Boring Omissions of Youth

Scripture: When they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth. And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom. And the grace of God was upon Him. Luke 2:39-40

Observation: There is SO much missing information here!! Clearly, Luke has directly interviewed Mary in order to produce the details of Luke 2 - information about the shepherds, the prophesies of Simeon and Anna, and later is days of teaching in the temple at age 12. However, the intervening period - from the age of 8 days to 12 years - is covered in 20 words. That said, those two sentences of verse 40 have some powerful phrases:

-- He "became strong in spirit" - While we generally would think that the oldest son would learn his father's work, and thus Jesus would become strong in body as a carpenter, the first description is a strength explicitly aligned to the Holy Spirit of God.

-- He was "filled with wisdom" - That alignment to the spirit gave Jesus even as a young child a supernatural gift of wisdom.

-- "The grace of God was upon him" - God's special blessing rested upon Jesus during these 12 formative years, likely both protecting him and extending to the way he behaved and interacted with other children and siblings.

Application: I am intrigued by these character traits that have been singled out to describe everything we know about Jesus from birth to just before the age of Jewish adulthood. His entire childhood I this ... he was spirit-filled, supernaturally wise, and uniquely blessed, and likely therefore interacted with others in a unique manner. However, I am equally intrigued by the details Luke and/or Mary have decided to leave out of the Bible. There is no explanation of any of these traits, no examples of behavior, no "for example" memories of his childhood, and no editorial about how he was different that other kids. They do not say, "his wisdom was so great that once he ..." or "God's grace on his life was so evident that one time ...". There is not a single act, word, or event presented to expound on these traits.

I believe the reason for this omission is simple and twofold. All of these traits - strong spirit, wisdom, and grace - do not lend themselves to "events", but rather just the opposite ... a child with these traits would be so mild and wise as to simply never create a stir or issue. That would, of course, be wildly unique for a child! However, it also would not create antidotes for future reminiscing. Second, Jesus's ministry was a public event for the world, and not a private event for his family. Therefore, his spirit-filled life of his private family life was not important ... however, his first public appearance in the temple at age 12 was an exception. Mary and Luke understood that recounting Mary's memories of a wonderful child was not part of God's redemptive message, and excluded it.

While it is interesting, therefore, to contemplate the child Jesus, it is correct that it is also meaningless. In presenting the authority of Jesus, we are best served by the facts of his ministry and by his own teaching. The boring childhood has no salvation in it, but belief in the resurrection has saving power. Talk of a wise child is meaningless, but an adult life that fulfilled thousands of years of prophesy is meaningful. As always, it is important to stick to the important elements of Jesus, and the stories of a proud mom was never part of that message.

Prayer: Abba, father, the birth of Jesus was the turning point of all creation! That story is so important, and that importance is in the context of your love and your willingness to sacrifice Jesus on the cross for my sins. Please help me stay focused on that act of love, and how I can align my actions daily to that love. Please give me just a little bit of the wisdom, spirit, and grace of the young boy Jesus. Amen.