When Jesus Learned He Was God

Biblegems #253

Question: At what age did Jesus understand His identity as the Son of God?When did He know that He was the Messiah?

The Bible says little concerning Jesus’ childhood. Extra-biblical texts claiming knowledge of his childhood are unreliable.[i] The Bible does shed some revealing light, however.

Jesus was human, like us in every way, “yet was without sin” (Heb. 4:15). As an infant, he did not understand his identity as God incarnate. This ignorance of his divine nature and messianic role was a temporary choice made in heaven, a choice to strip himself of such divine qualities as omnipotence, omniscience and omnipresence:

         Phil. 2:6-7  Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

          

Jesus matured gradually. At the age of twelve it was said:

         Luke 2:52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.     

Unlike other children, Jesus’ unique nature as the virgin-born Messiah of Isaiah 7:14 had been revealed to his earthly parents:

         Matt. 1:20b-23  …what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel”—which means, “God with us.”

They knew he was the Son of God and eternal King of Kings:

         Luke 1:31-33  “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”

Jesus grew up hearing of the angel visits to his parents, and later to the shepherds in Bethlehem. He heard the story of the Wise Men from Persia and saw the carefully preserved treasures they had brought.

And as Jesus learned to read and understand the Scriptures his mind awakened to the words he himself had given to the prophets from heaven—prophecies of his birth, death, resurrection and return in glory. Reading Scripture triggered his memories as God prior to his human incarnation, memories that would then guide him throughout his adult life. For, as he reminded the two disciples on the road to Emmaus just after his resurrection:

         Luke 24:25-27  He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.

---

[i] Several non-canonical documents contain fanciful legends about Jesus’ infancy and early childhood. Most were composed between the second and seventh centuries, A.D.: “The Infancy Gospel Of Thomas,” “The Infancy Gospel Of James,” “The Syriac Infancy Gospel,” “The Infancy Gospel Of Matthew” and “The History Of Joseph The Carpenter.”

Why Bethlehem?

Why Bethlehem?

Biblegems #173

Question: Since the Messiah’s birth was prophesied in Micah 5:2 to take place in Bethlehem, the location was obviously important to God. Why?

The birth of Jesus the Messiah in Bethlehem was very important to God for several reasons.

No one can predict where he or she will be born. Only God could plan where the Messiah would be born and then ensure that it would take place as prophesied and promised:

         Is. 44:24-26 This is what the LORD says—your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the LORD, who has made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers…

Micah’s prophecy is God’s promise; and God always keeps His promises:

         Ps. 145:13b The LORD is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made.

God had promised already that the Messiah would be an heir of king David (2Chron. 21:7; Is. 16:5; Is. 22:22; et.al.). By the time Jesus was born the line of Kings in Israel had been disrupted through civil war and the splitting of the nation into north and south, eventually being reduced to a province of the Roman Empire. David’s descendants had been scattered all over Israel. Jesus’ ancestral home was the town of Bethlehem, where king David had been born (1Sam. 17:12; Lk. 2:4). When Caesar Augusts required the Jews to register in their ancestral home towns for an upcoming census (Lk. 2:1-6) he was unwittingly authenticating Jesus’ lineage as a “son of David.”

Bethlehem also has great symbolic significance that conveys some important spiritual truths. “Bethlehem” literally translates as “house of bread.” While we don’t know why it was first given this name in antiquity, it stands to reason that the area was known for its crop of grain that provided flour for bread. “The house of bread” indicates a place where people will never go hungry. Jesus picked up on this theme, wedding it to the account of the bread (manna) that fell from heaven during the Exodus and tying it in to His mission as the Savior of mankind:

         John 6:33, 38, 51 For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. …For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me. …I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.

Everything about Jesus’ earthly life was carefully planned by God, right down to the little village where He would be born:

         Mic. 5:2  “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,

                  though you are small among the clans of Judah,

         out of you will come for me

                  one who will be ruler over Israel,

         whose origins are from of old,

                  from ancient times.’” 

Did Baby Jesus Go To Nazareth Or Egypt?

Biblegems #167

Question: The Gospel of Luke says that Mary and Joseph took baby Jesus to Nazareth shortly after his birth, but Matthew’s Gospel says that the family fled to Egypt. How can both be true?

Here are the references in question:

Luke 2:39 When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth.

Matt. 2:13-15 When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Actually, the two Gospel accounts refer to separate events. The confusion is a simple matter of timing.

Luke’s Gospel gives the account of Jesus’ birth, describing several details such as the inn that was full, the manger scene and the visit of the shepherds. Matthew’s Gospel does not describe the nativity itself, but focuses on events leading up to Jesus’ birth, and the fact of his virgin birth (Matt. 1); and then events after his birth, including the visit of the Magi (Matt. 2: 1-16).[i]

It is in Matthew’s Gospel that we learn some details of Jesus’ very early childhood and the family’s escape to Egypt when Jesus was a toddler. The other two Gospel accounts do not shed any further light on Jesus nativity or on his childhood because none of the Gospels were intended to give a moment-by-moment biography of Jesus.

The Gospel of Matthew demonstrates Jesus’ fulfillment of the Old Testament messianic prophecies. The Gospel of Mark reflects a summary of Peter’s preaching and teaching about Jesus for new Christians who had not known Jesus personally. Luke’s Gospel introduced new Gentile believers to the life and ministry of Jesus. Finally, John’s Gospel was written as an eyewitness account to convince a predominantly non-Jewish audience that Jesus is the Son of God:

         John 20:31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

The timeline from Matthew and Luke regarding where Jesus’ family lived during his early years is as follows: Joseph and Mary travelled from their hometown in Nazareth to Bethlehem, where Mary gave birth (Luke 2:1-20). Eight days later the parents named their baby Jesus and had him circumcised and dedicated to the Lord (Luke 2:20-24). Shortly after that, Joseph brought his wife and child back home to Nazareth (Luke 2:39).

The visit of the Magi could have taken place either 1) shortly after Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem, once Joseph and Mary found temporary lodging in a house (Matt. 2:11) before returning to Nazareth, or 2) approximately two years after Jesus’ birth while Jesus’ family was visiting Bethlehem once again (Matt. 2:1, 16).

What a treasure we have in these two Gospel accounts that show us the birth of the Savior from different angles, each revealing God’s careful planning of the Advent of His Son into the world.

Merry Christmas!

---

[i] See Bible Gems #164, Jesus: Born In A Manger Or A House?

Jesus: Born In A Manger Or House?

Biblegems #164

Question: Luke 2:7 says that Jesus was born in a manger, but Matthew 2:11 has baby Jesus in a house. Why the difference?

These two accounts actually refer to two different periods in Jesus’ early childhood. Luke chapter 2:1-7 specifically records the events surrounding Jesus’ birth in Bethlehem:

         Luke 2:6-7 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Joseph and Mary were in a crisis upon their arrival in Bethlehem. They were not the only ones visiting the small village in order to register for the census (Lk. 2:1-3). The limited inns were overcrowded with visitors. The owner of one of these inns allowed the couple to spend the night in a stall where other guests kept the donkeys they used for travel. The manger was a feeding trough for the animals, where fresh hay would become the newborn’s bed.

Obviously, the family of three would not be able to take up permanent residence in the stall…nor would they want to. They would need to find a place to call home. That’s where the account in Matthew picks up.

The Gospel of Matthew, which is primarily concerned with establishing the fulfillment of specific Old Testament prophecies regarding the coming of the Messiah, does not record the actual birth of Jesus. In fact, Matthew picks up the account “after” Jesus birth:

         Matt. 2:1-2 After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, “Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.

Throughout this chapter we discover just how much later these Magi visit Joseph, Mary and Jesus in their home. According to verse 1, the Magi knew when they left Persia that the Jewish messiah had already been born. Upon their arrival in Jerusalem they asked, “Where is the one who has been born…?”

King Herod had already figured out where Jesus had been born (Matt. 2:5-6). He was more concerned about when. He wanted to learn how old the baby was at this point. So he squeezed that information out of the Magi:

         Matt. 2:7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.

Based upon that information, Herod dispatched troops to Bethlehem to murder all male children ages two years or under (Matt. 2:16). Jesus was spared because the Lord warned Joseph in a dream to leave Bethlehem and take his family to safety.

Matthew’s Gospel places Joseph, Mary and Jesus in a “house” in Bethlehem at time when Jesus was nearly two years old. This is not the manger scene we all grew up with—Jesus in a manger surrounded by shepherds and the Magi at the same time—but it does demonstrate how fortunate we are to have four Gospel accounts of Jesus’ life and ministry.