Danny Fourie

And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.  Luke 2:40

Jesus became stronger and wiser and God Himself guided Him with his grace. We are tempted to just read over this but it says something about the process of upbringing that Jesus went through. When He was still young, Jesus was groomed and prepared for his work and ministry. He was empowered to fulfil the heavy task that awaited Him. What do you think? Did Jesus when He was still in the crib already knew that He was the Saviour? Like any other child Jesus learned to know Himself better. He started to realise that He was not the same as all the other children.

Jesus continued to accumulate more life experience. He became loved, people regarded Him with respect and they held Him in esteem.

In this way Jesus ended up in the temple and the scholars were surprised by his intelligent questions. Jesus became so absorbed in the moment that He totally forgot about the time. His parents have left long ago on their way home. They thought that He was somewhere in the group walking with his friends. Most of the time Jesus was considerate enough to always say where He was, but this time not. They became worried. Where was He? Extremely worried they turned back to Jerusalem where they found Him in the temple. “Why did you look for me?” Jesus asked. What a question? “You are our son of course!”

Then He told them that He was busy with the things of his Father. Joseph and Mary did not understand anything of this. Was Jesus at that stage so normal or ordinary that they forgot who He really was? It is almost like a riddle: The more I become involved with the things of my Father, the more you will miss me.

Prayer: Thank you Lord Jesus that you became involved with the things of your Father from a very young age. All of that had to do with me, for my sake. Thank you. Amen