Jesus At Twelve

By Michael English

Summary: Dramatisation of Luke 2: 41-52. No stage directions are given as these will vary enormously depnding on the venue.

Bible Reference: Luke 2: 41-52

Characters: Joseph, Mary, Narrator, Jesus, Ever-so-clever Teacher of the Law

Props: None essential

Setting: Nazareth, Jerusalem, Temple etc. Use your imagination.

(No stage directions are given as these will vary considerably depending on local conditions)

Joseph: Lets go to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival. If we're going to worship the Lord let's do it properly.

Mary: Jesus, you heard your father. Go and saddle the donkeys.

Narrator: And so Joseph and Mary and the boy Jesus went to Jerusalem. Loads of other people from Nazareth went with them.

Joseph: Come on everybody. Lets all go to Jerusalem. We'll have a great time together.

Narrator: So it was a huge crowd that went to Jerusalem for the week. (Pause) On the way back Joseph and Mary noticed something.

Joseph: Where's Jesus gone?

Mary: I thought he was coming back with his cousin - the one who eats insects and shouts a lot..

Joseph: No, John's been with me. He must have been left behind at Jerusalem.

Mary: Come on, we'd better go and look for him.

Narrator: So Mary and Joseph hurried back to Jerusalem. They looked in the shopping malls and the amusement arcades, but he wasn't there. At last they gave up and went back to the Temple to see if anyone there had seen him.

(Jesus in the Temple is debating with one of the Great Teachers)

Teacher: (Exasperated) Okay, so you must have read my scroll, "One Hundred Really Difficult Questions About God." But here's one I bet you can't do: How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?

Jesus: That shows you don't really understand the Scriptures or you wouldn't ask such a foolish question for...

(At that moment Joseph and Mary enter and drag Jesus off.)

Mary: You naughty boy Jesus. Just you wait till your father gets you home. He'll teach you not to run off and worry us like you have!

Jesus: But mum, what took you so long to find me? Didn't you know I would be in my Father's House?

Narrator: Mary and Joseph were too cross to understand what he meant at the time. But later Mary thought deeply about all Jesus had said.

Then Jesus went back to Nazareth and continued to be under their authority.

He grew in wisdom and in favour of both God and men.


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