Luke chapter 2, beginning at verse 39, And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him. May the Lord bless the reading and the hearing of His Word this evening. Now, we've noted throughout our study in Luke chapter 2 that the information that we find here about the birth and the childhood of Jesus is unique among the four gospels. John, besides, he's going to tell us things from a heavenly perspective, if you will, from an eternal perspective, a divine perspective. Matthew chooses to recount the events from Joseph's point of view. But Luke here helps us see the events through the eyes of Mary. And it is very important for our understanding of who Christ is. Now last week we considered how verses 39 through 40 serve as a transition in Luke's account in chapter 2. They take us from Christ's consecration in the temple to another incident that occurs 12 years later. And this transition passage tells us that the family eventually settled in Nazareth and describes then in general terms how it is that Jesus grew and developed throughout his childhood. Now, we talked about the fact that some critics make a fuss over the fact that Luke doesn't say anything about the visit of the Magi or the flight to Egypt. But Luke has carefully chosen the things that he wants to concentrate on in his gospel. And what's more, the facts of Matthew and Luke harmonize beautifully. There's no reason to say what's already been said. The redundancy is not necessary. Now the gospel writers, as we said, aren't trying to chronicle the life of Jesus with every detail and every event. They're communicating the gospel, the good news of God's salvation that comes to us in the person and work of Jesus Christ. And so while the gospel accounts are historical, they're not mere histories and we can't look at them that way. Luke has an agenda. Luke is a true believer and he's writing not to provide factoids but to give us a clear declaration of the good news of salvation. And so Christians should never be embarrassed by the bias that's in the Gospels. Listen, if Luke had tried to write some neutral, dispassionate account to try to be some kind of disconnected observer, he would be betraying a complete lack of integrity. Because these are things that Luke believes in his heart of hearts. And so to write from any other perspective would be disingenuous. If you believe that Jesus is the Christ and the only salvation for the world, then you would be less than genuine. You would have no integrity unless you presented it with great passion, unless you presented it as the truth. So Luke isn't trying to tell us everything. That's not the point. But everything he does tell us is for a reason. The details in the account are explicit in their theological purpose. And that's what we should focus on. So when you read these transition verses carefully, what we find then is that there is nothing in Luke's account that contradicts the fact that Jesus was visited by the Magi and that he was taken to Egypt for a brief period of time to escape the wrath of Herod. Luke doesn't say they went to Nazareth immediately after these things had been performed. And so the point of the passage, quite clearly, is that they didn't leave the region until they had completed everything the law required. That's what Luke wants us to see. And so the emphasis in Luke isn't about when they settled in Nazareth. The focus isn't on the timing of their return. It's on the fact that they didn't return until they had completed all the duties of the law. So the emphasis is on the fulfillment of God's law, not of the religious leaders, but the law of the Lord, as he says. And it's very important. That's Luke's favorite phrase with regard to the law in chapter 2. It's the law of the Lord. Now, this is in fact how Luke begins the section that deals with Christ's consecration, because in verse 22, as we looked at last week, Whenever they take Jesus into the temple, they are doing so to perform all that the law required. That's what Luke says. And two more times in that portion of scripture, he stresses the satisfaction of the law. And then he closes the section by telling us that all the duties of the law had been completely fulfilled. Folks, that's an emphatic repetition, and Luke wants to make sure we don't miss the point. Joseph and Mary raised Jesus in a home that was piously committed to the fulfilling of God's law. Their adherence to it was meticulous. It's not legalism, it's devotion, devotion to God. And so Luke's point every step of the way is that each aspect of the law was kept perfectly. Though Jesus was made subject to those rights, as we looked at last week, He didn't need to be. He didn't need circumcision or purification or consecration, because unlike us, He was without sin. So Jesus did this for us. Jesus was our substitute, our representative. He was in our place, if you will, submitting to every ordinance of the law, fulfilling it on our behalf. He satisfied all righteousness that we might be accepted before God. And not only that, He went beyond the law and in the cross achieved the reality to which each of these shadows pointed. We also see Christ's substitutionary work in the condescension pictured in Luke. Remember we talked about that. Jesus descends from glory into the womb of Mary. He enters the world in the city of David and he's consecrated in the temple where God meets with man. But the condescension isn't complete yet because it continues as he finally settles in the despised and lowly village of Nazareth. And there Jesus came to identify with you and I, the lowliest of men. And then at age 12, Jesus is already beginning His reascension as He makes His way back to His Father's house. And as our substitute, He demonstrates for us that man's place is in the presence of God. Now, of course, Jesus isn't going to stop there. He's going to eventually reascend all the way from whence He came. but He's gonna take us with Him. He's going to open the way for all of us into the Father's eternal presence. And so this is an important doctrine, the doctrine of the substitution of our Savior. Now as we continue this evening, thinking through Christ's substitutionary work in light of what Luke says about the childhood of our Savior, let's remember then in verse 39, we find that the law was fulfilled and the only sinless one ever born to this earth. We also learn that the Son of God was then made to identify with the lowliest of this world as He is made to be reared in Nazareth. And all of this was for a reason. As we've said, everything Jesus did, everything that He experienced was as our representative. All that He accomplished, all that He endured was on our behalf. And now we come to verse 40. And here, Luke tells us how Jesus, as our substitute, passed through the usual stages of childhood. And yes, once again, Jesus lives through this for us, on our behalf. This is important. Why didn't Jesus just come to earth fully grown? There's a reason, and this is important. Now, I think to think through this properly, we need to take a moment and reflect on childhood. We don't often do that. But childhood is more difficult than we often acknowledge. Now, I mean, as adults, it's easy for us to forget the angst and the uncertainty that come with growing up. But it's all too real to those who are in the midst of it. You know, we tend to, at this point, remember the good times, the carefree days, don't we? We long for our childhood again because of the lack of responsibility. And how many times have you heard adults look at children and say, listen, you don't know how good you've got it, right? You're given food to eat. You're given a place to sleep. You're given the clothes that you wear. You don't have to worry about mortgages. You don't have to worry about groceries or utilities or taxes. You don't have to face the stress of finding or keeping a job. You don't have to deal with failing transmissions or plumbing repairs or any number of pressures that come from living in this hostile world. And so often adults tell children, you got it made. And in one sense, that's true. I mean, of course, here's something to remember, folks. Not all of that stress is necessary. We long for a day when we didn't have so much stress, but sometimes we put stress on ourselves, and God forbid, shame on us for complaining, because it's our fault. Some of this is self-imposed. Some of it's imposed on us by the expectations of others. Listen, folks, the American dream isn't necessarily synonymous with godly living. It may come as a shock to you, but it's not. We could do well without most of the things that we think we need. The Bible says, having food and clothing, let us therewith be content. God forbid, shame on us for not being content with God's blessing, right? But that's another issue altogether. I just want to point out that sometimes we tell children that, listen, you should enjoy your time because when you get to be an adult, you're gonna have all these pressures. And some of the pressures we're telling them about are pressures they don't need anyway. Remember that. But anyway, my point tonight is children, so let's get back to that. But yes, relatively speaking, in those respects, children have got an easy go at it, for sure. But there's a reason that that's the case, because children aren't born with a developed capacity for handling those kinds of things. Being responsible isn't automatic. We're not born mature. Human beings have to grow into that. And it's a parent's job then to help bring that about, isn't it? And what's more, contrary to popular public opinion, at least in America, children are not born pure. We come into this world burdened with sin. As Proverbs says, foolishness is born and bound up in the heart of a child. And that makes our development into responsible, mature people all the more difficult because we've got to deal with that foolishness problem. So my point is, is that as children coming into this world, fallen world that it is, we're handicapped from the very start. Now, while children may have it relatively carefree with respect to certain responsibilities, There are aspects of childhood that are inherently traumatic, and I don't think we give much thought to this. Listen, it's a blessing of God that children don't remember most of their early days. Listen, we come into this world in a violent and disturbing manner. Childbirth is not called labor for no reason, right? And when God tells the woman that she's going to bear children in pain, there's a certain amount of fallout for the children as well. Listen, not only is birth a fierce expulsion from the womb, the child is torn away from the only world it's ever known to this point. And the child is thrust from a warm and cozy and secure home within his mother's womb into an enormous and cold and vulnerable environment of a hostile world. That's traumatic, folks. It's a dramatic expulsion from the safe and the familiar into a vast and dangerous realm of the unknown. Thank God we don't remember it, right? And the world into which a child enters is often a difficult and frightening place. You know, we all enjoy seeing a baby smile in their sleep, don't you? I do. It's beautiful. There's nothing like it. But you know, infants also grimace in their sleep. They also sometimes cry out in terror, don't they? And we don't like to think about those times. We don't know exactly what it is they're experiencing in their minds, but it's no doubt traumatic, right? And in the realm of human experience, there may be no greater fear that grips a person than when he's a child and he thinks he's lost, right? Listen, the parent panics, no doubt about that, but have you ever paused to think about how the child must feel? Listen, Super Walmart can seem like New York City to a three-year-old, right? I mean, they have an insufficient frame of reference for processing that kind of experience. To their minds, it may quite well seem as though they would never see their mother and father again. That's traumatic. Now, folks, I'm just simply trying to get you to think about what we don't often think about. I want us to think about the difficulties and challenges of growing up from a child's perspective. Because we have to face it, all of us, we have to pass through that difficult period. And then, of course, when we get to what we call adolescence, all bets are off, right? As one person once said, you could never understand the mind of a teenager. Even though you had it once, you realize when you came back to your sanity, once you pass those years, it's very difficult now to go back and think like them again. It's a confusing time, it's difficult. So here's my point. When you're a child and you're growing up in this hostile world, there are so many things that are frightening and unsettling to you because you're experiencing for the first time. And this is a world of sin. This is a world of trouble. This is a world of evil. And you know, that's why children can be so dramatic. You know, the present distress may not be the end of the world, but they don't know that. Not yet anyway. Right? And so for the child, many times the things that they experience, this angst, this anxiety, this pain is all too real to them. But here's the point, it's the job then of those who raise those children to put things in perspective for them, right? Listen, as godly parents, we need to draw them away from their sinful self-focus and we need to encourage them to see things in terms of God's good purpose. That's our job, our responsibility as parents. Listen, remember that your child deals with the same sin that you do. but they don't have the benefit of the years of experience that constantly serve for you and for me as a reality check, all right? They haven't got that yet. So as scripture tells us, parents are to nurture and to admonish their children through these difficult stages. It's a challenge, folks, to comfort without coddling, isn't it? It's a challenge to admonish without discouraging. It's a challenge to instruct without being pedantic. It's a challenge to encourage them without validating their sin. But that's your responsibility as a parent. Raising children in the world of sin is not easy. But that's what we're called to do. And if you'll remember that it's not easy for the child either, it's gonna help you be a little more patient and a little more compassionate in the process. That's kind of an aside, but I just want us to think through the difficulty of childhood. We don't often do that. We've passed through it. We've paid our dues. We've gotten past all of that. Let's get on to other things, right? But it's a very real part of the human process, the human drama. And my point is simple here tonight. Jesus wasn't immune from the difficulties of childhood. As Hebrew says, He's touched with the feelings of our infirmity, right? And likewise tempted, always as we are, yet without sin. So Jesus didn't pass from infancy straight into adulthood. Sometimes I think that that's the picture we have in our minds, right? Because we read the birth narrative. Next thing we know, Jesus is an adult ready to take on his ministry. Wow. Easy for Jesus, right? He comes into the world and then the next thing you know, He's an adult and He's in His ministry. Listen, Jesus didn't skip the various transitions or the awkward stages of growth. And Luke makes this very clear. We have to pay attention because it's very brief, but Luke makes this clear. Our Savior passed through childhood as all of us must do. It was a part of His experience as the Word made flesh. He had to grow. He had to mature. Now, of course, the one thing that we can be sure of in his childhood is that he lived through those difficult days without sin. That's the one thing we can be sure of. In that respect, he was the only human being to ever completely avoid all of the pitfalls and temptations of childhood. The only one. There are many. And listen, our children, don't fool yourself, they come from the womb sinning, and they sin every day of their lives. They do. All these innocent little precious children, oh you bet. We come out well conditioned in sin. We know how to practice it from the first breath we draw. This is what the scripture teaches. So this is my point. We don't often think about childhood as a trial. But it is. Childhood exposes the sin that's inherent in us from the very beginning. It's an opportunity to see that we were born in sin and shaped with iniquity. But here's the point. Jesus gained the victory over that chaotic aspect of our humanity. And he did so on our behalf. So with this in mind, I want us to look again at what Luke says about this. His language paints a very vivid picture of Jesus and his development as a child. And if we read it carefully, it's very instructive. So let's read verse 40 once again. Here's what Luke tells us. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom, and the favor of God was upon him. Now, Luke's words are admittedly very few, but he utilizes particular grammatical constructions that give us a sense that there is progress over a passage of time. Luke is a master at this, in fact. Luke is able to take one verse, and he's actually able to, with that one verse, paint a picture of the progress from one stage to the next, and that's what he does here. Now, he gets lost sometimes in translation. But here's the thing I want you to see. Luke is using a grammatical construction here that would draw our attention to progress. Instead of using aorist verbs that indicate simple past action, simply happened, he uses an imperfect tense. And all you need to remember about this is that it intentionally draws the action out. It runs in front of you like a movie, if you will, rather than a snapshot or a picture. So rather than a simple statement of fact that the child grew and became strong, that's the way most of our translations render it. because really it's not all that good of English to render it another way, but here's the point. What Luke wants us to think of is process, and if you were reading it in the Greek, that's exactly what you would see. So we might render it, though it's not that great of an English translation, it does get the point across if we render it something like the child was growing, continually growing, and continually becoming strong. In this short verse, without skipping a beat, Luke links for us Christ's early days in Nazareth to his visit at the temple at age 12. Listen, Luke doesn't leave us hanging. He doesn't leave a gap here. He closes the gap with this one simple verse. The progressive action here summarizes what transpires in between that time. He tells us that throughout those years, Jesus was growing. Jesus was becoming strong. Things were happening. Now, let's look at those phrases very quickly. We'll look at them more, Lord willing, next week. But the word for becoming strong pictures a gradual increase in power and strength. That's the idea. In other words, Luke describes Christ's childhood in terms of a stout and healthy growth. The child grows stoutly and in a healthy way. But this isn't just physical strength he's talking about here. It also speaks of emotional and intellectual firmness. It speaks of resolve. So Jesus, as he matures, as he grows, he also grows in intellectual firmness, in resolve. And you see that resolve as he sets his face toward completing the mission for which God had sent him. Throughout his developing years, he was being made strong. Likewise, the word growing used here pictures more than just an increase in size. It's more than the fact that Jesus just goes from being an infant to a toddler, to being a child, to being a young child, to being a teenager, and then to being an adult. It's more than just that. It refers to developing in ability as well. So this growth then is more than just physical progress. It also conveys the notion of mental and emotional maturing. In some context, the word used in this sense of growing is a growing in reputation, gaining more respect, increasing in importance. And we'll see that in the very next event, that sense of the word also applies. Jesus grew in that way as well. It applies to Christ developing humanity because by the time he's 12, he's going to amaze many, right? So Jesus is going to grow in reputation and importance as well. Luke also tells us that Jesus was being filled to the full. That's one way we could translate it. He was being filled to the full with wisdom. Now biblical wisdom is not the same as intelligence, so don't make that mistake. It's having understanding and then acting prudently in light of that understanding. That's biblical wisdom. So wisdom is more than knowledge. It's being skillful with that knowledge. Wisdom is characterized by insight, by discernment, by sound judgment. It's seeing things as they really are. That's something we need. Most of the time we don't have any wisdom because we look at the world and we don't see things as they really are. Our judgment is clouded by sin. Our judgment is clouded by our own selfishness. We don't see things as they really are. Wisdom lets you see things as they really are. And if you are wise, then you will see this world as existing for the glory of God and Him alone. If you are wise, you will see your purpose here and now as fulfilling His good pleasure, and everything else is subservient to that. That's wisdom. That's seeing things as they really are. Well, this is how Jesus grew, being filled to the full with this kind of wisdom. Wisdom is characterized by this insight, this discernment, this sound judgment, by seeing things as they really are and then knowing what kind of behavior should follow. Once you see things as they really are, then how should you respond? I'm reminded of Francis Schaeffer's famous phrase, how should we then live? He's borrowing from the scripture there. How should we then live, right? That's wisdom. And according to Luke, then even at this tender age, Jesus was being filled to the full with that kind of wisdom. Now this is the description that Luke gives to cover most of our Savior's childhood. Granted, it's not a lot. And with the exception of this one incident that we'll look at at age 12, this is the only picture, the only kind of picture that we're given of those years. It's a general description of how Jesus grows. Luke doesn't provide any details to speak of. As we've said before, he isn't writing to satisfy our curiosity. By the superintending work of the Holy Spirit, Luke tells us what it is important, what is important for us to hear from this passage. Luke tells us what we need to know. But listen, sinful humanity doesn't like to be told no, do they? And so by the second century, and you may, some of you may be aware of this, but by the end of the second century, or the middle of the second century, false writings began to appear claiming to be relating true stories of Christ's childhood. And these alleged accounts, you may have seen them featured on Discovery or the History Channel, something like that. And they're fantastic stories that clearly contradict what scripture tells us about our Redeemer. They picture a boy with unbridled power who often uses his miraculous abilities for his own agenda. But folks, that's not the Christ of the Bible. That's not the picture of Christ's childhood that Luke paints for us here. Let me give you some examples of that. I've put some in my notes so that I could relate this to you because I think you wouldn't believe them unless you hear them with your own ears. In a book entitled, The First Gospel of the Infancy of Jesus Christ, we're told that the infant, that the babe spoke when he was in the cradle. The newborn supposedly looked up at his mom and said to her, Mary, I am Jesus, the Son of God. Now, don't misunderstand me. Clearly that would not be impossible if God so willed it, right? But it doesn't square at all with Luke's account. In his humanity, Jesus had to grow like we have to grow. Jesus had to pass through the same stages we have to pass through. None of us are born with full cognizance and understanding in our natural human mind. It must develop. And Jesus, in order to be our substitute, must pass through that as well. So this is important. In his humanity, Jesus had to grow. He had to become strong. He had to gain wisdom. He had to learn to speak. He had to develop as a human being. And let me read you a passage from another false writing that's entitled, The Infancy Gospel of Thomas. You'll get a little better picture of the character of these writings. Now after some days, Jesus was playing on a roof in the upper story. Now I believe this story relates to Him at about age five, I think. But anyway, after some days, Jesus was playing on a roof in the upper story and one of the children who were playing with Him fell down from the roof and died. And when the other children saw it, they fled, and Jesus remained alone. And the parents of him that was dead came and accused him of having thrown him down. And Jesus replied, I did not throw him down. But they continued to revile him. Then Jesus leaped down from the roof and stood by the body of the child and cried with a loud voice, Zenon, for that was his name, arise and tell me, did I throw you down? And he arose at once and said, no, Lord, you did not throw me down, but raised me up. You know, folks, while the scripture reports many, many miracles that Jesus performed, none of them were ever for personal vindication. None of them. They were all performed to verify His identity as the Messiah, to confirm His mission. And there's no record of any miracles that Jesus ever performed before His baptism. None. Even the miracle at the wedding at Cana comes after his baptism. And there, he's not quite ready to embark on his earthly ministry, and that's why he tells Mary, it's not my time yet, right? Woman, what have I to do with thee, right? But here's the point. There's no record of any miracles performed before his baptism. That's when his earthly ministry was inaugurated. That's when the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus. And so the point is, is that all of these accounts are completely out of step with the New Testament. They're clearly the musings of wild imaginations. According to these accounts, Christ's childhood is littered with these kinds of miracles. In one story, Jesus makes birds and animals out of clay and then he animates them. Why? He makes the clay animals walk, he makes the clay birds fly. We're told that people who wash in his bath water become miraculously healed. And Mary plays a really big role in these stories. She's referred to in some of them as Our Lady Saint Mary. In one account, a mother and her daughters come to Mary and ask her to have compassion on them because their brother had been magically changed into a mule. And according to the story, Mary then says to the child, oh Jesus Christ, See, I wrote that down. Oh Jesus Christ, restore according to thy extraordinary power this mule and grant him to have again the shape of a man and a rational creature as he had formerly. And then the text says that immediately the mule transformed into a man and they worshiped. Mary, there you have it. Folks, this sort of thing, as I've mentioned before, if you see that sort of thing on television, don't waste your time, just turn it off. This is absolutely ridiculous. Now, of course, these authors try to make their yarns seem credible. I mean, there are stories of Jesus encountering people as a child that will have another role later in his life, and that's how they try to give it credibility, lend it credibility, because he supposedly heals Judas as a child, casts out demons from Judas. He supposedly meets the thieves that will one day be crucified along with him. So they try to put all of this in to make it seem as though It's more credible than it is. But perhaps the most disturbing thing, the most disturbing feature about some of these apocryphal accounts are those in which Jesus takes vengeance on his enemies. One story has Jesus clashing with his schoolmaster. The teacher tells him, pronounce the first letter of the alphabet. And so Jesus does. But this particular text says that when he does, he then tells the teacher now, or the teacher, excuse me, tells him, now pronounce the second letter. So you've pronounced the first one, now pronounce the second one. And Jesus is portrayed as being sassy. And he tells the teacher, you first tell me the meaning of that first letter and then I'll pronounce the second one. And that text says that when the schoolmaster raises his hand to whip Jesus, it automatically withers and he dies. But listen to this, and I wrote this down because you wouldn't believe it if I didn't quote it. Then said Joseph to Saint Mary, henceforth we will not allow him to go out of the house for everyone who displeases him is killed. It sounds like something from the Twilight Zone, not from Holy Scripture, right? Folks, these accounts are not only fanciful, they're blasphemous. They not only obscure Christ's humanity, they pervert his deity as well. There is nothing of value in any of these. They portray Jesus as sinful and self-serving. It is a projection of their own evil nature on the childhood of Christ. That's how they would behave if they had divine power. You know it's true. Most of you have said the same thing that I have at one time or another. It's a good thing I'm not God. I would have gotten rid of a lot of people a long time ago, right? And this is exactly what this is. But here's the point before we close this evening. From what Luke tells us, and this is very important, Jesus developed just as you would expect a human being to do. His childhood wasn't all that spectacular. Jesus lived humbly, and for the most part, he kept a low profile until the appointed time for his ministry. He passed his days as a child in quiet preparation. Now don't misunderstand me. Jesus was extraordinary. And we'll look at that next week a little more, Lord willing. But Luke's account makes it clear that Jesus lives his childhood as a man. You see? This is the picture Luke paints of Christ's childhood. He's a redeemer who in many respects grows into his calling. Jesus was born into this world as we are. He passed through childhood as we do. And as our representative, he lived his life without sin, and that's the important point. Now what I mean that he came into this world as we do through the womb of a woman. He didn't come into the world as we do through the seed of a man. But that's why he was brought into this world without original sin. This is why he comes into the world sinless. That's the only distinction between Christ and us in his humanity, is that he enters the world without the taint of sin. But he enters the world through a womb as we did. And he lives through the stages of development in his humanity as we do. And as our representative, he passed through all of that without so much as sinning, even once. As with everything else that Jesus did, this too was for us and on our behalf. Each and every one of us sinned immeasurably and innumerably from the time we were born through our childhood and into our adulthood and every day that we live. But Jesus, he passed through all of that for us, on our behalf, without sin. And that's the reason we're accepted before God. We often want to think of Christ's deity and say that's the reason that Jesus was able to do those things. We're gonna look at that more carefully next week, Lord willing. But so many times we just pass it off that, well, Jesus did that because he was God in the flesh. Yes, he was God in the flesh. But Philippians chapter two, which has been abused by some people, does have a profound statement to make. That Jesus emptied himself. Doesn't mean he emptied himself of his deity. But as the King James says, a very good translation, he made of himself no reputation. And Jesus passed through those things, hungering like we hungered, and He didn't succumb to hunger because He was God in the flesh. He didn't succumb to hunger because He obeyed the Father, and He was sinless humanity. Jesus passed through childhood for us, in our place, and He has made us acceptable before God. And to Him be glory forever and ever. Amen. Our gracious Heavenly Father, we are so thankful for our Lord Jesus Christ.