Day 26 He Grew Up

52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. Luke 2:52 English Standard Version 

I had a pleasant childhood. Oh, there were trying moments. I could have passed on zits. Skipping those awkward times learning how to tell a joke or story would have been nice. I wouldn’t have missed avoiding all of the seventh grade. But the reality of my growing up was quite good. As an officer and now teacher, I deal with children that suffer greatly. Their childhood is unfolding in very dark directions. They often suffer because of what others, frequently their parents, choose. Most of my memories center around good times. Growing up in Abilene was fairly benign. 

We do not know much about Jesus’ youth…very little. Scripture provides a handful of details. Even though we’d love to know more, God chose to keep most of that to Himself. One of the things that we do know is that Jesus learned. The creator truly emptied Himself. He set aside the vast knowledge required to create and operate the universe and learned. Luke records that Jesus “grew in wisdom.” The inventor of gravity had to learn how to manage to navigate with two chubby uncoordinated feet. Imagine Jesus, Immanuel, learning to use a fork and spoon, how to use a privy. Sometime around the age of five or six, Mary would deliver him to the synagogue school in Nazareth where He would learn to read and write. All those experiences common to school were common to Him. He “grew in wisdom.” Luke records the temple experience, which indicates that Jesus was an exceptional student; but He was still a student. The incarnation was complete. When we celebrate Christmas, advent, we celebrate God becoming an infant, toddler, boy, teenager, youth, and then a young man. But it all starts with Him giving up, setting aside, all that power and expertise. He limited Himself to draw near, to be with us, to be one of us. Immanuel…God with us.