The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Luke 2:52,
"And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men."
Here is a summary statement Luke provides following his account of Jesus at twelve years of age remaining behind at the temple when his parents thought he was with their company returning to Nazareth from Jerusalem following the Passover.
Luke points out that every year Jesus' parents went up to Jerusalem for Passover. Beyond this, there is very little we are told regarding Jesus' life as a child growing up. We know he had four half-brothers: James, Joseph, Judas and Simon. He also had at least two sisters, Mark 3:3. What was Jesus like as a child? In Luke 2:52 we are told Jesus was obedient to his parents following the incident. How did he occupy his time? What was the interaction like within the home? Many questions can be asked and much can be offered by way of suggestion.
However, we really don't know much about the earlier years of Jesus' life prior to his baptism by John and his subsequent public ministry. I would even argue we don't know much about all that took place during Jesus' public ministry. We have the apocryphal "Infancy Narratives" that attempt to fill in some of the detail of Jesus childhood, as in the Gospel of James, but these fail the critical test of inclusion within the literature that is considered to be inspired by God. Not only can it not be trusted, some is simply absurd.
These thoughts bring to my mind a truth about that which we recognize as inspired literature from God, something not mentioned nearly enough. I firmly believe, without a single hint of doubt, the sixty-six books we have between the covers of our Bibles are inspired by God. Written by men who spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit, I believe every bit of it is truthful, accurate, without error and entirely trustworthy as having come from God. They are God's very words in the original as expressed by the men he inspired. The truth which I feel is not mentioned nearly often enough is that every bit of Scripture is intentional. We have exactly what God wants us to have in the Scriptures and we don't have within its pages what he didn't see fit to give us for one reason or another. Accounts of Jesus' childhood seem to fall into this type.
In John 21:25 we read, "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written." Since there really was much more that could have been written, what actually was written must have been intentional, selected from the whole as that which God wanted us to have. In John 20:30-31 we read, "Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." Here is the purpose, here is the intent of Scripture.
What the divine intention of Scripture means to me is that if it isn't there, it must not be on par with what God wants me to have, again, for one reason or another. There are some things God wants us to know, and so he has communicated them to us. What he hasn't communicated must not hold the same importance relative to his intent, as what it is he has communicated. Maybe this is obvious, but from time to time I find those who fall into a trap by failing an appreciation of it.
Perhaps this is why, at the conclusion of John's Revelation, and, fittingly, of the last words in our Bible we read, "I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book." Revelation 22:18-19.
God intends us to know some things. Woe to the man who attempts to alter what God intends! And, if God intends me to have it, if I fail to avail myself of it, how am I any different than the one who might try to alter it?
All Scripture is inspired by God and is intentional!
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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