Dr. Doug Bookman
Scripture: Luke 2:40-51
Notes: Jesus’s visit to the temple at the age of twelve
Questions/Observations:
- This is the only narrative of Jesus’s youth in the gospel record. As such it is extremely important and delightfully informative.
- There is significance to the fact that this Passover visit occurred when Jesus was 12 years of age. I believe this was the first visit after the bar-mitzvah of young Jesus, and thus the first time He would be permitted to enter the temple to witness the slaying of the lamb – which must have made a profound impact upon Him.
- Notice especially the statement of Luke 2:51. Jesus continued in submission to His parents – and thus to His heavenly Father – even after expressing dramatically His longing to be about the work to which He was appointed.
Scripture: Luke 2:52
Notes: Jesus’s growth in wisdom and stature
Scripture: Luke 4:14-31
Notes: Jesus’s early visit to the synagogue of His youth
Questions/Observations:
This incident occurs early in the Galilean ministry of Jesus. It is interesting to contemplate here because the reaction of the townspeople – the people who knew Jesus best during the years of His youth – to His claim to Messiahship (Luke 4:21). The lesson is that Jesus’s childhood was sufficiently normal (as opposed to the picture painted by the apocryphal (and false) gospels of a miracle-working super-boy) that when He made this audacious claim, the townspeople were aghast!]
Adapted from the Life of Christ study notes of Dr. Doug Bookman, professor of New Testament Exposition at Shepherds Theological Seminary (used by permission).
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