Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. Luke 2:47

Do you know a young person who seems to know everything? Well at 12 years old Jesus did seem to know everything when he was debating with the Jewish religious leaders in the temple. He asked them questions they had not head before from any student. They could only wonder ‘how can this be?’.

As a child Jesus grew up in Galilee, in his hometown of Nazareth with his parents Joseph and Mary. Galilee had many towns and communities where Jews had built their lives around God’s laws as given to Moses. Jesus learned how to live and be faithful in these communities. Jesus was without sin and could certainly learn and sense deeply God’s purposes perceptively, but his childhood community who lived faithfully before God was his school.

The 12 year old boy Jesus, speaking with the religious leaders was a boy who grew up in a community of faithful believers where values were not just preached but lived, where faith and truths were passed along to the next generation. What a wonderful reminder for each of us. Let us follow in these footsteps.