Greetings in Christ,
“And the Child continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.”
Luke wrote these words as he recorded the details of Jesus’ life on earth. The interesting part of this scripture is Jesus was increasing in wisdom. The recorded events are in the dedication portion of Jesus’ life as a child. Luke gives us a look into the life of Jesus life after He had been dedicated to God.
Jesus, being raised in the proper Jewish home, had the responsibility to follow the law and learn the Torah. This was instituted by God for all Jewish families to follow in the home as a child until they were twelve. It also included learning all the rituals and sacrifices which were to be observed before the Lord. It was something done by the family in the home for any child who was raised in the Jewish tradition.
But I believe it went farther than this for Jesus. It was the foundation upon which He built His wisdom. To become wise and possess His wisdom He had to go deeper into His study. It was searching for the truth which had to be revealed unto Him. I do not want to take away from His sovereignty as the Son of God, but as the Son of Man I believe He had to learn firsthand just how important this wisdom He needed to learn as a man on earth had to come from His own personal experience. True wisdom comes from the hard work of finding out on your own just what the truth is and how to apply it to life. His wisdom could not be handed down from someone else. It would be a form of cheating robbing Him the experience He needed to appreciate the wisdom He would have learned.
Jesus learned from seeking the truth, and it was through these experiences made Him acceptable to God. God blessed Him with the understanding He needed when He needed it making Him complete as the Son of God and the Son of Man.
I think all too often we want instant wisdom without all the work. We want to send up a prayer when we get into trouble after we have made all the wrong choices expecting results which are not going to take place. True wisdom is having the power of discerning and judging as to what is true or right. This wisdom does not happen without the work or study on our part. It takes getting into God’s word and digging into the truth and applying it to our life. It takes long hours of prayer talking to God about the situations which arise so we have the right understanding to deal with those situations.
Jesus set the example for us to follow, and He put in the hard work to become wise. He is willing to share this wisdom with us, but we must be willing to work on our part to appreciate the wisdom He gives us. Jesus never said it would be easy, but it would be worth it.
“I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear it and rejoice. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.” Psalms 34:1-3
“The righteous cry and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous; but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Psalms 34:17-19
“Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength. Ascribe to the Lord the glory of His name; bring an offering, and come into His courts. Worship the Lord in holy attire; tremble before Him, all the earth.” Psalms 96:7-9
Lord never let us take the easy way out. May we be diligent in our approach to study the truth as You reveal Your wisdom to us. Amen
Blessings,
Mark Johnson
Psalm 34, 93 ,96; 1 Samuel 1:1-2, 7b-28; Colossians 1:9-20; Luke 2:22-40