Increasing In Wisdom, Stature and Favor: Luke 2:52
“52) And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Luke 2:52
This is an intriguing verse. It summarizes the growth and progress of Jesus from age twelve up to the beginning of the public ministry of John the Baptist.
That would generally be accepted as around age 25 for Jesus. Of course that depends on when you view the starting of the public ministry of John the Baptist. I am estimating roughly five years before Jesus started His public ministry.
These were silent years for Jesus, but they were not wasted years. “He kept increasing…” Because of the incarnation, Jesus had to go through a normal growth and development process. His humanity was the weak link in His chain. He needed to learn and grow like every other human.
Even so, every Christian needs to go through a continual growth and development process. Notice it included growing in wisdom and stature. I take that to include spiritual, physical, emotional, relational and work even ethic growth. Jesus grew as a total person.
I believe in total life development. It takes intentionality and self discipline. The moment you stop growing, you start declining. You go backward instead of foreword. Keep pressing on! Keep reaching forward! Keep increasing in wisdom and stature. Never stop learning and never become lax with taking care of your physical body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
The end result was that Jesus kept increasing in “favor with God and men.” The Greek word for “favor” is “charis.” It means “to rejoice, a joy, favor, acceptance, a kindness granted or desired, a benefit, thanks, gratitude, grace.” It has the idea of a favor given without expectation of return.
In summary, it means Jesus became likable by both God and man. There was nothing negative in His appearance, attitudes, morals, kindness, charity, godliness or people skills. He was responsible and cared for others above Himself. He found favor with both God and man.
Many descriptions of His public ministry lead us to conclude that Jesus was not rude, brash, greedy, exploitive or self promoting. Jesus was gentle, approachable, kind, considerate, loving, just and merciful. Yet He had a power and presence about Him that earned respect from others.
Here is the catch, He learned or acquired these qualities. As He grew, they increased. They were not automatically bestowed on Him. Even His Father repeatedly said, “this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (See Matthew 3:17; 17:5)
Favor was granted because of His character, attitudes, wisdom and mannerisms. He became an extraordinary person!
Being a Christian is not an excuse to be rude, disrespectful, sloppy or arrogant. To the contrary, we should become more like Jesus. We should continually be growing and increasing in wisdom and stature so as to increase in favor both with God and men. By far the hardest person I’ve ever tried to mentor, mature and grow.. is myself! It is an unending process.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
Sent from my iPhone
“52) And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Luke 2:52
This is an intriguing verse. It summarizes the growth and progress of Jesus from age twelve up to the beginning of the public ministry of John the Baptist.
That would generally be accepted as around age 25 for Jesus. Of course that depends on when you view the starting of the public ministry of John the Baptist. I am estimating roughly five years before Jesus started His public ministry.
These were silent years for Jesus, but they were not wasted years. “He kept increasing…” Because of the incarnation, Jesus had to go through a normal growth and development process. His humanity was the weak link in His chain. He needed to learn and grow like every other human.
Even so, every Christian needs to go through a continual growth and development process. Notice it included growing in wisdom and stature. I take that to include spiritual, physical, emotional, relational and work even ethic growth. Jesus grew as a total person.
I believe in total life development. It takes intentionality and self discipline. The moment you stop growing, you start declining. You go backward instead of foreword. Keep pressing on! Keep reaching forward! Keep increasing in wisdom and stature. Never stop learning and never become lax with taking care of your physical body, which is the temple of the Holy Spirit.
The end result was that Jesus kept increasing in “favor with God and men.” The Greek word for “favor” is “charis.” It means “to rejoice, a joy, favor, acceptance, a kindness granted or desired, a benefit, thanks, gratitude, grace.” It has the idea of a favor given without expectation of return.
In summary, it means Jesus became likable by both God and man. There was nothing negative in His appearance, attitudes, morals, kindness, charity, godliness or people skills. He was responsible and cared for others above Himself. He found favor with both God and man.
Many descriptions of His public ministry lead us to conclude that Jesus was not rude, brash, greedy, exploitive or self promoting. Jesus was gentle, approachable, kind, considerate, loving, just and merciful. Yet He had a power and presence about Him that earned respect from others.
Here is the catch, He learned or acquired these qualities. As He grew, they increased. They were not automatically bestowed on Him. Even His Father repeatedly said, “this is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (See Matthew 3:17; 17:5)
Favor was granted because of His character, attitudes, wisdom and mannerisms. He became an extraordinary person!
Being a Christian is not an excuse to be rude, disrespectful, sloppy or arrogant. To the contrary, we should become more like Jesus. We should continually be growing and increasing in wisdom and stature so as to increase in favor both with God and men. By far the hardest person I’ve ever tried to mentor, mature and grow.. is myself! It is an unending process.
Daily Bible Commentary By Terry Baxter: Cofounder of GoServ Global
Sent from my iPhone
