What We Can Learn from Jesus' Childhood/Adolescence (Luke 2:39-52)

Luke 2:39-52

When they had done everything the Law of the Lord required, they went back to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.⁴⁰And as the child grew to maturity, he was filled with wisdom; and God's favour was with him.

⁴¹Every year his parents used to go to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover. ⁴²When he was twelve years old, they went up for the feast as usual. ⁴³When the days of the feast were over and they set off home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem without his parents knowing it. ⁴⁴They assumed he was somewhere in the party, and it was only after a day's journey that they went to look for him among their relations and acquaintances. ⁴⁵When they failed to find him they went back to Jerusalem looking for him everywhere.

⁴⁶It happened that, three days later, they found him in the Temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them, and asking them questions; ⁴⁷and all those who heard him were astounded at his intelligence and his replies. ⁴⁸They were overcome when they saw him, and his mother said to him, 'My child, why have you done this to us? See how worried your father and I have been, looking for you.' ⁴⁹He replied, 'Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?' ⁵⁰But they did not understand what he meant.

⁵¹ He went down with them then and came to Nazareth and lived under their authority. His mother stored up all these things in her heart. ⁵²And Jesus increased in wisdom, in stature, and in favour with God and with people.

1.    This passage gives us insight into the process for growing in wisdom. More specifically, we can learn about that by observing how Jesus did so.

A.    We first must realize that Jesus did in fact go through a process of obtaining wisdom while He was incarnate. Philippians 2:6-8 tells us the Jesus did not come out of the womb full of the wisdom He came to exemplify; He emptied himself of His divine wisdom before becoming incarnate. That is implicit in Luke 2:40 and 52; Jesus was “filled” with and “increased in wisdom,” that process would not have been necessary if He had retained his divine wisdom. 

B.   So how did Jesus become the exemplar of wisdom? This text shows us several things:

     i.   He prioritized the pursuit of wisdom over other things. That’s     why He stayed in the temple when His family and friends had moved on. That is consistent with what we are told to do by the wisdom literature, other scripture, and Jesus Himself later in His earthy life. See Matthew 13:44-46 and the other scriptures collected in Wisdom Principles: We Must Make Real Effort/Sacrifice to Receive All that God Offers, But It Is Well Worth It.

ii. He spent time with and actively engaged wise folks. Luke 2:46 tells us that He sat “among the teachers, listening to them, and asking them questions” (NJB). That is consistent with Sirach 6:34-36 and the other scriptures collected in Wisdom Principles—The Company You Keep.

iii. He was humble enough to submit to His earthly parents’ authority, as commanded by scripture and common sense. See Deuteronomy 5:16 and the other scriptures collected in Wisdom Principles—Parents & Children. See also Proverbs 13:1 and the other scriptures collected in Wisdom Principles—Rebuke & Openness to Correction.  

iv.  He pursued wisdom even though he came from an economically humble background. See Sirach 11:1, Luke 2:24, and Leviticus 12:8.

v.    He apparently worked at it over time. Luke 2:52 states that he “increased” or “grew” in wisdom, indicating that it was a gradual process. That is consistent with Sirach 6:18-19 and the other scriptures collected in Wisdom principles: We Grow in Godliness Over Time, Gradually.

2.   This passage reveals some things about Jesus’ life as He was developing into the adult:

A.   He grew up in an established community and family. Luke 2:39, 44, 51-52.

B.   The family He grew up in was pious, observing the law’s command to travel to Jerusalem in spite of their apparently modest means. Perhaps His experience as a poor pilgrim partially explains His zeal for cleansing the temple of those who exploited pilgrims. See John 2:13-17, Matthew 21:12-13, Mark 11:15-17, Luke 19:45-46.

C.   Although He submitted to His earthly parents’ authority, He started to assert His independence when he reached adolescence. That is a manifestation of the fact that He was fully human.

3.   Jesus’ response when Mary and Joseph finally find Him in the temple (Luke 2:49) reflects a tension between devotion to earthly family and devotion to God that surfaces multiple times in the gospels. See Matthew 10:37-38, Matthew 12:46-50, Matthew 19:29, Matthew 22:23-33, Mark 3:31-35, Mark 12:18-27, Luke 8:19-21, Luke 11:27-28, Luke 12:21-53, Luke 20:27-40, John 2:1-6. We too have to reconcile those sometimes competing demands.

4.   Although Jesus apparently recognized His divine status at this point, He submitted to the authority of His earthly parents. We see that dynamic—Jesus’ subordination of His divine perquisites to further divine purposes—elsewhere in scripture. See Matthew 3:13-15, Matthew 26:50-54, Luke 22:50-51, John 13:1-16, John 13:27, John 18:4-8, Philippians 2:5-8. We must follow His example and humbly surrender our “rights” in order to be fully available to do our part in helping God’s kingdom come and His will be done.  Other scriptures adressing that principle are collected in A Third Rosary Based Prayer About the Pandemic: Changing Our Ways.

5.    Mary and Joseph’s difficulty finding Jesus and comprehending His response once they did illustrate several realities about serving God:

A.   It illustrates that even those who are truly trying to do God’s will sometimes have trouble seeing/understanding what He’s up to. Mark 4:35-41 is another example of that dynamic.

B.   It also illustrates that those who are truly trying to do God’s will encounter difficulties in the course of doing so. That dynamic is discussed and illustrated in Sirach 2 and Matthew 14:22-24.

C.   It illustrates that even those who have an intimate relationship with Jesus have trouble connecting with Him at times. See Paragraph 2731 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

D.  It illustrates how to respond when those things occur:

i.   Mary and Joseph did not give up, or abandon the work they were doing for God, but instead kept at it as best they could. Their response exemplifies the instruction provided in Sirach 2.

ii.   It is interesting to note that they looked “everywhere” in Jerusalem before they found Jesus in the temple. Perhaps they went to the temple to pray for help finding Him, and only then came across Him.