All those people started talking together. They said good things about Jesus, and they said, “Wow. He talked real good. But we know this man, he is Joseph’s son.”
The people there listened to Jesus too, and they were very surprised at the things he said. He understood lots of things, and he knew the answers to all of their questions.
His mother and father were shocked, and Mary said, “My son, why did you do this to us? Your father and me, we have been worried about you. We have been looking everywhere for you, for 3 days.”
And then he started to teach them. He said, “You just heard me read that message that Isaiah wrote, a long time ago. Well, those things are happening right now, today, while you are listening to me.”
Philip went to his friend Nathaniel and said to him, “We have found the special man that Moses wrote about in our Jewish law books. And God’s other messengers talked about this man too. His name is Jesus. He is from the town called Nazareth, and he is the son of Joseph.”
They said to each other, “We know this man Jesus. He is Joseph’s son. We know his mother and father. Why does he say, ‘I came down from heaven?’ That can’t be right.”
But God’s Holy Spirit helped Stephen to think properly and gave him the right words to say. His words were so strong that those men couldn’t win any argument.
The message you teach has to be right, so that nobody can rubbish it. Then your enemies can’t say anything bad about you. Anyone that says bad things about you will shame themselves.