those
days. Yes, Jesus had reached the age at
which he could begin to sit at the feet of a teacher, but that would occur
based on relationships and an invitation.
It is unlikely that such was the case here. Yet here it is
reported that Jesus is not only sitting and listening to the teachers, which means
that He is intruding and out of place when it comes to His station, but that He
is even going so far as to ask them questions. Can this be true to
life? Is this believable? Even if a boy of the same age was there
at the feet of his teacher, one can be certain that no other twelve-year-olds
were allowed to ask questions in the Temple courts.
So why is this grace,
and this honor, extended to this particular child that has no particular honor
standing, and who does not even yet participate in the honor and shame culture
and competition (which is one the reasons to engage in listening and asking
questions)? One would have to presume that it is because He is of David’s
family line, and that this has been somehow made known to this group of men.
He is of Israel’s true royal lineage, and this in a day when the three kings of
Israel were considered to be nothing more than usurpers upon King David’s
throne.
Together with that,
because the Creator God’s messiah (Israel’s king and deliverer in the mold of
Moses, who led forth Israel from its exilic subjection to a foreign nation) is
called the Son of David, and because messianic expectations were running quite
high in that day, owing to what would have been popularly believed to be the
conclusion of the four hundred ninety years set forth in the book of Daniel, a
place among the teachers might very well be granted to a boy (on the cusp of
adulthood) that can make a legitimate claim of descent from King David.
Now, that’s not to say that Jesus would be automatically granted the floor, treated
with the utmost of honor and respect, and deferred to in the asking and
answering of questions, but that as long as He did not make Himself too much of
a nuisance, He would be tolerated.
When Jesus’ parents
found Him in the Temple courts, not only did they observe that He was asking
questions, but they were also able to see that He was able to interact with the
teachers. Luke writes, “And all who heard Jesus were astonished at His
understanding and His answers” (2:47). Remembering that Jesus was fully
human, it must be said that this is indeed quite remarkable for a
twelve-year-old. Now, it is one thing to be able to ask an intelligent
question. Many twelve year-olds are
capable of such things. It is quite
another thing altogether to be able to make informed inquiries based upon the
answers provided.
It is unlikely that
these teachers were actually asking Jesus questions in order to solicit His
opinions on the subjects under discussion, but rather, it is more likely that
His “answers” were along the lines of additional, probing questions.
Quite simply, a boy would not presume to instruct a group of teachers,
nor would a group of teachers in that day, regardless of how astonished they
might be at His instruction, sit and listen.
There is always honor at stake, and a child of that age is not going to
be allowed to accrue any of the limited good of honor to himself. It is
quite reasonable to think in this way, as it would be in the mold of what can
be seen throughout the records of Jesus’ ministry. While Jesus would
teach, quite often the teaching would be prompted by a question that has been
put to Him; or Jesus would receive a question, and in response, posit an
additional question, with all of these engagements occurring under the pretext
of honor challenges in the honor and shame culture and competition.
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