Once Mary and Joseph returned to Nazareth with young Jesus, Zebina and Mary quickly renewed their longtime friendship. Mary had born another son and a daughter, but Joash latched on to Jesus and they became fast friends.

Jesus kept busy helping his father in the the carpentry shop. Meanwhile, Joash helped his father in the field. But from time to time, the boys were released from their workloads to explore the hills of Nazareth or join their families on a trip to the Sea of Galilee, always staying just a bit ahead of the families to explore on their own.

They also traveled together in the large groups that journeyed to Jerusalem for special feast days. On one such trip, to celebrate Passover, twelve-year-old Jesus and ten-year-old Joash were delighted with their freedom, but in certain areas along the way they knew to remain close to the large group, especially through Samaria or in winding bends where theives might hang out.

Joash had no brothers, so he secretly claimed Jesus as his brother. But alas, when they reached Jerusalem, Jesus and his family went on to stay with friends in Bethlehem, while Joash’s family stayed with friends just north of the Jerusalem. Joash missed his “brother”, so he played with some of his other friends, but it just wasn’t the same.

When the festival concluded, Zebina and Seth began packing their things to start their return trip. “But Mama, Jesus and his family aren’t here yet,” Joash protested.

“Oh, they’ll catch up with us,” Zebina said.

So, Joash fell into the large group of other Nazarites and mingled with some of his other friends. He had forgotten about Jesus for awhile. Later, he mentioned it to his mother again. “He’s somewhere in the bunch back there,” Zebina assured him. “I saw Mary and Joseph earlier.”

Joash played a new game with his friends on their jaunt. As the day wore on, he still hadn’t seen Jesus. “Hmm.” Zebina relented. “Very well, run back there and ask Mary about Jesus.”

Ah, victory! Joash took off in a run and finally found Mary and Joseph, but when he asked about Jesus, Mary’s smile turned to concern. “I thought he was with you and the other boys.” She turned to Joseph. Joseph shrugged his shoulders. “I haven’t seen him since we left Jerusalem.”

Everyone began asking the question, “Have you seen Jesus?” It soon became apparent no one had seen him. It was begining to get dark. Mary wanted to return immediately, but Joseph insisted that they would leave early in the morning at sun up. It was too dangerous to travel at night without the protection of a large group.

Joash begged his parents to let him go with Mary and Joseph to help in the search. “No, Joash. We will not interfere, but we can pray for them as they leave.”

Joash’s family had prayed for rain and for good crops, but never for a lost boy. That night, Seth gathered a few friends around and one by one, they prayed for safety for Jesus. Tears came gushing from Joash’s eyes. Why had he not noticed earlier that Jesus was missing? Why had he not gone looking for him? Then Jesus’ parents could have gone back before dark to find him. Joash wept and heaved big sighs coated with self condemnation.

Zebina could see that despite the special prayer-time around the fire, Joash was too upset to find comfort. She took him away from the group and he released all his confessions of guilt. “No, no, my son. This is not your fault. I don’t know where Jesus is, but I do know he is safe in his heavenly Father’s hands. Joash, Jesus is not only your very special friend, he is special to God and God will protect him because he is going to use his life in miraculous ways. You must trust God with this.”

~ Joyce ~