<p>2:50 <i>And they did not understand what he spoke to them</i>- He had told them that He would be in His Father's house for three days. But they did not understand. And now they see plainly what has happened, they still do not understand. This is exactly the situation we find at the end of Luke's gospel, where the resurrected Lord after three days disappearance is still not understood.</p><p>Lk. 2:50 records that Mary &quot;understood not&rdquo;, using the same phrase as is on the lips of the Lord in Mt. 13:13, speaking of those without who &quot; hear not neither do they understand&rdquo;; and ominously, Mary stood without and asked to see Jesus, only to be told that His real mothers were those women sitting around Him listening to His words. In passing, note how the disciples also often &quot;understood not&quot; (Mt. 16:12; Mk. 6:52; 8:17,21; Lk. 18:34). And yet the Lord counted them as more understanding than they were. As with Mary. She &ldquo;understood not&rdquo; (Lk. 2:50) the clear enough statement that He was in <i>His</i> Father&rsquo;s house. And the Lord rebuked her for spending so long, three days, looking elsewhere when she should have perceived quicker that He was going to be in the house of His true Father. I take His words not as a sharp rebuff but rather more of grief, that Mary had known him so poorly, sad at her loss of perception.</p>