December 31, 2022: Luke 2:39-40 - The Grace of God was Upon Him
“So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.” - Luke 2:39-40
As in the account of the apostle Matthew, before Joseph and Mary left Bethlehem with Jesus to go to Galilee in Nazareth, Joseph had been warned by an angel in a dream, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.” (Matthew 2:13) Herod the king had sought to kill Jesus and ordered that all male children ages two years and under be put to death. This is what pride, arrogance, and the desire for power does to people: it corrupts the heart and deep into the soul. Why would Herod be fearful if this Child was just like any child? It’s because Herod had heard about the account that people were saying that the magi had come from the East to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.” This Child was unlike any other child who had even been born. Herod clearly felt threatened, and he wanted people to worship him, not this King of the Jews.
Joseph took the Child Jesus and His mother to Egypt, and they stayed there until the death of Herod the king. As they traveled back to Israel, Joseph was afraid to take them to Judea because Herod’s son Archelaus was reigning there. Joseph was warned by God again in a dream not to take his family there but instead to take them into the region of Galilee, to the city of Nazareth. Joseph did, and that is where the Child Jesus “grew and became strong in spirit.”
As a mother, I cherish those years when my children were little, watching them grow and learn and experience new things. I also realized that no one had to teach my sweet little children to sin, for ever since the fall of Adam and Eve, each and every person who has ever been born is born with sin. No one had to teach my children to lie when I asked them a question; no, they just did it. I remember when I was a young child in elementary school and I had found a little round rubber coin purse that had money in it. I took it to the principal’s office to turn it in, but I had secretly kept the money that was inside of it. I remember when the principal had asked me if there had been any money in it, and I had answered, “no.” I must have had a look on my face that told the principal I wasn’t telling the truth, and I believe he asked me again. I honestly cannot remember what I said, but I remember that I had been caught in a lie. It was the first time I had been caught by someone who wasn’t in my family, and that memory has stuck with me all these years.
Yet, there is One who was not born with sin and who has never committed any sins, and that is Jesus the Christ. I can’t imagine not ever committing any sins, for I can’t even go a day without sinning on some way, whether it’s a thought in my head that shouldn’t be or something else.
Jesus must have had a very close relationship with God the Father while growing up. We know from scriptures as He grew older and during His time of ministry that Jesus prayed often to Him. Jesus knew the burden that He would one day bear, taking on the sins of the whole world, and He needed God’s guidance and the closeness that comes by praying to Him. Jesus was surrounded by a world of sinners, and yet, He committed no sin. He provides the example of what it means to be in the world but not of the world. Yes, He lived on the earth, walked among us, was hated by many and loved by few, but He did not become like the world, conforming to what it calls “truth”; no, He stood strong in the word of God, even to the point of death, for He had a purpose to fulfill and He fulfilled it: to offer redemption of sins for all who choose to believe in Him.
When we choose to follow Jesus, we are born again by the grace of God, the grace that was freely offered to us when He went to the cross to bear all our sins. When we are born again by believing in Jesus as our Savior, we are immediately filled with the Holy Spirit within us. This is salvation. We are now called “Children of God.” As a child of God, we take off our old fleshly nature and we take on the nature of Christ. For some this happens rather quickly, but for some of us, including me, it’s a process that can take many years, even a lifetime. This is sanctification, when we are set apart from those in the world who have not been born again. As we become more like Him, we grow in wisdom by reading God’s word and praying to Him daily, and the more we do it, the more we desire it, for it is the bread of life.
Years later, as Jesus lay dying on the cross after having been scourged and beaten - to the point that He became unrecognizable - by the ones He came to save - all of us - He prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Oh, what kind of love is this that even while dying in extreme agony, He prayed for us sinners! Will you seek Jesus while He still may be found in your life, before you take your last breath here on earth and enter your eternity? Will you accept His free gift of salvation from all your sins? If you are not saved, I pray you do not let another year, month, day, hour or minute go by without turning to Him.
I give you Jesus’ words He spoke to Nicodemus, a Pharisee and ruler of the Jews when Jesus told Him that no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born again:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned, but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” - Jesus Christ; John 3:16-18 ✝️