Jesus childhood
Jesus' Garden
Tomb (Gordon's Tomb)
http://www.biblestudy.org/biblepic/gardtomb.html
Questions:
- Do you believe Jesus had great wisdom?
- Do you believe Jesus performed miracles?
-
Do you believe Jesus died on the Cross for your sins?
I assume you have answered “yes” to these three questions. For today, let’s take a look at
the life of Jesus after His birth, and before His adulthood . . . let’s look at what the
Scripture tells us about Jesus’ childhood . . . Let’s take a look at a portion of
Luke 2:40-52 to answer some questions that you may have regarding
”what does the Scripture tell us about Jesus?”
Luke 2:40-52 (NIV):
40 And the
child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the
grace of God was upon him.
The Boy Jesus at the Temple
41 Every year his parents went to
42 When he was
twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the
custom.
43 After the
Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus
stayed behind in
44 Thinking he was in their company, they traveled
on for a day. Then they began
looking for him among their
relatives and friends.
45 When they did not find him, they went back to
46 After three
days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers,
listening to them and asking them
questions.
47 Everyone
who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers.
48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His
mother said to him, "Son, why
have you treated us like this? Your
father and I have been anxiously searching
for you."
49 "Why were
you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in
my Father's house?"
50 But they did not understand what he was saying to
them.
51 Then he went down to
treasured all these things in her
heart.
52 And Jesus grew
in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
Question:
What does 2:40 & 2:49 tell us about Jesus’
relationship with
God?
Now let’s take a look at what several commentaries state on
this subject:
Per the IVP New
Testament Commentary on 2:40-41:
Regarding 2:40-41: “. . . After the host of witnesses to Jesus in Luke
1:5--2:40, Jesus
now speaks for himself for the first time. This is the literary climax of
Luke's initial
section and shows the sense of mission and self-awareness Jesus possesses. Jesus has a
unique relationship to God and a clear sense of his calling, one that
transcends his
relationship to his earthly parents. That this event, though strictly
speaking not an
infancy account, belongs in this initial literary division of Luke is indicated
by the fact
that it takes place in the temple, which is where the section started in Luke
1:5 . . . .”
Per the Matthew
Henry's Concise Commentary on 2:40:
Regarding 2:40: “They found him in some
part of the temple, where the doctors of the
law kept their schools; he was sitting there, hearkening to their instructions,
proposing
questions, and answering inquiries, with such wisdom, that those who heard were
delighted with him.”
Per Adam Clarke
Commentary:
Regarding 2:41, “. . . And our Lord, being now twelve
years old, Luke 2:42, accompanies
his parents to the feast. Probably this was the very age at which the
male children were
obliged to appear before the Lord at the three public festivals-the feast of
unleavened
bread, of weeks, and of tabernacles. According to the Jewish canons, it was the
age at
which they were obliged to begin to learn a trade.”
Regarding 2:46, “Asking them questions. Not as a scholar asks his teacher,
to be
informed; but as a teacher, who proposes questions to his
scholars in order to take
an occasion to instruct them.”
Per Got Questions
Ministries:
Question: "Why doesn't the Bible say much about Jesus'
childhood?"
Answer: Other than Luke 2:41-52, the Bible
does not tell us anything about Jesus’
youth. From this incident we do know certain things about Jesus’ childhood.
First, He
was the son of parents who were devout in their religious observances. As
required by
their faith, Joseph and Mary made the yearly pilgrimage to
Passover. In addition, they brought their 12-year-old son to celebrate His
first Feast in
preparation for His bar mitzvah at age 13, when Jewish boys commemorate
their passage
into adulthood. Here we see a typical boy in a typical family of that day.
We see also in this story that Jesus’ lingering in the temple was neither
mischievous nor disobedient, but a natural result of His knowledge that He must
be about
His Father’s business. That He was astonishing the
temple teachers with His wisdom and
knowledge speaks to His extraordinary abilities, while His listening and asking
questions
of His elders shows that He was utterly respectful, taking the role of a
student as was
fitting for a child of His age.
From this incident to His baptism at age 30, all we know of Jesus’ youth was
that
He left Jerusalem and returned to Nazareth with His parents and “was obedient
to them”
Luke 2:51. He fulfilled His duty to His earthly parents in submission to the
5th
commandment, an essential part of the perfect obedience to the law of Moses which He
rendered on our behalf. Beyond that, all we know is that “Jesus grew in wisdom
and
stature, and in favor with God and men" (Luke 2:52).
De Infantia Salvatoris:
Per Thomas Aquinas (1225? – 1274) works “Summa Theologica”
there is book called
“De Infantia Salvatoris”
that claims that Jesus Christ “worked many miracles in His
childhood. *** Many
Bible scholars disagree with this, since Scripture does not
tell us, I will leave this question up for the time it can be asked in
Heaven ***
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/summa.TP_Q43_A3.html?highlight=jesus,childhood#highlight
References:
The following websites were referenced on March 16, 2007:
http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/commentaries
http://www.ebibleteacher.com/children/lessons/child.htm
http://www.gotquestions.org/Jesus-childhood.html
http://www.studylight.org/desk/?query=lu+2&t=niv&st=1&new=1&l=en
http://www.studylight.org/com/acc/view.cgi?book=lu&chapter=2&verse=41#Lu2_41
http://www.studylight.org/com/pnt/view.cgi?book=lu&chapter=2&verse=41#Lu2_41
http://www.studylight.org/info/link
http://www.ministryserver.com/hm_biblical_resources.htm
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/summa.TP_Q43_A3.html?highlight=jesus,childhood#highlight
http://www.ccel.org/ccel/aquinas/summa.html
http://www.lifeofchrist.com/life/birth/childhood.asp
http://www.biblestudy.org/biblepic/gardtomb.html
http://www.biblestudy.org/bibleref/main.html