Luke 2:47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.

Once again returning to lessons to be learned from this season of scripture, we find Jesus in the temple. While these old men found Jesus to be a prodigy, they would not see Him as a threat and some would even take credit for discovering this boy wonder. If He had stayed in the temple and become a fixture in the temple, He would have enjoyed the life of a prodigy, out from under the care and protection of His earthly parents.

Luke 2:51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.

Jesus became subject to His earthly parents and returned home. What if He had not become subject to Mary and Joseph? What if He had remained a prodigy?

Mark 6:3 Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.

It is harder to see yourself in a prodigy than it is to see yourself in a common man. He had to be identified with the common man, so that all might see there was hope for themselves, being one of them.

What makes you so special? You are from common stock, you are one of us, what makes you so special?

Let me so show you.

Deuteronomy 6:7 For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

It is God’s choice to make you special. This He does so that no man can boast that he did it by himself, not even His own Son who could have, but subjected Himself to the path that lay before Him.

Yesterday we spoke of Jesus in the temple as a youth during the Passover and I asked if there was anything else to be learned here. Let us look to that first line of scripture and see.

Luke 2:40 And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. 

Psalm 119:25 My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.

John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Jesus was not born with a dead spirit, His Father, being God the Father, begat a living spirit. We who were the begotten of Adam have inherited the dead and dusty spirit wherein Adam died spiritually in the garden. Not so with Jesus.

There was in Jesus the ability to be filled with wisdom and grace with the Father that was not available to us as dead spirits. His spirit did not need quickening, ours does. At the time of this telling Jesus might have turned 13, became a man after the flesh, Jewish tradition, and as such was willing to be a man and “go about my Father’s business.” He could have done so in the power of His on strengthen.

Where would that have left us?

Matthew 3:11 (John the Baptist) I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

Matthew 3:16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:

While Jesus did not need His Spirit quickened, His baptism demonstrated to us how we can be quickened in the spirit. He did it for our sake, not His own. All the wisdom and grace that Jesus had since His birth, we can have after being born again. (John 3:3)