And thinking that he was in the company, they came a day’s journey, and sought him among their kinsfolks and acquaintance.

“He is not found as soon as sought for, for Jesus was not among His kinsfolk and relations, among those who are joined to Him in the flesh, nor in the company of the multitude can He be found. Learn where those who seek Him find Him, not every where, but in the temple. And do thou then seek Jesus in the temple of God. Seek Him in the Church, and seek Him among the masters who are in the temple. For if thou wilt so seek Him, thou shalt find Him. They found Him not among His kinsfolk, for human relations could not comprehend the Son of God; not among His acquaintance, for He passes far beyond all human knowledge and understanding. Where then do they find Him? In the temple! If at any time thou seek the Son of God, seek Him first in the temple, thither go up, and verily shalt thou find Christ, the Word, and the Wisdom, (i. e. the Son of God.)”

“And when they found him not,.... In the company that came from Jerusalem with them, nor among any of their relations and friends, with whom they supposed he was: they turned back again to Jerusalem, that is, the next morning, for it can hardly be thought they would set out that night, after they had travelled all day, without taking some repose: seeking him; at Jerusalem, in the streets and broad places of it; a figure of the church and ordinances, where souls look for, and inquire after their beloved, when they have lost him, Sol 3:1.”

“Supposing him to have been in the company - Some have supposed that the men and women marched in separate companies on these occasions, which is very likely; and that sometimes the children kept company with the men, sometimes with the women. This might have led to what otherwise seems to have been inexcusable carelessness in Joseph and Mary. Joseph, not seeing Jesus in the men's company, might suppose he was with his mother in the women's company; and Mary, not seeing him with her, might imagine he was with Joseph. Went a day's journey - Knowing what a treasure they possessed, how could they be so long without looking on it? Where were the bowels and tender solicitude of the mother? Let them answer this question who can. And they sought him - Ανεζητουν, They earnestly sought him. They are now both duly affected with a sense of their great loss and great negligence. Kinsfolk and acquaintance - Those of the same family and neighborhood went up to Jerusalem together on such occasions. I have frequently been reminded, says Mr. Ward, when reading this history, of the crowds going to some place in Bengal, to an idol feast. Men, women, and children, in large companies, may be seen travelling together, with their bedding, etc., on their heads. They cook and prepare their victuals in some shady place near a town, where they can purchase the necessaries they want, and, after remaining two or three days at the festival, return in companies as they went.”

“It may be asked how the blessed Virgin and St. Joseph could possibly have come so far without missing him; but we must take notice, that when the people went up to the temple from remote parts of Judea, the men went in one company, and the women in a separate company, whilst the children went in either company indifferently: so that St. Joseph imagined that he was with Mary, his mother, whilst she imagined he was with St. Joseph. (Nicholas of Lyra)”

“sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintances--On these sacred journeys, whole villages and districts travelled in groups together, partly for protection, partly for company; and as the well-disposed would beguile the tediousness of the way by good discourse, to which the child Jesus would be no silent listener, they expect to find Him in such a group.”