Left behind

What’s today’s most popular news story on the BBC website? That David Cameron’s daughter, Nancy, was accidently left behind in a pub after a family lunch.

It turns out that David went home in one car, with his bodyguards, while Samantha was in another with the other children. Dave thought their daughter was with Sam. Sam thought she was with Dave.

The mistake was discovered when they got home, at which point a quick phone call established that Nancy was still at the pub, and Dad dashed back to collect her. The readers’ comments left on the website are a mix of “it could happen to anyone – no harm done” and “this is totally shocking – how dare the Prime Minister lecture us about family values when he loses his own daughter”.

Sounds familiar? In Luke 2 the same thing happens to Mary and Joseph. The family go up to Jerusalem for the Passover. Afterwards, they and other families set off for home. Mary and Joseph both think that 12-year-old Jesus is with someone else, and don’t discover the mistake until the end of the day. We’re not told how the other families react, though it seems likely to be a similar mix to that given to the Camerons. What we do know is that Joseph and Mary dashed back to Jerusalem and started “anxiously searching” for their son. For the Camerons, it only took 15 minutes. For Jesus’ parents it was three days – a day to get back to the city, then another couple searching. And they didn’t find Him in a pub – but in the temple.

We don’t know what Nancy Cameron said to her dad. But Jesus’ words are striking: “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” It seems they didn’t know, since they took three days to find him. But Jesus was very clear about who His Father was and where He had to be – even though Joseph is standing there right in front of Him, Jesus states that the temple, God’s temple, is His Father’s house.

So what happened when they all went home? Nancy Cameron was soon back at home, and maybe told that she should stay with the family when they leave somewhere. Her parents are being given a hard time about it in the press – and no doubt it will be trawled up again every time the Prime Minister has anything to say about families. They won’t forget it in a hurry.

Neither did Mary. Luke tells us that she “treasured all these things in her heart”. And so can we. Jesus was Mary’s son – but God was His Father. A miracle that meant Jesus was both fully human and fully God. And as such, the only one able to obey His heavenly Father in dying in our place as both our substitute and our Saviour. A truth worth treasuring in our hearts.