The twelve year old Jesus in the temple
The twelve year old Jesus in the temple is an event from the life of Jesus Christ , described in the Gospel of Luke ( Lk 2,41ff EU ). It is the only incident from his youth that is recorded in the four canonical Gospels . In other languages it is called The Lost of Jesus in the Temple , The Finding of Jesus in the Temple, or Jesus among the scribes .
Gospel of Luke
Twelve-year-old Jesus makes a pilgrimage with his parents to the Passover festival from Nazareth in Jerusalem. After the festive season, his parents and their group of pilgrims head home again. But Jesus stays behind in Jerusalem without his parents noticing, since they suspect him to be somewhere in the pilgrimage group. Only miss it after a day's trip and look for it. After three days, they finally find Jesus in the temple, where he sits among the scribes, listens to them, asks questions and amazes everyone with his understanding.
When his mother asked, “Child, how could you do this to us? Your father and I looked for you with fear! "Replies Jesus:" Why did you look for me? Didn't you know that I have to be in what belongs to my father? "
Theological meaning
Theologically, Jesus' word to his parents touches on the question of the significance of the Jerusalem temple for Christianity and of the continuity and discontinuity of Judaism and Christianity. The fact that the twelve-year-old is relieved of parental ties with the appeal to his divine Father is also a topic for religious psychology .
Liturgical meaning
In the liturgy , the appearance of the twelve-year-old Jesus in the temple is assigned to the Christmas season . It is the gospel on the feast of the Holy Family in reading year C of the reading order of the Roman Catholic Church and the gospel on the 2nd Sunday after the feast of Christ according to the evangelical pericope order .
In the popular piety of the Catholic Church, the pericope is also significant in connection with the veneration of Mary :
- The loss of the twelve-year-old Jesus is one of the Seven Sorrows of Mary , which is commemorated on September 15th of the church year .
- In the joyous rosary , this incident represents the fifth mystery: Jesus, whom you, virgin, found again in the temple .
Artistic reception
There are numerous representations of the finding in the temple in art, for example:
- Twelve year old Jesus in the temple ( Meister von Großgmain ), altarpiece from 1499, parish church Großgmain
- Twelve year old Jesus in the temple (Bernhard Strigel) , picture from the 16th century
- Twelve-year-old Jesus in the temple (Januarius Zick) , ceiling fresco from 1784, parish church St. Verena (Rot an der Rot)
