Luke 2:43-45

Luke noted that Mary and Joseph stayed for the duration of the eight-day festival, another tribute to their piety. Mary and Joseph probably did not miss Jesus for a whole day because each may have supposed He was with the other since men often traveled with men and women with women. [Note: Liefeld, p. 852.] Perhaps they assumed He was with the other children or the other adults in their caravan of pilgrims. One of my colleagues once left his children at the church where he was the guest preacher and only became aware of their absence when he arrived back home. It seems unlikely that Mary and Joseph would have been this preoccupied, however.