Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Luke 2:50

"And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them." — Luke 2:50 (ASV)

Jesus’ answer, “Why were you searching for me?”, pointedly prepares the hearer for a significant statement that is then understood as being theologically inevitable (cf. also 24:5–6). The importance of Jesus’ use of the phrase “my Father,” with its implied designation of himself as the unique Son of the Father, is heightened not only by the preceding question but by the subsequent statement of v.50, which underlines the awesome mystery of Jesus’ statement of filial consciousness.