I thought I should do at least one lesson on Jesus’ childhood. Although there is little information in Scripture, we can find enough to get an idea. But first I need to quote another of my favorite passages; this time from Philippians 2:5-11, something that will help us understand His humanity. “Let this same attitude (of humility) be in you that was in Christ Jesus. Who, in reality was God; but did not consider equality with God something to be retained. But emptied Himself to assume the very nature of a servant, in human likeness (He was born a human being). Then, after He had appeared in human form, He humbled Himself even further and became obedient to death – even the death of the cross! Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee must bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue must openly confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
As this passage tells us, Jesus was always God (John 1:1-3); but in order to carry out man’s redemption, He emptied Himself of His Godly attributes and privileges and became a man. As these lessons continue we will see how the One Who arranged the ages of time and equipped them for their intended purpose (Hebrews 11:3) became a part of His own plan, controlled the circumstances and carried out His purpose in every detail. But for now, we have established that He was born into this world through a unique birth. So, as He was growing to be a man, what kind of child was He?
We’ll start with Luke 2:40, “And the Child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the favor of God was upon Him.” If you’re comparing this with the KJV, you’ll notice it says, “waxed strong in spirit”. Most subsequent translations omit “in spirit”, as it is not found in the best manuscripts. The meaning here is simply that Jesus was a strong, healthy child.
More importantly He was filled with “wisdom”. This is from sophia, a specific wisdom, that is, the understanding of how to maintain a relationship with God, spiritual wisdom. Since Jesus was born without a sin nature, He both understood and embraced spiritual principles as a young child. Because of this, He enjoyed the “favor” of God. This is from charis, and is often translated joy, favor or acceptance. As we will see, due to this wisdom and favor, Jesus began to understand Who He was and what He was to do at an early age.
Insight into this is found in what follows in Luke 2:41-52. His parents went to Jerusalem every year to observe the feast of the Passover (verse 41). And when Jesus was twelve years old, after the feast had ended, His parents left to go back home, but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem (verses 42-43). Then, after a day’s journey, they discovered He was not with the group of relatives and friends they were traveling with. So, they went back to Jerusalem to look for Him and finally found Him in the temple listening to the teachers and asking them questions (verses 44-46).
Then, what follows tells us something about Jesus and His parents, as well. The religion experts were overwhelmed by the understanding and answers of this twelve-year-old boy (verse 47), Who had been taught by God Himself (Isaiah 50:4-5). Of course, they had never seen such insight in One so young. And His parents seemed to be a bit surprised by it too (verse 48). It makes me wonder if Jesus had not revealed the extent of His wisdom and understanding to them.
This is further supported by Jesus’ answer to His mother’s question (why have you done this to us?), when He basically says, “Why are you looking for Me? Did you not understand that I must be about My Father’s business?” (Verse 49) The reason He said this is because He undoubtedly knew everything that had been revealed to both Mary and Joseph about Him by angels (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:27-56). However, as is the case with the rest of us, they seemed to have short memories where God is concerned, so they didn’t understand His answer (verse 50). If there’s one lesson we can learn from Mary and Joseph, it is that our flesh will always distort and distract us from a reality in God. They had failed to nurture and protect the truth God had given them.
Now we come to the end of this passage. “Then He went down with them to Nazareth and was continually obedient to them; but His mother carefully kept these things in her heart.” (Verse 51) There are two things here to notice. The first is Jesus’ obedience to His parents. It was customary to begin a more intensive religious training for boys when they reached twelve years of age. And with this training came a heightened sense of responsibility and expectation for young men. Obedience to parents was paramount. Here, of course, Jesus did not disappoint.
It is also important to note that His extraordinary understanding of spiritual things at this age surprised both the teachers in the temple and his own parents. And, apparently this was a turning point in Jesus’ relationship with His parents. They needed to know Who He really was. And from this point on they began to develop a clearer understanding of that (“but His mother carefully kept these things in her heart”).
“And Jesus grew in wisdom and, as He got older, in favor with God and man.” (Verse 52) The word “stature” is found in some translations where you see “as He got older” above. The original has aion and is a reference to time. Using “stature” is not necessarily bad, as it conveys the idea of Jesus growing up. Either way, the point is that, as He got older, He grew in His relationship with His Father and was well liked by others, no doubt due to His character and demeanor. We can assume that He stayed with His parents for another 18 years until He was almost 30, according to Luke 3:23.
When considering Jesus’ childhood, this question comes to mind: what did He know and when did He know it? It is difficult to know the answer to this with much certainty or detail. However, our first clue is found back in verse 49, when Jesus makes reference to his “Father”. We know He was not speaking of Joseph. So, Luke’s revelation of just what Jesus knew and when He knew it begins. As Luke’s Gospel continues we see from time to time statements that tell us at least some detail regarding what Jesus understood about Himself (see 4:43; 9:22; 13:33; 17:25; 24:7, 25-27, 44 for some examples)