Origen · a new plain-English translation from the Greek and Latin
My Lord Jesus was born, and his parents went up to Jerusalem to fulfill what had been commanded in the law, and to offer for him “a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.” Simeon held him in his arms, as was read a while ago, and prophesied about him, as the narrative recounts. And after everything had been completed according to custom, the parents returned. In what
year was Jesus then living? Indeed he was still quite small, and yet he “grew and was strengthened and was filled” also with grace; he had not yet completed the forty days of purification, had not yet come to Nazareth, and already he was receiving all wisdom. Scripture could have said: “he grew and was strengthened, and received the Spirit”; but because he had “emptied himself,” taking the “form of a servant,”
as soon as the sacrifice was offered for his purification, he fulfilled again what he had emptied himself of — not that his body had immediately become larger, but that it might be shown to be all the more sacred — scripture reporting: “but the child grew and was strengthened and was filled…”. Let us ask whether it is written anywhere else of a child,
“he grew and was strengthened,” so that by comparing many instances we may be able to understand what more is said of our Lord. We read of John: “but the child grew and…”, and yet it is not added: “and was filled,” but rather: “was strengthened in spirit.” But here of the Lord it says: “he grew,” and “was strengthened”
“and was filled with wisdom, God's grace resting upon him.” All this is said of the child before he had yet completed twelve years. But when he was twelve years old, he remained behind in Jerusalem. His parents, not knowing this, sought him anxiously and did not find him. They sought “among,” they sought “in,” they sought “among their acquaintances,” and
in all these they do not find him. Jesus, then, is sought by his parents — by the father who had been his nurturer and companion when he went down into Egypt — and yet he is not found as soon as he is sought. For Jesus is not found among relatives and kin according to the flesh, not among those who are bodily joined to him. In the company of the many, my Jesus cannot be found. Learn where
those who seek find him, so that you too, seeking with Joseph and Mary, may find him. And “seeking,” it says, “they found him in…”. Not just anywhere in some other place, but “in the temple.” Not simply “in the temple,” but “in the midst of the teachers, listening to them and questioning them.” You too, then, seek Jesus “in the temple”
of God; seek him in the church, seek him among the teachers who are in the temple and not apart from it; for if you seek in this way, you will find him. Furthermore, if someone calls himself a teacher and does not have Jesus, that person is a teacher in name only, and therefore Jesus, the word and wisdom of God, cannot be found with him. “He was found,” it says,
'in the midst.' Just as it is written elsewhere concerning the prophets, so now understand 'in the midst of the teachers.' 'If,' he says, 'it has been revealed to another.' They find him 'in the midst of the teachers,' and he not only 'sits' but also 'questions and listens.' And even now
Jesus is present, questioning us and hearing us as we speak. And, he says. At what were they 'amazed'? Not at his questions, although these too were amazing, but 'at his answers.' For to ask is one thing, to answer another. He was questioning the teachers, and since at times they could not answer, he himself answered them concerning the very matters about which he had asked.
But let the divine law teach you that the answer implies not an exchange of conversation but teaching contained in the sacred scriptures. 'Moses was speaking, and God answered him.' That answer of theirs concerned the matters about which the Lord was instructing Moses, who did not know them. At times Jesus asks, at times he answers, and as we said above, although his questioning is amazing, his answering is far more amazing. So that
we too may hear him, and let him put before us questions which he himself will resolve; let us beseech him, and let us seek him with great labor and sorrow, and then we shall be able to find the one we seek. For it is not written in vain: 'Your father and I were seeking you in sorrow.' Whoever seeks Jesus must seek him not carelessly, not idly, not in passing, as some
seek him, and therefore cannot find him. But let us say: 'we are seeking in sorrow.' And when we have said this, he will answer our laboring soul, seeking with sorrow, and will say: 'did you not know that I must be about my father's business?' Where now are the heretics, where are the impious and the mad, who assert that the law and the prophets do not belong to the father of Jesus Christ?
Surely Jesus was 'in the temple' that had been built by Solomon, confessing that temple to belong to his father, whom he revealed to us, whose son he said he was. Let them answer how it is that one is good and another is the just God. Since, then, the Savior is the son of the Creator, let us praise together the Father and the Son, to whom belong the law and also the temple,
to whom is glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.