No Child Left Behind

It was another Feast of the Passover in Jerusalem. Jewish families were gathered once again for yet another important festival on the Jewish calendar. It appeared that in Jerusalem, it was business as usual: another dry routine of rituals and festival. But this year, something unusual happens; the parents of Jesus have come to Jerusalem with their son to attend “the feast, according to the custom” (Luke 2:42).

Luke makes this observation about Jesus: “Every year his parent went to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover” but without him (Luke 2:41). Now that Jesus had turned “twelve years old,’’ he was of age in Jewish custom to participate in the Feast of the Passover.

All was well, until “after the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it” (Luke 2:43). The parents of Jesus lost track of him: “thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends” (Luke 2:44). Jesus was nowhere to be found; they thought that maybe he was lost in a crowd.

Could his parents have been walking along thinking that their son was right behind them in the crowd? Could we be walking home, while our children have been “lost” in a crowd? We may not even know it; we left them in Jerusalem without our knowledge. A day of carelessness caused three days of pain and agony, but the parents of Jesus had the courage to go back to Jerusalem and look for Jesus once they became aware that he was missing.

Luke says that “after three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking questions” (Luke 2:46). But it will not always be possible to go back and find our children if they are lost on our journey home.

Adventist Education holds the key to our safe journey home, if no child is to be left behind. Are we going to teach our children mathematics only, or will we also teach them about the great mathematician, Jesus Christ? Are we going to teach them biology only, or will we also introduce them to the creator of heaven and earth, the life giver? We could go on and on. With Adventist Education, our goal is that no child will be left behind, and we shall be destined to fly with them.

Do we have courage to go back to Jerusalem to look for our “lost” children? What is it that we need to do so that our children do not get left behind or go missing on our journey home?

Note: Article written and posted in English

Author

Andrew Mutero

Mutero currently serves as the Education Director for the East-Central Africa Division, which includes the countries of Burundi, D.R. Congo, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda, and Tanzania.