Advent - Day 19

And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him. (Luke 2:39-40 ESV).

Just the other day Mary asked me, “Do you think Jesus ever had temper tantrums?” The question caught be a bit off-guard. However, my response was, “Probably.” Then I thought it through a bit and added that even though he might have done all of those things children typically do as they grow and mature through each stage of life, he could not have ever been disobedient or disrespectful. That would have meant he would have sinned in his emotion. He was fully human. He experienced every emotion as we do; however, his reaction to the feeling was always careful obedience and honor to God. Our reading helps us with that. Here Luke says simply, “And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him” (v. 40). You see, the gospels only give us a handful of events: the family's escape to Egypt (Matthew 2:14) and return to Nazareth (Matthew 2:23; Luke 2:39); His increasing wisdom (Luke 2:40-52); and His visit to the Temple in Jerusalem at age 12 and obedience to His parents (Luke 2:41-51). Oh, there are accounts of Christ's childhood in the apocryphal gospels. These are books written much later by those seeking to fill in the "gaps." However, these "gospels" present a child who is sullen and uses miracles for entertainment rather than doing the will of God. Neither of these attributes fits with the character of Christ. While the authentic details of Jesus' childhood are sparse, we can learn a great deal from the country and area of His youth: Israel and Galilee. While Jerusalem emphasized the intricate and convoluted study of the Old Testament and teachings of the rabbis, Galilee's distance from the city afforded a somewhat milder approach that had little respect for legalism. For this reason and because of dialect differences, the Galileans were often seen as unlearned. We can expect that Jesus grew up in an atmosphere permeated with the teachings and words of the Old Testament. He also likely attended a Jewish school by age six, since these were common even in remote areas. Beyond this, the content of His parables and teachings may suggest the everyday sights of His youth: shepherds with their sheep, marriage parties in celebration, foxes in their lairs, tax collectors at the door, widows at work looking for lost coins, bakers in the middle of kneading bread, carpentry with Joseph, and the poor in the street. The one aspect we can be sure of is that Jesus' youth served to fulfill an important part of His ministry. That is, though fully God, He grew up as any human does. This gives him the unique ability to identify and help us through every experience. That gives us hope and joy!