Misc. - "Humble Beginnings" - Luke 2:51-52

“Humble Beginnings”

Funny one liner here....

If you have your Bible, whether that’s a physical copy or digital version, I want to invite you to join me in Luke 2. I also encourage you to take notes. I don’t always say this, but an open Bible and open notebook helps us have an open posture before the Lord as we receive His Word.

Tonight’s text is Luke 2:51-52. Please stand with me as we read God’s Holy Word.

Luke 2:51–52 KJV 1900

51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

I heard this story about a Sunday school teacher, who taught a young teenage boys class. He meant well but had a hard time connecting with them.

He was endeavoring to impress upon a class of boys the importance of living the Christian life. “Why do people call me a Christian?” the man asked.

After a moment’s pause, one youngster said, “Maybe it’s because they don’t know you.”

While that may be true about the man in the story, Luke made it his personal goal to help Theophilus and us KNOW JESUS.

As a matter of fact, Luke told his audience at the beginning of his gospel account that he wanted the reader to know with certainty WHO Jesus is.

Luke explained the announcement of both John the Baptist’s and Jesus’ miraculous births, and how they would both serve a purpose in the redemption of man.

Luke highlighted Mary’s reaction to the news and how “nothing would be impossible with God”

Luke shared of Jesus’ birth and how shortly after the shepherds came and worshipped Him. They took Him to the temple 8 days later and when Jesus was presented, a man named Simeon came and testified about who Jesus was - the salvation of God!

Luke had a lot to document about Jesus’ life.

The verses we read are a description of Jesus’ life from 12 until He was 30 years old. Two verses on 18 years.

These verses, though short, tell us about Jesus’ posture, His person, and His preparation.

Every word in the Bible has worth.

Jesus’ entire earthly life matters in the redemption story of humanity and our worship of His person.

Think about that question that Sunday school teacher asked, “why do people call me a Christian?” While people may not know you, I hope that your answer would be because “you know Jesus”

Knowing the humble way of Jesus’ early life leads to honorable worship of Jesus’ eternal life.

What can we learn about Jesus’ early life that led to the redemption story?

1. Heavenly Humiliation

“Undercover Boss.” Each episode depicts a person who has an upper-management position at a major business, deciding to go undercover as an entry-level employee to discover the faults in the company.

The idea was for these bosses to come down to a lower level

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program

It won an Emmy for the plot and purpose of the show as something that is heartwarming.

Some see their bosses as a humble figure and went over as heartwarming… but now imagine Jesus.

more than a boss. More than a CEO. The Creator humbled Himself to the point where He was born into human flesh.

He didn’t come to the earth to spy out what was going on… HE ALREADY KNEW!

And He didn’t come undercover. It was announced and proclaimed worldwide, yet many didn’t realize it was Him.

a. The Place Jesus was Raised

Nazareth.

“went down with them...” - Jerusalem was south of Nazareth.

Jerusalem was a place always mentioned as a place of ascension.

It’s interesting

A place of decent

a place of defining

Do you know what Nazareth means?

The Branch.

Isaiah 4:2 KJV 1900

2 In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, And the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely For them that are escaped of Israel.

Zechariah 6:12 KJV 1900

12 And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; And he shall grow up out of his place, And he shall build the temple of the Lord:

What does the Branch refer to?

it’s a symbol God used in the Old Testament to prophesy about one of Jesus’ names:

The Branch refers to the Messiah… a branch out of the root of the stem of Jesse

Isaiah 11:1 KJV 1900

1 And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, And a Branch shall grow out of his roots:

I love seeing the hometown of some of my favorite athlehtes and things. It’s the place tha tmade them, them.

Nazareth was the place that prepared Jesus for what was to come.

b. The Posture Jesus Reveals

“was subject unto them...”

the word “subject” means to be submissive.

time out: the Son of God was submissive??? What was He submissive in?

To His earthly parents

To His Heavenly Father.

Mine hour is not yet come...

You know where else this word shows up?

Ephesians 5:21 KJV 1900

21 Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

Ephesians 5:24 KJV 1900

24 Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing.

Colossians 3:18 KJV 1900

18 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as it is fit in the Lord.

We have a problem with submission now-a-days, don’t we?

A problem with authority speaks more about your posture toward Jesus than your personality number.

Students, if you show no respect toward your parents… you aren’t walking in true submission.

Wives, most people don’t like to hear Ephesians 5:22 - that’s chovanistic and super old school.

Ephesians 5:22 KJV 1900

22 Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord.

3. Husbands.

2. Messages for Meditation

In our day and age, testimony about folks (whether it be on social media or news outlets) can sway our perception of them.

There have been critics through the years that have said that Jesus was just a man and at the age of thirty He began to realize the fever pitch of messianic expectation.  He could see that the pressure was on to...to lead a new movement in an apostate kind of religion under a beleaguered people who had been trampled on by Greeks and Romans for literally centuries.  And He was pressed into acting the role of a Messiah for the sake of what turned about to be an ill-conceived attempt at revolution.  There are others who say that Jesus was simply a human being but around the age of thirty the Spirit of God came upon Him and transformed Him into the living logos, the Living Word.  All of these, of course, are a misrepresentation of the fact. The fact is that from His conception on He was God in human flesh.

We have to get our thinking about Jesus right! Mary was no exception.

The Bible said that Mary spent some time meditating and thinking on the testimony about her Son.

What did Mary Meditate on?

a. His Perfection

Luke 1:35 KJV 1900

35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

b. His Power

Luke 1:43 KJV 1900

43 And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?

Elizabeth is so excited and lost her mind for a minute or two and said this:

“My Lord is in you!”

Mary was able to meditiate on the fact that her son was Lord and Sovereign.

c. His Person

Luke 2:11 KJV 1900

11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

Humanity and Divinity in one verse!

d. His Provision

Luke 2:30 KJV 1900

30 For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

Simeon said He was the salvation.

She reflected on that.

e. His Perception

His own testimony here:

Luke 2:49 KJV 1900

49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?

his own business and His own Father.

3. Providential Preparation

Jesus’ progress:

It was on the edge of manhood then, at the age of twelve, that the mind had developed...the capacity of the mind had developed to understand and discern the truth of God and be accountable to obey it. 

And so, by the time Jesus reached twelve, verse 40 says, He was filled with wisdom.  His human mind had developed to the point where it could contain the mind of God. That is a really monumental thought.  His human mind had grown to contain the mind of God.  He had developed to a full understanding of divine wisdom. 

As God, He knew what God knows.  And then it says also in verse 40, "The grace of God...or the favor of God...was upon Him," and that's because He was perfect, He was sinless, so He received the favor of God resting on Him as God's Son in whom He was well pleased.  He progressed from perfect innocence to perfect knowledge and perfect holiness.  He was tempted in all points, the temptations of an infant, the temptations of a young child, the temptations of an older child, yet without sin.

a. Obedience

And then the adult years in verse 52; from the time of this incident when they went back to Nazareth until He began His ministry of preaching around the age of thirty, "Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men."  He kept growing, prokoptō, to advance, to progress.  He was first referred to in chapter 2 verse 16 as brephos, an infant; chapter 2 verse 40 as paidion, a little child; chapter 2 verse 43 as pais, a child; chapter 2 verse 52 He is Jesus, and the infant, and the child, and the boy, here Jesus.  Here He is in His adult life, still growing stronger physically in stature, still getting a greater grasp of divine truth and growing in spiritual favor with God because of the continual triumph over temptation, because of the continual victory that He wins and growing also in favor with men because of the wondrous perfection of His life.  He grew spiritually, physically, intellectually, and socially.

Now as we close, I want to bring this into focus, it's very important.  When Jesus next appears on the stage age...eighteen years later, He will begin His ministry and He will become the teacher and He will make it clear that He is God's Son and He will move to die on the cross and rise again.  But for all those years of His life, up to the year He began His ministry and through His ministry, for all the thirty-three years of His life, He was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.  He was tempted as an infant the way infants are tempted, to be selfish, to be impatient.  He was tempted the way children are tempted, to be selfish and impatient and to have trivial and superficial thoughts and to be disrespectful and so forth and so on. 

He was tempted the same way young people are tempted and the same way adults are tempted.  And as I said, in eighteen years of knowing the answer to everything, He must have been tempted to be impatient with the stupidity around Him.  He was tempted, Hebrews 4:15, in all points.

At all points He was tempted the same way everybody as tempted...is tempted. 

In all the stages of life He was tempted, through every means that the enemy, the world, the flesh, the devil tempts, Jesus received those temptations yet was without sin.  He was holy, harmless, undefiled and separate from sinners.  This is a critical point.

b. Offering

And you might of...you might ask the question, "Why does He have to live all these years?"  And as I have said in some teaching recently, "You know, if I were God and I said, OK, I want You to go down and die for people.  I don't want this thing to be drawn out. All I ask is that since their redemption depends on Your death and resurrection, could I have You for the weekend?  Just go down on Friday, die. You'll be back Saturday night.  The whole deal is over."

What's the thirty-three years of grief, hostility, animosity, persecution, patience, temptation? What's the point of that?  And there's not even a record of it.  What's the point?

The point is that He was living through an entire span of human life in perfection.  Let me show you something.  Hebrews 5:8 and 9, Hebrews 5:8 and 9, this is one of the great truths of Scripture, 5:8, He was a Son, He was Son, literally, you can take the "a" out of it.  "Although He was Son, Son of God, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered."   It's not talking about His death; it's talking about His life.  All through His life He is assaulted with temptation and temptation and temptation at every point as an infant, as a little child, as a boy, as a man, the whole of temptation is pushed on Him.  And He...He knew obedience as God in His mind, He understood what obedience was, of course, in His mind, but He learned it experientially because of all the temptation that He suffered and over which He triumphed.  He experienced obedience and every temptation that came He learned what obedience was like because He obeyed.  And verse 9, "That is what made Him perfect and able to become to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation."

He had to live a perfect life to be the source of eternal salvation.  You say, "Well I still don't understand that."  Second Corinthians 5:21 says it this way, you know how I love this verse, "He made Him who knew no sin” Christ “sin for us in order that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

Why?

As He grew and went older. He

Closing:

Hows your posture?

Have you ever come to know Jesus?