“Why were you looking for Me?” He asked. “Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”
Parallel translations
- WEB He said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
- KJV And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?
- NKJV And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”
- NASB And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?”
- NLT “But why did you need to search?” he asked. “Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus asks why they searched, saying He must be in His Father's house. It matters because it is His first recorded word, revealing His awareness of His divine sonship.
Overview
Jesus responds that they should have known He must be about His Father's affairs, or in His Father's house. At only twelve, He expresses a unique consciousness of God as His Father and of His God-given mission. This first recorded saying reveals the heart of His identity and purpose.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- John 6:38For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but to do the will of Him who sent Me.
- John 8:29He who sent Me is with Me. He has not left Me alone, because I always do what pleases Him.”
- Ps 40:8I delight to do Your will, O my God; Your law is within my heart.”
- Mal 3:1“Behold, I will send My messenger, who will prepare the way before Me. Then the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to His temple—the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight—see, He is coming,” says the LORD of Hosts.
- John 4:34Jesus explained, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work.
- Luke 2:48When His parents saw Him, they were astonished. “Child, why have You done this to us?” His mother asked. “Your father and I have been anxiously searching for You.”
- John 5:17But Jesus answered them, “To this very day My Father is at His work, and I too am working.”
- Matt 21:12Then Jesus entered the temple courts and drove out all who were buying and selling there. He overturned the tables of the money changers and the seats of those selling doves.
- John 9:4While it is daytime, we must do the works of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
- John 2:16–17To those selling doves He said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn My Father’s house into a marketplace!”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Luke shows Jesus the Savior for all — outsiders, the poor, the nations — the one who, on the Emmaus road, opened all the Scriptures to show they were about himself.
How Luke 2:49 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.