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Paul.
Did Mary ever have to explain something to Jesus?
I know it is a strange question, but I have been thinking about what it must have been like to raise the child Christians believe was God. Did Jesus ask questions because he genuinely did not know the answer? Did Joseph have to show him how to use tools properly? Was there a moment when something that had puzzled him suddenly made sense, in the way things gradually make sense to every other child?
The Gospels do not tell us. In fact, they tell us remarkably little about most of Jesus’ childhood. We get his birth, a few early episodes, one extraordinary visit to Jerusalem when he was twelve, and then nothing until he appears as an adult. Perhaps a gap like that has allowed us to create our own version of those missing years.
I can easily imagine Jesus growing physically. Like any human child, he grew taller and stronger, and moved from childhood into adulthood. But I am not sure I have always allowed myself to imagine him growing in other ways as well.
Luke is the only one who does.
