Luke 2:52 “And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”

JUST CURIOUS

I have always loved this verse. But I have always wondered why Jesus had to increase in wisdom and in favor with God. I understand the fact that He had to increase in stature (He had to grow). I understand that He had to gain favor with men (They did not know who He was yet). But the other two have always bothered me.

However, remember that Jesus willingly gave up His glory to enter a human body. Although He was still God, He took on mortal flesh with all its limitations. At this age, Jesus was still growing physically and emotionally as a human. His wisdom it refers to here is not referring to His Eternal wisdom, but His earthly wisdom. He was learning how to obey the Father in this human form. That, in turn, gave Him more favor with the Father. He always sought to please the Father, to do His Will.

TEACHING MOMENT

How about your children? We concentrate so much on making sure they are healthy and growing strong physically that we sometimes neglect the wisdom part. We are so busy making sure they get an education we forget that true wisdom is not contained in educational material. It is only found in God.

Now I know you want them to grow in favor with you and others, and I am sure you desire to see them find favor with God. Right? So how do we as parents help them? We continually point them to Him. Every time they find favor in our eyes we mention that they have also found favor with God. We tie obedience to us with obedience to Him.

How about you? Are you still growing in wisdom? Are you still growing in favor with God and man? You are never too old to grow!