And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
— Luke 2:52 (NIV)
This week we are continuing to look at verses that show us Jesus in his humanness.
Why does it say in Hebrews 5:8 “though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.”? In the Greek the word “obedience” has several meanings. One of them being “under the influence or hearing from above”.
He had to listen. He learned to be attentive to his Father, to listen to the voice of the Spirit. Wouldn’t you think in his divinity there would be no need to learn to listen? No need to be attentive to? And yet, he learned to listen because he was fully human. We learn, develop and grow in being attentive to listening to the Father and the Spirit just as he did. He completely identifies with us.
“And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” Luke 2:52. Why would he have to grow in wisdom and favor if he was walking in his full divinity? Wouldn’t he already have wisdom and favor? He was born a human….He had to grow in wisdom and favor with God. He grew in the knowledge of his identity of who he was. He is absolutely one of us, to the fullest.
Hebrews 10:7 (Mirror Bible) “Then I said, I read in your book what you wrote about me; so here I am, I have come to fulfill my destiny.” Here we see that he had to grow in his understanding of who he was. He did not automatically know at birth! He became one of us.
This next verse is John 20:17, “Jesus said to her, ‘Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father; but go to My brethren and say to them, I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.’ ”
Why does Jesus say my God and your God and also, my Father and your Father? Isn’t he, himself, God? So why is he saying this? Again, he is stating this as the Son of Man. He is the WAY and came as us, for us. He has made the Way by taking our place, thus legally reinstating mankind back into oneness with our God and Father, Abba.
He totally identifies with us and states this in the fullness of his humanity having stripped himself of divinity to become one of us. Jesus lived life just as we live life. This is our super hero having come here to be one of us to the fullest extent, in every way. He came to live as us, to show us how to live in union with the Father.
Jesus reinstates us into union with Father by becoming one of us
“He came into my humanity to wrap his arms around me.”
He Had A Choice