“And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him. Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.’ And he said to them, ‘Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”

Something I become more and more aware of as I spend more time in Scripture is that the Bible is not just one thing. It’s one thing in that it’s the Word of God, it’s one thing in that it’s a single compilation of inspired text, in that it is entirely self-affirming. But it’s not one thing in its meaning or application. The Bible holds a collection of wonderful and fascinating stories, but it’s not just a storybook. It is home to a whole host of historical events, but it’s not just a history book. The Word forms the most comprehensive and life changing set of rules that anyone could ever hope to adhere to, but it’s not just a rule book. We often classify the different books of the Bible into different styles, and this helps significantly in organizing them and understanding our approach to each one. But again, it’s a mistake when we think that a historical text is only historical, or a poetic text only poetic. There are cold, hard facts woven between the flowery words of the Song of Solomon, and there are deep, symbolic images given shape through the organization of Leviticus. It is reasonable and proper to assign and organize sections, but we make a critical mistake when we think to pigeonhole any one book, and certainly the Bible as a whole as being only one thing. The Word is living and breathing, and it undercuts the spiritual brilliance of what God has given us when we fail to appreciate and revere its many facets. Of the four gospel accounts, Luke offers the most robust historical references. All four provide historical context, but each one offers us something different in the writer’s perspective and the way in which God used them to convey the good news. Luke, stating from the beginning his intent to provide an “orderly account” in what amounts to a life changing discipleship letter, writes to affirm, to shore up the faith of reading Christians, that we might have confidence that what we believe is true – and this is achieved by often giving a thorough historical context for the events and circumstances we read of. But it would be a mistake to take Luke and think of it only as “the historical gospel” and that alone. Luke’s provided historical context is only guiding us in the aim of affirming the truth of Christ, and so this well-worded, evidence based record speaks to something far greater than a simple history book. Last week we read of the eight day old Jesus’ arrival at the temple to be presented before God and to enter under the covenant of circumcision. Through this and the responses of Simeon and the prophetess Anna we saw what it meant to recognize Jesus for who He was, even as an infant, and the events afforded us the opportunity to look at His display of both humanity and divinity. As we continue through Luke’s gospel we now skip ahead twelve years to another prominent event in the life of Jesus as a boy – but as we study over this passage we again must contend with what is being communicated beyond the story itself. Because while the story of the boy Jesus’ trip to Jerusalem with His family gives us historical context that adds to our understanding of events, it also provides us with another mysterious and beautiful contrast of His humanity and divinity. In the way this all unfolds we’re provided with a picture of the great power, wisdom, and profound humility of the young Christ who was God made flesh.

The Humility of the King

1. Humility in an Ordinary Life

“And when they had performed everything according to the Law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.”

Picking up right where events left off last week, we see that after their interaction with Simeon and blessing upon them, Mary and Joseph continued on with all the requirements of the Law. Jesus was dedicated, their offering was given, and the infant Messiah would have been circumcised. These are all normal, standard practice observances, but they also stand as further affirmation of Mary and Joseph’s righteousness. Yes, they’re doing what they’re supposed to do, but this offers us confirmation that there is no element or facet of obedience that isn’t tended to. We’ve seen Mary’s obedience from the time Gabriel brought her news that she would bear the Christ. We’ve seen Joseph’s obedience from the time that an angel spoke to him in a dream and told him not to divorce Mary, but to marry this young woman who had miraculously conceived through the Holy Spirit. These things happen so quickly in the Biblical narrative that it can be easy to think that they were simple moments that didn’t require extraordinary faith or conviction, but their obedience is deeply admirable, and we see it continue on, from great and miraculous circumstances into very ordinary ones. After their time in Jerusalem we see that Mary and Joseph return to their home, to the small town of Nazareth and their normal lives, In this, Jesus is introduced into a life of normalcy, and through this there is a great display of humility – because God has taken on flesh, He has come into the world as an infant, and for His earthly family he has chosen a young, financially poor couple in the small town of Nazareth. As we’ve discussed before, if we really think about it from a human perspective, we would expect a Man who was God incarnate to enter the world as a king. We would expect the things that we correlate with greatness – namely money and power – and the people in the first century thought the exact same way. The idea of the “god-king” was incredibly common through much of the ancient world – from the Pharaoh in Egypt, to the many Emperors who controlled Mesopotamia and the surrounding regions, on up to the Emperor who ruled in Rome in Jesus’ time – all carried this idea of a man that was in some way god-like or part god who ruled over them. This was even woven into the Jewish idea of the Messiah, as many looked for an earthly ruler who would establish their power permanently. We see this after the feeding of the 5,000 in John 6:15,

“Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.”

Because God is exceedingly great beyond our comprehension, we imagine that for Him to be in the world He must bear the signs of worldly greatness. But God is not limited as we are, and entering the world as flesh and blood, He had no need to display power through any kind of worldly grandeur. Hebrews 1:3 tells us,

“He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power…”

If He is sustaining existence, upholding reality by His power, what possible need would He have of any crown or throne that the world could provide? Instead we’re given a picture of humility by the Son of God living out a life of unremarkable means. We read that Jesus grew, developed in strength and wisdom, and carried the favor of God, and while these are wonderful things, they take place without fanfare. They’re also things that can and will take place in the lives of all the children of God. While they certainly mean something greater in the life of Jesus than they do in anyone else’s, there is a grounding, a normalcy in the things we read that He is experiencing as He grows. While Luke doesn’t address it, we also know from Matthew’s gospel that it was during this time that the wise men visited from the east, and that Herod sought to kill the Christ. Matthew 2:13–15, 19-21 tells us,

“Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.’ And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, ‘Out of Egypt I called my son.’” … “But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, ‘Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.’ And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel.”

While this may not be the most ordinary of events, it does give us another example of Mary and Joseph’s profound obedience. You may think, “Well of course they were obedient, their lives, and the life of Jesus were all in danger.” You’re not wrong, but we still have to consider that any time a person is asked to give something up there is faith required. So to leave behind home, family, and culture, and to move to a foreign land, regardless of the reason, is no small thing. We also have to consider the faith and obedience required to return to Israel. If there’s one theme that we see repeated in the Old Testament it’s an over-reliance on Egypt. From Abraham and Lot during their time there, to the Jews in the wilderness who sought to return to their slavery, to the kings of Israel who sought the strength of their chariots or the refuge of their borders instead of the strength and refuge of God, there’s a recurring theme of an over-dependence on Egypt. But when Joseph is called to take his family and return to their home, he does so. He does so with caution, still fearing to draw near to Herod’s family who were still in power, but regardless of his fear he obeys. This again is such a small thing that we can read past it without thinking much of it, but it reflects again the extraordinary spiritual condition of the human parents who raised Jesus in an ordinary human life.

“Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group they went a day’s journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him”

After reading of Mary and Joseph’s return home and about the manner in which the child Jesus grew, we move ahead twelve years to the time of Passover, and see the continued pattern of normalcy. Mary and Joseph, presumably with Jesus along with them, would have made the pilgrimage to Jerusalem annually for the Passover, meaning that this would have been part of the normal rhythm of their year. This Passover gathering, however carried a new and unexpected event for the couple in Jesus remaining behind in Jerusalem. Again, looking at how ordinary this event seems, I think it’s all too relatable (at least if we’re honest) to imagine the panic of a parent who has lost track of their child. Again, there’s so much that Scripture doesn’t explicitly tell us that we could imagine into the narrative if we weren’t given passages like this one. It would be easy to think that Mary and Joseph micromanaged Jesus’ every step, that He was constantly under supervision and guard, that they were the world’s first and foremost helicopter parents. But this event proves otherwise – not that Jesus was somehow neglected or unloved, but just that things were normal. Think the scenario through – Mary and Joseph take an annual trip with their friends and family from their hometown to Jerusalem to observe the Passover. After the feast the party gathers and begins their way back to Nazareth, and Mary and Joseph logically assume that Jesus is with everyone else – up until they realize He’s not. Whether they want to admit it or not, I suspect this is something that almost every parent can relate to. You’re at the beach, an amusement park, the mall, or the grocery store, and through an understandable degree of complacency, because you’ve done this before and everything was fine, you lose track of your child – and then you realize that you’ve lost track of your child, and whether it’s for five seconds or five minutes, your world is flipped upside down until you find them. But Mary and Joseph aren’t just dealing with the flood of panic that would come with losing their own child – they’ve misplaced Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God, God made flesh, Emmanuel, literally “God with us,” and His earthly parents managed to accidentally abandon Him. True, Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem intentionally, it’s not like this was an act of pure negligence, but it helps us see the circumstances in which He grew, and that they were in so many ways ordinary. This is the kind of thing that we could see happening to any regular child, but it’s likely not the degree of care or attention that we would expect around the Son of God. Now, other than helping to understand the context of the passage, why is understanding this ordinariness such a big deal? Psalm 145:3 tells us,

“Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.”

In Daniel 7:9–10 we’re given an image of the immeasurable power of God,

“As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.”

Not long after that we read in Daniel 7:13–14 as this power and authority is bestowed upon the Son of Man,

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

In Deuteronomy 6:4–6 we read,

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.”

This is part of the mystery of the Trinity, one way in which mortal minds cannot fully grasp the full weight of divine truth – God is One. He alone can hold His authority, and so for the Son of Man to hold the authority and dominion that belongs to God and God alone then the Son of Man and the Ancient of Days must be, as Jesus says in John 10:30, One. God is worthy of all praise, meaning that Jesus, the Son who is One with the Father, is worthy of all praise – as we read in Philippians 2:9–11,

“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

What we can sometimes forget in our praise and worship of the Lord, as we magnify His splendor, is the profound humility He came into the world with. Backing up just one verse from what we just read, Philippians 2:8 tells us,

“And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”

God in His glory can seem unapproachable – because He is. There is nothing that the sinner can do to reconcile themselves before God. However in Christ there is an open path to redemption and reconciliation to the Father. Jesus says in John 10:7–9,

“So Jesus again said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.”

It is because of this that we read the comforting words in Hebrews 4:16,

“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

And in 1 John 2:1,

“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

The fact that Jesus is both glorious beyond measure, yet approachable by desperate and broken people is something we looked at last week in His humanity, but this is further deepened and emphasized by the humility He displayed during His time on earth. Because even a man may be unapproachable in his power, but Christ welcomed the little children, He ate with tax collectors and prostitutes that the sick might hear the good news and repent, and He healed the blind, the crippled, and the leprous who were marginalized or outright rejected by society. He lived what was in so many ways an ordinary human life, and yet at the same time He held all the glory and might of the Ancient of Days as He walked with compassion and mercy among fallen men.

2. Humility in an Extraordinary Life

“After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.”

Something that we see throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry is a commitment to timing. Nothing is forced, nothing is rushed, it all unfolds in the perfect timing laid out by the Father. We can see this repeatedly displayed in Jesus’ discourse with the ruling Jews in John’s gospel, as again and again they seek to kill Him, only for Him to slip away or stay their hands because His hour has not yet come. It is with controlled precision that He stokes the fury and contempt of His enemies through His miracles and teachings, their desire to end His life reaching its peak after the resurrection of Lazarus. And then, when His timing was right, He delivered Himself into their hands, not being taken, but offering Himself according to His own will and proving the truth of His words in John 10:18,

“No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

This is all relevant to consider, because we can see that Jesus’ attention to timing didn’t just begin at the start of His earthly ministry, but was a present factor throughout His life. We’ve already seen how the timing of His conception was such that, in conjunction with the census, Jesus’ birth took place in Bethlehem as was prophesied. As we read earlier from Matthew, through the arrival of the wise men and the subsequent persecution from Herod, Jesus went to live in and was ultimately called out of Egypt, fulfilling the words of Hosea 11:1,

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.”

Because our own lives can unfold in such a haphazard manner, we can sometimes fail to realize that, even though it’s beyond our comprehension, there is nothing that God does without purpose and precision. This applied to the birth of Christ, the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, the hour of His death upon the cross, and the moment of His resurrection – and it applied to Jesus staying behind in Jerusalem after the Passover. It wasn’t just intentional that He remained behind after a feast in general, but this specific Passover, because as Luke tells us, Jesus was now twelve years old. For most things Scripture seems to record both the Law and Jewish culture counting twenty as the general age of adulthood. You needed to be twenty to serve in the military, to take part in a census, or to be required to pay taxes (again, remember this is the custom of the Jews, not necessarily Rome). You needed to be twenty to begin service as a Levite, though some responsibilities required that you be older. Regardless, this is the age where, for the most part you had access or responsibility to participate in the functions of an adult. The age of twelve is significant however because it was around twelve or thirteen that children were thought to be capable of moral reasoning. It is therefore significant that Jesus, observing the customs that He Himself has instituted, waits until He has reached the age of twelve and has formally entered this recognized period of being able to logically process ethics to enter the temple and engage in this discourse. There is also some very important cultural context that needs to be applied to properly understand Jesus’ time in the temple. What we’re seeing isn’t a young boy wandering in and spectating curiously as the Rabbis debate and instruct, but rather a twelve-year-old who astonishingly addresses spiritual matters with a far greater degree of expertise than His years would suggest. We read that Mary and Joseph find Him “sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.” This fully affirms that Jesus wasn’t a spectator but was an active part of the discourse, as the Jewish position of teaching and learning was seated. This is why at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount Matthew 5:1 says,

“Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.”

As well as passages like Matthew 13:1–3,

“That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat beside the sea. And great crowds gathered about him, so that he got into a boat and sat down. And the whole crowd stood on the beach. And he told them many things in parables…”

And Luke 5:3,

“Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.”

The fact that Jesus was seated in the situation was relevant because it shows Him pointedly engaging as a teacher. So we can know with certainty just from this that the twelve-year-old Jesus was no spectator but an active participant. This is also shown by the fact that He’s asking questions. This may just sound like someone uninformed seeking information from someone more knowledgeable, but again looking at the Jewish tradition, the sequence of question and answer was an integral part of their teaching. You may ask a question to seek information, but it was also a learning device used to show comprehension of a matter, or to gain greater clarification. So the fact that Jesus is seated among the teachers and engaging in the cadence of questions and answers is enough to tell us that what’s happening is well beyond the normal for an ordinary twelve-year-old, but then we get this second statement,

“And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.”

This isn’t just normal religious dialogue, but is something awe inspiring with wording that calls us back to the conclusion of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7:28–29,

“And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.”

In His flesh Jesus has grown, He’s become strong and filled with wisdom. But in His Spirit He has known all things before the foundation of the world. He understands the teaching of the Law and the Prophets on a deeper and more intimate level than anyone ever has, because He is the One who gave the Law, and the One who spoke through the prophets. It is in this event, revealed at the time where He’s reached the age of expected moral discernment, that Jesus reveals just how expansive His discernment is, and lets us see how the extraordinary still shone through in a life that carried much of the human ordinariness that we all know and contend with.

“And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, ‘Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.’”

Returning to Mary and Joseph, it is after three days of searching that they’ve finally found Jesus in the temple, and the first thing we see from them is that they’re just as surprised as everyone else. We see the same words used in English and Greek for both their response, as well as the state of the crowd after the Sermon on the Mount – they’re astonished. They presumably knew Jesus quite well in the same way you would expect any set of parents to have a comprehensive understanding of their twelve-year-old. And yet they’re dumbfounded at the sight of the young Jesus sitting in the midst of the teachers of Israel and conversing with them. But despite their stunned state at this extraordinary sight, Mary’s first words are that of a mother, questioning Jesus as to why He stayed behind, and confessing the worry that they’d experienced. Jesus’ response, which we’ll look at in more detail next, is kind and patient with His earthly parents. There was no malice in anything that He’s done, He is as always, entirely about the Father’s business. But Mary and Joseph’s (highly understandable) response show that despite all the knowledge they have of Him, they don’t really know Jesus. They know His miraculous origins, they know the messages of the angels that visited each of them, the testimony of the shepherds from the night He was born, and of the wise men who came seeking to worship Him – and yet they have not understood (as no human mind could) the full weight and implication of the fact that despite the many ordinary appearances, the young boy they’ve been blessed to raise is the extraordinary and miraculous, flesh incarnate, Son of the Living God.

3. Humility in a Favored Life

“And he said to them, ‘Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?’ And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them.”

Again, Jesus’ response is patient. There was no malice in anything that He’s done, no ill will against His earthly parents. They simply have not understood the extent of what He has come into the world to do, and the depth of who He is. Regardless of their lack of comprehension, Jesus does not flaunt His knowledge or wisdom or in any way demean Mary and Joseph. As Jesus Himself said in Matthew 5:17–18,

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”

And within the ten commandments of the Law, the fifth commandment, given in Exodus 20:12 states,

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”

Jesus’ obedience was to the Law that He Himself established, and so regardless of His wisdom and insight, we see as He humbly honors His earthly parents and is submissive before them.

“And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart.”

Just a brief note, but here Mary again gives us an excellent example in how she responds to the things she doesn’t understand. So often we take mysteries of the faith and, because we can’t fully comprehend them, we discount, mistreat, or just reject them. But we read after the birth of Jesus, in Luke 2:18–19,

“And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.”

And now we read after she finds her missing Son in the temple, learning and teaching that she treasures these things too. Mary doesn’t fear or reject the wonders that God is working that she can’t quite wrap her mind around – she treasures them.

“And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”

We read earlier that after Mary and Joseph returned to Nazareth with the infant Jesus that,

“the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.”

What this shows us is that the processes that unfolded between infancy and the age of twelve continued on as Jesus progressed into adulthood, with the next time we see Him in Luke’s gospel being around the time He’s thirty and on the cusp of beginning His earthly ministry. What God had begun in His Son, the developmental processes of God made flesh carried on, past the twelve-year-old who sat with the Rabbis and astonished with His knowledge, to the Man who would challenge the religious authority and reshape the world’s understanding of the Truth forever. Jesus’ life, both in the ordinary and the extraordinary, was favored by God, because in all things His purpose was the Father’s. We can see this in the statement that takes the ruling Jews from persecuting Jesus, to seeking His death, telling them in John 5:17,

“… My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

With further clarification in the next verse,

“This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”

Jesus’ mission and purpose is also shown in teachings like in Matthew 12:9–14,

“He went on from there and entered their synagogue. And a man was there with a withered hand. And they asked him, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?’—so that they might accuse him. He said to them, ‘Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out? Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.’ Then he said to the man, ‘Stretch out your hand.’ And the man stretched it out, and it was restored, healthy like the other. But the Pharisees went out and conspired against him, how to destroy him.”

Jesus had no regard for the Pharisaic imitation of the Law, because His entire heart and will were committed to the Spirit of the Law. We can see both Jesus’ devotion as well as God’s favor in John 12:23–28,

“And Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? “Father, save me from this hour”? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.’”

Jesus’ favor was such that at the time of His arrest we see Him say to Peter in Matthew 26:52–54,

“Put your sword back into its place. For all who take the sword will perish by the sword. Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?”

But it is this degree of favor that shows us the profound depth of His humility. It is nothing to hold power and authority and to lord it over others, but Jesus is the Master who washed His disciples’ feet, He is the Lamb who allowed Himself to be savagely beaten and mocked by His enemies, and He is the Son of God who while blameless, took the sin of the world upon Himself. In His life and in His favor we see an embodiment of the words of Hebrews 13:6, quoting the Psalms,

“So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’”

Holding all authority, Jesus displayed all humility even from His youth, because His kingdom was not of this world, and His eye was fixed on the eternal will of the Father – and in this, as with all things, we should earnestly seek to imitate Him, to our great favor and the glory of our God.

Pastor Chris’ sermon: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM-RPLMWFtw