And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.
Ver. 43. Joseph and his mother knew not] One would wonder they should be so careless of so peerless a pearl; they might well think there were enough at Jerusalem, among the Herodians especially, that would have been glad to have despatched any that should take upon them to be Messiah the Prince, as Daniel calleth him, Daniel 9:25. When they fled into Egypt for fear of Herod, they lost not the child Jesus; as neither there, nor in their return from thence; but at the feast they did, and in that greatest solemnity. Hence Stella observeth, that there is far greater danger of losing Christ in time of prosperity, and worldly affluence, than in days of persecution and tribulation. In mundi faelicitate et affuentia, potius quam in persecutionibus et tribulationibus Christum amitti.