If Jesus was born in the fall of 2 B.C. and this is the Passover following this twelfth birthday, it would have been in the last week of March, 12 A.D.

In the Spring of 12 A.D., the first sliver of the new moon would have been seen on what we would call the evening of March 12—if the priests observed it correctly. If so, Passover would have been eaten on the evening of Saturday, March 26. The next two days included required Temple activity and then families could begin their trip home. Jesus would have been in the Temple listening and responding to the lectures of the rabbis on the third to sixth day of the Week of Unleavened Bread.

The Talmud speaks of the fact that on Sabbaths and festival days, members of the Sanhedrin would teach and answer questions in the Temple courts. At those lectures, the audience was seated in two groups, one for rabbinic students and the other for the common people. Unless Jesus had received his bar Mitzvoth, however, he wouldn’t have been allowed to participate. We aren’t told when this occurred. Normally, it has come to be around thirteen. Luke tells us he was twelve.

Today, having one’s bar Mitzvoth at the temple site is a common occasion in Israel. Perhaps before the Week of Passover, roughly six months before his thirteenth birthday, an early bar Mitzvoth at the Temple was Jesus’ experience, too.