1. Have you ever considered that although: Many details are given regarding the birth of Jesus, cf. Luke 1-2; And obviously a substantial amount of information is given from His baptism until His ascension in the Gospels & the rest of the N.T.; Very little is afforded by the Sacred Text concerning His life between 2-3 and 30 years old? About the only exception is Luke 2:41-50; and…

2. “And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth; and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” We may need to consider that there is much critical information in these few words pertaining to becoming godly ourselves, cp. Heb.1:3 > 2:14-18. Luke 2:51-52

3. “And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth; and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Each of these is important to our growth and development toward godliness- let’s go to the Book to understand how.

4. Luke 2:51-52 “And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth; and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” I. What part does subjection play in godliness? Subjection (hupotasso) means to arrange oneself under the control of another. The Creator of the Universe (Col.1:15-16) subjecting Himself to the will of human parents (Luke 2:51), to government authorities (John 19:7-11), and thus to the will of God (Heb.5:7-9) is the perfect model of our subjection, Eph.6:1-3 > Rom.13:1-7 > Rom.8:6-7.

5. Luke 2:51-52 “And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth; and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” II. What part does growth play in godliness? Kept increasing (prokopto) literally means to beat forward; to lengthen out by hammering (as a smith forges metals); to increase, make progress. The working of the metal lengthens and strengthens it. True godliness is never static or stationary. It always uses the challenges of life to move forward and increase faith, obedience, and service, 2Pet.1:4-7 > 8-11 > 3:17-18.

6. Luke 2:51-52 “And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth; and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” III. What part does wisdom play in godliness? Wisdom (sophia) comes from the root sophos- wise, skilled; skilled in letters, cultivated, learned. Sophia is the capacity to understand, and hence, act wisely. Jesus’ wisdom (knowledge, understanding, mental acuity) kept increasing allowing further development of godliness- has yours? Do you feel you know enough, and have therefore become static? Eph.1:15- 20 was written to them roughly 10 years after their conversion. If young Jesus and mature Ephesus needed to keep increasing in wisdom, don’t we?

7. Luke 2:51-52 “And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth; and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” IV. What part does stature play in godliness? Stature (helikia) simply refers to age, time of life; maturation. It means Jesus grew and matured normally physically. Jesus grew physically at a normal rate, His understanding was certainly beyond His years, cf. Luke 2:41-47. No one expects us to exceed our years as He did, but to be in a perpetual state of spiritual immaturity despite them is certainly not conducive to godliness either, Heb.5:11-6:6.

8. Luke 2:51-52 “And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth; and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” V. What part does in favor with God play in godliness? Favor is translated from the same word (charis) as grace. It is used here as a state (that which affords joy, pleasure, or delight) rather than as an act (good- will, merciful kindness). Jesus kept increasing in the favor of God because He was increasing in wisdom (intellectually) as He grew in stature (physically). We increase in favor with God as we learn more, can do more, and thus become more useful to Him, cf. Eph.5:7-21; 2Tim.2:20-26.

9. Luke 2:51-52 “And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth; and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” VI. What part does in favor with men play in godliness? There is no doubt or argument that being in favor with God will make you out of favor with some men, Matt.10:22; John 15:18-19. But it is also true that some better elements of the world will respect you for being godly, 1Tim.3:7; 5:10 (cp. Luke 6:26).

10. Luke 2:51-52 “And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth; and He continued in subjection to them; and His mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” VII. Conclusion Jesus, as our perfect example:  subjected Himself (to parents, government, & God),  kept increasing (growing),  in wisdom (intellectually),  and stature (physically),  and in favor with God (spiritually),  and men (socially). Sounds like the perfect plan for godliness to me!