So they started in haste. When they reached Bethlehem, they found the stable, and the manger, and there was the baby with his mother. Then the shepherds told what the angels had said and sung. The people wondered at it; the mother remembered every word, and thought about what it all meant. Then the shepherds went back to their work praising God as they went, for all that he had told them, and for all that they had seen. [Illustration: THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.—Matt. ii. 1.] THE CHILDHOOD OF JESUS. The child Jesus grew strong in body and mind. He was so unlike any other child that he was “filled with wisdom.” God’s favor was with him all the time. When he was twelve years old he went with his father and mother to Jerusalem to the great yearly feast called the Passover. Having been there eight days, they started for home. But Jesus stayed behind at Jerusalem. His father and mother didn’t know it; they supposed him to be with some of the friends. At night when they stopped to rest, they found he was not to be found. They went among the friends and acquaintances who were travelling with them, but they got no news of him; so they turned back toward Jerusalem, looking for him all the way. In this way three days passed; then they found their son sitting in the church among the learned men, listening and asking questions. And the people who listened were astonished at the questions which Jesus asked, and at the words which he spoke. When his parents saw him, they were very much astonished. His mother said to him: “My son, why did you treat us in this way? Your father and I have hunted for you in great sorrow.” Then he made this strange answer: “How is it that you sought me? Didn’t you know that I must be about _my_ Father’s business?” They didn’t understand what he meant; they forgot that their son was not simply a boy; he was God. But he came at once from the church, and went home with them, and obeyed his father and mother in everything. But his mother never forgot any of the strange words that he spoke. [Illustration: THE CHILD JESUS.—Luke ii. 40.] [Illustration: JESUS IN THE TEMPLE, TEACHING THE DOCTORS.—Luke ii. 46.] MINISTRY OF JOHN THE BAPTIST.