The Desire of Ages
by Ellen G. White
Chapter 8: The Passover Visit
This chapter is based on Luke 2:41-51.
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By one day's neglect Jesus' parents lost
the Saviour; but it cost them three days
of anxious search to find Him.
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Pacific Press Publ. Assoc. |
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Among the Jews the twelfth year was the dividing line
between childhood and youth. On completing this year a Hebrew boy was called a
son of the law, and also a son of God. He was given special opportunities for
religious instruction, and was expected to participate in the sacred feasts and
observances. It was in accordance with this custom that Jesus in His boyhood
made the Passover visit to Jerusalem. Like all devout Israelites, Joseph and
Mary went up every year to attend the Passover; and when Jesus had reached the
required age, they took Him with them. {DA 75.1}
There were three annual feasts, the Passover, the Pentecost,
and the Feast of Tabernacles, at which all the men of Israel were commanded to
appear before the Lord at Jerusalem. Of these feasts the Passover was the most
largely attended. Many were present from all countries where the Jews were
scattered. From every part of Palestine the worshipers came in great numbers.
The journey from Galilee occupied several days, and the travelers united in
large companies for companionship and protection. The women and aged men rode
upon oxen or asses over the steep [76] and rocky roads. The stronger men
and the youth journeyed on foot. The time of the Passover corresponded to the
close of March or the beginning of April, and the whole land was bright with
flowers, and glad with the song of birds. All along the way were spots
memorable in the history of Israel, and fathers and mothers recounted to their
children the wonders that God had wrought for His people in ages past. They
beguiled their journey with song and music, and when at last the towers of Jerusalem
came into view, every voice joined in the triumphant strain,—
"Our feet shall stand
Within thy gates, O Jerusalem. . . .
Peace be within thy walls,
And prosperity within thy palaces."
Psalm 122:2-7. {DA 75.2}
The observance of the Passover began with the birth of the
Hebrew nation. On the last night of their bondage in Egypt, when there appeared
[77]
no token of deliverance, God commanded them to prepare for an immediate
release. He had warned Pharaoh of the final judgment on the Egyptians, and He
directed the Hebrews to gather their families within their own dwellings.
Having sprinkled the doorposts with the blood of the slain lamb, they were to
eat the lamb, roasted, with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. "And thus
shall ye eat it," He said, "with your loins girded, your shoes on
your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the
Lord's passover." Exodus 12:11. At midnight all the first-born of the
Egyptians were slain. Then the king sent to Israel the message, "Rise up,
and get you forth from among my people; . . . and go, serve the Lord,
as ye have said." Exodus 12:31. The Hebrews went out from Egypt an independent
nation. The Lord had commanded that the Passover should be yearly kept.
"It shall come to pass," He said, "when your children shall say
unto you, What mean ye by this service? that ye shall say, It is the sacrifice
of the Lord's passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in
Egypt, when He smote the Egyptians." Thus from generation to generation
the story of this wonderful deliverance was to be repeated. {DA 76.1}
The Passover was followed by the seven days' feast of
unleavened bread. On the second day of the feast, the first fruits of the
year's harvest, a sheaf of barley, was presented before the Lord. All the
ceremonies of the feast were types of the work of Christ. The deliverance of
Israel from Egypt was an object lesson of redemption, which the Passover was
intended to keep in memory. The slain lamb, the unleavened bread, the sheaf of
first fruits, represented the Saviour. {DA 77.1}
With most of the people in the days of Christ, the
observance of this feast had degenerated into formalism. But what was its
significance to the Son of God! [78] {DA 77.2}
For the first time the child Jesus looked upon the temple.
He saw the white-robed priests performing their solemn ministry. He beheld the
bleeding victim upon the altar of sacrifice. With the worshipers He bowed in
prayer, while the cloud of incense ascended before God. He witnessed the
impressive rites of the paschal service. Day by day He saw their meaning more
clearly. Every act seemed to be bound up with His own life. New impulses were
awakening within Him. Silent and absorbed, He seemed to be studying out a great
problem. The mystery of His mission was opening to the Saviour. {DA 78.1}
Rapt in the contemplation of these scenes, He did not remain
beside His parents. He sought to be alone. When the paschal services were
ended, He still lingered in the temple courts; and when the worshipers departed
from Jerusalem, He was left behind. {DA 78.2}
In this visit to Jerusalem, the parents of Jesus wished to
bring Him in connection with the great teachers in Israel. While He was
obedient in every particular to the word of God, He did not conform to the
rabbinical rites and usages. Joseph and Mary hoped that He might be led to
reverence the learned rabbis, and give more diligent heed to their
requirements. But Jesus in the temple had been taught by God. That which He had
received, He began at once to impart. {DA 78.3}
At that day an apartment connected with the temple was
devoted to a sacred school, after the manner of the schools of the prophets.
Here leading rabbis with their pupils assembled, and hither the child Jesus
came. Seating Himself at the feet of these grave, learned men, He listened to
their instruction. As one seeking for wisdom, He questioned these teachers in
regard to the prophecies, and to events then taking place that pointed to the
advent of the Messiah. {DA
78.4}
Jesus presented Himself as one thirsting for a knowledge of
God. His questions were suggestive of deep truths which had long been obscured,
yet which were vital to the salvation of souls. While showing how narrow and
superficial was the wisdom of the wise men, every question put before them a
divine lesson, and placed truth in a new aspect. The rabbis spoke of the
wonderful elevation which the Messiah's coming would bring to the Jewish
nation; but Jesus presented the prophecy of Isaiah, and asked them the meaning
of those scriptures that point to the suffering and death of the Lamb of God. {DA 78.5}
The doctors turned upon Him with questions, and they were
amazed at His answers. With the humility of a child He repeated the words of [79]
Scripture, giving them a depth of meaning that the wise men had not conceived
of. If followed, the lines of truth He pointed out would have worked a
reformation in the religion of the day. A deep interest in spiritual things
would have been awakened; and when Jesus began His ministry, many would have
been prepared to receive Him. [80] {DA 78.6}
The rabbis knew that Jesus had not been instructed in their
schools; yet His understanding of the prophecies far exceeded theirs. In this
thoughtful Galilean boy they discerned great promise. They desired to gain Him
as a student, that He might become a teacher in Israel. They wanted to have
charge of His education, feeling that a mind so original must be brought under
their molding. {DA 80.1}
The words of Jesus had moved their hearts as they had never
before been moved by words from human lips. God was seeking to give light to
those leaders in Israel, and He used the only means by which they could be
reached. In their pride they would have scorned to admit that they could
receive instruction from anyone. If Jesus had appeared to be trying to teach
them, they would have disdained to listen. But they flattered themselves that
they were teaching Him, or at least testing His knowledge of the Scriptures.
The youthful modesty and grace of Jesus disarmed their prejudices.
Unconsciously their minds were opened to the word of God, and the Holy Spirit
spoke to their hearts. {DA
80.2}
They could not but see that their expectation in regard to
the Messiah was not sustained by prophecy; but they would not renounce the
theories that had flattered their ambition. They would not admit that they had
misapprehended the Scriptures they claimed to teach. From one to another passed
the inquiry, How hath this youth knowledge, having never learned? The light was
shining in darkness; but "the darkness apprehended it not." John 1:5,
R. V. {DA 80.3}
Meanwhile Joseph and Mary were in great perplexity and
distress. In the departure from Jerusalem they had lost sight of Jesus, and
they knew not that He had tarried behind. The country was then densely
populated, and the caravans from Galilee were very large. There was much
confusion as they left the city. On the way the pleasure of traveling with
friends and acquaintances absorbed their attention, and they did not notice His
absence till night came on. Then as they halted for rest, they missed the
helpful hand of their child. Supposing Him to be with their company, they had
felt no anxiety. Young as He was, they had trusted Him implicitly, expecting
that when needed, He would be ready to assist them, anticipating their wants as
He had always done. But now their fears were roused. They searched for Him
throughout their company, but in vain. Shuddering they remembered how Herod had
tried to destroy Him in His infancy. Dark forebodings filled their hearts. They
bitterly reproached themselves. [81] {DA 80.4}
Returning to Jerusalem, they pursued their search. The next
day, as they mingled with the worshipers in the temple, a familiar voice
arrested their attention. They could not mistake it; no other voice was like
His, so serious and earnest, yet so full of melody. {DA 81.1}
In the school of the rabbis they found Jesus. Rejoiced as
they were, they could not forget their grief and anxiety. When He was with them
again, the mother said, in words that implied reproof, "Son, why hast Thou
thus dealt with us? Behold, Thy father and I have sought Thee sorrowing." {DA 81.2}
"How is it that ye sought Me?" answered Jesus.
"Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?" And as they
seemed not to understand His words, He pointed upward. On His face was a light
at which they wondered. Divinity was flashing through humanity. On finding Him
in the temple, they had listened to what was passing between Him and the
rabbis, and they were astonished at His questions and answers. His words
started a train of thought that would never be forgotten. {DA 81.3}
And His question to them had a lesson. "Wist ye
not," He said, "that I must be about My Father's business?"
Jesus was engaged in the work that He had come into the world to do; but Joseph
and Mary had neglected theirs. God had shown them high honor in committing to them
His Son. Holy angels had directed the course of Joseph in order to preserve the
life of Jesus. But for an entire day they had lost sight of Him whom they
should not have forgotten for a moment. And when their anxiety was relieved,
they had not censured themselves, but had cast the blame upon Him. {DA 81.4}
It was natural for the parents of Jesus to look upon Him as
their own child. He was daily with them, His life in many respects was like
that of other children, and it was difficult for them to realize that He was
the Son of God. They were in danger of failing to appreciate the blessing
granted them in the presence of the world's Redeemer. The grief of their
separation from Him, and the gentle reproof which His words conveyed, were
designed to impress them with the sacredness of their trust. {DA 81.5}
In the answer to His mother, Jesus showed for the first time
that He understood His relation to God. Before His birth the angel had said to
Mary, "He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and
the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His [82] father
David: and He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever." Luke 1:32, 33.
These words Mary had pondered in her heart; yet while she believed that her
child was to be Israel's Messiah, she did not comprehend His mission. Now she
did not understand His words; but she knew that He had disclaimed kinship to
Joseph, and had declared His Sonship to God. {DA 81.6}
Jesus did not ignore His relation to His earthly parents.
From Jerusalem He returned home with them, and aided them in their life of
toil. He hid in His own heart the mystery of His mission, waiting submissively
for the appointed time for Him to enter upon His work. For eighteen years after
He had recognized that He was the Son of God, He acknowledged the tie that
bound Him to the home at Nazareth, and performed the duties of a son, a
brother, a friend, and a citizen. {DA 82.1}
As His mission had opened to Jesus in the temple, He shrank
from contact with the multitude. He wished to return from Jerusalem in quietness,
with those who knew the secret of His life. By the paschal service, God was
seeking to call His people away from their worldly cares, and to remind them of
His wonderful work in their deliverance from Egypt. In this work He desired
them to see a promise of deliverance from sin. As the blood of the slain lamb
sheltered the homes of Israel, so the blood of Christ was to save their souls;
but they could be saved through Christ only as by faith they should make His
life their own. There was virtue in the symbolic service only as it directed
the worshipers to Christ as their personal Saviour. God desired that they
should be led to prayerful study and meditation in regard to Christ's mission.
But as the multitudes left Jerusalem, the excitement of travel and social
intercourse too often absorbed their attention, and the service they had
witnessed was forgotten. The Saviour was not attracted to their company. {DA 82.2}
As Joseph and Mary should return from Jerusalem alone with
Jesus, He hoped to direct their minds to the prophecies of the suffering
Saviour. Upon Calvary He sought to lighten His mother's grief. He was thinking
of her now. Mary was to witness His last agony, and Jesus desired her to
understand His mission, that she might be strengthened to endure, when the
sword should pierce through her soul. As Jesus had been separated from her, and
she had sought Him sorrowing three days, so when He should be offered up for
the sins of the world, He would again be lost to her for three days. And as He
should come forth from the tomb, her sorrow would again be turned to joy. But
how much better [83] she could have borne the anguish
of His death if she had understood the Scriptures to which He was now trying to
turn her thoughts! {DA
82.3}
If Joseph and Mary had stayed their minds upon God by
meditation and prayer, they would have realized the sacredness of their trust,
and would not have lost sight of Jesus. By one day's neglect they lost the
Saviour; but it cost them three days of anxious search to find Him. So with us;
by idle talk, evilspeaking, or neglect of prayer, we may in one day lose the
Saviour's presence, and it may take many days of sorrowful search to find Him,
and regain the peace that we have lost. {DA 83.1}
In our association with one another, we should take heed
lest we forget Jesus, and pass along unmindful that He is not with us. When we
become absorbed in worldly things so that we have no thought for Him in whom
our hope of eternal life is centered, we separate ourselves from Jesus and from
the heavenly angels. These holy beings cannot remain where the Saviour's
presence is not desired, and His absence is not marked. This is why
discouragement so often exists among the professed followers of Christ. {DA 83.2}
Many attend religious services, and are refreshed and
comforted by the word of God; but through neglect of meditation, watchfulness,
and prayer, they lose the blessing, and find themselves more destitute than
before they received it. Often they feel that God has dealt hardly with them. They
do not see that the fault is their own. By separating themselves from Jesus,
they have shut away the light of His presence. {DA 83.3}
It would be well for us to spend a thoughtful hour each day
in contemplation of the life of Christ. We should take it point by point, and
let the imagination grasp each scene, especially the closing ones. As we thus
dwell upon His great sacrifice for us, our confidence in Him will be more
constant, our love will be quickened, and we shall be more deeply imbued with
His spirit. If we would be saved at last, we must learn the lesson of penitence
and humiliation at the foot of the cross. {DA 83.4}
As we associate together, we may be a blessing to one
another. If we are Christ's, our sweetest thoughts will be of Him. We shall love
to talk of Him; and as we speak to one another of His love, our hearts will be
softened by divine influences. Beholding the beauty of His character, we shall
be "changed into the same image from glory to glory." 2 Corinthians
3:18. {DA 83.5}
Click here to read the next chapter:
"Days of Conflict"
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