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*Intro* – Read Luke 2:39-52 – Lu 2:39 is a transitional verse taking us forward from the birth of Jesus.
He tells us in Lu1:2 that he had interviewed eyewitnesses – one of whom had to be Mary herself.
Luke has information that could have come from no other source.
Don’t you wish you could have been a fly on the wall for that interview?
Luke undoubtedly heard many things from Mary, but what he gives us in this passage is the one and only glimpse we have of the childhood of Jesus.
We are curious for more, but this is all the Holy Spirit has seen fit to give us.
We can assume that it is enough.
So, why is it here?
And what does it teach us?
Remember, one great clue in interpretation -- repetition?
This passage has nearly identical bookends.
Lu 2: 40: “And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom.
And the favor of God was upon him.”
That’s Jesus from birth to age 12. Now Lu 2: 52, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”
That’s Jesus from age 12 until our next glimpse at age 30.
They have a common emphasis?
Notice the verbs – “grew”, “became strong” in Lu 2: 40.
“Increased” in Lu 2: 52.
Those words indicate progress -- development.
They show us Jesus as fully human.
In His divine nature, He knew everything; in his human nature, He knew nothing to start.
Think of His divine nature as locked away during His earthly existence.
He never utilized it to any special advantage.
He lived a fully human existence.
That’s why the God says in Heb 4:15 that Jesus “in every respect has been tempted as we are.”
He developed physically, socially, mentally and spiritually – just like we do.
That has some astounding implications.
It’s not difficult for us to picture Jesus growing physically – but to imagine Him knowing nothing?
Harder to get our arms around!
But He learned things.
He matured in character and learned social skills.
And He grew gradually into His knowledge of God just like we do.
That is at the heart of the passage.
Luke also wants to show us that at age 12 Jesus recognizes His own deity.
He learns who He really is, and begins to grasp His mission.
Yet, armed with that staggering information, he continues in submission to His parents.
That’s the main point.
This is not primarily instruction in parenting.
But – there are childrearing principles here I want to examine before we go to the heart of the message.
Prov 22: 6) Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
The Hebrew, as we’ve seen, could be translated, “Train up a child according to his bent” – that is, in keeping with the unique gifting, personality and inclinations of that child.
That’s a heavy responsibility.
It is entirely possible for us with all good intentions to point children in the direction we want them to go, or toward worldly rather than spiritual success – to leave God out of the equation.
Inadvertently we can choke out God’s best for them.
But I see here 5 principles for creating an environment that will help children to discover God’s purpose for their lives that we will examine this week and next.
*I.
Balanced in Approach*
Mary and Joseph must have often wondered, “How does one raise the Messiah?”
He was clearly special, but He didn’t come with an instruction book.
So, they set about as best they knew how to provide an environment where He could thrive by learning, growing, developing.
And interestingly the emphasis is not all spiritual – it’s balanced.
In both Lu 2: 40 and Lu 2: 52 we see that balance.
Lu 2:52 particularly: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”
The word “increase” (προκοπτω) comes from two words – the first means “forward”; the second means “to beat”.
Like a hammer driving a nail with each strike.
It depicts a steady and persistent advance.
So Jesus is pictured as advancing – developing in four areas – wisdom (intellectually), stature (physically), favor with God (spiritually), and favor with man (socially).
Physically, socially, intellectually and spiritually.
And these are mentioned not once, but twice.
Apparently all are important in God’s mind.
Let’s look at each briefly.
*A.
Physically*
In Lu 2: 40 we find that Jesus grew and became strong.
In Lu 2:52 He increased in stature.
He got physically bigger and stronger as the years went by.
Jesus was a man’s man.
He not only grew up, He grew strong.
Later on He had no trouble gaining the respect of the rough-and-tumble fishermen who populated the Sea of Galilee.
And God thought that His physical growth was important enough to record in His Word.
So, we might ask ourselves, how do we insure the physical development of our own children?
Well, food is a primary contributor, isn’t it?
We need to insure that our children are eating -- and eating right.
If we are going to do our best to grow children physically, we need to know and teach them the things that are good for them.
Not everything is.
We have a generation of fast-food addicts often driven by hectic parental schedules.
But can we let that be an excuse for allowing our children to overindulge on things that are bad for them?
Give your kids a head start by minimizing the sweets and fast foods and soft drinks and maximizing a balanced diet.
Growing strong also involves exercise.
During His three year ministry, Jesus walked thousands of miles around Palestine.
He could keep up with anybody.
So, kids need activity that will develop their stamina and build strength.
Sports can help if the children are interested.
Not all are, but generally there is some kind of exercise that does not seem burdensome to them.
The Bible also advocates work.
Look with me at Mark 3:1, “He went away from there and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him.
2 And on the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astonished, saying, “Where did this man get these things?
What is the wisdom given to him?
How are such mighty works done by his hands? 3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?”
The hometown folks knew Jesus as the carpenter.
That will tell you a lot about how He grew and got strong.
He was working, no doubt from his youth.
It’s good to teach children to work.
Work and exercise get kids away from TV and video games for awhile.
I’m not against those, but if we’re are going to grow a children who are strong physically and mentally, we are going to have to put limits on those things.
There is so much to say here.
Kids need sleep.
They need to be taught there are things that can harm their bodies, and that they are responsible before God for their body.
We all are.
The principle is in I Cor 3:16-17, “16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him.
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