Jesus the Boy (Luke 2:39-52)
What do you know about what happened between the time he was born and the time he began his public ministry? What would you say was the characteristic of his life during those years? Was there anything unusual? Did he work a miracle in those days? Just exactly what do we know about the childhood, teenage years, and young adult life of Jesus?
Well, as we discovered yesterday, not much. However, there are a few things we know, and they are fascinating indeed. There are things about him that apply to us because, after all, he came to earth, among other things, to be an example to us.
Therefore, whatever he was like, we ought to be able to learn from. So, what I'd like to do is talk about the childhood of Jesus. Virtually everything we know, about this early years can only be found in the Gospel of Luke in chapter 2. So let’s pick up where we left off last time in Luke chapter 2, and I'll begin reading with verse 39.
This passage begins by giving us a general statement concerning the boyhood of Jesus Christ. That's in verses 39 and then after that it gives us a specific incident in his life during his childhood. This is the only thing that is recorded in the Bible concerning his childhood. So, let's begin by looking at this general statement to see what we can learn from it. Then we'll examine this specific incident to see what we can learn from that as well.
Verse 39 says.
39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.
Now, in the passage prior to this, we were told that they went to Jerusalem so that Mary could fulfil what the law of Moses required of her, which had to be fulfilled 40 days after the birth of a child. It was at that time that Jesus was presented in the temple. Now, what this verse is saying is when they got all that done, they returned to Galilee.
Immediately, it becomes obvious that there's a gap here. If you take just what Luke records, they went from Nazareth to Bethlehem to Jerusalem and back to Nazareth. But we know from the Gospel of Matthew that they went to Egypt, and we know that they probably went back to Bethlehem.
So, let me explain. I think if we're going to try to put all the passages together and try to develop a chronological chart of what happened.
We can say that Mary and Joseph, after leaving Nazareth, they went to Bethlehem, where Jesus was born. They then went to Jerusalem and returned to Bethlehem, which we know from Matthew because the wise men visited them in Bethlehem and not at the inn. Then, Herod decided to kill all the babies two years old and under, which has led many to the conclusion that they spent some time in Bethlehem before they went back to Nazareth, maybe as long as a year or more, as Herod had all the babies killed who were two years and younger.
Herod wanted to make sure he would cover everybody that had even a possibility to be this, ‘newborn king’. At any rate after they were in Bethlehem for a while. Matthew is very clear about this, then they went to Egypt to escape this maniac called Herod, and from there they went to Nazareth.
Now, I'm simply pointing all that out because Luke skips the wise men, and he skips the fact that they went back to Bethlehem, and he skips that they went to Egypt. And that's not unusual. His account does that in a number of places. And the truth of the matter is, we do that as well. You are telling a story, and you tell it two different ways. Sometimes you insert things, and sometimes you leave out things, depending on your purpose. The same is the case with the authors of the New Testament.
At any rate, they're back in Nazareth. First, he says.
40 And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.
Now, these are very general statements. So, Jesus grew physically, and he grew mentally, but it wasn't just mental growth in the sense of accumulating knowledge; he grew in wisdom. And there is a difference.
Then it says, "And the grace of God was upon him." So, during these years, the grace of God was upon him. In 2 Corinthians chapter 12, Paul had the experience of the thorn in the flesh, and he asked God to remove it. God said, "My grace is sufficient for you." Remember that the next verse says, "Oh, I will gladly take pleasure in infirmity that the power of Christ may rest upon me." So, it's the grace of God that gives us the power of God; it's the grace of God that strengthens us.
So, I think what this is telling us is that Jesus grew like any other normal human being. He grew physically, grew intellectually, and yet, the spirit of God was upon him, and the grace of God was upon him, and he was strengthened by the grace of God.
So, Jesus grew mentally, Jesus grew socially in favour with men, and through his understanding and relationship with God from a human point of view. In other words, I think all of this is telling us very simply that Jesus had a normal childhood.
Now, I know that He was God in the flesh; I'm not even remotely suggesting that's not true. I'm just saying that God designed it so that when He became a man, He went through all that humans go through, and that includes growing and eating, and sleeping, and working, and learning – all of those things.
The way these verses are stated, it is telling us that Jesus had a normal upbringing. So, what it's telling us is that Jesus grew up just like any other human being, but let's not forget, He was God in the flesh.
So, what can we say from this? Maybe this isn't a bad pattern for parents concerning rearing their children. That we should be concerned about their growing physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually. I think physical growth takes care of itself as long as you're feeding the child right. The school is where they grow in learning. I would like to suggest that it's the family where they should be growing socially and spiritually.
Psychologists have a word for that when it doesn't happen as it's supposed to – they say that the adult is now dysfunctional. An adult doesn't know how to function socially, and that's because they came from a dysfunctional family. So, it's the family that ought to teach the child how to grow socially, alongside things like school and other things, but primarily the family. And for that matter, the family should be the primary place where the child grows spiritually, alongside the local community of believer, the church.
But as adults, we sometimes plateau. Bad habits can creep in. We might not eat properly, sleep enough, or exercise as we should. Similarly, social growth often depends on our childhood experiences. We establish relationships and have a family. And when it comes to spiritual growth, some also reach a plateau.
Some biblical passages require thought and critical thinking. It's challenging to dive into deeper subjects when we're used to quick, 30-second soundbites and one-minute commercials. We've become accustomed to slogans and jingles. This trend reflects the dumbing down of critical thinking in the West, which is not in line with becoming more Christ-like. Jesus grew in all these areas, including mental and intellectual growth.
Now, moving on to a well-known story in verse 41.
41 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. 42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom.
They made this annual trip to Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover. In the Mosaic Law, all Jewish people were required to attend three feasts in Jerusalem: the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles.
We also read here that Jesus turned 12. It's important to understand that they went in a caravan with other families from their village and neighbouring ones. Traveling in a caravan is like traveling in a group, trying to keep everyone together and keep up with the others in the caravan can be quite a challenge.
This setup and context are critical to understanding what happened next in the story.
43 After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 44 Thinking he was in their company, they travelled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.
So, the text tells us that when they had finished their days in Jerusalem the boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem. Joseph and his mother, Mary, did not know it. There are a few possibilities here. It's possible that they were being somewhat careless as parents, assuming he was with the other. Another possibility is that they were confident that he could take care of himself.
But here's what probably happened considering the caravan setup. When traveling in a caravan, the women tended to be slower than the men. They usually set off first, often with the younger children. This may have been the reason they were slower. The men, including Joseph, stayed behind a bit longer and then left later.
You can imagine what could have happened in such a situation: Joseph assumed Jesus was with Mary, and Mary thought Jesus was with Joseph. Has this ever happened to you, especially if you have more than one child? It's a common occurrence. You get home, thinking the other person has the child, only to realize you left them behind. Then you rush back to get them.
So, realistically, they probably thought the other had Jesus with them, and as a result, they didn't know that Jesus was not in their company. As verse 44 states, "thinking he was in the company," they both assumed he was with the group. They continued their journey for a day, and when they stopped for the night, they realized that Jesus was not with them.
The following day, as they all caught up with each other, there was still no sign of Jesus. Joseph might have said, "I thought you had him," and Mary might have responded, "I thought you had him." The search began, and they went through all the people in the caravan, and then back to Jerusalem.
46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”
Eventually, after those three days of searching, they found him in the temple. He was sitting amoungst the teachers, deeply engaged in a discussion. Both listening to them and asking them questions.
Here's a 12 year old boy he's in the temple, now remember the temple is a 35 acre complex the temple proper is a smaller building at the back of the complex. Jesus is sitting there soaking it up he's listening and he's asking questions.
I've been studying the Bible for 50 years now and I get all the time when I approach the text. (Expand)
It’s our job as Christian to ask ourselves and other questions. If you are growing in any job or profession, you will come upon questions it's inevitable so be Christ like listen and ask questions.
So, it appears that he was not only asking questions but he was giving his view on things in the form of answers also. And it says the people there wer shocked at the wisdom of this 12-year-old.
So, they find him now and his mother said to him son why have you done this, your father and I have been looking everywhere for you.
You just imagine a mother saying that, I mean that's exactly what the mother would say, we've been worried sick over you, But she says she was shocked and she was astonished not just at the fact that she had lost him but what he was doing sitting in the temple debating with people.
Jesus’ reply.
49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them.
51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
I'm at my father's house doing my father's business.
These are the first recorded words of Jesus and the first thing he says is a clue to his identity and they didn't get it.
These closing verses tell us a couple of things one of the things I want to point out is this is the last reference to Joseph in the Bible. He's never heard of again. So, in just a couple of verses we have the last appearance of Jospeh and the first words of Jesus.
The second thing I would say is about these verses is that Mary treasured all these things in our heart. We’ve bumped into that phrase before haven't we. She pondered all these things in her heart she didn't understand it but she tucked it away in the back burner of a brain and mulled over them for the next few years.
The other thing is again it tells us that Jesus had a normal childhood look at first 51 he was subject to them he obeyed them he was an obedient child look at verse 52 he increased in wisdom and stature in favour with God.
So this passage starts out talking about the child grew it became strong and spirit filled with wisdom and the grace of God, and it ends with Jesus increasing in wisdom and stature with God in men. And sandwiched between those two references to normal development is that incident where he manifested incredible unbelievable wisdom for a 12-year-old.
Jesus had a normal childhood except for here in this one recorded incident which demonstrates that he had profound wisdom.
so I'm gonna sum all this and say this. As a child Jesus developed as a child but he also demonstrated such unique wisdom that amazed the teachers at Jerusalem as well as Joseph and Mary.
So, lets finish by talking about this for a second. He developed like any other child, he was an obedient child, but he was a normal child, he did not perform any miracles as a child. Remember that when was his first miracle John chapter 2 tells us that it was at the wedding in Cana of Galilee that he turned water into wine and his specifically says that was his first miracle.
Somebody has put it like this, He was a usual childhood with an unusual wisdom.
I want to conclude by asking where humanly speaking where did he get the wisdom he grew up like a normal child without invoking his divine ability. Which by the way is theologically accurate way of describing what is going on here.
Where do you get all this wisdom form, do you remember earlier in the book we had this song that Mary sang, and I pointed out it was loaded with scripture
Jesus at 12 knew the scripture he sitting at the temple they were not discussing carpentry they were discussing scripture doctrine theology from the scripture. So I think if there's anything in this passage that ought to speak to us it is that we need to know the scripture.
Today most people spend too time do we spend watching television.
You can most of the new testament books letter in the itme it takes to watch a 30 miniute sit com. You can read all of the gospel accounts in the time it takes to watch a movie. (Just saying)
That's not to say that you shouldn't be interested in other things that you shouldn't pursue other things it's just saying this ought to be a priority.
I think we sell our children, short I've said for years we ought to be teaching high school children theology, not R.E.
Alight one last comment.
God the father has something to say about all this, remember when Jesus was baptised the father spoke from heaven you know what he said, “You are my beloved son in you I am well pleased”.
Up until that point Jesus had just obeyed his parents and he grew in wisdom which he got from the word, and God said I'm pleased with that.
That’s all he did until he was called to public ministry following his baptism.
So if you want to hear God say I'm pleased with you then you need to make the scripture and the wisdom of God a priority in your life. You need to learn to think, like God thinks.
Sir Isaac was the 17th century scientist who discovered the law gravity he was also a dedicated Christian, at the height of his career in physics and mathematics he decided to turn his attention towards studying the word of God. When one of his fellow scientists tried to lure him back to the field of science Newton replied I do not want to be trifling away my time when I should be about my father's business.
Now he retained his interest in science, but his top priority was his pursuit of the word of God, notice he said I don't want to trifle away my life in doing something like discovering the law of gravity I want to make the scripture the priority of my life.
Maybe we too should spend less time wasting and more time learning what is really important in life.