Tuesday
Tuesday
The Hidden Years
And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
Luke 2:52
The graphic account of the loss and recovery of the boy Jesus in the temple precincts is, as we have seen, the only public incident that Luke records between his birth and his baptism. True, the apocryphal gospels try to fill in the gap. But they are all late, dating from the second century and therefore of dubious historical value. They are also either heretical or trivial in content, with one or two small exceptions. Luke’s sober narrative is a welcome contrast.
So what was Jesus doing during those thirty years before his public ministry began? Answer: he was growing, or growing up, and so preparing for his mission. Luke tells us this in two “bridge” verses of chapter 2:
And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.
verse 40
And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
verse 52
Verse 40 is a bridge of twelve years, since in the preceding verse (v. 39) Jesus is still a baby, while in the following verse (v. 41) he has become twelve years old. Then verse 52 is a bridge of eighteen years, since in the preceding verse (v. 51) he is still twelve, while in the following verse (3:1) he has become thirty.
So during the two bridge periods of twelve and eighteen years he was growing physically, mentally, and spiritually. His body developed naturally. His mind expanded as he learned his lessons at home and at school. And he also grew in grace, becoming ever more pleasing to God and his neighbor.
Some people raise an objection here. If Jesus grew in these areas, they say, does it not inevitably mean that he was previously imperfect? No. We are claiming not that Jesus jumped straight from infancy to adulthood but that he grew and that at each stage he was perfect for that stage. For example, to say that he grew in favor with God does not mean he was previously out of favor but that at each stage he pleased God in accordance with his age. To insist on this growth is to guarantee the authentic humanness of Jesus.
For further reading: Hebrews 2:14–18