Rev Dwight Fletcher | Lessons from Jesus’ life

Last week, we began this series by looking at the early years of Jesus’ life, and we discussed what life would have been like for Jesus as a typical Jewish boy. This week, we will look at how Jesus matured as a person and what we can learn from Him. Luke 2:51-52 (NKJV): “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and men.” Luke mentioned this twice, so it is important. The first thing that this confirms to us is that:

1.JESUS ACCEPTED THE LIMITATIONS OF HUMANITY

Jesus Christ the eternal Son of God had infinite power in Heaven, but on Earth, He was limited to what all human beings are limited to. Paul said it this way in Philippians 2: 6-8: “Though He was God, He did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, He gave up his divine privileges; He took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When He appeared in human form, He humbled Himself in obedience to God … .”

Jesus was born sinless, but other than that, He was as human as you and I are.

Luke may be pointing to the fact that as human, Jesus identifies with our lives so what He achieved as a human being is achievable for us also.

2. GROWTH WAS REQUIRED IN ALL AREAS OF JESUS’ LIFE

Jesus was the incarnation of the Living God, the Son of God, but the incarnation was such that growth was a necessity in His life. He grew just like every other child must grow. If He had to grow, we must grow also. Today, we will look at two of the five ways in which He grew.

i. Jesus grew in stature (physical development)

For some of us, it is incredible to think that God the Son, while on Earth, would need to exercise and eat healthily. It is incredible to think that Jesus would have played games like other children. He went through the normal developmental cycle that everyone else goes through. It seems that the same ‘absentmindedness’ that tweens have, he had at 12 when He was left behind in Jerusalem (Luke 2). He did not seem to consider the time or how His actions would have affected his parents He was so focused.

ii. He grew in wisdom (intellectual development)

Wisdom is applied knowledge, so before you can acquire wisdom, you must have knowledge. So as Jesus developed in knowledge, He also developed in wisdom. Hebrews 5:8 (NLT) states: “Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.” Jesus was fully human, just like we are, and a big part of being human is the learning process. Luke is stripping away from us any unrealistic opinions of Jesus’ humanity.

Although He was the Son of God, He had to learn Torah (first five books of the Bible), learn theology, and learn obedience just like we do.

Jesus did not know everything while He was on earth:

• In Mark 5 about the woman with the issue of blood, Jesus didn’t know who touched Him

• In Mark 13:32, Jesus confessed that He did not know the timing of certain events in the future that the Father alone knows.

If Jesus needed to learn, then you and I need to learn. We, too, must apply ourselves to learning and ensure that we make the right choices to ensure that our bodies and mind can grow and mature in a healthy way. Next week, we will look at three other ways that Jesus matured as a human being and how we can mirror His example.