As they now did not know what to say, they decided that the youth was too insignificant for them to dispute with.
Jesus, still excited, came down and joined the crowd, where his mother was wringing her hands over the boldness with which her son had spoken to the elders and the wise men. She stretched her arms towards him. "Child! child! What are you doing here? Why treat us so? What we have not suffered on your behalf! We have sought you for three whole days in the greatest anxiety."
Then Jesus said: "Why did you seek me? He who has a task to do, cannot always stay with his own people. I have been about my Heavenly Father's business."
"Where were you all the time?"
He did not answer. Others might have told how he stood between the pillars listening to the discussions of the Rabbis until he could keep silence no longer.
Joseph said to him with some severity: "If you are learned enough to interpret the Scriptures to those honourable men, you must know the fifth commandment: 'Honour thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long in the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.'"
Jesus said nothing.
"And now, my son, we will betake ourselves to that land."
And so they set out on the last stage of their journey. It was hard walking over the vineyards of Judaea and Samaria, and Mary, when they were quite near home, asked if she should ever see Nazareth again. Jesus marched the distance, so to speak, twice, for he was never tired of turning aside to gather dates, currants, and figs, or to fetch a pitcher of water in order that his parents might quench their thirst. So they went slowly over the rocky land, and when the mule-path led to an eminence over which flat stones lay scattered, and which was thickly sown with stumpy shrubs, the fertile plain of Israel lay before them. It was surrounded by wooded hills, while villages were scattered about its surface, and shining rivers wound through it. Opposite, one range of mountains showed behind the other, and the highest lifted their snowy peaks into the blue sky.
Joseph let fall the camel's guiding rein and his staff, extended his arms and exclaimed: "Praise the Lord, oh my soul!" For Galilee, his native place, lay before him.