Reader.
Before we step into Advent and Christmas starts picking up speed — can I share something about Mary the mother of Jesus? Not the Mary in Nativity scenes, but the woman in Scripture whose twelve-year-old Son is missing for three days and absolutely unravels.
I’ve read this passage so many times, but I had not saw her anxiety until now — it's not the “worried mother” version I had previously envisioned, but the kind of fear you feel in your body and don't have words for.
Luke 2:42–52 CJB
When he was twelve years old, they went up for the festival, as custom required. But after the festival was over, when his parents returned, Yeshua remained in Yerushalayim. They didn’t realize this; supposing that he was somewhere in the caravan, they spent a whole day on the road before they began searching for him among their relatives and friends.
Failing to find him, they returned to Yerushalayim to look for him. On the third day they found him—he was sitting in the Temple court among the rabbis, not only listening to them but questioning what they said; and everyone who heard him was astonished at his insight and his responses.
When his parents saw him, they were shocked; and his mother said to him, “Son! Why have you done this to us? Your father and I have been terribly worried looking for you!”
He said to them, “Why did you have to look for me? Didn’t you know that I had to be concerning myself with my Father’s affairs?”
But they didn’t understand what he meant. So he went with them to Natzeret and was obedient to them.
But his mother stored up all these things in her heart.
And Yeshua grew both in wisdom and in stature, gaining favor both with other people and with God.
What stopped me was Mary’s rebuke to Jesus:
“Your father and I have been terribly worried…” Other translations read: anxiously searching or frantic.
Many commentaries accuse Mary of "overreacting" or not trusting her Son enough. A "mother's worry" - typical helicopter parent even.
But the word used here is much stronger — distress, grief, anguish. Mary was not “a little worried.” She was undone.
Let me set the scene:
- Annual attendance at three feasts by all adult males — usually with their families — was commanded in the law (Ex 23:14–17; Deut 16:16). This was Passover — the feast during which He would later be crucified.
- During major feasts, Jerusalem could swell from 70–80k to nearly half a million people.
- Nazareth was about a three-day journey away. By the time Mary and Joseph realized Jesus wasn’t with them, their caravan was probably already close to home.
- At twelve, boys were preparing to become responsible for themselves as “sons of the Law.” (This is not Bar Mitzvah as we know it; that didn’t become a major ceremonial event until the Middle Ages.)
All of that helps us understand the gravity of the situation.
Mary's Son — on loan to her, very much like Hannah’s story — was gone.
This wasn’t, “Where did He wander off to?”
This was: “Will I see Him again?”
This isn't limited to a mother’s worry; it’s the agony anyone feels when something or someone is suddenly gone or things are not going completely off the rails.
Her worry is the Greek word ὀδυνάω and means pain either bodily or mentally; to be in agony, be tormented; to be distressed, grieved,
The same Greek word paints the picture of the level of distress in one other place.
Acts 20 describes believers saying goodbye to Paul:
“What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again.” (Acts 20:38)
A lot of you have walked through significant “worries”, loss and grief this year.
- entering a season your body didn’t announce that you want
- a relationship going out from under you
- a grief that caught you off guard
- an ending you didn’t ask for that’s creating a beginning you don’t want
I just want you to know that Jesus sees you and is with you.
What I felt God ask me to explore is what Mary does next.
The Word I Misread for Years
The passage goes on to say after Jesus told his earthly parents: "Didn’t you know that I had to be concerning myself with my Father’s affairs" that “His mother treasured all these things in her heart.”
In the past I imagined it meant she “kept” the memory. Tucked it away.
But that’s not the right vibe at alll. The Greek diatēreō means:
- watch carefully
- guard with vigilance
- lock up like a vault
is used only one other time in the New Testament:
- Acts 15:29 — “to keep oneself from”
Mary wasn’t just “pinning that thought for later.”
She was guarding something she didn’t fully understand but knew mattered.
For me, it connected with Proverbs 4:23:
Guard your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life. NLT
What shows up for you in this?
What do you sense the invitation from the Holy Spirit is here for you?
The Hannah and Mary Connection
Luke’s original audience would have recognized the echo in Luke 2:52 where Jesus mirrors Samuel’s growth: “in stature and in favor with the Lord and with people” (1 Sam 2:26)
Hannah and Mary both rejoiced at the birth of an unexpected child.
Both praised God —
and both knew, to their sorrow, they would one day have to surrender their sons.
So for all of us who find ourselves grieving, worrying, or sensing a call to surrender, may Hannah’s prayer of hope in the Messiah, the Anointed One, speak to you.
1 Sa 1:28–2:10. NIV
28 So now I give him to the LORD. For his whole life he will be given over to the LORD.” And he worshiped the LORD there.
Hannah’s Prayer
2 Then Hannah prayed and said:
“My heart rejoices in the LORD;
in the LORD my horn u is lifted high.
My mouth boasts over my enemies,
for I delight in your deliverance.
2 “There is no one holy like the LORD;
there is no one besides you;
there is no Rock like our God.
3 “Do not keep talking so proudly
or let your mouth speak such arrogance,
for the LORD is a God who knows,
and by him deeds are weighed.
4 “The bows of the warriors are broken,
but those who stumbled are armed with strength.
5 Those who were full hire themselves out for food,
but those who were hungry are hungry no more.
She who was barren has borne seven children,
but she who has had many sons pines away.
6 “The LORD brings death and makes alive;
he brings down to the grave and raises up.
7 The LORD sends poverty and wealth;
he humbles and he exalts.
8 He raises the poor from the dust
and lifts the needy from the ash heap;
he seats them with princes
and has them inherit a throne of honor.
“For the foundations of the earth are the LORD’s;
on them he has set the world.
9 He will guard the feet of his faithful servants,
but the wicked will be silenced in the place of darkness.
“It is not by strength that one prevails;
10 those who oppose the LORD will be broken.
The Most High will thunder from heaven;
the LORD will judge the ends of the earth.
“He will give strength to his king
and exalt the horn of his anointed.”
Advent Begins this Sunday
I’m joining the She Reads Truth Advent Study again this year. If you don't already have a plan and want to join me the digital version is available (and 40% off for Black Friday).
If Advent isn't a part of your tradition (it wasn’t part of mine growing up), and you're looking for a good Christmas read. I read A.J. Sherrill’s Rediscovering Christmas last year and loved it.
✨ What to Expect Through Christmas
A series of emails looking at the women in Scripture surrounding Jesus’ birth.
There will also be updates on:
- 🛋️ The Illuminate Living Room Series (2026)
- 🌿 NEW: The Illuminate Immersive Weekend (Feb 27–Mar 1)
- 📅 Illuminate Six-Week Sprints (Tuesday nights)
May the God
