“How much do you know?” If you stop and think about it, that is an interesting question – “How much do you know?” You’d probably like me to qualify that question – “How much do you know about …. the Bible?” “How much do you know about American politics;” “How much do you know about Christ.” But this isn’t my question. What I’m asking is: “How much of your brain has been trained and taught to know stuff.” If there was a way of measuring how much data has been stored on your mental hard drive, how much useable space compared to used space. And here is a related question: “How did you learn the things that you have learned?” Did it come through genetics, deliberate memorization, reading, television, day-to-day experience or was it something else?
Nearly all of us are teachers – while still being students, we are teachers of others. Parents are teachers; preachers are teachers; older siblings in a family are teachers; friends can be teachers. And as teachers, we have access to a variety of teaching tools. Four times a week, I get up here and share a message from the Bible. Usually it has been a blessing to me to prepare, but it will NEVER be the same blessing to you. Research has shown that our words – yours and mine – account for only 7% of everything we communicate to others. And just because something is communicated, that doesn’t mean that the other person has received it. More of our learning is received visually, either through watching others or reading. This means that as learners we need to be careful what we read and who we watch. And then as teachers, we must remember that our words may not be as important as other things. Things like our example – the physical way in which we live the words which we speak. And then there is the heart and emotion with which we speak those words. Even more than the preacher, parents teach far more through their lives than through their instruction.
And speaking of parents, who has influenced you the most? The 6-year-old would usually point to his parents – to his mother first. But the 10-year-old may be learning more from a certain friend or perhaps a teacher. And the 15-year-old may point to horrible sports figures or a celebrity.
Paul on more than one occasion said, “Take ME for example.” In I Corinthians 4 he said, “Though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel. Wherefore I beseech you, be ye followers of me.” In three other epistles he repeated this idea – “Brethren, be ye followers together of me.” But then in I Corinthians 11 he said, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ.”
Shouldn’t Christ Jesus be the Christian’s highest and best example? “I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me…” We are to be “looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.” And please notice that it is by looking unto Jesus that we learn to be like Jesus. It’s not through lessons about Christ; it’s by our examination of Him and His example that we become more Christlike.
But obviously, some aspects of the Person of Christ are beyond our reach. Should deity be our example? Yes, in some ways, but I’ll let people smarter than me answer that one. Even if we confine our study to the humanity of Christ, we have more material than we will ever learn in our lifetime. There are so many things in the life of Christ Jesus “the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written.”
My theme this evening is setting Christ as our example, our guide and our goal. And in an effort to make our considerations almost attainable, let’s use verse 52 as our outline. We are told that Jesus grew in four areas – physically, mentally, socially and spiritually. Setting Christ Jesus as our example, we need to grow in these four areas as well.
“Jesus increased in wisdom and STATURE, and in favour with God and man.”
We have no trouble understanding the word “stature” in this verse and context. It means physical size. Christ started His life as a baby weighing less than eight pounds, and probably much less than that. People generally, and babies in particular, were much smaller then than they are today. Then Jesus, the son of Mary, began to grow, and when He was twelve, on the occasion of this trip to Jerusalem, He was probably over five feet tall. But he wasn’t finished, He apparently was still adding a few inches.
WE understand the word “stature,” but then we aren’t as smart as modern Bible translators. The ESV has a footnote which suggests that instead of “stature” you might substitute the word “years.” Now, how logical is that statement? “Jesus increased in wisdom and years.” That would be like me looking back at my son and saying, “I remember Kraig getting older when he was 12.” I would never say that because it is so blatantly obvious. But I might say, “I remember that Kraig grew three inches when he was twelve.” Christ Jesus was growing intellectually, physically, socially and spiritually.
Like Him, we need to mature in physical things – but I’m not confining myself to inches and pounds. Is there any area of the physical dimensions of your life, over which you do not have proper control? Maybe we should talk about inches and pounds – am I in mature control of that part of my life? If I came to church tonight drunk or stoned, you’d either take steps to detoxify me, or more likely you’d take steps to kick me out of the pulpit. But if I came in 50 pounds over weight, rather than fire me, you’d feed me even more. If I started smoking cigars, you’d probably remind me that the temple of the Holy Spirit shouldn’t be polluted like that, and of course you’d be right. We don’t drink or smoke, but in what other ways are we not following Christ in the physical realm? What about money? When I was a kid I mowed lawns for fifty cents, and I was happy to get it. I was debt free and well-fed by my parents, so that half dollar was free money, to be used almost any way I wanted. As I have grown older, more and more money passes through my hands every year, but as my income has grown so, at times, has my level of debt. I hope what I read recently isn’t true – “80% of all Americans owe more than their net worth.” I have also read somewhere “unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required.” Since we were twelve-years-old, have we grown wiser in our use of money? And what about your time? Are you in control there? Have you ever considered that if you don’t regulate your time, someone or something else will?
When should we stop maturing in the physical or outward aspects of our lives? Did Christ ever stop?
“Jesus increased in WISDOM and stature, and in favour with God and man.”
There are two points this evening which are a little bit difficult to grasp when considering the Lord. One is that adolescent Jesus increased in wisdom. But as I have been pounding home for the last month in our Midweek devotions, Christ is wisdom incarnate. “But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.” Colossians 2:3 declares that in Christ “are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” As the Son of God, Christ is wisdom. Did He acquire that wisdom through education? Absolutely not.
I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to explain it well. But on the human side of the Theanthropic Person, Jesus was schooled by Joseph, His mother and the rabbis at the synagogue in Nazareth. He learned some of things that we have learned, and sometimes in the same way as we learn them. He had to learn the value of money; He learned some foods were healthy, but some thing are poison He had to learn to avoid the scorpion and not to play on the cockatrice den. He may not have had the difficulties that we have in memorizing scripture, but I think that He still had to apply Himself to remember Psalm 23 and Exodus 20. I don’t believe for a moment that Jesus ever foolishly sinned when facing a troublesome temptation. But perhaps as a child, He simply fled temptations, later asking Mary or Joseph for their advice. Then the next time that temptation arose, He had learned a quick and sharp response.
Should you and I EVER stop increasing in wisdom? Is it possible for us to reach the pinnacle of wisdom? Apparently some people think so – but it ain’t so. And so we need to keep reading and studying – and of course reading the Bible is obvious. So many Christians are “under” the word of God, but not “in” it for themselves. Some people say they have been through the Bible “x” number of times, but sadly the Bible has never really run through them. None of us will ever deserve the title “wise” until we are so full of the Word of God that it pours out our pores. And if properly grounded in the Word, then we need to read books other than the Bible. Here is a fact, we will glean and retain more information in an hour of reading good material than we will get in ten hours of watching or listening. The reason is that proper reading forces the engagement of the mind and sometimes even the heart. I can’t tell you how many times, Judy and I have taken an hour to watch an interesting television show, and then began asking ourselves, why does this look familiar? The answer is that we saw it before, but neither of us can remember it well enough to know what the next thing in the story will be. Watching and hearing, in themselves, are not conducive to learning the lessons.
If you want to grow in wisdom, then you need to learn to read people too. People are stimulating and instructive – both positively and negatively. Read histories and biographies. Read about the FAMOUS men of history and the truly GREAT men as well. I can loan you books on Spurgeon, Whitefield, Judson, Newton, Gano and articles on dozens of others. This is helpful because when we can glean the wisdom of other people, it accelerates our own. We are like Christ – when we increase in wisdom.
“Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in FAVOUR with God and MAN.”
How many friends do you have? How many acquaintances? How many of them are NOT Christians? What does it say about our character, if we cannot, or we are not, friends with any lost people? How many friends do you have who are not in the same age group as you? Sure there were wicked men who foolishly tried to attack and destroy Christ. But at the same time, how often was He invited to the homes of unbelievers for various reasons?
If just after His baptism, Christ had limited His ministry to His friends, how many disciples would He have ever had? This idea is so simple that it’s almost silly to consider, but maybe that’s the reason we don’t consider it. How many believers would have been created if Christ had not exposed Himself to unbelievers? If we aren’t as diligent as Jesus at expanding our circle of friends and acquaintances, will we ever have a Christ-like ministry? I used to visit door-to-door. I use to average 10 to 15 hours a week, walking up to doors with a Bible in my hand. I have had more doors slammed in my face than there are doors in some small cities. And that’s okay. But it’s not very productive. Far more productive, is the establishment of friendships where the gospel can be shared over time.
The word “favour” in this verse is enlightening. It is “charis” (khar’-ece). It is translated “favour” four times. And 130 times it is rendered “grace” – which when coming from the Lord is “divine favour.” Is it not ironic that the God who showed grace toward sinners — received grace from those sinners? Imagine, if you will, six-year-old Jesus. Don’t you think that you’d enjoy spending time with Him? What about the twelve-year-old Jesus, or the fifteen- year-old? Naturally speaking, the relationship which Jesus had with His peers and their parents, grew and improved until such time as He polarized society with His Messiahship.
But what about you and me? Are we like Christ – naturally drawing the friendship and even the grace of others? “Oh, I am a Christian, therefore everyone hates me.” If they indeed hate you, as you say, is it because you are a Christian or is it because something else? Have you driven those people away with your faith, or was it your uncharitable spirit? Here is another area where we as saints need to learn and practice the principles of Christ.
And “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with GOD and man.”
Verse 40 uses the same word as verse 52 but from a different direction. Jesus increased in grace with God. “And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.” I don’t understand how Jesus Christ could increase in grace with God, but I know He did, because the Bible tells us.
Even in applying this verse and Christ’s example to us – we are left with questions. Doesn’t “grace” mean “unmerited favour?” Yes, it does as we generally apply the word. But for just a moment, let’s use the fuzzy brush of the painter or the Photoshop program – let’s blur things. Doesn’t this simply suggest that the spiritual dimension of the son of Mary grew throughout His life? Do you suppose that the bond between the Lord Jesus, in His humanity, grew with His Heavenly Father? And shouldn’t this be true of us as well?
Is your love for the Lord as strong today as it was five years ago, or five months after your salvation? “Sure, it is,” you boldly say, honestly meaning every syllable of that statement. But, do you read your Bible as faithfully today as you did in those early months of your spiritual life? Are you as faithful in prayer as you have been in the past? Of course you mean well, but the pressures of your current day-to-day life have robbed you of time and spirituality. And that is just the point – this is something upon which we need to constantly work. And “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with GOD and man” – but often, we do not.
I read of a family which used the edge of a closet door to measure the growth of their children. Maybe you have done the same thing. Every birthday, or on some special date, the kids in the family backed up to the edge of the door, a book was placed on their head and then a line was drawn under the book when the child moved aside. On one occasion the husband of the family was required to be away for three weeks of work. His daughter promised to grow while he was gone. Every day she demanded that her mother measure her against the marks on the edge of the door. When dad returned home, sure enough his six-year-old daughter was a millimeter taller. Later that evening, still glowing over her tremendous accomplishment, she innocently asked, “Daddy, why do big people stop growing?” He superficially replied that everyone eventually stops growing up, and starts growing out. Later, after she had gone to bed, he returned to his dauther’s question: “Why do big people stop growing?”
Why do teachers stop learning, preachers stop growing in grace and Christians stop striving for things above? Isn’t one of our greatest threats – “satisfaction” – the failure to keep asking, “How can I improve?” Don’t we become so busy in doing things that we become less valuable, less significant? What are my current strengths? What are my weaknesses? What areas of my life ought to be changed and where should I purposely strive to grow? In the sight of God, where do I stand physically, intellectually, socially and spiritually? “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.” If that was true of the One who should be our ultimate example, shouldn’t we also grow in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man?