Sermon Tone Analysis

*August 13, 2006—Morning Worship*

 

*The “Life of Jesus” Series – Part 2*

*My Father’s Business*

*God’s Great Examples Found in Jesus*

*Luke 2:40-52*

 

*Intro:*  Have you ever stopped to think about the fact that Jesus was just like you? Has it ever crossed your mind that, in the flesh, Jesus was absolutely human?

Do you realize what impact that truth has on the similarities between you & Jesus?

The Bible tells us that Jesus ate, & slept, & walked, & talked.

He got tired, experienced joy & sorrow, pleasure & pain, & even wept!

In the flesh, Jesus was just like ever other human being who ever lived!

Almost every painting you see of Jesus depicts Him w~/either a strange glow about Him or He has a halo over His head.

But the Bible tells us that, as far as His looks or His appearance is concerned, there was nothing special about Jesus! & yet—Jesus was still fully God!

I really cannot explain that but the Bible teaches it & so we know it’s true, b~/c the Bible is God’s word & God cannot lie!

Many people ask, “Why did Jesus come to earth?”

He came for many reasons, the chief reason being to die for the sins of all who would believe.

But Jesus also came to leave us an example of how to live a godly life in the middle of this ungodly world.

He came to show us the way; to walk the path; to point the direction to God.

          Peter, writing about the submission & willingness of the believer to suffer like Jesus did, wrote in *1 Peter 2* */21/*/ For to this you were called, b~/c Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:/ & so, today, we want to look more closely at this matter of Jesus being our example.

& as we do, we’ll see from the Bible, “God’s great examples found in Jesus.”

& we’ll also see how these examples are to apply to our lives today.

- Our text is found in…

*Luke 2 /40/*/ & the Child grew & became strong in spirit, filled w~/wisdom; & the grace of God was upon Him.// *41* His parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover.

*42* & when He was 12 years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast.

*43* When they had finished the days, as they returned, the Boy Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem.

& Joseph & His mother did not know it; *44* but supposing Him to have been in the company, they went a day's journey, & sought Him among their relatives & acquaintances.

*45* So when they did not find Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him.

*46* Now so it was that after 3 days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them & asking them questions.

*47* & all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding & answers.

*48* So when they saw Him, they were amazed; & His mother said to Him, "Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father & I have sought You anxiously."

*49* & He said to them, "Why did you seek Me?

Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?"

*50* But they did not understand the statement which He spoke to them.

*51* Then He went down w~/them & came to Nazareth, & was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart.

*52* & Jesus increased in wisdom & stature, & in favor w~/God & men./

 

- Notice w~/me, 1st of all that, Jesus is…

*1.

Our example for Growth* (v.

40).

- That’s found in v. 40 of our text & we’ll break that down into 4 elements.

The 1st is that…

    *A.

Jesus grew Physically* (v.

40a).

/“//& the Child grew….”/

- That is a natural occurrence.

The Child grew! & you may say, “Well, big deal!”

- But in order for that to take place, a child must be fed & cared for in a loving way.

- A new born child, left alone will die in a matter of hours.

- & a young child, left alone will not be able to provide for himself & will die in a matter of weeks if not days.

- v. 40 is Luke’s summary statement of the 1st 12 years of Jesus’ life.

- & the major emphasis in Luke’s gospel is that Jesus was a man.

It’s true He is the God-man, but Luke shows the humanity of Jesus, especially in v. 40.

- & Luke’s point is that Jesus grew up just like you did.

- We have very little information about the early years of Jesus’ life.

- He grew up in a small, obscure village w~/ordinary parents.

- The details of His life are really unimportant b~/c the truth of the matter is, He grew up just like you did!

He grew just like every other human does!

- & so, in that respect, there’s nothing special about Him.

 

- & the 2nd element of growth found in this verse is that…

    *B.

Jesus grew Emotionally* (v.

40b).

/“…//& became strong in spirit….”/

- IOW Jesus grew emotionally.

His spirit, just like your spirit, had experiences of joy & sorrow.

- Jesus experienced hunger & pain; & all the other feelings of emotion that every other human feels during their lifetimes.

- IOW Jesus knew the love of His parents & family.

- He knew the pain of separation—presumably b~/c Joseph, His earthly father, had died; not being mentioned again in the Scriptures after this account.

- So, by telling us that Jesus /became strong in spirit/, Luke is saying that Jesus was a normal, average, everyday kind of kid, who grew into a strong, stable young man.

- IOW Jesus was not some nut case w~/a Messiah complex!

- But He was just like you & me in that He grew physically & emotionally.

- The 3rd element of growth here is that…

    *C.

Jesus grew Intellectually* (v.

40c).

/“…//filled w~/wisdom….”/

- There is a huge difference between knowledge & wisdom.

- Knowledge means you know how stuff works.

- Wisdom means you know how to make stuff work for you.

- IOW wisdom is the ability to apply the knowledge you have.

- Luke’s point is that, as Jesus was a man, He had to learn.

- Every human being learns from our experiences & our education.

- But Jesus was filled w~/wisdom.

As a man, He studied & learned.

- I’ve hammered the point before that God never had to learn anything & that Jesus is God so therefore He never had to learn anything!

- & that’s true—but, as a man, Jesus had to learn many things!

- For instance, He had to learn to talk & to walk & to eat & to drink through a straw if they had them back then.

- Jesus had to learn to read & to write.

- You see, Luke’s point is that Jesus was just like you & He grew just like you & that He had similar experiences in His childhood, just like you!

- But that in the course of His life, Jesus was filled w~/wisdom.

- & the way that’s written in the original language it means that the intellectual growth of Jesus kept pace w~/His physical growth.

- Oh, that it could be so w~/us as well!

 

- That brings us to the final element of growth found in this verse & it’s somewhat confusing b~/c it says…

    *D.

Jesus grew Spiritually* (v.

40d).

/“…//& the grace of God was upon Him.”/

- We can understand that Jesus grew physically & emotionally.

But we have a harder time understanding how Jesus grew intellectually & we have great difficulty understanding how Jesus could grow spiritually!

- The word translated ‘grace’ means the favor of God.

- It means the joy, the delight, the pleasure of God was on Jesus.

- This was the doting Heavenly Father pouring out His love on & finding His pleasure in His only begotten Son!