Luke 2:52 Jesus became wiser and stronger. He also became more and more pleasing to God and to people.

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“I can't wait for Christmas!” Milo was sad that Christmas Day was still 2 months away. 

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A.J.’s robot SATTAR suggested that a trip back in time would cheer her up a bit.

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“Can we go back to Bethlehem to see baby Jesus again?” Asked A.J.

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“I was thinking it might be fun to visit Jesus when he was a boy.” Said SATTAR.

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“A boy?” A.J. and Milo were puzzled.

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“Did you think that Jesus went straight from being a baby to an adult?” SATTAR laughed.

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“Jesus grew up just like you two are growing every day. He was a baby. A toddler, as we saw when the wisemen went to visit him, and then a boy.”

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“Ooooooo! That sounds like fun! Let’s go see Jesus when he was a boy.”

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“All aboard the time machine!” SATTAR, A.J. and Milo loaded themselves up in SATTAR’s time machine.

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When the trio had landed, they found themselves among a huge crowd of people. “SATTAR, where’s A.J.? I’ve lost sight of him.” Milo was worried.

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“Aaaaaaa.J. Aaaaaaaaa.J.!” SATTAR and Milo were calling A.J.’s name while frantically looking through the crowd for him. There were so many people, carts being pulled by donkeys and other livestock in the crowd. Milo and SATTAR had to squeeze themselves between people and crawl under carts just to get around.

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“A.J.! There you are! We are so relieved to find you.”

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“I wasn’t lost,” said A.J. “You were the ones that were lost!”

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“Jeesus! Jeeeeeesus!”

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“Look! It’s Mary and Joseph! I recognize them from our last trip in the time machine. Looks like Jesus must be lost too. Let’s follow them.”

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“SATTAR, where are we?”

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“We are in Jerusalem. Jesus and his family have traveled here for a celebration. They were on their way home to Nazareth with all their family and neighbors. They thought Jesus was with them somewhere among all the carts and people, but they realized at night that he was not with them.” SATTAR replied.

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“Please, sir, have you seen my son Jesus? He is twelve years old. We have been searching for three days for him.” Joseph asked a man at the temple where they had been worshiping God three days earlier.

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“Why, yes. He is over there.” The man pointed to the inner part of the temple. When Mary and Joseph entered, they found Jesus sitting with the religious teachers. He was listening to them and asking questions. Everyone who heard him was amazed at how much he understood. They also were amazed at his answers.

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When his parents saw him, they were amazed. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been worried about you. We have been looking for you everywhere.”

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“Why were you looking for me?” Jesus asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”  But Mary and Joseph did not understand what Jesus meant by that.

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“SATTAR? What did Jesus mean when he said he was in his “Father’s house”?” A.J. questioned.

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“Don’t forget, Joseph was raising Jesus, but he is really God’s Son. Remember we learned that Mary became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Jesus is God’s Son and human at the same time! This was all a part of God’s plan. God knew that people needed a someone that would be able to understand their problems. This someone would also need to overcome sin at the same time. Jesus stayed at the temple to connect with his heavenly Father, God!”

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“What’s going to happen to Jesus, now SATTAR?”   

                                      

“Jesus will return to Nazareth, his hometown. He will grow up like any other child in his day. He will play, learn reading and math, and probably have chores to do for his parents. Just like other kids, with one difference - Jesus obeys his parents perfectly!”

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Milo elbowed A.J. in his side, “Did you hear that? Jesus obeys his parents.”

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“Hey!” A.J. was disgruntled, “I obey our parents! Well…most of the time.”

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“Ok everyone – back to the time machine! It’s time to go home.”

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Story based on Luke 2:41-52