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Bible Notes - Tabernacle Commentaries
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Luke 2:41
Comments
His parents – they are called his parents in Scripture, even though Joseph was only his legal father – made the journey from Nazareth to Jerusalem every year to the feast of Passover, which was, depending on the way you travelled, a journey of seventy to ninety miles. The Spirit has given us this single insight into the youth of Christ and chosen to view him at an age when he was old enough to interact intelligently with the adult teachers in the temple. This incident shows us that from the earliest times his great love was for his heavenly Father and his word. Possibly this was the first time they had taken Jesus to the feast – it is not clear at what age a child was normally taken for the first time. But the statement is quite strong that they went up every year, both of them, and why then would they not have carried him with them when he was a young child?
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Every man was commanded to appear before the Lord three times and year, and passover was one such occasion (Exodus 23:15-17; Deuteronomy 16:16). Hendriksen says, ‘The dispersion of the Jews made it impossible for them to comply literally with this commandment. And even after the return of the remnant to the land of the fathers, it was still very difficult for many who lived a long distance away from Jerusalem to go there three times a year. Therefore it became the custom of many to attend once a year. In the case of Joseph and Mary, as well as many others, the feast selected was the Passover.’
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