Jesus Christ as a Young Person : Lesson #2

The Character of the Young Christ (Luke 2:39-52)

In the previous lesson we saw how the Lord Jesus Christ had earthly parents just like young people today and that he was subject to them in every way. In this lesson we are going to look at some characteristics of Jesus that led him to be successful in doing what God wanted him to do.

The average person wants to grow up and be successful. Now what one person calls successful might not be the same as another person, but either way everyone would like to come to the end of their life and know that what they did was meaningful or had an impact in some way. When we look at the life of the Lord Jesus Christ even though it was a short life compared to most (33 ½ years), he had the greatest impact of all. He gave his life to save the world, and not only that but he arose victorious over death, hell, and the grave. He is better than any superhero today because he not only had power to heal and do miracles, but he rose from the dead and now has the power to save you from your sins and give you eternal life. Superman, Spiderman, Batman, or any of the other super heroes could never do that.

What is interesting is that even though we are not the Lord Jesus Christ we can still have some of the same characteristics that he had growing up. These are given in Luke 2:40- 52. Below we will look at them individually.

1)  He both grew and increased in stature.

• We know that he grew physically but growing up is more than just growing physically, it is maturing and becoming an adult.
• For saved people there is another aspect of growth and that is spiritual growth (2 Peter 3:18). Many people get saved and never grow spiritually out of childhood they are spiritual children all their lives. Paul wrote about this in Hebrews 5:11-14.
• One of the saddest things is to see an adult who acts like a child because they never matured. This is especially true of saved people.
• If we are going to grow physically, we have to eat and get nourishment for our flesh the same is true for spiritual growth. This is the reason we need to study the word of God and read it every day. You will never grow without it (1 Peter 2:2).
• Now in the case of not growing physically there are 3 main reasons for someone not to grow (death, malnutrition, and disease). These 3 things can be said to be the same 3 things that keep us from growing spiritually. Malnutrition would be lack of reading and studying God’s word. Disease would be like sin which attacks us and keeps us from growing.

            Here are a few indicators that you can use to measure and see if you are growing   spiritually.

            a. Set aside sin and things that hinder your walk with God voluntarily and permanently.

            b. Learned new things about God and his word.

            c. Longed for God and things pertaining to God.

            d. Led others to get closer to the Lord Jesus Christ.

            e. Experienced hard times and yet remained faithful to God and his word.

2)  He waxed strong in the spirit.

• The word waxed in the dictionary can have several different meanings. It can mean to get larger or to harden as wax does. You could use either of these definitions to make the spiritual application here.
• Once you grow physically you still need to exercise, or you are just simply big and weak. The same is true spiritually. As you grow spiritually you need to exercise what you are learning about God.
• Putting Biblical principles into effect in your life will not only teach that God’s word is true but will increase your faith for the next step in life you will need to face.
• Remember the old saying “if you don’t stand for something you will fall for anything”. Young person or young Christian you need to get settled on things now because the longer you wait the harder it will be.

3)  He listened and asked questions.

• When Mary and Joseph found Jesus in the temple the word of God says that he was “sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them and asking them questions”.
• The best way to get knowledge is find someone who knows something and ask them. But the key is listening to the answer.
• Now this is the reason that your Pastor is so important. God has placed him in your lives to give you guidance on the word of God for your lives. But it is amazing how saved people today will go to self-help books, the internet, and any other source ahead of God’s word and their Pastor.
• Young person, you should never be ashamed to ask question, the only stupid questions are the ones that you don’t ask.

4) He increased in and was filled with wisdom.

• Knowledge is what you know, and wisdom is knowing how to use what you know. Therefore, you will have to get some knowledge before you will have wisdom. See number 3 above.
• To be successful at anything in life it requires wisdom in that area. Even lost people must have worldly wisdom to be successful. But if you are saved you can have Godly wisdom and that brings something that worldly wisdom cannot, purity and peace (James 3:17).
• If we desire wisdom, we must ask for it (James 1:5).

5) He worked and learned when he did not have to.

• In Mark 6:3 see Jesus is called the carpenter. This means that he took time as a young man to learn a trade from his father, and he probably worked as a carpenter until he started his ministry at 30 years of age.
• Many times, young people say why do I have to learn things or go to school, I am never going to use them in real life. Jesus did and he is our example. His purpose was to die on the cross of Calvary, but he still took time to learn an earthly trade. 

Jesus Christ as a Young Person : Lesson #2 Handout

The Character of the Young Christ (Luke 2:39-52)

1)  What is one of the main goals for every person in life?

2)  How was Jesus Christ successful?

3)  What were the characteristics in the early years of Jesus Christ that made him successful?