Favor With God And Man Series

And then many believe the most brilliant child prodigy alive today is Kim Ung-yong, born in 1962 in Korea. He was talking at five months, writing at seven months. His IQ is estimated higher than any other. When he was four years old he was fluent in Korean, English, Japanese and German, and he was solving intricate calculus problems on Japanese television before his fifth birthday.

And finally, with all humility, I would like to add my name to the list. After all, I often hear people acknowledge that I have a prodigious knowledge of all things when they say to me, “Oh Freddy! You’re such a Know-It-All!”

Seriously, the children I have just mentioned are amazing children. But all of these children’s amazing abilities fade into the distant background in comparison to the abilities of a child named Jesus. In just a few verses Luke records for us the only account we have of Jesus’ entire childhood. No human prodigy, no measurable IQ could even come close to the mind and ability of Jesus.

Lesson

Today, I would like to show you that the human Jesus grew in the ways that all children do, each step of growth preparing him to fulfill his Father’s eternal mission.

I. Jesus Grew as a Child (2:39-40)

First, Jesus grew as a child.

Luke notes that after the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem when Joseph and Mary had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth (2:39).

I want you to notice that Joseph and Mary were utterly obedient in their devotion to God. Luke simply says that they had “performed everything according to the Law of the Lord.” In other words, Jesus grew up in a godly home. His parents loved God and sought to be obedient to all his commands. And it was in that context that they raised Jesus.

I also want you to notice that Luke implies that Jesus’ family returned to Nazareth shortly after his birth. They had enrolled in the census in Bethlehem. Jesus had been circumcised and given the name “Jesus” on the eighth day after his birth. His mother’s purification had been carried out. As the firstborn, Jesus had been presented and dedicated at the Temple, where he had been blessed. It is entirely possible that the family travelled to Nazareth only a few weeks after Jesus’ birth.

Luke makes no mention of incidents that are recorded in Matthew’s Gospel, such as the family’s return to Bethlehem where the Magi visited them (2:1-12); of their flight into Egypt (2:13-15); of King Herod’s slaughter of the children under the age of two years old (2:16-18); and of the threat of Archaleus (2:19-22).

All Luke tells us is that the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him (2:40).

The point that Luke makes is that Jesus grew in the ways that all children do, each step of growth preparing him to fulfill his Father’s eternal mission.

The idea is that Jesus grew as a normal child, but it is important to keep in mind that Jesus grew perfectly at every stage of life. I have no doubt that Jesus superseded all the child prodigies I mentioned earlier. Undoubtedly, Jesus had to study all the various subjects that children studied at that time. But Jesus never forgot anything he read or saw or learned. As a child Jesus’ knowledge and understanding grew. He did not know everything as a child, but what he did study, he knew perfectly.