Lessons From Jesus' Childhood

Greetings this morning in Jesus' name. Blessing to be gathered together here again this morning. I also appreciate the things that have been shared thus far.

Do we really understand who Jesus is personally? I appreciate the challenge that Brother Thomas brought to us this morning. How do we see Jesus? I'm hoping we can learn some more from the life of Jesus this morning as we look into his word. Before we get into that, can we stand together for prayer? Dear Lord Jesus, we come to you in Jesus' name.

We thank you for the opportunity we have to look into your word and to see the beauty of the life that you live here on this earth. I pray, Lord, that you would speak to our hearts through that again this morning. Pray that you give me the words to share.

I pray, Father, that your presence would be here and that you would speak to our hearts. We just commit this time into your hands and we pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.

You may be seated. Today we would like to do a study of a very important part of Christ's life that is often overlooked. And probably because there's not a lot that the Bible has to say about it.

And that is the time of Jesus' childhood. So now the reason I say that it is very important is because the things that happen or do not happen in the period of our life from infancy to adulthood, those things that happen or do not happen have a tremendous impact upon our lives and set the course and the trajectory of our lives. Now, that trajectory can be changed.

God can intervene. But our childhood has a tremendous influence upon who we are and who we become. Our perceptions of the world around us are shaped by our personal experiences growing up as a child.

We learn how to relate to our peers. We learn how to relate to those who are in authority over us. And we learn how to relate to society in general through the relationships that we experience at home or at school, in the church, in society.

And the same was true for Jesus because he was fully man, even though he was fully God. And that is a mystery that I do not claim to fully understand. But Jesus was fully human, but also fully divine.

So the title for the message this morning is simply Lessons from Jesus' Childhood. We're going to spend most of our time in Luke chapter 2. But first, I'd like to turn to Matthew chapter 2, beginning in verse 19. And we're going to pick up where we left off several weeks ago when I last preached on Jesus' life.

And while you're turning there, I just want to make a couple of comments concerning this time period of Jesus' life. You know, there are other writings out there that claim to give more details about what happened when Jesus was a child. Particularly, there's an ancient writing called the Infancy Gospel of Thomas.

And that writing claims that Jesus performed miracles as a child. For example, there was clay birds. I forget if he had fashioned them or someone else had.

And he supposedly breathed life into these birds that were formed out of clay. And they came to life and flew away. He also supposedly healed his brother at some point.

I believe that writing is totally spurious. And the reason I say that is it contradicts what the Word of God has to say about it. In John 2.11, we have the account of Jesus turning water into wine at the wedding in Cana of Galilee.

And it says this was the beginning of miracles. What's he saying? This is the first miracle that Jesus performed. Also, later, after he had gone into his ministry for a while and he came to his hometown of Nazareth, the people of his hometown were amazed at the things he said and the miracles he was doing and said, is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph the carpenter? We know who this person is.

He's been among us. He grew up among us. And they had never seen this before.

So, I don't believe that these other extra canonical accounts of Jesus' childhood are anything that we should put any stock in. So, let's stick to the Word of God about Jesus' childhood. And like I said, it doesn't have a lot for us to, it doesn't share a lot about his time as a child, but it does have particularly one account and a few comments about that time.

So, we want to learn what we can from Jesus' time as a child. So, where I had left off the last time was Jesus was in Egypt with his parents. They had fled from Judea because they'd been warned that Herod was going to seek to destroy the life of this young child who was no longer a tiny infant, probably a toddler at this point.

So, we'll pick up in Matthew chapter 2 verse 19 and read to the end of the chapter. But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, Arise and take the young child and his mother and go into the land of Israel, for they are dead which sought the young child's life. And he arose and took the young child and his mother and came into the land of Israel.

But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither. Notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee. And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, he shall be called a Nazarene.

So, this begins here with the death of Herod, which occurred probably in 4 BC. As I mentioned last time, the dating BC, Jesus was actually born probably around 5 BC, even though BC means before Christ, but that was due to errors in calculation when the current dating system was developed. Now, my chronological Bible by Edward Rees dates that Herod's death was only nine days after Joseph fled into Egypt.

Now, I have no idea how he came up with that, and so I don't know that it's accurate, but it's what he figures happened. It probably wasn't a long time. It may have been several days, perhaps it was several months that Joseph and Mary sojourned in Egypt with Jesus.

Herod died in Jericho after a very painful, putrefying disease and illness that he finally succumbed to, and the pain of his illness led him to attempt suicide by stabbing, but a cousin that happened to be there prevented him from carrying that out, but he did finally die. Herod had, like I mentioned the last time, Herod was a cruel man, ruthless, and I'm not sure what his reasons were, but just shortly before his death, he had his son Antipater executed, and so Herod, after living a very ungodly life, has passed off the scene, and the way is open now for Jesus to come back to the of Israel, the land of his people, and so an angel came to Joseph in a dream, it says in verse 19, and told him that he can arise and take the young child and return to the land of Israel. So, just as Joseph received clear direction, warned by God to flee to Egypt, now he has given, again, clear direction to return.

The angel assured him that the imminent danger was past. Herod has died. So, Joseph took his young family here and headed back towards Israel, but then he heard that Archelaus, Herod's son, was reigning over Judea and Samaria, and he was afraid to return to there.

He assumed probably that Archelaus would be the same type of person as his father, which he may have been. I didn't study Archelaus a lot. There are other historical records that give us these details, but Herod's kingdom had been divided between three of his sons, Archelaus, Philip, and Herod Antipas.

And Herod Antipas was actually Tetrarch over Galilee. So, I don't know why Joseph would have been any less fearful to go up to Nazareth, which was in Galilee, because one of Herod's sons was in charge of that area as well. But, perhaps it was because it says that, in verse 22, he was again warned of God in a dream, given direction to go to Galilee, to go to Nazareth.

And Joseph obeyed. He trusted that God, as he had directed in the past, he would continue to direct. And so he went there in faith.

It says here that this was a fulfillment of a prophecy that he shall be called a Nazarene. Now, if you will look through your concordance to find this prophecy in the Old Testament, you will have a difficult time finding it. Scholars believe that this is a fulfillment of Isaiah 11.1, which says this, and there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.

You'll find several times in the Old Testament prophecies concerning the coming Messiah, he's referred to as a branch. And, in this particular passage, the word branch is from the Hebrew word nepser, and it's believed that that Hebrew word nepser is where the word Nazareth comes from. And so, this branch here is referring specifically to this place.

It's a bit obscure. However, in all the Gospels, and several times in the book of Acts, Jesus is referred to as Jesus of Nazareth. Now, Nazareth had a poor reputation.

When Nathaniel heard about Jesus, his evaluation was, can any good thing come out of Nazareth? But that's where God chose to have his son raised, in a place of ill repute. It was kind of the backwoods, so to speak, of the Israelites, maybe more of a rougher area. And that's where Jesus was raised.

Isaiah 53 prophesied that this Messiah would be despised by men. And we know that he was despised later in life. The rulers, the religious people hated him, many of them.

But this may also have been applying to his childhood. He was raised in an obscure place, raised in a poor carpenter's shop, by a poor carpenter, probably worked in his shop. Just a lowly situation that he was raised in.

So, that's the background setting for where Jesus grew up as a child, his childhood setting. Let's think a little bit more about Joseph and his obedience to God's direction. You know, he didn't reveal his... God did not reveal his plan to Joseph all at once.

First, he said, go to Egypt. And then, after he was there a while, and here he was going, he said, return to Israel. But it wasn't until after he got to Israel that he was, again, given direction.

Go to Nazareth. You know, God often asks us to take a step in faith. We obey with what God requires of us and is asking us.

And we don't know what the next step will be, but we take that step. And as we take that step, we can trust that he will lead us to the next step. And that's what he did in Joseph's life.

We can't see the whole picture, but God can. I think it's interesting to note this is the fourth time that God or an angel spoke to Joseph in a dream. The first one being when he was told that Mary would bear a son who would be called the Son of God.

So, we can trust God that he will guide us in difficult times. And surely this was a difficult time. I mean, Joseph was very concerned for his family, for the well-being of this special child that God had entrusted to him.

And he felt responsible. He chose to trust God. And he looked to God for guidance.

I've heard the question raised, is it wise for young couples to bring children into the world when there's so much uncertainty in the world scene? And maybe we're about to enter difficulties of the end times. But you know, God has a plan for your life. God has a plan for the life of your little ones.

And so, you can trust him. If God has guided you, surely he can guide our children, too, through life and the difficulties they may face. Well, let's turn over now to Luke, chapter 2. And we'll get more into the details of Jesus' childhood.

Luke, chapter 2, beginning in verse 39. And it says there, And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. So, now Luke leaves out the account of them fleeing to Egypt.

He leaves out the account of the wise men and how they had come. And we know from that account that they had stayed in Judea for quite a while after Jesus' birth. Probably had settled there, got a bit established in a home for whatever reason they had decided to live life there.

But now, because of circumstances, they're returning to they had been before. Verse 40, And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. What a testimony for a young child that that was Jesus.

So, like I said before, Jesus was fully human. He developed physically like any young boy would do. Did Jesus realize who he was from a young age? When he was a little toddler running around the house, did he know he was God in the flesh? That's one of the mysteries of incarnation that we don't know.

It will be interesting someday to ask Jesus when we get to see him face to face some of these things we don't know. It does seem, though, that God or that Jesus limited himself by coming to earth and becoming a man. He took on limitations of the human life that we have.

And yes, there was definitely times, especially in his adulthood, where many times where he broke through those limitations and performed miracles that no man ever has done. And worked in mighty ways and spoke with wisdom that man does not have. But yet, he was limited to his humanity.

And so, he grew. He developed like any human would. It says he waxed strong in spirit.

Not only did he develop physically, he developed spiritually. Now, children usually are not strong in spirit, not naturally strong in spirit. I should say.

Because they tend to gravitate towards gratifying their carnal nature, rather than focusing on spiritual development. Now, Jesus did not have a carnal nature. He did not have a sin nature like we are all born with.

And so, you know, we could say, well, naturally he wouldn't because he was God in the flesh. And yet, Jesus' life was a pattern for us, including his childhood. And there's things we can learn.

And we should seek to follow after his example. As parents, we should be training our children to be strong in spirit. I don't know that Joseph and Mary had to do a lot of training with Joseph, I mean with Jesus, because he was God in the flesh.

I would guess they never had to give him a spanking. Or if they did, perhaps it was because they misunderstood something. Because he never sinned.

He never did wrong. But yet, I believe that they would have sought to raise their children based on their character that we have. We've seen in scripture already, the godly people that they were.

They sought to have a godly home. And I believe that they diligently taught their children the things of God. So we can learn from that to teach our children the things of God.

And I want to encourage us all as parents to do what we can to help our children become strong in spirit. Strong in that which is spiritual. Yes, we want them to develop physically.

We want them to learn. We want them to have a good education. But what is really most important is that they know God and become strong in spirit.

So teach them the things of God. Have regular family devotions, brothers. Instill in your children an awareness of God and a respect for him.

Don't expect the church to provide all the spiritual input for your children. Help your children to develop a habit of personal devotions. This does not need to wait until they come to that age of accountability and surrender their lives to Christ.

When a child can learn to read and can understand enough of his reading comprehension enough to read the Bible, have children develop a regular Bible reading habit. Teach them to pray. Teach them to develop a consciousness of God's presence.

Instill in them the fear of God. Train your children to be strong in spirit. Jesus was strong in spirit.

And it says he was filled with wisdom. As I said before, as creator, he probably understood things that children normally don't. And yet he was limited by his humanity.

So we don't know fully what all his understanding was as a child. But he was filled with wisdom. And again, I'm speaking to parents here.

We should seek to instill wisdom in our children's hearts. Teach them the fear of God. Proverbs 9.10 says, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

And the knowledge of the holy is understanding. To teach our children wisdom, we start with the fear of God. Help them to understand that God sees them.

He knows about them. He sees what they do. Nothing that they do can be hidden from God.

They may be able to hide and cover up things in such a way that we don't see them. But they can't hide from God. Our children need to understand that.

Deal with foolishness, because foolishness really is the opposite of wisdom, is it not? Proverbs 22.15 says, Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. Again, I don't believe that Jesus ever needed this rod of correction, but our children do. In spite of popular opinion, correction by spanking is one of the tools God has given parents to help their children develop wisdom.

Proverbs 29.15 says, The rod and reproof give wisdom. But a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. Reminds me of, I think it was one of the last flights I took.

I believe we were returning from Iowa. My wife and I, we were out there a couple weeks ago. And I felt, in some ways, sorry for the poor mother in front of us with her two little boys.

I say little, they were probably, I don't know, maybe six and eight or something like that. But talk about the squabbling and the fussing that was going on and the irritation and all of that. I don't believe there was the rod bringing wisdom into that family situation.

And of course, that wouldn't be an appropriate place to do it, but there was a lack of training that was obviously missing in that home. One of the boys was insisting on sliding open the cover on the window and the other was insisting on it being closed. You can imagine what that was like.

Anyway, the rod is important. But never, and I say never, spank your child in anger. Many parents are averse to corporal punishment.

And understandably so. We don't like to spank our children and inflict pain. But they still will do it when they're provoked to anger.

Even though they don't like to do it and they get angry enough, it happens. But that is so damaging to the child's spirit. It's much better to calmly take a child who's misbehaving, take them aside to a private place, end in love, maybe even with tears.

Administer discipline. If a child knows that that discipline is given out of a heart of love and a desire to bring about positive change, they will respect it. They will appreciate it rather than resent it.

I know that I am thankful for the discipline I received as a child and the way it guided my life. But it says there the rod and reproof give wisdom. So it's not that every infraction requires the rod.

There's other ways to reprove. But we need to speak into our children's lives. But that may be on the negative side.

On the positive side, give them valuable lessons. Talk with them. As it says in Deuteronomy, as you walk by the wayside, as you go about life, speak of the things of God, give regular godly input into your children's lives.

Instill wisdom in them. Give them good books to read that teach them valuable lessons rather than silly stories that really have no moral to them or little silly videos that really are just entertainment without any substance. There's so much good material that we have available to us to help our children develop wisdom.

I'd like to turn back to Proverbs 4 and look a little bit at the example of David and the wisdom he sought to give to his son Solomon. I think I'll take the time to read the first 13 verses of Proverbs chapter four, and this is an appeal from David to his son Solomon, as recorded by Solomon here. Here, you children, the instruction of a father and attend to no understanding.

For I give you good doctrine, forsake you not my law. For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me also and said unto me, let thy heart retain my words, keep my commandments and live.

Get wisdom, get understanding, forget it not, neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not and she shall preserve thee. Love her and she shall keep thee.

Wisdom is the principal thing. Therefore, get wisdom and with all thy getting, get understanding. Exalt her and she shall promote thee.

She shall bring thee to honor when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thy head an ornament of grace, a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of thy life shall be many.

I have taught thee in the way of wisdom, I have led thee in right paths. When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straightened, and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. Take fast hold of instruction, let her not go, keep her, for she is thy life.

See the heart of David towards his son. We should have that heart as parents. And we may not give them this direct instruction like this, but seek to instill wisdom in the heart of your children, David did, because we want them to prosper.

See the heart of this father coming through here. I want you to run and run well, and I want you to make a difference in life. I want your life to be blessed.

I want you to prosper. Jesus was filled with wisdom, and it says the grace of God was upon him. Grace is the result of wisdom.

Notice here, verse nine of chapter four in Proverbs. It says she speaking of wisdom, she shall give thee shall give to thine head an ornament of grace. Grace comes out of wisdom.

Grace comes from God. As well as wisdom. This phrase here in Luke chapter two, the grace of God was upon him.

That is the first time that phrase grace of God is found in the Bible, but is used 24 times throughout the New Testament. In John 1 17, it says the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. The grace of God came to men through the person of Jesus, and it was manifested in his life even as a young child.

What is grace? Strong's Concordance gives this definition graciousness, especially the divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life. Thayer's Dictionary says that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness, grace of speech, grace is attractive. I believe those around this little child Jesus as he was growing up were attracted to him.

There was such a sweetness and a grace and a lovingness about him. Grace brings beauty and blessing to life like a flower opening to sunshine. Do we want that for our children, parents? I believe we all do.

Instill wisdom, it will be a crown of grace upon them. All right, we're now going to look at Jesus' trip to the temple in verses 41 through 50 of Luke chapter two. Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover, and when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.

And when they had fulfilled the days as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem, and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey, and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.

And it came to pass that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. And when they saw him, they were amazed, and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou dealt thus with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.

And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wast ye not that I must be about my father's business? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them. So here was Jesus going with his parents on their annual trip to Jerusalem for the Passover. It says they went every year to Jerusalem.

Now, this is an indication of the dedication that Joseph and Mary had to the worship of God. To them, the keeping of the Passover at Jerusalem was very important. Now, the law of God, the law of Moses required that all the men of Israel were to gather Jerusalem three times in the year.

Deuteronomy 16, 16 says three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose in the feast of unleavened bread, which is the Passover. And in the feast of weeks and in the feast of tabernacles, and they shall not appear before the Lord empty. So God's law required that all the men throughout the country were to appear once a year or three times a year in in Jerusalem for these major events.

We see here, though, that it wasn't just Joseph who went, it says his parents. So both Joseph and Mary went to Jerusalem, at least for the Passover. We don't know if Mary traveled that distance for each of these three times, but at least for the Passover, she also went along, even though the law didn't exactly require her to.

And so we see her dedication. Mary was a devout woman who loved the Lord and served him. Now, this was no small trip.

From Nazareth to Jerusalem was roughly 75 miles journey. Now, for us, you know, we can hop in our car and we can drive 75 miles in a couple of hours easily, less than that by highway, depending where we're going. But they didn't have a car to ride, probably didn't even have a horse to ride, probably just one foot in front of the other and walked.

Could have been a three or four days journey for them to make this trip. That was a lot of effort, a lot of sacrifice. It wasn't necessarily comfortable.

You know, we just get in our air-conditioned vehicles and we just sit back and relax. Drivers should do a little more than relax, but we go where we need to go, you know, and it's not that hard. You know, we're not worn out when we get there, unless we drive all day.

But, you know, it's a couple hours, no big deal. But no, they walked for four days. These kind of trips were often made in caravans, large groups of people.

This was a big event, so there probably was a large group from Nazareth that was traveling there. They didn't go by themselves. But it was no small thing for a poor family like Joseph and Mary.

But their dedication gave spiritual concerns a priority. So, parents, I ask a question for you. How dedicated are you to the worship of God with his people? When I was young, our church had week-long revival meetings twice a year.

And that was in addition to the camp meeting, which was held during the summertime. We had spring revivals and fall revivals, plus we had a weekend camp meeting in the summer. Our family made it a priority to be there at those meetings every night.

Even though we were in school, we were not homeschooled. We had to get up in the morning and go to school at the same time. Probably had to be at school by 8.30 the next morning.

Late nights every night, but we did it. Why? Because we made the worship of God with his people a priority. Now, I have a question for you.

If we would have a week-long revival meeting, how many of us would be here every night? I think with life moving on, we tend to get soft. We tend to relax and think, well, we're just so busy. We have so many important things to do.

But where are our priorities? It's a challenge I have for us. Joseph and Mary were dedicated, and they made it a priority to travel three or four days' journey one way to this annual meeting in Jerusalem. It was important to them.

So Jesus accompanied them here when he was 12 years old. And it's not clear whether or not this was the first time that Jesus went. It may have been.

Maybe the prior years, the parents went and left their children with other relatives. Very likely. It likely was the first time he was going, but I'm not sure about that.

Here he is, 12 years old. He's entering this time of transition from boyhood to manhood. A child often comes to the age of accountability around this time in his life.

Now, Jesus never sinned, so he never had to come to a point of accountability for his sins. However, it does seem like Jesus was coming to an age where he was understanding more fully who he really was. And this trip to Jerusalem, it seems, was just a very monumental time in Jesus' life, especially if it was his first time, which you think it may have been.

So he was there, and again, maybe I'm reading some into this, but it seems like he was just filled with awe at the privilege of going to the place of worship, the worship of his heavenly father, the temple, a majestic temple. It was one that Herod had built, probably a lot for his own glory, but also to stay in good relations with the Jews. I say he had built it, he had rebuilt it.

I think he had majorly remodeled and expanded the temple that had been rebuilt after the return from captivity hundreds of years earlier. So it was a beautiful place. It was a place of worship.

It says when they had fulfilled the days, they began their journey back to Nazareth, and Jesus stayed behind. This is where he wanted to be. How could Jesus be left behind for a whole day and his parents not realize it? Well, it says they supposed they were with the company.

He was with the others in the caravan. So the whole caravan came down from Nazareth, and most of them returned together. Just consider how much Jesus' parents trusted him to act responsibly in this situation.

They were apparently not together the whole time, and he was probably with his relatives and friends. As the group was leaving, they assumed that he was part of the group. The whole group was going.

Everybody naturally would know this is time to go. But they trusted him that he would act responsibly and be along with this group. Why? Because he had acted responsibly before.

So children, let me ask this question. How many here today are 12 years old? Can you see your hands? Raise them high. One, two.

Is that all? How many here between 13 to 15? Okay, several. Good. Well, Jesus was trusted to act responsibly.

I challenge you as children. Are you learning to behave in such a way that your parents trust you? Do your parents trust you? Why or why not? Is your behavior such that they can trust that you will respect and fulfill their wishes? Parents, are you training your children to act responsibly? Are you training them to learn responsibility early? Are you aiming high? Well, their trust was disappointed in this case, because they had traveled for a day, and they were probably getting ready to find lodging for the night, and they thought they better look for their son. And they looked and looked, and he wasn't there.

Have you seen him? No. Where did he go? And they realized he wasn't with the group. And I'm sure that their hearts sank fast.

So they hurried back to Jerusalem. Children naturally want to spend time with those that they know and love, and so they assume that's where he was, but he wasn't. So, they had spent a day traveling.

Probably didn't travel at night, don't know that for sure, but so probably the second day was spent traveling back to Jerusalem. It took them a day to get where they were. Maybe it didn't take them quite as long to go back.

They were probably anxious and searching as they went, and looking, hoping they would meet him along the way. But they didn't find him. And they got back to Jerusalem.

Now it's day three, and they're searching through the city. I don't know if they went to the place of lodging to see if he's there. They probably were asking his friends and strangers alike, have you seen him? Can't find our son.

It says they thought him sorrowing, meaning in anguish and torment. I can imagine, as parents, what it'd be like. Your son's been missing now for three days.

What could have happened to him? They were probably kicking themselves. Why didn't we make sure he was along when we when we set out? We see here how much they cared. Naturally, they loved him as their son.

But where was Jesus? He was in the temple, dialoguing with the doctors. He was in the temple, the place of worship. As I mentioned earlier, his heart was after God.

This was probably just so thrilling, so much enrapturing for him. He had such an interest in spiritual things. And he's there discussing things with the doctors or the teachers that were there.

Most boys his age were probably out having a good time with their friends or getting involved in games. But Jesus was not going to waste this opportunity in such trivial things. This was just so thrilling to him to be in God's house.

Now, this was the time of the Passover, and there likely were many dedicated men or teachers. First in here is doctors, teachers of the law, teachers of the of the Old Testament prophets and the law of Moses. And being the time of Passover, these rulers of the synagogue from in various places were gathered together here.

There likely were many rooms in this temple, and probably some of those were used for classrooms for instruction. And it could well be that Jesus was in one of these little side rooms in the temple in some class that was being taught by one of these doctors or teachers of the law. It says that Jesus was asking them questions, and he listened to their answers.

He paid attention to what the teachers were saying. He was engaged, since he was hearing them, and he was asking them questions. Obviously, they were asking him questions, too, because verse 47 talks about his understanding and his answers to their questions.

It showed that he understood what they were saying, and he understood both them, and he understood God's law. Those who heard him were amazed. They were astounded that such wisdom was coming from a 12-year-old.

So, I don't know, you know, how much of this is you could attribute to the training and the instruction he had received in his home, which I think was a lot. How much it was simply because he was God incarnate. Again, one of those mysteries we don't fully understand.

But finally, Joseph and Mary found their son, and it says they were astonished when they saw him. It seems they didn't expect to find him there, or they probably would have found him sooner. I don't think it would have taken them three days to find him if they had gone straight to the temple.

But for some reason, they expected to find him elsewhere. And finally, they found him there in the temple. And we see Mary's questioning rebuke.

Why have you done this to us? We've been distressed. And Jesus' response to his mother was almost innocent, childlike. Why were you looking for me? Don't you know this is where I would be? Did you not know that I must be about my father's business? A number of translations say, don't you know that I would be in my father's house? Now, Jesus may have been making a point here concerning who his true father was.

Notice here that Mary said, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. Was Joseph Jesus' father? No, he wasn't. His father was in heaven, and this was his father's house.

He saw God as his father. Now, this concept of God as father is found some in the Old Testament, but is much more pronounced in the New Testament. Many more times, you find God referred to as a father, our father.

Jesus often referred to God as his father or our father. We don't find that concept much in the Old Testament. But seeing God as our father gives meaning and purpose to life.

It gives meaning to young people when they can see beyond the challenges and struggles they face, like Jesus did here, to his heavenly father. If God is our father, then no matter what difficulties we may face, we know that he has a purpose and we can trust him. Well, Joseph and Mary, they didn't understand what he was saying.

It says they didn't get it. It didn't make sense to them. They didn't grasp that Jesus understood the reality of God being his father.

But it says here that though they didn't understand it, Mary kept this saying and pondered it in her heart. Mary kept all these things in her heart, it says in verse 51. Seeing that she pondered it often, she thought on it.

It was outstanding to her, this comment that Jesus had made. This is not the first time we're told that Mary pondered something in her heart. She also pondered in her heart and kept the words that those shepherds shared when they found Jesus lying in the manger right after his birth.

I want to encourage you mothers, ponder in your hearts the plan that God has for your children. I follow Mary's example in this. Well, he goes on to say here in verse 51, and he, Jesus, went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject unto them.

But his mother kept all these sayings in her heart, and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. I want to make note here of Jesus' submission to his parents. Jesus would have loved to continue there and just live there in that temple.

Maybe he thought of Samuel. He probably knew the story of Samuel and how he had been dedicated to God as a young child, and he was taken to the tabernacle, and he dwelt there. He was raised in God's house, and maybe he longed to be like Samuel and just stay there in the temple and be around the worship of his Heavenly Father.

But he didn't. He submitted himself to them, and went with them. Young Jesus had a vision and purpose for his life and his life's calling, but his time wasn't right yet.

He recognized that, and he submitted to that. God's blessing comes when we do things in his timing, and Jesus was acutely aware of this. Several times we see going on through Jesus' life, it says, but his time was not yet come, or his hour was not yet come.

God has a timing. God has a purpose for everything in our lives, and sometimes we are tempted to run ahead because we know what God's call is in our life. We may have a very sense of a clear sense of purpose and a call, and we're tempted to make it happen, but God's timing is always best.

Now, Jesus was young, but as God in the flesh, he knew more than his parents did. As God in the flesh, he had actually created his parents. He had just spent three days proving that he could take care of himself without his parents' supervision, and yet he submitted himself to them, and that's an example for young people today.

Joseph and Mary, though they were godly, they were not perfect, and probably even the way Mary expressed herself may have come across in a way that felt a bit overbearing, but Jesus chose to submit himself to them. One of the Ten Commandments is, honor thy father and thy mother. Many times, young people think that they know better than their father or mother, and Jesus actually did know better than his parents, but he yielded to them anyway.

Young people, let me encourage you. Jesus left an example for you to follow. The command to honor your father or your mother is not based on their performance.

Sometimes youth believe that their parents don't deserve honor, and that well may be true, but it doesn't affect God's command. It's not based on whether or not they deserve it. If a policeman pulls me over for driving too fast or flying through a stop sign, am I going to just tell him off because I happen to know what kind of life he lives when he's not on duty? I don't think anyone here would do that.

It would not go well with you. I think we all know that. So we honor the police, and we honor our president in spite of the things we know that are wrong in his life.

Why? Because God has put them in that position, in authority. We understand that in government. In spite of poor behavior, in spite of even sin that we may be aware of, of those in authority, we subject ourselves to them.

God calls us to that, and the same goes for young people. You know your parents better than most, and you see their weaknesses. You see their failures, and they're human.

They make mistakes. Sometimes they make serious mistakes, but God still calls you to honor them. Sometimes youth excuse themselves because of their pain or trauma, but God doesn't.

God has put authority structures in place, and he blesses those who submit themselves to it. Jesus understood that, and he subjected himself to his parents. As a young man living in his parents' home, honor included subjection, which means putting under, subordinating himself, yielding to, and accepting their authority.

Subjection means to obey. It means to do as asked. Subjection means to yield to admonition or advice.

Subjection means to submit to the desires of someone else. Is that easy? No. I know from experience.

I was a child, too. For some of us, it's easier than others. Some of us are a little more strong-willed than others.

I acknowledge that, but God's requirements are the same. That command to honor father and mother applies to all of us who have parents. It still is incumbent upon me to honor my father and my mother, even though I know their needs, their mistakes, and their failures.

It's not the same as when I lived in their home. The Bible does say that a man should leave his father and mother and cleave unto his wife, and it changes the relationship between him and his parents, but honor is still a requirement. So God calls us to honor and be in subjection.

Those of us who are living in our parents' home, and that's what Jesus did. And what was the result of that? Verse 52, Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man. He developed both physically and mentally.

It says wisdom, and I believe that wisdom is first mentioned here because wisdom is the most important. Developing in wisdom and increasing in wisdom is much more important than developing physically and maturing. Now, that is important as well, but wisdom, as it says in Proverbs, wisdom is the principal thing.

Therefore, get wisdom with all thy getting, get understanding. Wisdom here is a broad term, including intelligence, skill, and godly wisdom. He also increased in stature, which is simply physical development, growing height.

Stature refers to how high a person is, growing taller, and he also was getting older. This is the last glimpse we have of Jesus until he was about 30 years old. Was he in his home and subject to his parents this whole time? We don't know all those details.

The Bible doesn't tell us, but we know that at least for a good long period of time here, he was in subjection to his parents. So, he developed physically and mentally, but he also developed relationally because it says he increased in favor with God and man. And that word favor is the same word grace that we talked about in verse 40, the grace of God was upon him.

Grace and favor is the same Greek word, kharis. God's grace upon his life increased. His communion with God grew and developed.

But not only did Jesus grow in his relationship with God, he grew in his relationship with others, those around him. He increased in favor with men, increased with grace with them, with men. His graciousness won the hearts of those around him and their favor was towards him.

So, in conclusion, young people here today, God is calling you to follow the example of Jesus. In spite of all the needs that may be in your home, as you accept and submit to the guidance of your parents, you can grow in wisdom and in favor with God and man. Parents, God is calling you to follow the example of Joseph and Mary and bring up your children in the nurture and the admonition of the Lord.

There's tremendous potential in this room today. If both parents and young people will apply these principles that we've discussed today to their home relationships, I believe that God will do great things among us. May God bless his word to our hearts today.

Thank you, Brother Nathan. At this time, I will dismiss those that are involved with the music class. Please leave quietly and reverently.

Thank you. We've received much food for our souls today, much good teaching and inspiration, practical instruction. I desire to just say amen and get home and do it and live a life dedicated to the Lord.

Is there anyone that would like to testify or share something here at the end? Raise your hand if so. The coral there in the back. I really appreciate that message.

When Jesus says, follow me, it has practical implications and I think the things that Brother Nathan laid out before us today are some of those very practical things that we can choose if we're going to follow Jesus in these things. But this is God's plan. And when we do, blessing comes into our lives.

And truly, when we learn to be like Jesus, the beauty of God will grow in our lives and will be reflected in us. And so, I just really appreciate having clear practical applications made about what it means to follow Jesus. Because when he says, follow me, it's not just a pie in the sky spiritual idea.

It actually has real life implications. It certainly does. Thank you, Brother.

Anyone else? Go ahead, Ken. I'm just going to say that I agree with what was said this morning and it's a real inspiration. You are welcome to copy this message for free distribution.

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