What does the passage Luke 2 41-43 describe?

Answer 1

The passage describes how the significance of the Passover would be uppermost in the hearts and thoughts of Jesus' parents who, we are told, "were accustomed to go from year to year to Jerusalem for the festival of the passover." And according to Jewish custom, their son Jesus would be with them.

When Jesus was younger, he doubtless stayed close to his parents during these annual trips to the big city of Jerusalem. However, as he got older he may have been given more latitude. When he was 12, he was about the age that the Jews view as an important milestone in the path toward manhood. Perhaps because of this normal and natural change, an oversight occurred when the time came for Joseph's family to leave Jerusalem and return home. The account reads: "But when they were returning, the boy Jesus remained behind in Jerusalem, and his parents did not notice it. (Luke 2:43) Jesus was perfect. Since he was obediently subject to Joseph and Mary, we cannot imagine that he failed to obey some arrangement that they made with him. (Luke 2:52) It is far more likely that there was a breakdown in communication. The parents assumed that Jesus was in the company of relatives and acquaintances. (Luke 2:44) It is easy to imagine that, in the bustle of leaving Jerusalem, they would give their first attention to their younger children and assume that their eldest son, Jesus, was coming along too.