Luke 2:40-52
The relationship between the divine and human nature of
Jesus can be difficult for us to understand.
It is hard for us to imagine God “growing up.” It is also hard for us to imagine a twelve
year old boy discussing theology with the religious leaders. What is important for us to keep in mind as
we read about Jesus is that He was both fully man and fully God but at the same
time was only one Person. He was not
some sort of a split personality that was controlled by His divine side some
times and then controlled by His human side at other times. He was always the same individual. During His time on earth some of His divine attributes
were not manifest yet He was still God.
He was a man in every way and had to grow and mature just like every man
does. Immaturity is not sin. Jesus was not born knowing how to read and
write. He had to learn to walk on land
before He could walk on water. Today’s
text gives us a rare glimpse into the childhood of Jesus and we are giving a
little snapshot of who Jesus was and how His divine and human natures coexisted
in perfect harmony.
JESUS LINGERS IN JERUSALEM: The fact that Mary and Joseph
left Jesus behind in Jerusalem has been a comfort to every parent who has ever
left their child somewhere. They were
likely traveling in a large caravan of people as this was an annual journey
that the family made together. They
presumed that Jesus was with their other relatives in the caravan and likely
didn’t miss him until nightfall when they couldn’t find him at bedtime. The next day they return to Jerusalem in a
panic to try to find their lost son. We
don’t know at this point if Jesus knew that His earthly parents had left and
how His omniscience played into this situation.
What we do know is that He lingered in Jerusalem because He wanted to
spend more time there with the scholars of God’s Word. At twelve years of age He spent three days on
His own in Jerusalem. He was not panicked
or scared but His parents sure were. It
was not sin on the part of Jesus to linger in Jerusalem it was not His
responsibility to be in the caravan but it was His parent’s responsibility to
make sure He was there.
JESUS LISTENS IN THE TEMPLE: What is amazing to see in this
account is how Jesus spent the three days that He had on His own. His time was spent in the temple listening to
the teachers, asking them questions and also answering their questions. In essence, He was learning from the Old
Testament. God knows everything and has
no need to learn; but Jesus was a man who had to grow physically and mentally. His learning process was just like ours. In a typical teaching situation He would ask
questions and then the teacher would likely answer His questions by asking
questions that would help Him come to the correct conclusions. This was not typical behavior for a twelve
year old boy so it seems that a crowd began to gather around this scene because
people were amazed at His knowledge of the Bible and the depth of the answers
He gave as well as His desire to learn.
I think that too often we expect too little of our children in the way
of interest in God’s Word. Many times
parents neglect to take the time to discuss the Word of God with their
children. We need to find ways to ask
and answer questions about Scripture that will help both us and our children to
grow in our knowledge of God’s Word. A
hunger for knowing God and His Word is part of what it means to be like Christ.
JESUS LEARNS IN NAZARETH: Jesus is surprised that Mary and
Joseph were so worried because He was not.
He was not the parent in this situation but was looking at it all through
the eyes of a twelve year old child. He
returns to Nazareth with Mary and Joseph and continues to grow in size, in
wisdom, in favor with God and man as He lived in subjection to His
parents. It is hard to think of Jesus “growing
up” but that is exactly what He was doing.
Learning and growing is part of the human experience. Being obedient to our parents is what is
expected of every child and it was vital for Jesus to do this in His life. Staying behind in the temple was not rebellion
on His part; at the most it was immaturity.
Apparently, this type of misunderstanding did not happen again and Jesus
learned from this experience as well.
Maturity is a process that must be learned and it is something that all
of us must continue to do. We should
always have the goal of growing in wisdom as we seek to understand God and His
Word more fully. We should also seek to
grow in favor before God and man. That
does not mean we should live under the fear of man but there is nothing wrong
with striving to grow in ways that will gain the favor of the people God places
in our lives. Sometimes there is a fine
line between people pleasing and growing in the favor of man. As we grow in wisdom and live in submission
to the Holy Spirit we will be able to discern this line more clearly.
APPLICATION: Growth is a natural part of being a man and we
should have a constant desire to grow in our knowledge of God and His
Word. Wisdom should be one of our
primary goals in life and we should do all we can to gain wisdom through study,
asking questions and learning from our experiences. Submission is a vital quality we must seek to
build into our lives as well as into the lives of our children. We must strive to discern the difference
between growing in the favor of men and living under the fear of men.
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