Luke 2:39 When they had accomplished all things that were according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. 40 The child was growing, and was becoming strong in spirit, being filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him. 41 His parents went every year to Jerusalem at the feast of the Passover.
42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast, 43 and when they had fulfilled the days, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. Joseph and his mother didn’t know it, 44 but supposing him to be in the company, they went a day’s journey, and they looked for him among their relatives and acquaintances. 45 When they didn’t find him, they returned to Jerusalem, looking for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the middle of the teachers, both listening to them, and asking them questions. 47 All who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When they saw him, they were astonished, and his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us this way? Behold, your father and I were anxiously looking for you.”
49 He said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 They didn’t understand the saying which he spoke to them. 51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth. He was subject to them, and his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
Jesus was both fully God and fully man. While it is true that Jesus had not inherited Adam’s fallen sinful nature, he, nevertheless had to go through the normal maturing process as he grew physically, intellectually, and spiritually.
In obedience to God’s Law, Exodus 23:15-17, every year Joseph took his family to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. When Jesus was twelve years old he lingered at the temple listening to the teachers of the law and asking them questions. As the Apostle Paul would later explain, “Though he (Jesus) was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant.” Philippians 2:6-7 In this regard Jesus was just like us. Because he had emptied himself of omniscience, Matthew 24:36 as he grew he had to intentionally pursue both knowledge and wisdom. He did this by studying the Scriptures and by questioning his teachers. As a twelve-year-old child Jesus was no threat to the teachers of the Law, even though they were amazed and astonished by his questions and by his understanding. But, as we will see, twenty years later Jesus’ questions and understanding would be such a threat to the teachers authority and power that they would seek to have him silenced.
Do you, like the young Jesus, intentionally pursue God and his Word so that you can grow in wisdom?
Are you actively seeking to grow to maturity in your Christian life?
Believers are constantly urged to examine the Scriptures so that we will be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Romans 12:2 We are urged to pay most careful attention… so that we do not drift away. Hebrews 2:1 Drifting is easy. Think of an untethered boat. Drifting takes no effort, but it does not lead to maturity. In fact, you probably know some Christians who have drifted into conformity with the culture. Romans 12:2 Their lives, pursuits, and aspirations are no different than their unbelieving friends. They are immature like children… tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching, Ephesians 4:14 eagerly following every fad, fashion, and false teaching, rather than boldly standing for the revealed truth of God. They persist in seeing themselves as victims of people and circumstances rather than seeing themselves as the honored children of their Creator.
And now the Church is shrinking from the conflict. Driven from the spiritual realm by the current of modern thought, she is consoling herself with things about which there is no dispute. If she favors better housing for the poor, she need fear no contradiction…But sin, and death, and salvation, and life, and God—about these things there is debate. You can avoid the debate if you choose. You need only drift with the current…The great questions may easily be avoided. Many preachers are avoiding them. And many preachers are preaching to the air. The Church is waiting for men of another type. Men to fight her battles and solve her problems.
(J. Gresham Machen, Christianity and Culture, Create Space Independent Publishing, 2011)