Who is Jesus? That might seem like a simple and straightforward Gospel question, but it’s an important one to address frequently with kids. This lesson focuses on the story of Jesus in the temple as a 12-year-old boy. The story reminds us that Jesus was aware of His identity as the Son of God, but also obeyed His parents and was responsible to them as a human. He had an earthly and heavenly family. It is important for us to know that He was fully God and fully man, able to suffer on our behalf and take away our sins.
The amazing message of the Gospel is that God became man and lived among us. He knows what it’s like to be in our shoes, and because He lived without sin, He can take our guilt away! This story reminds us that Jesus was fully human and fully God. He understood, even in childhood, His connection to the Father; yet He also obeyed His parents and grew physically and spiritually.
Sunday School Lesson on Luke 2 for Children: The Young Boy Jesus was Missing
Passage: Luke 2:41-52
Target Audience: Kindergarten-6th grade
Materials Needed: Construction paper; glue; markers or crayons; tape; scissors; decorative supplies; yarn/string; empty clear bottles; dry rice or beans, jewels or rocks; magazines or pictures; family pictures; Bibles.
Lesson Opening: This lesson focuses on the dual nature of Jesus as fully divine and fully human, demonstrated in the Luke 2 account of young Jesus in the temple. There is also an element of mistakenly “lost” things being recovered. To get thoughts started, use one of the following activities, or design some of your own.
- Hide and seek: since this story has to do with Mary and Joseph looking for Jesus, prepare students with a fun game of hide and seek, in or outside.
- Seek and find: provide students with a picture containing several “hidden” elements to hunt for. See how many they can find. For extra challenge, have students create their own seek and find pictures to share with friends.
- I spy: Continuing the theme of looking for items, play a fun round of “I spy” using objects around the room and a variety of clues.
- What’s missing? Have one student leave the room for a minute. Change one thing about the room or someone in the room, and see if the student can detect “what’s missing.”
- The house of the Lord: This story involves the Temple. Talk about what is special about your church and the people who work in it.
- Who’s in your family? Consider families and our roles in them. Discuss how we can be simultaneously sister and daughter or husband and father. Talk about how Jesus was still God and God was His true Father, although He did have Mary and Joseph as His earthly parents (a challenging concept to understand, even for adults!).
- Two at once: look at pictures or facts about things that seem to be “two at a time,” such as amphibians or water states. Of course, none of these analogies covers the fullness of the Trinity, but can be used to appreciate the dual nature of Christ.
Explain to students that the focus passage here features a story from the childhood of Jesus, and shows us how Jesus was devoted to His earthly family as well as His Heavenly Father.
Bible Lesson:
This passage is one that could potentially be acted out with script, puppets, or mimed action. You might have older students read or dramatize the parts, or you could read a few verses at a time and pause to discuss. You might also wish to simply read or paraphrase for younger students. Begin by explaining how we don’t know a lot about the childhood of Jesus, but there is one event we read about in the Bible.
Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. -Luke 2:41-42
Explain (or remind students) that Jesus was truly God, and still fully a human. This is a story that reminds us of that. Jesus had gone with Mary and Joseph to Jerusalem, where the temple was. Every year they’d go for a special celebration, but the church was not just right down the road. They actually had to travel quite a ways to get there, and they went with other families, too, moving as a large group for safety and company.
Bible Lesson: (Luke 2) Sunday School Lesson for Kids Explained for Children “Jesus as a Young Boy”
Ask: Have you ever been to a family reunion or place where there were a lot of people? What kinds of things do you celebrate each year?
And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, 45 and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. -Luke 2:43-45
It is well worth noting that Joseph and Mary were not neglectful as parents. They didn’t lose Jesus or accidentally leave Him behind. There were a lot of people in the group, and it was easy to not at first recognize He wasn’t with them. As soon as they realized Jesus wasn’t close, they were worried. Jesus was still relatively young, and they knew they had to find Him.
Ask: Have you ever gotten lost, or lost something that was important to you? How did it feel? What did you do to find what you needed?
Go on to describe how Jesus had not really been missing at all. He was right where He should be, though Mary and Joseph didn’t understand that. As human parents, they looked for Him for days, until they found Him in the temple, right where they left Him!
After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” -Luke 2:46-48
Jesus had been sitting in the temple, discussing things with the church leaders. He impressed them with how much He knew. It would be like a middle school student discussing neurology with a brain surgeon. Of course, we can see how Jesus knew so much, but the priests didn’t know who He was, and even His parents were surprised. Mary and Joseph didn’t fully understand what was happening. They knew Jesus was God, but still couldn’t completely grasp what was going on. They thought Jesus was missing. Did you know we do this sometimes, too? We think that the Lord is hiding from us, when His presence is always there. We just have to recognize and remember what we know about God’s precious promises!
Ask: How can we remember that Jesus is with us always? How can we trust when we don’t understand what God is doing?
And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”50 And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.
52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. -Luke 2:49-52
At the end of this story, we see how Jesus, even at a young age, knew who and Whose He was. He realized His connection with God the Father. At the same time, He knew He needed to obey His earthly parents and submit to their wishes. Jesus continued to grow physically and spiritually. He was a son to Mary and Joseph, and as He grew He helped care for His family.
We can rejoice that Jesus was fully God and fully man, and as such was able to die in our place. We also see that Jesus submitted to His role as a human. If He, being God, was able to abide by the wishes of His parents, we can listen to our moms and dads, too!
Close with prayer, thanking God for sending Jesus to rescue us. Ask for help in obeying parents and God, and growing in wisdom and stature like Jesus.