The Years of Preparation

I appreciate today's reading because it forced me to not only revisit the curious question of why Jesus's early years are so sparsely documented, but to chew on it throughout the day - and anytime spent wrestling with what I read in the Bible means less time on idle thoughts!

Peeking ahead a few chapters in Luke, we read about the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness and its interesting to note that he endured suffering as part of that trial. Its easy to attribute his victory in the wilderness, his subsequent ministry, capacity of love for others, and his sacrifice to his divine nature and leave it at that. But Stott, ala Hebrews, stresses the importance of his humanity to the power that frees us from sin as well as the relevance of the genuineness of that humanity.

Though not the best example, I can't help but think about those individuals we are in awe of due to their seemingly superhuman abilities, e.g. Michael Jordan. When I really stop to think about what I admire, it goes beyond the mere physicality but reconciling the fact that this ordinarily born peer of a human being so conditioned himself to accomplish extraordinary things.

I can't claim to understand the full implications of "100% divine, 100% human" but when I consider the extraordinary life of Christ while humanly-bound, it begs the question of what type of conditioning he had to have endured in order to leave that kind of testimony.

And when I re-read Luke 2:52 from that perspective, what initially seemed like a big hole in the account becomes painfully obvious.

Good night everyone!