The Early Years of Jesus’ Life

From the time he was 12 years old he have some understanding some sense of destiny some understanding that he had a mission to perform in obedience to his father in heaven the early life of Jesus.

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Mike and Mary and Joseph hold living with the perfect sinless son of God, even as a child, Jesus loved perfectly and obeyed perfectly today on Renewing Your Mind. We returned to Dr. Darcy's goal series must deploy to focus on those early years of our Savior's life is will learn, even as a boy.

Jesus was about the business of fulfilling his father's will. College where I use teach the students were given an entrance exam and their knowledge of the English Bible and the questions were basically simple, but it was designed to see how much understanding of the Scriptures.

The students have this thing hundred and their college experience. And I'll never forget one student when I was teaching there. When he was asked the question to name the four Gospels. He wrote on this paper. Matthew, Mark, Luther and Sha was interesting to ask why are there four Gospels in the first place, it would seem that all we would need would be to have one life of Christ given to us in the New Testament. One biographical overview of his person and of his work, and yet it pleased God to give us four accounts of the life and ministry of Christ and all those for free are called Synoptics for synoptic Gospels and the three synoptic Gospels are Matthew, Mark, and Luke and John is not considered a synoptic gospel and many people frequently wonder why will reason is that the synoptic Gospels are called Synoptics because they give us basically a synopsis or an overview of the life of Jesus, whereas John's gospel is much more theologically oriented and almost the entire Gospel of John is devoted to the last week of Jesus life, because so much emphasis is upon his passion, his suffering and his death, and so on.

But even this term synoptic is a little bit misleading because the Gospels are not complete biographies and one of the things that we notice even in the synoptic Gospels, is that we have such sparse information about the childhood of Jesus. Luke gives us a good bit of information about his birth and the early years of his infancy, but apart from these brief infancy narratives that we have the only reference we have to Jesus childhood is in his visit to the temple when he goes up to prepare for his bar mitzvah, but the rest of the years of Jesus, boyhood, and even early manhood are unknown to the church and this is one of the reasons why. In the second century some of the Gnostic literature that emerged tried to fill in the blanks and try to recover as it were for the readers the lost years of Jesus and we got some very strange books that were written like the Gospel of Thomas and others that gave us a rather bizarre view of Jesus.

For example, in one of these apocryphal gospels about the life of Jesus.

They tell the story of Jesus as a little boy and he is lonely and has no one to play with so he reaches down the mud and he mold some birds out of the mud and the sword does presto to them and they come alive.

And Jesus is doing all these frivolous feats of supernatural power and so on. And that's one of the reasons why the stories are not credible at all, but the synoptic Gospels give us a little bit of information on the childhood of Jesus. And that's what I want us to look at in this segment today. One of the most important features of the gospel of Luke is that Luke does contain some interesting observations about the infancy of Jesus in Luke tells us at the beginning of his gospel that he undertook a program of research by seeking out the eyewitnesses and tradition has it that he interviewed Mary, and learned much of the early years of Jesus from Jesus mother. That's why Mary figure so prominently in the birth narratives of the gospel according to Luke, but the other aspect of these infancy narratives that I find particularly fascinating is the inclusion of songs we have the song of Zacharias which is called the Benedictus. We have the song of Mary, which is called the Magnificat. We have the song. For example, of Simeon, which is been called the milk the medicine the titles of the songs derived from the first words of the songs as they appeared in the old Vulgate version of the Bible. The Latin version of the Bible.

For example, the Magnificat begins my soul doth magnify the Lord and Matt goes over the Latin. That's where you get that term but there is a significance to this.

If we remember the Old Testament history. There are those moments particularly in the early days of Israel's history where we also encounter some magnificent songs there is the song of Moses celebrates the Exodus in the Psalm of Miriam.

There's the song of Deborah in the book of Judges and the reason why the songs are important is that in the Old Testament.

When God visited his people to bring them an extremely important moment of deliverance or of redemption. It was customary for the people to record this visitation of God's mercy by composing a song that would then celebrate and we see no place in Scripture where there is a greater concentration of such victory songs or deliverance songs as we find recorded in Luke's gospel surround the supreme visitation of God by which he visits his people in the person of his own son is interesting to me to that in the book of Revelation and we look in terms of the future of God's people. The promise is given that on that day God will give his people a new saw and again the significance of that is that that song will celebrate the ultimate victory of God and his ultimate act of deliverance.

Let's take a few moments to look at a little bit of this essence recorded in the New Testament. First of all, briefly, the song of Mary, the Magnificat used to teach a Bible study on the book of Luke for women because Luke's gospel is called the ladies home Journal of the Bible, for the simple reason that we have a record in Luke's Gospel of more encounters between Jesus and women than we find in the rest of the Gospels put together and I used to say to the ladies who were involved in this study of Luke that I strongly recommended and urge them to memorize the Magnificat because it is such a fantastic song of praise that we should have basically at the tips of our own… Let's look at it briefly, the song of Mary my soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior, for he has regarded the lowly state of his maidservant, for behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed if I find a parallel in the New Testament to the motif that is found frequently in the popular fairytales of Western civilization. We find it right here. Now don't get me wrong, I don't mean to suggest that the narrative here is a fairytale but one of the great motifs of the fairytale like Cinderella is the story of a young girl who is a peasant who is shunned who was rejected by her peers and she is set aside and given no status whatsoever, and she longs for the day when she will be noticed or delivered in the story unfolds were low and behold she is the one who was selected by the Prince were the song someday my Prince will come when there's this wistful dreaming for a Prince charming that will come and rescue the damsel from her obscurity well again this is not a fairytale but the motif that is going on here is that Mary is saying my soul mice.

His rejoicing. I'm rejoicing from the deepest core of my being, for God has regarded me. He has noticed me in my low estate among the reasons I think it would be helpful for us to memorize a song like this because it's not just true for Mary. That's true for every one of us who has received the mercy of God, because, compared with God, the state that were all in is one of lowliness and hit God has condescended and stooped to visit us with his love, and with his mercy, for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name's mercy is on those who fear him from generation to generation. He has shown strength with his arm is scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts is put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly. I think of Mary envisioning the powerful rulers of this world who stand in pride and arrogance over against the sovereign majesty of God and set themselves over against God is the Psalm is declared in Psalm two and I think of God, stretching out his right arm and just scattering the mighty, and he looks at those who have been exalted and seated in positions of power. The kings that sit enthroned in the power structures the world and he grabs them by the M of their robes pulls them down off their thrones. That's what Mary is saying here because God is turning the world upside down as he is want to do. He is put down the mighty from their thrones and exalted the lowly is filled the hungry with good things and the rich he has sent away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy as he spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever. Again I remind you that when we study the Old Testament and we looked at the promises that God made to Abraham at that time I pointed to the saw and said here when that promises being fulfilled. There is a song of celebration about Alyssa moving song that captures the spirit of what's going on but one of my favorites.

In fact, one of my most favorite characters in all of the Scriptures is the character of the venerable St. Simeon and reread of him in the gospel of Luke in the second chapter and verse 25. The behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon and this man wasn't just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel know that term consolation of Israel was a messianic title.

One of the many rich titles that was attributed to the Messiah that God would bring forth in the Messiah himself would be the one who would comfort his people to remember the prophetic pronouncement from Isaiah comfort. He comfort ye my people, saith the Lord well one Simeon is given the news by the Holy Spirit that he will not die until he beholds with his own eyes, the Lord's anointed, or the Lord's Messiah. He is looking for the one who is in and of himself, consolation of Israel. So we are told that this devout and righteous man was waiting for this consolation and the Holy Spirit was upon him, and has been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ and so he came by the Spirit into the temple and when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him. According to the custom of the law.

He took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, Lord, now let your servant depart in peace the menace now let me leave. Jesus is brought to the temple. According to the law of the Old Testament, we are told that when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the child. He was named and after the days of Mary's purification were completed, they brought Jesus to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord as the law required the firstborn son be dedicated to God. And we also know that the offering that they bring was an offering that was permitted in special circumstances. For those who were destitute for those who were immersed in deep poverty and it's that offering that Mary and Joseph bring indicating their poverty stricken existence in terms of the riches of this world will on this occasion when they come with this baby to dedicate him in the temple.

Simeon is there, and his eyes behold the baby and when he sees the baby.

He says now Lord, let me depart in peace. I don't need to have to stay around and watch this little child grow up and fulfill all of the tasks in the mission that thou hast put upon him. In his role as Messiah just to see him in his infancy is enough.

I am satisfied.

Take me home. Let me depart in peace for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all people alight to bring revelation to the Gentiles in the glory of your people Israel. Then we read that Joseph and his mother, that is Jesus mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him and Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, behold, this child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against, yea, a sword will pierce through your own soul also and the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. One of the things that the New Testament says of Mary with regard to the birth of Jesus and all the things that are taking place is that Mary These things and pondered them in her heart. Let's suppose for a moment and were speculating here that Luke interviewed Mary and Luke got this story from Marion Luke says to her, what do you remember about Jesus infancy. I can hear Mary saying to look for the one thing I'll never forget us when we took him into the temple and this profit was there and he sang a song and then he blessed us and he predicted that my baby would be a sign for many for rising and falling, and that a sword would pierce my soul could get that out of my mind. And then I remember the day when I stood at the foot of the cross and I saw soldier take a spear and Pierce. The body of my son. I felt it in my soul. I'm guessing, but I can imagine that she didn't remember this prophecy when she was at the foot of the cross.

Then we read of the story the same time of the prophetess Anna who also greeted the parents of Jesus and made predictions and then we move quickly from the infancy of Jesus to the record of Jesus. Visit to Jerusalem at the time of the feast of the Passover that's recorded in Luke chapter 2 verse 41, when Jesus was 12 years old, they went to Jerusalem, according to the custom and when they had finished the days as they returned the board. Jesus lingered behind in Jerusalem, and Joseph and his mother did not know it but supposing him to of been in the company they wanted days journey and then they sought them among the relatives and acquaintances know this may sound like child neglect or something but it was commonplace in these days for the people when they would go up to Jerusalem from the outlying villages and towns for the purpose of an annual feast, they would go by caravan and part of the custom was, the men would travel together and the woman would travel together and obviously what happened here is that after they completed their time in Jerusalem and were on their way home. Mary assumed that Jesus was with Joseph and Joseph assumed since he didn't say and that he must be with his mother and also their assumptions were wrong and after they made a whole days journey. They discovered that they left their 12-year-old son in Jerusalem and so there gripped by panic and concern and we read here that when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking him and it was so that after three days. Can you imagine having your son missing for three days. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers listening to them and asking them questions and all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and answer, they were amazed that this child prodigy: the parents of Jesus saw him, they were amazed and his mother said to him, son, if you done this to us.

Remember now the New Testament explained that Jesus is sinless and hear his mother, who obviously had been raising an ideal son for 12 years now is beside herself and there's a thinly veiled criticism. Here are accusation, which uses of you done this to us.

Your father and I have sought to anxiously and he said why did you seek me, did you not know that I must be about my father's and they did not understand the statement when he spoke to this incident. For the life of Jesus is not just dropped into the biographical sketch of Jesus for no reason. But there's a kind of foreshadowing here that's preparing the reader to understand something of the impetus of the life of this man from the time he was 12 years old. He had some understanding some sense of destiny some understanding that he had a mission to perform in obedience to his father in heaven. Didn't you understand temple is where I I must be about my father's business.

The rest of the synoptic Gospels unfolds for us.

Jesus fulfillment of that business. That's Dr. RC Sproul teaching from his series – the glory. And it's interesting to see Jesus childhood from the perspective of different gospel writers that we learned so much today, including why the synoptic Gospels have that name.

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