The Hidden Years of Jesus

Lesson Focus

Big idea: Jesus obeyed His earthly parents, but His deepest obedience was to His Father. His perfect, sinless obedience is what sinners need for salvation.

Jesus lived a perfect life—tempted like we are, yet without sin. He submitted to Mary and Joseph, yet His life was ultimately directed toward the Father’s will and the plan of redemption.

Child prodigies

History has recorded some truly amazing children, child prodigies who performed astonishing feats.

Early in the 1700’s Jean Louis Cardiac, known as the “wonder child,” was said to have recited the alphabet at the age of three months. By the age of four, he read Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and translated Latin into English and French.

Christian Friedrich Heinecken, known as the “infant of Lubeck,” . He reportedly knew the major events recorded in the Bible by the time he was a year old. At the age of three, he was familiar with world history and geography, as well as Latin and French.

The most famous child prodigy of the time was the composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The young Mozart began playing the keyboard by ear at the age of three. By the time he was six, he had begun composing his own pieces. At that same age Mozart, along with his older sister, began touring Europe, giving both private concerts for the nobility, and also public concerts. At eight, he composed his first symphony.

History is full of “wonder kids”—children who amazed the world with early reading, languages, music, or math: kids who could recite huge amounts of information, compose at a young age, or do impossible calculations in their head.

But even if you gathered every child prodigy into one story, their gifts would still pale in significance to this 12 yr old boy. What Luke shows us about Jesus at twelve isn’t merely unusual intelligence—it’s something far greater. This is the one child who is God in the flesh. No IQ, no talent, no human brilliance compares to the eternal Son who took on real humanity. Luke’s account reveals that Jesus already understood His unique relationship to the Father and His mission.

Transition: This is the miracle of the incarnation—deity in human skin: fully God, fully man, and sinless.

The Heart and Mind of God embodied in Human Flesh.

The Incarnation of the Christ

Incarnation means: Deity became flesh, God in human skin.

Jesus is Fully God and Fully Man

Jesus is Sinless

Colossians 2:9 “For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,”

Luke 2:39 NASB95

39 When they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth.

The journey to Nazareth

The Flight to Egypt

King Herod killed the first born in the surround areas of Bethlehem

Set up the scene

Having obeyed the Law in everything, Mary and Joseph returned to Nazareth, which would be our Lord’s home until He started His official ministry. There were many Jewish men with the name Jesus (Joshua), so He would be known as “Jesus of Nazareth” (Acts 2:22); and His followers would be called “Nazarenes” (Acts 24:5; see Matt. 2:23). His enemies used the name scornfully and Pilate even hung it on the cross (Matt. 21:11)

What did Jesus do during the “hidden years” at Nazareth?

Luke reports that Jesus developed physically, mentally, socially, and spiritually (Luke 2:40, 52).

He became Strong; uninhibited, unimpeded by sin. he was sinless.

increased in Wisdom means: to know Gods way and to do it.

The Grace (favor) of God was upon Him. John 1:14 “ And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

not speaking of the grace necessary for salvation. but God’s Favor

Jesus was the deserved recipient of grace and the giver of undeserved grace.

Did Jesus understand all his powerful attributes and rights as God when he was a baby , toddler and adolescence?

The Holy Spirit mediated between His Divinity and Humanity.

Jesus did not perform any miracles as a Boy

Despite some writings in the apocryphal, added books to the Roman Catholic bible, portrays a fantasy child who performed magical feats such as turning clay birds in to live doves, and a time when Jesus killed a boy who bumped into him, and blinded the parents for complaining, we know this is inconsistent with the character of God, and not true because the turning of water into wine was the beginning of His miracles (John 2:1–11).

Jesus worked with Joseph in the carpenter shop (Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3) and apparently ran the business after Joseph died.

Luke’s account reveals plainly that at the age of twelve, Jesus already possessed a complete understanding of His nature and mission; He was God the Son, come to do the Father’s will.

John 6:38 — The Mission

John 6:38–40 NASB95

38 “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. 39 “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. 40 “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day.”

The Feast of the Passover

Luke 2:41–42 NASB95

41 Now His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. 42 And when He became twelve, they went up there according to the custom of the Feast;

The most important of the feast.

The requirement was for a men to journey to the capitol city of Jerusalem to worship and celebrate the Passover.

Passover was to remember when the Lord recused his people from the bondage of slavery in Egypt. A lamb was slaughter to cover sin and the judgment of death, to passover their household when they applied the bool of the Lamb on the doorpost.

The scene of the Passover

The hoopla and noise of thousands of worshipers gathered

The beggars dressed in there most ragged cloths

the money changers and the animal market

The priest butchering the animals, and the blood flowing from the alter

The significance of passover for a 12 yr old boy, bar mitzva, when a boy assumed accountability and authority to “the Law of God”

The impact this had on Jesus, knowing He was the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the people.

Luke 2:43–45 NASB95

43 and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents were unaware of it, 44 but supposed Him to be in the caravan, and went a day’s journey; and they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances. 45 When they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem looking for Him.

The boy Jesus stayed behind

the traveling customs of the families.

Caravan of relatives and acquaintances

80 miles journey from Nazareth, Galilee - 3-4 days

Luke 2:46–48 NASB95

46 Then, after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers. 48 When they saw Him, they were astonished; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us this way? Behold, Your father and I have been anxiously looking for You.”

They found Jesus in the Temple

sitting in the midst of the teachers; During the passover event the eminent and most prominent teachers would be assembled for the feast. it was customary they would be in the temple teaching and proclaiming the law of God.

both Listening to them and asking them questions; Imagine the Lords passion of the Word of God, probably asking questions about the Law and the prophets, the meaning of the pascal lamb, and messianic prophesies.

all who heard him were amazed at His understanding and His answers.; His wisdom and knowledge far exceeded that of any 12 yr old they have ever know.

Only here in the Gospels is Jesus portrayed as the student; after this He is always the teacher—who would ask questions for which the Jewish teachers had no adequate answers

Mary and Joseph were astonished but concerned, asked; Son, why have You treaded us this way? behold, your father and I have been anxiously looking for you.

Jesus had not intentionally defied or hurt his parents, nor disobedient to his parents in staying behind. what he had done was make evident the necessary break that was to come between Him and his earthly family.

Jesus has always been a perfect child, because he was without sin, he was caring, thoughtful, obedient, his love limitless, tender and meek.

This act of staying behind was not rebellious; rather it was a step of transfer and priority to Gods will, although it would be for another 18yrs. it was made evident here.

Luke 2:49–50 NASB95

49 And He said to them, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand the statement which He had made to them.

“Why is it that you were looking for me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Fathers house”

This is the crux or most important point in this bible passage.

This statement is the first time in scripture that any individual claimed God as his personal Father.

We call God our Father in a creative sense, because He is the Creator. but no one has claimed God to be his Father in a personal sence.

There are profound implications of such a claim, in Israel it meant the death penalty of blasphemy.

In this claim Jesus has lifted himself above the human realm.

He was not in the ultimate sense Joseph’s son, or Mary’s son.

He was the eternal Son of God. The biblical teaching that Jesus is the Son of God is clear and unmistakable.

It was this claim that infuriated his Jewish opponents and led to his crucifixion. This claim was a claim to deity, to full equality with God.

John 5:17–18 NASB95

17 But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” 18 For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.

in Jewish culture the term ‘son’ means much more that just a male offspring.

only when a boy became an adult was he a son in the fullest sense. It was then that he became equal to his father under the law and in terms of responsibility. Technically saying a son is “equal to” or “one with”

The term Son of God is used to refer to Jesus Christ to being of the same essence and nature, with the same rights and privileges, as God Himself.

Philippians 2:8 — The Cost

Philippians 2:6–8 NASB95

6 who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

“He humbled Himself… obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.”

Point: Jesus obeyed when it hurt—when it cost everything.

Luke 2:51 NASB95

51 And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart.

The time for Jesus to leave His parents’ authority had not yet arrived, so He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and He continued in subjection to them. His relationship with His heavenly Father did not yet end His responsibility to obey His earthly parents. His obedience to the fifth commandment was an essential part of Jesus’ perfect obedience to the law of God.

Jesus’s Adult Years

Luke 2:52 NASB95

52 And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.

Christophanies

Christophany is a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus Christ in human form.

Often know as:

The Angel of the Lord’, ‘

The captain of the Lords Army’, ‘

The Host of the Armies of God”

So I was thinking why didn't Jesus just come to earth as a man, die on the cross, resurrect for the dead to purchase salvation, and then return to heaven?

Why did Jesus come as a baby, live as a young boy in Nazareth, go through all the stages of life then to die a brutal death of crucifixion?

To experience humanity as we do, temptation, to be a Savior, and a Shepherd.

Jesus didn’t “skip” real human pressure—He faced it. Hebrews shows He learned obedience through suffering, and yet remained the kind of High Priest we actually need: holy, innocent, undefiled.

Hebrews 5:8–9 NASB95

8 Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. 9 And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,

Hebrews 7:26 NASB95

26 For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens;

Hebrews 4:15 NASB95

15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.

Here’s the comfort: He can sympathize with our weakness, because He was tempted in every way as we are—yet without sin.

So when we face the pull of the world, the desires of the flesh, what our eyes want, and the pride that says “I’ll do it my way,” Jesus isn’t distant. He understands temptation—and He never failed. That means He’s not only our example, but our Savior and steady help in the fight.

2 Corinthians 5:21 — The Gospel Exchange

2 Corinthians 5:21 NASB95

“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”.

Imputed righteousness

Explain simply: Jesus takes our sin; God credits (imputes) Jesus’ righteousness to us.

Key words = Imputed: “credited to your account” ( Like a deposit- something counted as yours)

Jesus’ perfect obedience did two huge things for sinners:

He qualified to be our Savior (the sinless substitute, the spotless lamb).

He provides what we don’t have: perfect righteousness counted as ours. (imputed).

One-sentence gospel summary for kids: Jesus died as if He deserved the punishment of our sinful life, so we can stand before the Father as if we lived His sinless life.