Jesus, The Perfect Child

Luke 2:40-52

Luke 2:40

    And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

        There is a statement about His body, soul, and Spirit.

Luke 2:52

    And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

        This verse breaks the boy Jesus’ life into 4 subgroups [He grew in 4 ways]:

        Wisdom                   =      Mentally

        Stature                     =      Physically

        Favour with God     =      Spiritually

        Favour with Man    =      Socially

The 4^th area is added because God came to save man.  And He leaves us here to continue that work, so we should grow in these 4 ways as well.

Jesus is the perfect example of what God wants a child to be like.  Obviously, no human child can be perfect like Jesus was…but His example is a goal to fix our eyes upon.

Like a proud parent, God shares with us a snapshot of His Son, and we get a glimpse here of what Jesus was like as a child.

Lessons from this scene of His childhood:  [from the text]

Remember that Jesus was a true and not abnormal Child---no infant prodigy.  He had emptied Himself to be in all things man in all the stages of development.  He had laid aside His glory.  He had not laid aside His deity…just the privileges of His deity.  His life at this time was the simple, unaffected life of a boy.

He did not attempt to instruct the doctors, but, as a child should, He listened, and then asked questions.  Jewish children were encouraged to do this (Exod. 12. 26; 13. 8, 14 ; Deut. 6.20 ; Joshua 4. 6).

Exodus 12:26
And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service?

Exodus 13:8
And thou shalt shew thy son in that day, saying, This is done because of that which the LORD did unto me when I came forth out of Egypt.

Exodus 13:14
And it shall be when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What is this? that thou shalt say unto him, By strength of hand the LORD brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage:

Deuteronomy 6:20
And when thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD our God hath commanded you?

Joshua 4:6
That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones?

Then He replied to the questions put to Him.  This is the child’s correct attitude.  “Seen and not heard,” my dad put it.  Speak when spoken to.

He had respect and courtesy to elders…in His attitude to the doctors and to His parents.

                He obeyed his parents, and was “subject” to them.  He                        submitted, knowing they were the boss for His own good.

Other lessons implied by His perfect growth: [and by other scriptures]

Children should do their best to follow in Jesus’ steps…to be like Jesus!

• Physically

Eating habits-Trying new things-Balanced diet-No drugs, alcohol-Limit junk food-Have a reasonable bed time [in general, God gave darkness for sleep, and daylight for work, but many “love darkness, rather than light”…and we know why!]

Kids and adults should be healthy and balanced…because that’s what Jesus did!

• Socially

Caring more for others than ourselves-Not interrupting-Yes, sir/ma’am-Bro. Richard and Mrs. Toni-Obeying parents, teachers, and other grown ups in authority-Being respectful:  Not “what?” “huh?” or rude talk-Not yelling or being loud-Not cursing-Not getting mad-Not pouting-Not lying-Not stealing-Not hitting-Not back talking-Not complaining-Not being jealous-Not bragging-and not giving in to peer pressure-Not trying to look like/dress like/act like the world.

Rather, using good manners at the table-sitting still-saying please and thank you-saying I’m sorry when you are bad, to the person and to God-being kind in how we talk to people-listening when talked to-sharing with others-obeying as soon as we are told-helping do chores at home-clean our room-not making big messes unless we clean it up-doing our homework-always telling the truth-trying to look nice, but be modest-be clean, comb hair, brush teeth-Wear clothes you think Jesus would want you to, that make people respect you, not be impressed with you.

• Mentally

To be happy and know how blessed we are-To be a learner-To be humble-To have a good attitude-To not think about bad things, not watch/listen to bad things.

• Spiritually

Jesus sat in the temple and listened, just like we should listen at church, in s.s., in Olympian Clubs -To pray and read our Bibles and do our “Quiet Time”-To love Jesus most of all and do our best to be like Him-To get saved, get baptized, and tell others how they can be saved.

Jesus was a perfect kid, but we are all sinners.  So, we need to be saved and forgiven.  Then, God can help us to do better…to eat and sleep like Jesus, to love others and be nice, and behave, to dress right, help out, and always do our best, to listen and learn and be happy, and to come to church, and to think about God all the time we’re not in church…to love Jesus and do our best to be more like Him every day!