85 .Beginner Bible Course: How Jesus grew up

EPISODE 85  The simple Bible overview of…GROWING UP JESUS

Quick question...

1

00:00:05

...what would you do if you could start all over again and design your life from scratch? No, really think about it. Where would you be born and live? What would you look like? Who would you pick for parents? Would you be an only child or have siblings? And if you had siblings, where would you want to be in the birth order? What would you want to do for work? And what would you want to be remembered for? Maybe hit, pause and think about that for a minute. God had maybe six, 7,000 years since Genesis three has promised to Eve to bring the Stomper, to make an ideal plan for where he'd be born, who he'd be born to what he'd look like and where he'd grow up for any brothers and sisters, how he'd be wired and what things he do and be remembered for one thing was locked in.

1

00:00:53

That's what he was going to come to do to stop Satan and stomp out the effects of sin. We also learned throughout the old Testament, he was going to be one amazing ruler. You might be surprised that the plan God made for Jesus and how he would grow up. We've already learned. He was born in Bethlehem to Mary and Joseph. We learned he was a hunted little boy by King Herod seeking to kill him and fled to Egypt with his parents. And other than one incident recorded by Luke and a couple verses also recorded by Luke. We don't have any direct history of Jesus growing up by growing up. I mean, from toddlerhood to about age 30, when he could become a teacher or a rabbi and people would listen to him 30 years of growing up Jesus, one incident in two verses, we're going to look at that incident from Luke and the two verses, but then I've got a few surprises for you.

1

00:01:48

The incident happens in Luke chapter two, Jesus is 12 years old at the time in Jewish culture. At the age of 12, a boy became a son of the commandment and an official member of the religious community. That's kind of a big deal. Jesus is now 12 and his parents make their annual Trek to Jerusalem for Passover. I've already mentioned in episode 83, Jesus almost certainly spent that week every year with his boy, cousin, John, while Mary and Joseph visited Mary's relative Elizabeth and her husband's Zacharias. Luke doesn't tell us what happened on the trip, but he does tell us what happened on the trip home. Mary and Joseph would have been joined by other relatives for this important festival in Jerusalem on their way back.

1

00:02:34

They assume Jesus is tagging along somewhere and don't realize until nightfall the Jesus isn't with them toward nightfall. They do a little headcount and realize Jesus isn't in their party, deeply concerned. They head back to Jerusalem. It took them three days to find him. And they finally found him dead center in the teaching area of the temple. He's surrounded by teachers. He was listening to them and plying them with questions. The teachers are amazed at this kid's understanding, yes, he's a 12 year old son of the commandment and a member of the religious community, but his insights are unbelievable while the teachers are amazed.

1

00:03:16

His parents had a little different reaction. I mean, this is a biblical version of home alone. They ask why have you treated us like this? We've been searching for you. Jesus replies. I thought you'd know I'd be in my daddy's house. Jesus wraps it up quickly and heads home with Mary and Joseph. Here's where we get our second verse on Jesus. Growing up from Luke, once back in Nazareth, it says, and Jesus went with them to Nazareth and he continued in subjection to them. This young Jesus who amazed the religious teachers goes back to his little hometown and is obedient to his young blue collar parents.

1

00:03:57

They're probably under 30. The son of God, keeping the fifth commandment honor, your father and mother. Then the text tells us more about growing up. Jesus and Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and in stature. And in favor with God and men, I draw on the whiteboard for my students. Wisdom equals mental stature equals physical in favor with God equal, spiritual and favor with men equals social. Then I write this and circle it kept increasing. I then take them back to Luke's first comment about growing up. Jesus, it's issued a few verses earlier, before the home alone in the temple incident, it says this and the child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom.

1

00:04:49

And the grace of God was upon him. I have them circle on their Bibles, continued to grow and increasing. What does it mean? Jesus grew and increased and became. He didn't just grow and increase in physical stature, but in his wisdom and in favor with God and in favor with men, it sounds like Jesus learned. And he learned how to please God. And he learned social skills. Did Mary ever say Yeshua, get your elbows off the table. What's the matter with you? Were you born in a barn? Well, okay, but get your elbows off the table.

1

00:05:31

Some people really struggle with this. They think that if God became a man and dwelt among us, he had to be the complete package from the get go. The God of the universe shrunk into an EDD Beatty baby package. But Luke doesn't make it sound that way at all. Jesus, the son of God grew into his skin as the savior and King. That's all we really directly have specifically on Jesus growing up. Apparently that wasn't enough for people in the earliest centuries. After Jesus walked this planet, they wanted us to know more about what it was like to grow up Jesus age, zero to 30. So some people wrote some stuff about it.

1

00:06:11

One of the most famous is called the infancy gospel of Thomas it's from the second century. And it sought to enlighten us about what it was like to grow up. Jesus, you can look this up on Wikipedia or other sites, but I can spare you the pain of reading it by giving you the sparks notes. I guess, seeking to demonstrate Jesus was powerful. When he was growing up, the infancy gospel of Thomas turns them into an encourageable, little powerful snot, doing all manner of miracles for his own pleasure or revenge or possibly to impress people and example, he makes birds out of clay because he's bored or he gets mad at a child and curses him and he dies and his parents are blinded or he stretches a piece of wood to help Joseph his father, the carpenter make a bed for a rich client.

1

00:07:04

Do I need to say more? That's not growing up Jesus, but here's the surprising thing I promised at the beginning of this podcast. If you're willing to dig a little in scripture, we find a lot more about what it meant to be growing up. Jesus. One of those clues is when he was dedicated at the temple, when he was eight days old, Mary and Joseph offered a pair of turtle doves as an offering that was supposed to be a lamb. But the book of Leviticus allowed for turtle doves to be substituted. If the people were very poor, it appeared at least as newlyweds, Mary and Joseph were living on love because they were the poorest of poor.

1

00:07:44

We also find an earlier accounts that after they left Egypt, they settled back in Nazareth. People from Nazareth were seen as how shall I say this hillbillies maybe later in the story of Jesus, when he's calling one of his disciples, that disciple, when he hears Jesus's from Nazareth asks can any good thing come out of Nazareth? That sounds a bit like the response of an Ivy league school student, having a new professor, walk into their classroom and introduce himself like this had a, he could have a doctorate and be the president of the Mensa society, but let's face it getting respects, going to be an uphill battle.

1

00:08:25

Mark gives us a little more information in chapter six about growing up, Jesus Mark tells us he had four brothers, James, Jonas, Jude and Simeon and sisters. Did you know that to be fair? The Catholic church calls them cousins. They arrived at this conclusion based on some second century ascetics. Those dear folks concluded marriage and sex were sinful. We're a part of the fall of Genesis three. This eventually worked its way out into the teaching of the perpetual virginity of Mary that she and Joseph never consummated their relationship. Jesus having brothers or sisters under that scenario would be a neat trick with all due respect.

1

00:09:09

God made marriage and sexual desire before Genesis three in the fall, go back and read Genesis two and follow that up with the song of songs. God, in Genesis two and Solomon in the song of songs says the ascetics are wrong. We'll meet two of his brothers, James and Jude who write two of the books of the new Testament later in our podcasts. If Jesus wasn't an only child, but actually the oldest of seven children in a poor blue collar home, right there, you can guess a lot of what it would be like growing up. Jesus. Then there's a little clue back in the middle of the old Testament, Isaiah 53, that's that amazing prophetic chapter that talks about Jesus' death on our behalf and what would happen to him and what it would accomplish.

1

00:09:59

But right at the beginning of Isaiah 53, it says this, there is nothing of beauty or majesty about him, nothing about his appearance, that we would be attracted to him. Isaiah differs from Hollywood on this one, whenever Jesus is portrayed by an actor in Hollywood, he's got a James Earl Jones voice and he's gorgeous, but that's not what Isaiah says. I tell the girls students in my class, if Jesus was in this class and asked you to the spring dance, you'd kind of stall, hoping that you got a little better offer. You'd tell your friend, Jesus is really nice, but I was kind of hoping so-and-so had asked me, did you know that about Jesus lost in the crowd plane?

1

00:10:43

Here's another thing about growing up, Jesus, that hits really close to home for me, Joseph Jesus adopted human father, never shows up again in the new Testament. After Luke chapter two, the Jesus at 12 years old in the temple story, we'll find later in Jesus' story. His mothers and brothers come to see him several times during his ministry, but there's no mention of dad. And when Jesus is hanging on the cross, we'll see. One of the things he does is assigned John, the disciple, the responsibility to care for his mother. That's almost irrefutable evidence that Joseph is dead. It's entirely possible. Growing up, Jesus meant growing up fatherless.

1

00:11:26

And if Joseph died, Jesus was the man of the house, the man of the house with six siblings in a widowed mother, growing up, Jesus would have been growing up in a home, broken by tragedy. I grew up in a home without a dad with six brothers and sisters. It has a shaping effect. Then there's two more verses found in the letter to the Hebrews. The first one is Hebrews chapter five. It says this about Jesus, even though he was God's son, yet he learned obedience through the things that he suffered. Let me repeat that. Even though Jesus was God's son, yet he learned obedience through the things that he suffered.

1

00:12:09

I think that means what it says in suffering and pressing through it. He learned how to be a son of the commandment, how to obey and love God with his heart, soul, mind and strength. Jesus clearly struggled. I asked my students did an adolescent. Jesus have the zits, did his voice crack at the worst possible time? I'd answer that. Yes. And so would the writer of Hebrews with our next statement in chapter four, the writer calls Jesus a high priest. We can trust why? Because he understands our weaknesses for, he was tempted in all things as we are yet without sin, let that soak in a minute.

1

00:12:52

The writer of Hebrews carried along by the Holy spirit tells us nothing can happen to a teenager or young person today. The Jesus can't empathize with. He understands those hard places. What does it mean? He was tempted in all things as we are yet. He didn't sin. It sounds like it means he was tempted in everything we are yet. He didn't give in and sin Hebrews four and five tell my students, Jesus knows what it's like to be a 12 or 13 year old student living in our culture because he was a teen who struggled with the same things, struggled without failing.

1

00:13:32

God had at least 6,000 years to figure out where Jesus would be born, what he would look like, where he would grow up, who he would grow up with and how smoothly his life would work. And we've just reviewed God's decision. This is how he would grow up Jesus. And as we have learned in the old Testament and we'll learn going forward, God has a purpose behind all of it. That's true for Jesus. That's also true for us. At approximately age 30, Jesus was considered all grown up and all grown up. It was time for him to start doing what he'd come to do. And the gospel writers tell us the first thing he does.

1

00:14:14

He doesn't do it all. Someone does it to him, his boy, cousin, John, and we'll look at that first event in the mission of the all up Jesus in our next word picture.