Luke 2:46

And 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 asking them questions. AND IT CAME TO PASS, THAT AFTER THREE DAYS THEY FOUND HIM IN THE TEMPLE. Do you inquire how he subsisted all this time? I do not. This is one of those impertinences which we should avoid indulging. The spurious gospels, we daresay, would tell their readers all that: how everybody vied with his neighbour who should have Him to keep, and how angels came and fed Him with nectar, or how He needed neither food nor sleep, and so on. But where God has dropt the veil, let us not seek to raise it. Well, they found Him. Where? Not gazing on the architecture of the sacred metropolis, or studying its forms of busy life, but "in the temple" - not of course in the "sanctuary" [ too (G3588)...

46._Sitting in the midst of the doctors _Rays of divine brightness must have evidently shone in this child: otherwise those haughty men would not have permitted him to sit along with them. Though it is probable that he occupied a lower seat, and not the rank of the doctors, yet such disdainful men would not have condescended to give him an audience in a public assembly, if some divine power had not constrained them. This was a sort of prelude to his public calling, the full time of which had not yet arrived. In this way, however, he intended to give nothing more than a taste, which would immediately have faded from the recollection of men, had not Mary _kept _it for us _laid up in her heart, _(Luke 2:19,) to bring it out afterwards, along with other treasures, for the use of all the godly....

41-52 It is for the honour of Christ that children should attend on public worship. His parents did not return till they had stayed all the seven days of the feast. It is well to stay to the end of an ordinance, as becomes those who say, It is good to be here. Those that have lost their comforts in Christ, and the evidences of their having a part in him, must bethink themselves where, and when, and how they lost them, and must turn back again. Those that would recover their lost acquaintance with Christ, must go to the place in which he has put his name; there they may hope to meet him. They found him in some part of the temple, where the doctors of the law kept their schools; he was sitting there, hearkening to their instructions, proposing questions, and answering inquiries, with such wisdom, that those who heard were delighted with him. Young persons should seek the knowledge of Divi...

Verse 46. _SITTING IN THE MIDST OF THE DOCTORS_] The rabbins, who were explaining the law and the ceremonies of the Jewish religion to their disciples. _ASKING THEM QUESTIONS._] Not as a _scholar_ asks his teacher, to be _informed_; but as a _teacher_, who _proposes_ questions to his scholars in order to take an occasion to _instruct_ them. In the time of Josephus, the Jewish teachers were either very _ignorant_ or very _humble_: for he tells us that, "when he was about fourteen years of age, the chief priests, and the principal men of the city, were constantly coming to _him_ to be more accurately instructed in matters relative to the law." See his Life, sect. ii. If this were true, it is no wonder to find them now listening, with the deepest attention, to such teaching as they never before heard....

AFTER THREE DAYS - This means, probably, “on the third day” after they had left Jerusalem - that is, the first day they went toward Galilee, on the second they returned to Jerusalem, and on the third they found him. Compare Matthew 27:63; Mark 8:31. IN THE TEMPLE - In the “court” of the temple, for Jesus, not being a Levitical priest, could not enter into the temple itself. See Matthew 21:12. IN THE MIDST OF THE DOCTORS - The “teachers,” the “rabbis,” who were the instructors of the people in matters of religion. ASKING THEM QUESTIONS - Proposing questions to them re

EXPOSITION LUKE 2:1 _The Redeemer's birth_. LUKE 2:1 THERE WENT OUT A DECREE FROM CAESAR AUGUSTUS, THAT ALL THE WORLD SHOULD BE TAXED; more accurately, _that there should be a registration_, etc.; that is, with a view to the assessment of a tax. On the historical note of St. Luke in this passage much discussion has arisen, not, however, of much real practical interest to the ordinary devout reader. We will glance very briefly at the main criticism of this and the following verse. Respecting this general registration it is alleged (1) no historian of the time mentions such a decree of Augustus. (2) Supposing Augustus had issued such an edict, Herod, in his kingdom of Judaea, would

AND IT CAME TO PASS, THAT AFTER THREE DAYS,.... From their first setting out from Jerusalem, when Jesus tarried behind; or on the third day, which may be reckoned thus; the first day was spent in journeying, and the second in coming back the same journey, and the third day they sought all Jerusalem for him, when THEY FOUND HIM IN THE TEMPLE; his Father's house, the house of God, a figure of a Gospel church, where the word and ordinances are duly administered, and where Christ is to be found. What part of the temple Christ was in, is not easy to say; it was not in the holy of holies, for none but the high priest went into that, and that only on the day of atonement; nor in the court of the priests, for he was not among them, but the doctors; nor in the court of the Israelites, where the common people worshipped: it may be best judged of, by observing where their several consistories, or...

CHAPTER 2 _ 1. The Birth of Christ at Bethlehem (Luke 2:1)_ 2. The Glad Tidings Announced to the Shepherds. (Luke 2:8) 3. The Circumcision and Presentation (Luke 2:21) 4. Simeon and His Prophecy (Luke 2:25) 5. Anna the Prophetess (Luke 2:36) 6. In Nazareth (Luke 2:39) 7. In the Temple (Luke 2:41) 8. The Increase ...

AN INCIDENT IN JESUS-' BOYHOOD. The lad grows in body and mind and is blessed by God. When He is twelve years old He accompanies His parents to the Passover at Jerusalem, and when the week's Feast is over, remains behind unknown to them. They return to seek Him, and after a long search find Him in one of the Temple porticos joining intelligently in the discussions of the scribes. He goes home and Uves obediently with them, and continues His allround development (_cf._ Luke 2:40, also Luke 1:80; 1 Samuel 2:26). LUKE 2:42. Like Samuel's parents, those of Jesus go to the central shrine once instead of three times ...

JOURNEY TO BETHLEHEM (Luke 2:1-7)...