49 And He said to them, “Why were you looking for Me? Did you not know that I must be in My Father’s house?” 50 And they did not understand the saying that He spoke to them. 51 And He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And His mother treasured up all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. ~ Luke 2:48-52
This is a part of the Christmas story that we don’t usually associate with Christmas. At the tender age of 12, Jesus was fully aware of His responsibilities and His calling. But it was not just downloaded to Him; He had to seek, He had to ask, and He had to study for Himself.
On this occasion, Jesus and His family had gone down to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Passover. After the feast was over, His parents and the rest of the family packed up and headed back home, but Jesus stayed behind and went to the temple to find the most knowledgeable teachers of the Scriptures. For three days, He sat with them, listening, asking questions, and learning. Jesus was listening, learning, and developing His faith. The learned men were amazed at His understanding of Scripture and His answers to their questions.
But you might think, well, this isn’t about Christmas at all. Oh, but it is. What we must take away from this is, Jesus, the Son of God, the Word made flesh, had to learn Scripture, had to ask questions, and to seek God, and develop His faith. How much more do we? Jesus never stopped being God; He merely set aside His divine prerogative and emptied Himself so that He might fill Himself again, as we must do.
The beauty of this is, the LORD Jesus came as a human baby 2,000 years ago, born in the manger because there was no room for them in the inn, born an ordinary child so that we too can seek God for ourselves. That is the Christmas story: A Savior who is Christ the LORD has been born in Bethlehem to reconcile man back to our Heavenly Father.
Now we have the privilege, the authority, and the power to seek an all-loving, Almighty God. For without Jesus’ birth as a mere human on that first Christmas morning, we would be lost forever, and unable to find God. But Jesus, our Savior, did come and did show us the way to the Father, because He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him. Now, because of Jesus, we can increase in wisdom and in favor with our Heavenly Father. Father, thank You for the gift of life through Your Son Jesus Christ. Thank You for salvation and for loving me, and thank You for the privilege to know You as Father, in Jesus’ Name, amen.