Bible Lesson 6

Jesús en el Templo – Jesus in the Temple

What an intriguing scene this must have been! It leaves us wondering all kinds of things:

Did Jesus just know all that Bible stuff “automatically” or did He have to study and memorize like us?
What kinds of questions was He asking, that He amazed the teachers of the law so much?
How did a perfect Person “grow in wisdom?”
Did Jesus have discussions like that at home, with his siblings and parents?
How would it feel, as Mary or Joseph, to feel like you’ve just gone and lost the Messiah?!

How to Use This Page:

1. Listen to the audio as you read along with the Spanish on the left.

2. Open the English translation, and read the two side-by-side, making sure you understand the Spanish.

3. Close the English, and listen to the audio again, reading along in Spanish.

4. Close the Spanish, and listen once more. Maybe shut your eyes, and just try to catch as much as you can.

El niño crecía y se fortalecía; progresaba en sabiduría, y la gracia de Dios lo acompañaba.

Los padres de Jesús subían todos los años a Jerusalén para la fiesta de la Pascua. Cuando cumplió doce años, fueron allá según era la costumbre. Terminada la fiesta, emprendieron el viaje de regreso, pero el niño Jesús se había quedado en Jerusalén, sin que sus padres se dieran cuenta. Ellos, pensando que él estaba entre el grupo de viajeros, hicieron un día de camino mientras lo buscaban entre los parientes y conocidos.

Al no encontrarlo, volvieron a Jerusalén en busca de él. Al cabo de tres días lo encontraron en el templo, sentado entre los maestros, escuchándolos y haciéndoles preguntas. Todos los que le oían se asombraban de su inteligencia y de sus respuestas. Cuando lo vieron sus padres, se quedaron admirados.

—Hijo, ¿por qué te has portado así con nosotros? —le dijo su madre—. ¡Mira que tu padre y yo te hemos estado buscando angustiados!

—¿Por qué me buscaban? ¿No sabían que tengo que estar en la casa de mi Padre?

Pero ellos no entendieron lo que les decía.

Así que Jesús bajó con sus padres a Nazaret y vivió sujeto a ellos. Pero su madre conservaba todas estas cosas en el corazón. Jesús siguió creciendo en sabiduría y estatura, y cada vez más gozaba del favor de Dios y de toda la gente.

The child grew and strengthened; He progressed in wisdom, and the grace of God accompanied Him.

The parents of Jesus went up every year to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. When He turned twelve, they went there according to the custom. The feast finishes, they began the return trip, but the child Jesus had remained in Jerusalem, without his parents noticing. They, thinking that He was among the group of travelers, make a day of journey while they sought Him among the relatives and acquaintances.

When they didn’t find Him, they returned to Jerusalem in search of Him. At the end of three days they found Him in the temple, seated among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. All those that heard Him were amazed at his intelligence and his answers. When his parents saw Him, they were astonished.

“Son, why have you behaved thus with us?” his mother said to Him. “See that your father and I have been looking for you three days in anguish!”

“Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I have to be in the house of my Father?”

But they didn’t understand what He was saying to them.

So Jesus went down with His parents to Nazareth and lived submitted to them. But His mother kept all these things in her heart. Jesus continued growing in wisdom and stature, and more and more enjoyed the favor of God and all the people.

c. 1881, by Heinrich Hofmann, a German painter. He is best known for his paintings from the life of Jesus

Christ among the Doctors, by Albrecht Dürer, 1506.