“And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.”
When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him — the three-day absence (one day out, one day back, one day searching — or three days of searching in Jerusalem) communicates the anxiety of the parents' search. The returning to Jerusalem is the reversal of the homeward journey — the pilgrimage caravan becomes the search party.
Church Fathers on Luke 2:45
The Evangelist having said before that the Child grew and waxed strong, verifies his own words when he relates, that Jesus with the holy Virgin went up to Jerusalem; as it is said, And when he was twelve years old, &c.
His indication of wisdom did not exceed the measure of His age, but at the time that with us the powers of discernment are generally perfected, the wisdom of Christ shows itself.
Or the twelfth year was the commencement of our Lord’s disputation with the doctors, for this was the number of the Evangelists necessary to preach the faith.
Read all 27 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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