52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. Luke 2:52 English Standard Version
Occasionally while chatting with
friends someone will ask, “Would you like to go back to your childhood?” Often,
they specify high school.
I always say no. Now you must
understand that I had a great childhood. Oh if you asked on certain days, say
after getting a rejection notice from a girl, I would have bitterly lamented my
fate; but, I really enjoyed my childhood. So many people I know suffered so
much, while I did not. Deprivations and miseries did not mark my days. I seemed
to make it out of high school without too many scars, just enough to say I was
alive. So, why would I not go back?
I would not want to be that
ignorant and inexperienced again. Like everyone else at that age, I did not
know much about anything. As a sixty-two year old man, I’ve accumulated many
experiences and much knowledge. I’m not smarter or wiser than others my age,
but I have learned a few things during my swings round the sun. I would not
want to go backward. Now, if I could be sixteen with the intellect and
experience of a mature adult, that would be fun, but not fair to the other
sixteen year olds. I just would not want to put up with the knowledge deficit. The
incarnation imposed such a deficit on Jesus.
Luke tells us that Jesus grew up.
Of course, he does so with more flair, “Jesus grew in wisdom, stature, and in
favor with God and man.” He got smarter and bigger. Growing in wisdom implies
that Jesus learned a thing or two. Imagine going from awesome to a gurgling
infant, needing the tender ministrations of a young inexperienced mother to
survive. The same voice that brought forth the universe as we know it; now
could not even clearly articulate needs. Talk about a limited vocabulary. Wet
diaper, cry. Cold, cry, Hungry, cry. Afraid, cry. Gassy, cry. Not much
variation there. I remember the guessing game of infant children. He, or she,
is crying. What do they need? Give a quick sniff, no they don’t need a new one
of those. It was try this or try that until we stumbled upon the right thing.
Jesus went through that.
The same voice that articulated the
construct of atoms and shaped galaxies, now could only grunt, coo, and perhaps give
a toothless grin, which by the way, entranced His parents. Imagine, if you can,
the scope of such limitations. Jesus embraced that in order to better know,
serve, and save His lost ones. He became little and ignorant, just like any
other infant. He was nothing special. As the prophet Isiah says, “2
For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry
ground; he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty
that we should desire him.” Isaiah 52:2 Evidently, Jesus did not stand out
in a crowd. Somehow, He grew and learned like any other Jewish boy during that
age. He set aside His form and majesty to help us understand him. What a
comedown!
I wouldn’t want to go back to
being a teenager and the associated inexperience and ignorance; however, Jesus
willingly undertook an even greater diminution. He did so to save you and me. That’s
part of the incarnation. Jesus set aside all the vast experience and power,
becoming an average infant and learning like you and me. During Advent, we do
not celebrate an awesome superpower endowed infant. We celebrate a toothless,
drooly, and totally dependent infant. God became one of us to save us. Now that’s
astounding.
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