In this text we have the only information about Jesus’ childhood. From it we learn from the example of Mary and Joseph for married couples, and from the example of Jesus for children and for all children.
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The First 30 Years
Luke 2:39-52
The passage we are going to study this morning has always been full of interest to God’s people, because it contains the only information we have about the boyhood of Jesus. Of course, you can find other information from apocryphal books, like the Gospel of Thomas, in which Jesus makes clay pigeons and causes them to come to life and fly away, or gets angry with a boy and causes his body to wither. These accounts are obviously false. The Scriptures tell us that Jesus’ turning the water to wine at the wedding in Cana was the beginning of His signs.
So, what was it like to be the Son of God, growing up in a Jewish family in Nazareth? Well, Luke does not give us much information, therefore, we should examine the little that he does give us to discover as much as we can about the boyhood of Jesus.
Luke 2:39-52 can be divided into 3 sections:
Luke 2:39-40 Jesus from 0 – 12 years of age
Luke 2:41-50 Jesus at 12 years of age
Luke 2:51-52 Jesus from 12 – 30 years of age
Notice also that there are 2 statements that are very similar – 2:40 and 2:52. In both of these statements we are told that Jesus grew physically, mentally, and spiritually. Then, in between these 2 statements, that serve like bookends, Luke gives us one incident in the boyhood of Jesus.
This morning I’m going to expound the text, and try to make clear what is in this story. Then, we are going to spend a good portion of our time in the Word in applying the story to our lives. We will be looking at Joseph and Mary and Jesus as godly examples for our own lives.
1. Jesus: 0 – 12 Years Of Age
2:39 – “When they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord” – Luke is referring here to Jesus’ circumcision at 8 days old, and then his being presented to the Lord at 40 days old. Joseph and Mary observed these Old Testament laws with great devotion and strictness.
2:40 – “The Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.” This verse tells us that Jesus in many respects was like any other boy growing up in Nazareth. Even though He was the Son of God, He was also the Son of Man. Jesus as the 2nd Person of the Godhead had united Himself to a human nature. Thus, Luke is showing us that Jesus was fully human. He grew. He increased in wisdom. Of course as God, He had always exercised the attributes of omnipotence and omniscience. But now He is growing in strength and wisdom.
There is one thing we should note, however. Because Jesus never sinned, nor was born with a sin nature, He was not inherently subject to sickness and death which are the result of the Fall. Therefore, I believe it is safe to conclude that Jesus was never sick, and would never have had to die, if He had not voluntarily assumed our guilt at the cross. So, Jesus would have been an extremely healthy, robust, and strong boy as he grew from infancy to manhood.
However, in addition to growing physically and mentally, Jesus was also growing spiritually. The grace of God was upon Him. Of course, that doesn’t mean that He was a sinner, and thus in need of God’s forgiving grace. It simply means that God’s favor rested upon Him in a profound and special way.
Folks, that’s it. That’s all we are ever told in Scripture about the years from Jesus’ infancy to 12 years of age. We may want more information, but we will just have to learn to be content with what God has given us. If it had been good for us to know more, God would have revealed more.
2. Jesus At 12 Years Of Age
2:43-44 We read this account, and scratch our heads, and wonder how in the world they could have journeyed an entire day without knowing that Jesus wasn’t with them. That’s kind of like all of the family getting in the car and driving from Sacramento to Los Angeles, and just about the time you enter Los Angeles you realize, “Hey wait a minute, Jonathan isn’t in the back seat!” However, our difficulty in understanding this stems from the fact that we think in individualistic terms. In reality, hundreds of people would travel together, often whole villages. By traveling together, they were better able to protect themselves from robbers along the way. It was customary for the women to travel together, and the men to travel together, so that they could fellowship as they made their journey. Probably, Joseph assumed that Jesus was with Mary, and Mary assumed that Jesus was with Joseph. When they finally got their camp and compared notes, they discovered that He was with either one!
2:45-46 The 3 days would include the first day of their travels without Him, the second day of their traveling all the way back to Jerusalem, and then another full day scouring the city of Jerusalem in order to find Him. Can you imagine how frantic they must have been?! I mean, this is every parent’s nightmare. For all they know, He could have been kidnapped or even killed, and they would never see Him again.
2:47 Here we see something of the uniqueness of Jesus, even as a boy of 12 years old. He is drawn to the religious teachers of Israel, and He spends His time listening to them and asking questions. As He does so, these teachers are amazed at His insight, His understanding. As they talked, these teachers must have asked Him questions, and when Jesus answered they were amazed at His wisdom.
2:48-49 We can completely empathize with Mary here, can’t we? If we were in her situation, we would have been out of our minds with worry. However, Mary seems to think that Jesus has done something deliberately wrong to her and Joseph. Jesus, however, seems to be clueless as to why they would be worried about Him. He was simply obeying the leading of His Father, and expected that His parents would understand that He had to be doing His Father’s business.
These are the first recorded words of Jesus Christ, and thus are extremely important. They let us know that at 12 years of age, Jesus knew He was different. He knew that He had a special relationship to God that others did not have. Notice that Mary says, “Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You.” Jesus responds, “Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” Even at 12 years of age, Jesus understands that His real Father is God. Yes, He has a human father, but His true Father is God Almighty.
3. Jesus From 12 – 30 Years Of Age
2:51-52 Oh, wonder of wonders! The King of the Ages voluntarily puts Himself in subjection to mere mortals and obeys their instructions! “His mother treasured all these things in her heart” – This is the second time Luke has told us that Mary has treasured something up in her heart. In Luke 2:19 she treasured the things the shepherds told her. Apparently, Luke is telling us that Mary is treasuring these things up in her heart, so that his readers will understand how he knows this information. Luke has been interviewing people in order to compile this gospel. Since these experiences were so important to Mary, she had treasured them up in her heart and pondered them carefully. Thus, it was easy for her to remember these events and tell them accurately to Luke.
Life Application
Now, for the remainder of our time I want to draw some lessons from the example of Joseph and Mary, and then from the boy Jesus. I’m going to speak to Married Couples, Children, and then All Christians.
1. Married Couples – “Serve the Lord Together!”
Joseph and Mary were a godly couple, and there is much we can learn from their example. Notice from 2:39, that they performed everything according to the Law of the Lord. They were a devout Jewish couple. Obedience to God’s Law was important to them and they were willing to go to great pains to observe it.
Not only that, but 2:41 tells us that both of them went to Jerusalem every year for the Feast of the Passover. Now, it was required that every male Jew go up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Passover, First Fruits, and Booths (Deut.16:16). However, it wasn’t required that women go up. However, we find that Mary went up with Joseph to Jerusalem with Jesus, and perhaps by this time she had other children that made the journey with her. This would not have been an easy trip to make.
Then, also notice 2:43 which says, “and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days.” Many Jewish pilgrims went up to Passover, but only stayed a couple of days. They felt that they could not afford to take that much time off work. It would be a 3 or 4 day journey there, an 8 day feast, and then 3 or 4 days back. All in all, this was a 14-16 day trip. So, what many people would do, is arrive in Jerusalem the day before Passover, then celebrate the Passover, and then go home the day after, and not stay for the entire Feast of Unleavened Bread. However, Joseph and Mary didn’t do that. They stayed the full number of days. Jesus grew up in a devout, godly home, where His parents were in the habit of engaging in public worship.
The lesson we can glean from their example is to serve the Lord together as a married couple. Joseph and Mary performed everything according to the Law of the Lord together. They went up to Jerusalem together. And they participated in the full number of days of the Feast together. If you are married, strive to serve the Lord with your spouse. Go to church with him/her. Perhaps there is some aspect of ministry in your church that you can do together. Pray together regularly and often. Debbie and I seek to pray together daily in the morning. Read the Scriptures together. Make time to read and talk about what you see in God’s Word. Look for opportunities of serving other people together. Perhaps the Lord would use you in counseling another couple who are going through rough times. Perhaps you can make a meal for someone who has just gotten out of the hospital, and deliver it together.
Folks, Christian husbands and wives should make it their goal to help their spouse on their way to heaven. Marriage has the potential for great good or great evil. Either we will help our spouse on their way to heaven, or we will lead them nearer to hell. What kind of an influence are you having on your spouse? Jesus loved the church and gave Himself up for her that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy and blameless. Men, are you loving your wives, with a goal to her sanctification? If your wife is not flourishing in her relationship with God, perhaps we need to take some of the responsibility. What are we doing to help her grow in Christ? Are we encouraging her, reading the Scriptures together, taking the initiative to pray together, and seek the salvation of friends and neighbors together? If your husband or your wife feels that God is directing him/her to some kind of service, encourage them to do all God’s will!
How are you doing in your marriage? Do you serve the Lord together? Do you read and pray together? Do you talk to each other about the things you are learning? Do you encourage your wife to go on that Ladies’ Retreat, and happily pay for it? Do you buy her Christian books that will help her to grow spiritually? Oh, let’s learn from the example of Joseph and Mary in this regard!
2. Children – “Search For The Truth” – “Submit To Your Parents”
Search For The Truth
Kids, listen up now. I have something especially for you in this sermon. When Joseph and Mary finally found Jesus, where was He? Was He getting into trouble with other kids His age? Was He idling away His time? Was He playing video games hour after hour? Was He hanging out with evil kids? No, He was in the temple, sitting in the midst of the religious teachers, hearing and asking questions. What do we conclude from this? We should conclude that Jesus had a tremendous thirst for spiritual truth. He loved the truth, sought the truth, and spent his time with others that He might know more truth. Rather than hang out with kids his own age, Jesus would rather spend time with those from whom He could gain knowledge.
The Bible tells us that we are to follow the example of Jesus. 1 Peter 2:21 says, “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps.” Children, what are you like when Mom and Dad aren’t around? Are you a boy or girl of integrity, honest, and true, whether Mom or Dad is watching or not?
Kids, do you have an interest in spiritual truth? When you come with your parents to church, strive to learn something! Don’t sit in church daydreaming. Concentrate! Ask me or your parents questions, if there was something you didn’t understand. Do your best to learn God’s truth. Ask God to make you thirst for His truth. When you read your Bible, don’t just read it as a matter of duty, but long for the pure milk of the Word that you might grow thereby. This Bible contains the truth of the living God. Stir yourself up to search out its treasures! You’re not too young to walk with God and commune with God.
Children, if you are old enough to do wrong, you are also old enough to do right. If you are old enough to read story books and talk, you’re also old enough to read your Bible and pray. Even though you are young, you are still accountable to God, and you, like the rest of us, will have to give an account to God for your life on Judgment Day. God is commanding you, like He commands all of us, to repent because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness. Turn to God with all your might, and pray that He would give you a heart for Him all the days of your life.
Submit To Your Parents
Verse 51 says, “And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them.” Now, that’s interesting, because He had just told them that God was His father. If there was anyone who ever had a right not to submit to his parents, it was Jesus. He was the divine Son of God! He made his parents! He was the only child who was older than his parents. Yet, in tremendous condescension He submitted to them. That means that He obeyed them.
Children, you need to follow the example of Jesus here. Just as Jesus obeyed His parents, you must obey your parents. In fact, there is a specific command in the New Testament to you. Eph. 6:1 says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.” Kids, how are you doing when it comes to obedience? When your Mom or Dad tells you to do something, do you do it immediately, with a good attitude? If you do what your parents tell you to do, but do it whining or moping around, that is still disobedience. The attitude is just as important as the action. If your parents tell you to clean your room, but instead you play on your computer, that’s disobedience. It doesn’t matter if you were going to do it eventually. Don’t fight their authority. Don’t argue with them when they tell you to do something. Don’t complain about their decisions. Obedience must be immediate and joyful. If it is not, then you are sinning against the Lord.
3. All Christians – “Sanctify Yourself To Do God’s Will”
This lesson comes from 2:49, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” Now, you’ll notice that the word “house” is in italics, meaning that it is not in the original Greek text. Literally the text reads, “Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s.” The translators are left to supply the word that they believe was intended in the original. Most translations supply the word “house.” The KJV, NKJV, Weymouth New Testament, Webster’s, Geneva, Darby’s, Douay-Rheims, and Young’s Literal supply the word “business” or “things.” We could also have supplied the word “affairs” or “concerns” as well. Bible versions are just about split on whether this should be “business” or “house.” Even if Jesus meant “house” it amounts to the same thing, because if He had to be in His Father’s house, it was because He had to be about His Father’s business in His house. So, for our purposes this morning, I’m going to assume He meant His Father’s business, or affairs, or concerns.
Just as Christ is an example for our children to follow in searching for the truth and submitting to their parents, so He is an example for every Christian to follow in sanctifying himself to do God’s will. Notice how Jesus expresses this. He “had to be” about His Father’s business. It is the Greek word for absolute necessity. He “must” do it. This is how Jesus as a boy of 12 years old felt about doing God’s will. He had to do it. He must do it. He could not not do it.
Now, how do you feel about your Father’s business? Jesus is your example in this as in all things. Zeal for His Father’s house consumed Him. He said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work” (Jn. 4:34). Later in His high priestly prayer Jesus will pray, “I glorified You on the earth, having accomplished the work which You have given Me to do” (Jn. 17:4).
Do you have an inner sense of compulsion that you must be about your Father’s business? We should not feel that we “should” or “ought” pursue God’s kingdom and His righteousness. We should feel that we must do it! Follow in the footsteps of your Lord!
Bridge folks, is doing God’s will the main business of your life? Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven.” Nothing could be plainer than that! Do not assume you are going to heaven, unless the habitual practice of your life is to pursue the will of God! If the habitual practice of your life is to pursue your own will, your own desires, your own lusts and pleasures, you may end up hearing, “Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”
Friends, you can be about your Father’s business no matter what you are doing. If you are working, you can work to the glory of God, by working diligently, and honestly, and speaking of Christ to your co-worker while you work. If you are eating, you can eat to the glory of God, by eating in moderation with thankfulness to God for the gift of food. If you are spending time with your spouse when the kids are in bed, you can do it to the glory of God, by seeking his/her best interests. If you gather with the saints, you can do it to the glory of God, by seeking to use your spiritual gifts to edify and encourage the saints. No matter what you are doing, you can be about your Father’s business. Imitate Jesus Christ in all you do!
However, even as I exhort you to follow Christ’s example, I’m painfully aware that none of us does so perfectly, and that there are many flaws in our efforts to pursue God’s will. So, let me leave you by pointing not to Christ’s example, but to Christ’s atonement. Jesus was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast. All the hearts and minds of the Israelites were focused on the great event of Passover, in which God had passed over the first born Israelites, rather than smite them dead with judgment. In the fullness of time, Jesus Christ Himself would become the Passover Lamb for all who believe. No matter how many flaws or imperfections there are in our service of God and imitation of Christ, if we are trusting in Him, He covers them all in His blood. God will not visit us with judgment, because He has already visited His Son in judgment at the cross. And there at the cross we have been redeemed, set free by the payment of a price.
One day Dr. A. J. Gordon once had stepped out of his church building in Boston, and he noticed a boy walking down the street with a rusty cage with several birds in it. Dr. Gordon asked the boy, “Where did you get those birds?”
The boy replied, “I trapped them out in the field?”
Gordon replied, “Well, what are you going to do with them?
The boy answered, “I’ll play with them for a while, and then I’ll probably feed them to my cat.”
Gordon asked him, “How much would you take for that cage and those birds?”
The boy replied, “Mister, you don’t want these birds. They’re just field birds, and they can’t sing very well.”
Gordon said, “Would you take 2 dollars for the cage and the birds?”
The boy responded, “Well, sure, but you’re getting a bad bargain!”
Gordon paid the boy his $2, and the boy went on his way whistling with a big grin on his face. Dr. Gordon took the cage back out in the back of the church building, opened the cage, and set the birds free. On the following Sunday, he took the empty cage into the pulpit and explained the truth of redemption to his congregation. He told them that he paid the price to free those birds that were in bondage and doomed to destruction. Likewise, Christ has paid the price to free us who were in awful bondage to sin and doomed to destruction. Because Christ has paid the price, you are right with God, in spite of any remaining sin in your life. Oh, friend, seek to do God’s will with all your might, but always remember that when you don’t, you have a Redeemer who has set you free, and you are right with God in spite of your imperfections and flaws.
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