We used to say that sins were “rolled forward.” I think that’s not a bad expression. All of the sins under the Patriarchal Age [the time period from Adam to Moses] and under the Age of Moses [the time period from the giving of the Law of Moses to the death, burial and resurrection of Christ]—they were forgiven…if the people were obedient unto the Will of God during the time that they lived. We’ll see Abraham in heaven. He’s not a believer in Jesus from the standpoint of having seen Him and heard Him—or having heard His Good News of the Gospel. He was obedient to the message they had during his time. And he’s called “The Father of the Faithful,” and we are Abraham’s children in a spiritual sense because we, too, are children of the “Father of the Faithful,” [Galatians 3:7-9].

So all of the events tie together in such a beautiful and magnificent way. And Luke is recording some of the things that none of the rest of the writers will record. And so as he records this, he gives an insight into the boy, Jesus, at twelve years of age.

Mary and Joseph provide good training. Here they are, going to Jerusalem as the custom was, [Luke 2:42], for the feast days.

Now we know that a lot of the poorer families didn’t stay in Jerusalem all this time. The poorer families could not afford to stay in Jerusalem for the full length of time between the Passover and the day of Pentecost. Seven weeks was the length of time between the Passover and the Feast of Weeks, also called Pentecost. And, of course, Passover was ahead of Pentecost. Passover, at the time of our Lord, began on a Sunday. [Passover was week-long festival held to commemorate, or remember, the Israelites’ escape, or exodus, from Egypt. It was during a Passover week that Jesus was in Jerusalem just before His death. He was in the grave on the Passover Sabbath.] And, then, on the NEXT Sunday [the Sunday right after the Passover week had ended, the day after the Passover Sabbath, or Saturday,] was the resurrection of our Lord, and that was the beginning of 50-day period of time until the Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost. [Pentecost marked the end of the grain harvest. It was a festival of joy , with mandatory and voluntary offerings being made, including the firstfruits of the wheat harvest. It was to show joy and thankfulness for the Lord’s blessing of harvest. The actual day of Pentecost was 50 days after the Passover Sabbath (Saturday), which would make it fall on a Sunday. This would have been the Sunday that the first recorded Gospel sermon was preached by Peter, about 3,000 were baptized and the Lord’s church was established. See Acts 2.]

Well, we put all of these things together, and it gives us a good idea that there were devout people under the Old Law of Moses. Mary and Joseph were that kind of people. And Jesus grows up in a home like that.

Mary and Joseph return for the boy Jesus while they are headed home. And we raise the question, “Why didn’t they know that He wasn’t with them?” Well, I think there’s a simple answer. We may be surmising, or guessing, but I think it’s a good guess. This was a happy and joyous time. Families were travelling together. Children played together. Other family members—it might be a cousin, an aunt, an uncle or somebody like that—would look out for your child. But Jesus is twelve years of age, you see. He’s old enough, now, to look out for Himself. And so they are, at the appointed time, journeying back to Nazareth. It will be several days of walking before they’ll get to Nazareth. But when they have journeyed a full day, and they camped that night, then would be the time that they would find Jesus. But He’s not there. They had gone a day’s journey, and the next day, they’ll turn around and go back into town to look for Jesus.

Now this is interesting. Can people who think they have Jesus be mistaken? Can we be mistaken in our belief that the Lord is with us when really He’s not? I’ve seen people that teach a different doctrine from this Book [Harvey is holding up the Bible]. I’ve heard people, who are not religious at all, say, “The Lord was with me through that experience or situation! I’m just thankful He was there!” This Book tells us whom the Lord is with. This Book tells us that God does watch over us and protect us—that He’s interested in our every step. And that when we keep in fellowship with God—and He tells us what that fellowship is—THEN the Lord is with us.

But Jesus was not with the group Mary and Joseph were travelling with. They SUPPOSED that He was with them. Dear friends, you can’t teach something different from this Book and have the Lord with you. This [the message of the Bible] is what He taught. I’ll just refer to one thing that’s a common mistake in our religious world today. “Go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized…” and IS BAPTIZED “…shall be saved,” [Mark 16:15-16]. Baptism precedes salvation in all of the passages concerning God’s Will for us to become His children. It emerges from FAITH! And “faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the Word of God,” [Romans 10:17]. NOT by or from a council of men!! NOT by or from what our parents said it was!! It comes from God! It’s as real as it can be!

There have been all kinds of variations on this theme of changing the Word of God throughout the almost 2,000 years of the existence of Christianity upon this earth. Babies have been baptized. WHY? Some say that they inherited “original sin.” NO, there is no “original sin.” Each person is judged for the deeds done in the body, whether they be good, or whether they be evil, [2 Corinthians 5:10]. You’ll not be judged for the sin of Adam. It just happens that he opened the door for sin to enter into the human race, and sin has passed into the family of man. If you reach the “age of accountability,” the Good Book says you will sin, [Romans 3:23]. But the Bible also tells us that there’s a way of escape, [Hebrews 2:3; 1 Corinthians 10:13].