MATTHEW 2:13-23;LUKE 2:21-52
Jesus grew up, He increased in wisdom and in favour with God and other people. That's all we know for sure. Everything else is speculation.
Did He play with other children? Did He scrape His knee and run to His mother? Did He wrestle with His younger brothers? Did He ever notice the girl next door and her sparkling eyes?
We don't know.
He grew taller and wiser, and had a way with people. He had a good relationship with YHWH. That’s what we know.
Jesus was born while the family was on the road, and there was something of a commotion immediately after the blessed event of His birth. Angels sang and shepherds came out of the woodwork with a crazy story. Strange travellers from the East showed up to worship the new-born King of the Jews, sending the current king the Jews into a jealous tirade. Babies were killed – at least a few. The family had to relocate to Egypt until the whole thing blew over.
When they returned, they settled in a town called Nazareth, in the hill country of Galilee. Jesus was – in some respects – a hillbilly, Probably had a funny accent and everything!
He would have gone to school, learning to read and write, memorizing portions of the Torah (the Jewish Law). The education system in His neck of the woods was pretty good. He spent time reading and pondering words from Deuteronomy (more on that next week with the temptation), and a fair amount of meditating on the psalms. From an early age, He had a keen understanding of things, a way of asking questions nobody had thought about. He listened well and gave thoughtful answers when He was questioned.
Once, He got lost in the big city of Jerusalem. His parents were frantic, but Jesus didn't panic. He told them, "You should have known where to find Me” (see Luke 2:49). But sometimes parents just don't understand – not even the parents of the Messiah!
He would have learned a trade from His father, carpentry (probably including masonry of a sort). He and His father may have participated in the construction of a huge amphitheatre in the city of Sepphoris, a few miles away from their home in Nazareth. (When Jesus was a teenager, maybe younger, a man named Judas broke into an arsenal in Sepphoris and led a revolt. When the Romans found out about it, they captured Judas and crucified him, showing everyone in Galilee what happens when a hillbilly dares to stand up to them.)
That's all we know. Mostly what stands out about Jesus' childhood is how normal it was. He was born. He went to school. He learned a trade. Nothing really remarkable about any of that.
Except for this one thing: He was God in a human body.
Prayer
Lord God, You are the God of the extraordinary in the ordinary, of heaven on earth. When Your Son took on human flesh and pitched His tent in our midst, He became one of us and genuinely experienced the human condition from the inside out. He showed us what it is like to be fully human, and He did this in innumerable small things as He prepared for His public ministry. In the same way, You teach me to glorify You in whatever I do, even in the most mundane areas of life. You call me to honour You in the way I listen and speak to people, in the way I do my work, in the way I relate to my family and friends, and in the way I think and choose. Even the most routine tasks can become great when done in Your Name. May I seek to practice Your presence not only in the big issues of life, but also in the small and often overlooked areas.
In Jesus's name, Amen
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