January 7, 2023: Luke 2:51-52 - Jesus, A Time of Preparation
“Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” - Luke 2:51-52
Joseph and Mary started their second trip from Jerusalem back to Nazareth, this time with their twelve year-old Son, Jesus. The first time that Joseph and Mary left Jerusalem, where they had attended with Jesus the Feast of the Passover, Jesus had lingered behind in Jerusalem, unbeknownst to Joseph and Mary. After discovering He was not with them, they returned to Jerusalem and found Jesus sitting in the middle of the temple with the Jewish teachers listening to them, asking them questions, and astonishing them with His own answers. Now, Joseph, Mary, and Jesus had returned to their home in Nazareth. This is the last time that the Bible mentions Joseph, and nothing else is mentioned of Jesus until He begins His ministry at the age of 30. (Luke 3:23)
In this brief passage of Scriptures in verses 51 and 52, we learn of three critical points:
Jesus was obedient to His parents: The fifth of the Ten Commandments as given by God to Moses to give to the Israelites says, “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you.” (Exodus 20:12) Although Joseph was not Jesus’ heavenly Father, he was His earthly father, and Jesus obeyed him. Here was Jesus, the Son of God, who came to earth, perfect in every way and without sin, who knows the end from the beginning, and yet He lived a simple life with His earthly parents and His siblings, likely learning the same trade that Joseph practiced to support his family. Jesus provided the model for all of humanity to honor our parents. When we aren’t obedient to them, we are not obedient to God. Jesus was always obedient to God the Father, even to the point of death. Years later before He was crucified, Jesus prayed to Him, “Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless not My will, but Yours, be done.” Jesus was faithful to God until the end, and He is still faithful to Him today. We should take heed to follow His example. (Luke 22:42)
Mary was Faithful Even When She Didn’t Understand: Mary was obedient to God in all that He had promised her, even when it seemed impossible and she did not understand all that would happen or how it would happen. How in the world could she conceive a Child by the Holy Spirit? This had never been done before! What would her husband think of her, what would all who knew her think of her? But God made a way - the way - and He made the impossible, possible. She had in fact conceived a Child by the Holy Spirit, even though she had not ever known Joseph, her betrothed husband at the time. She trusted in the Lord with all her heart. Now, watching her young Son growing physically and in wisdom, she remembered and kept all the things God had told her and all that she had experienced in her heart, never forgetting them.
Likewise for we who believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior, while we may not understand all that is happening in the world and to us, let us remember His word and keep His word in our heart, for His word has told us things that will happen hundreds and even thousands of years before they have happened or are yet to happen. When the world doesn’t make sense, let us do what Mary did and as Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.”Jesus Grew Not Only Physically but Spiritually: During the time when Jesus was age 12 through 30, the Bible tells us nothing more except that He increased in stature and in wisdom, and in favor with God and men. As any parent knows, the teenage years can be a challenging time for parents as their children begin to grow up and learn about the world. They begin to push back against their parents and begin to form their own opinions of things, especially as they go through puberty. Like all humans, Jesus went through puberty and experienced the range of emotions that goes along with it. However, as mentioned earlier, He was subject - or obedient - to His parents.
During this time period, Jesus also grew in wisdom, and likely this is pertaining to all things spiritually, of the word of God. During His three days in Jerusalem at the Jewish temple, where He had talked with the Jewish scholars, they had seen something different about this young Man, something that astonished them. Jesus would begin His ministry 18 years later, and this time period prior to that was likely a time of preparation, to know what it means to be human, to know what it means to be tempted and yet not give in to sin, and to remain faithful not only to His earthly parents but to His heavenly Father.
Similarly, our time here on earth is a time of preparation for us, as those who are called Children of God because we have accepted Jesus as our Savior. As that time for Jesus was preparing Him for something so much bigger, our time here on earth is preparing us for something so much bigger, a time when we leave this place called earth, when we leave our temporary shells that contain our physical bodies, and we are called up to Jesus, where we will receive our glorified bodies, and will be with Him. During this time of preparation, let us grow in our wisdom by reading and hearing His word for ourselves, letting the Holy Spirit increase our knowledge and understanding of it. Let us search the Scriptures for ourselves so that we may know the power of God.
While we may not understand all that will happen and the order and timing of when it will happen, we do know that it will happen. Why? Because the Bible has a 100% accuracy rate of fulfilling prophecy. Just as Mary kept all those things in heart, so should we. Let us remember Mary’s song she sang before she gave birth to Jesus:
“And Mary said: ‘My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior. For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant; for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed. For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is His name, and His mercy is on those who fear Him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He has put down the mighty from their thrones, and exalted the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. He has helped His servant Israel, in remembrance of His mercy, as He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever.’ ” (Luke 1:46-55) ✝️