Sermon Tone Analysis

Text: Luke 2:40-52

Theme: Christians must emulate the life of our Savior by growing in grace and wisdom.

Date: 01/15/2023 FileName: When I Grow Up.wpd ID: NT03-02

We’ve all heard children say it.

And maybe you’ve even heard an adult say it ... “When I grow up, I want to be just like ... “ As I was studying for this morning’s message I couldn’t help but wonder, “Did those words every come out of one of Jesus’ siblings mouth?”

We know from the Gospels that Mary and Joseph had a number of children together.

There were four brothers.

Their names were James, and Joseph, and Simon, and Judas.

We know from the same passages that there were at least two sisters since the plural is used although their names are not given.

It was a typically large Jewish household.

I’ve wondered for some time about what the family dynamics must have been like in that home.

First, I though about a few lines that you probably never heard in Jesus’ home when He was growing up:

• You probably never heard James say, “But Jesus hit me first!”

• You probably never heard Joseph say, “Jesus, now don’t you lie to me!”

• You probably never heard Mary say, “Simon, it’s too quiet in there.

Go see what mischief your brother Jesus is getting into.”

• You probably never heard, “Jesus, You’ve go to the count of three ... 1 ... 2 ... “

I also wondered if Mary ever held up Jesus as an example for the other children to follow.

Did Mary ever tell James, “Why can’t you be more like your brother, Jesus?” Whoa boy! Did Judas’ synagogue teacher ever tell him, “I remember your brother Jesus.

I hope you know the Torah as well as he did.”

How do these sons of Abraham ever hope to measure up to the one who is the Son of God?

Now this may all seem like an exercise in theological silliness to you, but I share this silliness with you to make a point.

The goal of the believer is to, indeed, be conformed to the image of Christ.

As a Christian have you ever said to yourself: “When I grow up, I want to be just like Jesus!”

ILLUS.

When the wife of missionary Adoniram Judson told him that a newspaper article likened him to some of the apostles, Judson replied, "I do not want to be like a Paul...or any mere man.

I want to be like Christ...I want to follow Him only, copy His teachings, drink in His Spirit, and place my feet in His footprints...Oh, to be more like Christ!"

I want to preach this morning of growing in your faith.

As believers we are to increasingly reflect the Lord’s character in our lives.

The Apostle Paul speaks of this when he wrote to the Christians at Corinth:

2 Corinthians 3:18 "And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”

In this, I believe the boyhood of Jesus has much to teach us about being transformed into His likeness.

I. THE BOYHOOD OF JESUS TEACHES US THAT SPIRITUAL GROWTH IS A NATURAL OCCURRENCE

1. one of the chief characteristics of children is that they are always growing

a. they are growing physically

1) our text this morning says of Jesus, and the child grew v. 40

2) I have no doubt that Joseph and Mary had as much trouble keeping Jesus in scandals as today’s parents have keeping their children in shoes

b. they are growing intellectually

1) v. 40 also says that Jesus was filled with wisdom

2) children’s minds soak up everything — good things and sometimes bad — but they are always learning

3) that intellectual growth must include a knowledge of God

c. they are growing spiritually

1) v. 40 also says that the grace of God was upon him

2) this is a reference to the development of his spiritual maturity

3) it would have begun very early with Jesus learning Israel’s basic confession of faith

a) it’s called the Shema which is the Hebrew word for Hear and is the first word in Deuteronomy 6:4

“ “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.

5 You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

(Deuteronomy 6:4–5, ESV)

d. children are always growing

2. Christians need to emulate this childlike attribute of growth

a. in Matthew’s gospel, Jesus extolled the virtues of children in our relationship to the Kingdom of God

“And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them 3 and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

4 Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

(Matthew 18:2–4, ESV)

b.

I’m sure that one of the characteristics that Jesus was probably thinking of was constant growth

3. there is never a time when the Child of God is to stop growing in the Lord and in the knowledge of His Word

ILLUS.

Jewel Thompson, in her mid-90s wanted a new Study Bible!

4. if you are not growing in Christ, there are only two other possibilities ...

a. 1st, you’re still spiritually dead in trespasses and sin

1) the sad truth is that many professing Christians are merely church attenders who practice certain religious rites instead of being disciples of the Christ

2) they are tares growing up among the wheat — they feign the real thing, but time reveals their true nature

b. 2nd, you’ve become spiritually stagnate

ILLUS.

When water sits in one place without being renewed by rains or a fresh flow of new water, it becomes stagnate.

It becomes stale and bitter to the taste.

It begins to breed and grow nasty little things, and becomes scummy.

1) there are a lot of scummy believers in our society

5. if either of these two realities resemble your spiritual life, you need to make a decision to do something about it

A. WE DEVELOP SPIRITUALLY WHEN WE GROW IN WISDOM & SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE

1. you can never have too much knowledge of God’s character, God’s Word, or God’s Ways

2. the word that is translated wisdom in Luke 2:40 means a broad and full intelligence of diverse matters

a. we often hear Jesus referred to as a simple carpenter

1) by that, people often mean that He was unschooled or unlearned

b. but there was nothing unschooled about Jesus’ intellect

1) in John 7:46 hear the crowds say of Jesus, “No one ever spoke the way this man does.”

2) when He taught in the local synagogue in His home town of Nazareth, the people were amazed at His knowledge and wisdom

“and coming to his hometown he taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished, and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?

55 Is not this the carpenter’s son?

Is not his mother called Mary?

And are not his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?” (Matthew 13:54–55, ESV)

3) when Jesus was in Jerusalem, He regularly went to the Temple and taught the people

“About the middle of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began teaching.

15 The Jews therefore marveled, saying, “How is it that this man has learning, when he has never studied?”” (John 7:14–15, ESV)

ILLUS.

For those of you who went to college, did you every have a professor who wrote the text book you were using in his class?

You could never really argue with them about the interpretation of the text since they wrote the book and knew exactly what they meant when the wrote it!

a) Jesus wrote the Book!

He knows what it says, and he knows what it means

b) we’re not to argue about what we think it means, but to learn what he says it means

3. it is obvious from the Gospel accounts that Jesus the man, had a thorough knowledge of God, of the Scriptures, and of man’s nature

4. how do you grow in wisdom like Jesus did?

a. like Jesus, you acquire maturity in your faith as you attain a more thorough knowledge of the Scriptures

1) the Word of God is the very best place to find wisdom

“Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, 14 for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold.”

(Proverbs 3:13–14, ESV)

ILLUS.

Remember the game Trivial Pursuit?