The Childhood of Jesus Christ

Friday, August 24, 2012

“And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him” (Luke 2:40 KJV).

What was Jesus’ childhood like?

In the verses previous to today’s Scripture, Jesus is described as a 41-day-old infant (verses 21-39). The verses after today’s Scripture mention Jesus at age 12 (verses 41-50). Scripture does not mention Him again until He is about age 30, when He begins His ministry (Luke 3:21-23). The Bible speaks much of Jesus’ birth and ministry during ages 30-33, but it is nearly silent about the three interspersing decades. Many speculate what He did during those years (most of these hypotheses are preposterous). Today’s Scripture and its context provide a small, yet definitive, glimpse of Jesus as a boy.

Perhaps the hardest Bible doctrine to comprehend is what theology calls “the hypostatic union,” that Jesus Christ was fully God and fully man. While we cannot fully understand this dual nature of Christ, we believe it without question because the Bible teaches it. For instance, Jesus forgave sins because He was God (Matthew 9:2-6; cf. Philippians 2:6 KJV), yet He slept because He was also a man (Matthew 8:24,25; cf. 1 Timothy 2:5).

Today’s Scripture shows us that Jesus, as a man, matured like we do: He grew physically, and He increased in knowledge. He learned as we do, and He especially studied the Old Testament daily (this is how His Father, God, taught Him, “morning by morning;” Isaiah 50:4-6). Consequently, later on, after today’s Scripture, Jesus, at age 12, knows more about God’s Word than Israel’s elderly religious leaders, who are amazed at His wisdom (Luke 2:41-50)!!

Jesus’ humanity is demonstrated again, between ages 12 and 30: “[Jesus] was subject unto them [Joseph and His mother Mary]…. and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” (Luke 2:51a,52). In short, Jesus Christ’s childhood was undoubtedly the greatest childhood ever lived!! He was always obedient, and He studied God’s Word. Saints, it is this very life that God offers to live in us today if we simply trust Him to do it! 🙂