Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men. (Luke 2:51,52, NKJV).
Holy God, please help us to be obedient to Your Word that we might attain wisdom and submit to Your will. In the name of Jesus Christ we humbly pray. Amen.
We have come to the end of our study of a portion of Luke chapter one and all of chapter two. We have covered briefly the story of the conception, infancy, and childhood of the Boy Jesus. This has been quite a journey for me. I have read this story several times; yet never saw some of the things that I saw during the past two weeks. The life of the Savior is so full of lessons that it would do us good to study it often and with much prayer.
Today we will look at the final statement of Luke chapter two. Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them, but His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
Mary and Joseph have complied with the law faithfully. They have no doubt, done an excellent job in raising and teaching Jesus all that a Jewish boy should know in order to comply with his religious duties. He is an Exemplary Child. He is a Son every parent would be proud of: Well behaved, intelligent, and as our Scripture for today informs us, obedient.
However, through human eyes and heart, He is by no stretch of the imagination a regular boy. Throughout His story we find moments where Mary is pondering, and at times even Joseph is in awe of this child: “But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart” (Luke 2: 19)..
“And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him” (33).
And as we read in our Scripture for today: “but His mother kept all these things in her heart.”
How often she must have asked herself in the silence of her heart: “What manner of Child is this?”
We often gasp and marvel at the miracles of the Savior while perhaps overlooking the greatest miracle of all: Divinity in submission to humanity! This is indeed what the incarnation is all about! Divinity allowing Itself to be wrapped in humanity. Divinity allowing Itself to be subject to humanity. Divinity allowing Itself to be nailed to a cross by humanity. Divinity allowing itself to suffer the second death by becoming the Sacrifice for humanity!
Could there be a greater miracle than this? That having all the power in the universe at your command you subject yourself to the creatures of your hand! Yet this is the sermon we see being preached from beginning to end in the life of Jesus – from the manger to the cross – The Miracle of Submission. Is it any wonder that the Roman centurion should exclaim: ” ‘ “Truly this was the Son of God” ‘ ” He was, and is, and always will be! And He is the Savior of the world! Praise God!
A wonderful lesson for us to take away from this study would be that submission can bring about wonderful results when our submission is to God and His will. The chapter ends with these words: ” And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” I pray that for what is left of the holiday season you will “ponder” the beauty in the life of the Savior and may you be changed as you behold the greatest sermon ever preached in the greatest life ever lived!