Our Sinless Savior

There was one passage of scripture
in this whole plan. That frightened me a little bit.
As far as it being. Kind of a Christmas message,
remember that was our whole plan. Was to go through the birth accounts
and to really review them in light of this. Season I called
it a 12 week 12 weeks of Advent. I think when we started. But
if there was any scripture that Frightened me as to whether we
were going to be able to. To really meditate on these things
in the context of Christmas. It was this passage. Because
just like what we discovered last word today. This is an after
Christmas passage. After the birth account. It’s
after the announcements. It’s after those songs of the
nativity as they’re called. It’s after the visit of the Magi.
After the visit of the shepherds. After Mary and Joseph have settled
in. And this passage. This passage
is one that really is is somewhat out of sync. If you think of
it as a passage concerned with Christ Nativity, it is a passage
instead that is about the youth of Christ, the boyhood of Jesus. They are known as the silent
years of Jesus birth. and the beginning of his ministry
here on Earth. And the interest with these passages
ranges from almost indifference and and a carelessness that just
wants to get into the rest of the gospel. To holy curiosity
that seeks to almost embellish some of the things that are even
stated here. And what I would call speculative
preoccupation where people come up with things that are written
nowhere in biblical text. One writer even went so far as
to criticize Mary for not being more forthright with the details
of Jesus’ youth. From the gospel data, we have
very limited material to work with when we begin to think of
those silent years. This passage is it. We know that Jesus grew up in
a relatively large family. Mary and Joseph had a number
of sons and daughters. Mark 6 3 indicates that Jesus
assisted his father and became probably quite proficient in
carpentry. He was known as such to the people
around him. Mark 6 3 says isn’t it this not
the carpenter the son of Mary the brother of James and Joseph
and Judas and Simon are not his sisters here with us. So again
a relatively large family. We know that Joseph was a carpenter.
And not only did Jesus help him in that work but he ultimately
was known as a carpenter as well. During these years that followed
after the what transpired in the temple and before Jesus public. Ministry somewhere during that
time, we come to conclude that Joseph must have died. And as
far as we can understand, Jesus would have likely taken the place
of Joseph as the provider of the home. That would have been
the reasonable thing to do, though Scripture never details that. But these few verses, Luke 2, 39 through 52, really
record the only the only comings and goings, the only facts that
we have about the Lord Jesus Christ until His ministry breaks
forth. In his mid 30s. We have here the boyhood of Jesus. One described. This passage. In these terms. They said the
boyhood of Jesus is like a walled garden from which we have been
given, but a single flower this passage. But this is so fragrant
as to fill our hearts with the longing to enter within the enclosure. In other words, what they say
in kind of, if you will, flowery language. These few verses point
so reverently to Christ. That they only serve to wet our
appetite to make us long for more of an understanding of the
Lord Jesus Christ. So rather than speculating on
what we don’t know about Jesus, it’s better to focus on what
God has clearly revealed in these in-between years. And while it
is short, this passage gives us the only view into the life
of the Lord Jesus during these years. And although the amount
of material is not great, it is enough. because it’s what
God saw fit to preserve and provide for us. And finally, what is
presented is in precise harmony with everything else that we
know about Christ. If you would, please turn to
Luke 2. We want to consider v. 39-52.
Luke 2. 39-52. When they take that to mean Joseph
and Mary when they had performed everything according to the law
of the Lord they returned to Galilee to their own city of
Nazareth. The child continued to grow and
become strong increasing in wisdom and the grace of God was upon
him. Now his parents went up to Jerusalem every year at the
Feast of the Passover. And when he became 12, they went
up there according to the custom of the feast. And as they were
returning after spending the full number of days, the boy
Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But his parents were unaware
of it, but supposed him to be in the caravan and when a day’s
journey and he began looking for him among their relatives
and acquaintances when they did not find him, they returned to
Jerusalem looking for him. Then, after the three days, they
found him in the temple sitting in the midst of the teachers,
both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard
him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. When they saw
him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, son,
why have you treated us this way? Behold, your father and
I have been anxiously looking for you. And he said to them,
why is it that you were looking for me? Did you not know that
I had to be in my father’s house? But they did not understand the
statement which had been made to them. And he went down with
them and came to Nazareth. And he continued in subjection
to them. And his mother treasured all
these things in her heart. And Jesus kept increasing in
wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men. It’s a fascinating passage of
scripture. And on the face of it, we would
say that this is not a Christmas passage. I would argue otherwise. Obviously. Because I believe
what you see here in this passage You see, our sinless Savior.
And in four very particular ways. Luke records the details of Jesus. Life. Those silent years, those
quiet years where so little is known of him. And I think. If you ponder and step back and
look at it. I think the Lord will remind
you, too, as to why He included these verses in Luke’s account. That these verses lay out for
us that Jesus Christ is and was who He said He was from the very
earliest days of His youth. Jesus Christ, we know, was tempted
in all things, yet without sin. And these verses show that. Jesus
Christ was tempted in everything that you and I are tempted in. But he never said. And these
verses showed up in four profound ways. That will really augment
our understanding of what it means when we know that Christ
came as a sinless Savior. He was sinless in his coming. He was profoundly tempted. He
was found sinless as he paid for our sin on the cross. I want to look at our sinless
Savior this morning as Luke presents him. And I refer to him as Luke
does, as the boy Jesus. In verse 43, Luke, and I believe
with all respect, points to Jesus merely in his youth. But in his
youth, we begin to see the very divine nature begin to emerge. The boy Jesus, first of all,
was tempted by foolishness and found sinless. He was tempted
by foolishness and found sinless. He was astounding in wisdom. Look at the passage. Verse 39.
When they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord,
they returned to Galilee to their own city of Nazareth. The child
continued to grow and become strong, increasing in wisdom. The grace of God was upon him.
In other words, what you have in these verses is not just a
simple statement that he was growing, that he was maturing
physically and spiritually. This wisdom that is spoken of
is is not only the how to’s of life itself. But it’s really
deeper than that. It’s spiritual wisdom. It’s the
knowledge of God and the knowledge of the ways of God and what God
would have of us. What you have here is the normal
growth and even the mention of 12 years old. We’ll talk about
that in a moment. That this was a very significant
time in the life of Christ. And he had grown up and had matured
just as would be expected in. An upstanding Jewish home. The
Jesus, though he was born. And the primary picture we have of
his earliest years is of that of an infant. But as one said,
as a man, he grew from infancy to boyhood as a man. yearly increased
in bodily strength, not as deity, but as a man. He increased in
bodily strength and mental power. Our Lord is able to sympathize
with man in every age of man’s existence, and so even the note
there to the young people in our midst. Jesus Christ grew up. Jesus Christ
grew up. As a young boy, Jesus Christ
knew the temptations and difficulties that you kids face. Jesus knew
that. Goes on to say that Jesus knows
by experience the nature and temperament of the child, the
nature and temperament of the boy, the nature and temperament
of the young man. He has stood in their place. Jesus knows that. So, the development
of this Christ child was normal, physical, spiritual development. I always have to chuckle when
I see particularly Roman Catholic pictures of the baby Jesus. A
man’s head, you know, kind of photoshopped. The early version
of Photoshop painted on to a baby’s body. We know that Jesus was
born as an infant. And as an infant he cried and
as an infant he had to learn to walk and as a little human
he had to learn all of those things. But in these short verses we
begin to see that there was something profound taking place in Christ.
The assessment at 12 years of age. Was that the child continue
to grow and become strong increasing in wisdom. He was even at 12
years of age wise. That’s a word we don’t use much.
It’s a word that we don’t use enough. We tend to think of wisdom
as something that somehow magically older people come to possess
simply by getting old. Wisdom is one of those elusive
things that we would like to have it, but we really don’t
want to do the work in order to secure that quality. There are a lot
of different ideas about wisdom. There are a lot of different
Hebrew words that are translated as wisdom in the Old Testament,
and a lot of times wisdom points to the idea of just merely human
skills. A lot of times it’s used with
regards to war, that they had wisdom. They knew how to wage
war. They had figured out that if
they scrambled up the hill and dislodged a few boulders, that
when an army came through a narrow valley, they could wipe them
out. That was called wisdom. But it also points to a humanly
derived knowledge and and that knowledge could be shared and
that we could learn from one another. And that, too, is called
wisdom. But there’s another kind of wisdom,
there’s a deeper kind of wisdom that’s even being referenced
here. We’ll talk about that in a moment.
We see it in the scriptures. In Deuteronomy, God appointed
the nation of Israel to this wisdom. In Deuteronomy 4, verse
5, See, I have taught you statutes and judgments, just as the Lord
my God commanded me, that you should do thus in the land where
you are entering, so to possess it. So keep and do them, for
that is your wisdom. Don’t worry about what the heathen
nations think is wise. Don’t worry about their level
of knowledge. Obey God. That, he says, is wise
than the Scriptures echo that the Psalms echo it. The mouth
of the righteous utters wisdom. His tongue speaks justice. He
is a godly man through and through. As you come into the Proverbs.
You come into the Proverbs. The Proverbs might well be called
the book of wisdom written by the wisest man who ever lived
and over and over again are these well driven nails. To teach us
and tell us what Wisdom is. Fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. Reverence for God. It’s not a
cowering fear, not dread, but a reverence, a respect for God
Almighty. That is the beginning of wisdom.
It is how wisdom is cultivated. Chapters 2 through chapter 9
are essentially a beckoning to this wisdom. I love those chapters. Make your ear attentive to wisdom.
Incline your ear to understanding. And there’s value in this wisdom.
It’s rich and it’s profitable if the young man will only tap
into it. And young woman. Proverbs 3.13. How blessed is the man who finds
wisdom and the man who gains understanding. How blessed Wisdom is better
than jewels. Proverbs 8.11. Wisdom is better
than gold. Proverbs 16.16. Wisdom is so
highly valued that it’s not just man-made wisdom. It’s not earthly
wisdom. That’s what Paul deals with in
1 Corinthians. He says that the world offers
a kind of wisdom. The world offers a kind of knowledge
that they Push as wisdom, Paul says. Your faith should not rest
on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. We speak a
wisdom among those who are immature, a wisdom, however, not of this
age, nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away. But
we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery. It’s Christ that Paul came to
preach. It was this knowledge, this deep
and spiritual knowledge. We’ll talk about exactly what
that looks like, but Paul, as as Paul wrote to the Corinthian
church or rather to the Colossian church, Paul zeroes in on the
wealth and and productivity and privilege it is to possess knowledge
and wisdom. God’s wisdom. He opened with
praying for it. Colossians 1 9. For this reason,
we also since the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to
pray for you and ask that you be filled with the knowledge
of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understand. It essentially is. Is something
that we don’t pray for enough. We just take it as a given that
if we just live long enough that one day will be the guy standing
over there in the corner or. Sitting. Because he’s old and
he’s tired, but he’s wise. We think that all we’ve got to
do is live. And we’ll get there. We don’t pray for it enough.
It is the very foundation of Christian ministry. We proclaim
him, Colossians 128, admonishing every man and teaching every
man with all wisdom so that we may present every man complete
in Christ. We are urged To impart this wisdom
to others, Colossians 316, which I don’t think is talking about
singing. It’s not talking about congregational singing. I don’t
believe. Let the Word of Christ richly dwell within you with
all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with songs and hymns
and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts
towards God. This is talking about you and
I as we talk. This is talking about how we
act when we’re driving in a car together. When we’re sitting
at coffee together, we impart wisdom to one another. The things
of God. Well, such as this wisdom that
Christ was said to possess. He not only possessed it, but
he was growing in it. And it wasn’t just knowledge.
Some have described tried to describe wisdom. It’s a knowledge
of what is true and right, coupled with just judgment as to action.
I love that. In other words, Jesus not only
had to observe and determine right and wrong, But then, by
God’s grace, develop an intent and to carry through with that
intent to do what was right. Another described it as the ability
to judge correctly and follow the best course of action based
on knowledge and understanding. Jesus, as a young man, went through
the process of observing and watching fools in action, just
like you and I see. and observing them and learning
from that. And doing what God would have
him to do instead. One described. The perfect application,
the ideal is a man who believes in God and who endeavors to live
according to a prudence taught by the ad by the observation
of this world’s laws, he says. In other words, if you just step
back and you watch. You watch a car speeding down
the road. You go, there goes a fool. What can I learn from
this? And as he cracks up. Or as he’s
caught by the police. Or, you know, who knows what
the police discover when they pull the car over. What troubles
come to that man? All a young man has to do is
step back and watch. And learn. The wise man learns. from the failure of a fool. Another described it in these
very profound terms. He said, ordinarily, we count
a man wise when he conducts his affairs with discretion and he
governs his passion with moderation and he carries himself with a
due proportion and a harmony in all his concerns. Wisdom consists
in acting for a right end, fixing a right end and choosing a fit
means and a directing toward that end. In other words, he
says the wise man looks and he determines from watching life
and he watches what God tends to bless and what God tends to
curse and he says he charts a course. He says, I want to be like that. In a rather lengthy description,
I would ask God’s people just to bear with me. Listen to this
beautiful description of wisdom. Hebrew wisdom is by its very
nature. Pardon me, Hebrew wisdom by its
very nature could have no fellowship with philosophy. The aims and
methods of the two are fundamentally different. The axioms of the
one are the conclusions of the other. For philosophy, God is
the conclusion. For wisdom, he is the major premise. You see, their starting points
are two completely different places. The mind of the sage
was saturated with the thought of God. Philosophy, though, starts
with the world as it is and seeks to find room for God. Wisdom
starts with God and seeks to explain the world in terms of
God. Wisdom furthermore was a practical
and moral philosophy though was speculative and otherworldly. The interests of wisdom were
intensely human. living questions and concrete
issues. The problem of the stage were
problems rather of the stage were supercharged with emotion,
troubled feelings, perturbed will. Wisdom presents no carefully
developed system of logic. In other words, you can’t just
go and read an entire book that tells you from A to Z how to
apply wisdom. It cares little for a plan of
the universe. It leaves all such matters to
God. It seeks only to enable men to
love and trust God. And to walk in his ways. Wow. And so when it says that Jesus
Christ was wise, that he was increasing in wisdom, you have
to know. because the scripture says Jesus
Christ was tempted in all things just as we are yet without sin
when it says that Jesus Christ arrived at the other end and
that he was wise. It meant and you think of all
the ways that a young man can be foolish. He can be lazy. He can be willfully ignorant. He could be destructive. He can
be perverted. He can be unclean. He can be
unkind. He can be all the ways that a
fool presents himself. Jesus Christ was tempted in. He was found sinless. He was
wise. He walked in this foolish world.
He interacted with foolish people. He was tempted with foolish things. He was found wise. Jesus Christ was astounding in
his wisdom. Even the Jewish scholars looked
at him and noted such. But the boy Jesus was not just
tempted by foolishness. Secondly, the boy Jesus was tempted
by indolence and found sinless. Let me give you just a few reasons. There are just a few reasons
that present ourselves some factual data on this idea of indolence. That Jesus Christ It says ultimately
was dedicated to his father’s work, but we know that if the
end judgment is there that Jesus Christ was examined and found
to be dedicated, wholly dedicated to his father’s work that we
know that there were temptations. We know that Jesus Christ came
up against the very temptations that you and I face. It wasn’t
just indolence. Think of it forgetfulness. You think of all the reasons
that have been given to you when you’ve assigned a job or the
reasons, don’t raise your hands, or the reasons that you’ve offered
for the reason that you didn’t get a job done. It isn’t just
indolence. I forgot. Rebellion. I didn’t want to. Indifference. I didn’t care. I had my own agenda. Presumptuousness. I thought somebody
else would take care of it. Carelessness. I couldn’t care
less if it got done. Pride. Why me? Procrastination. I intended to
do it. Tomorrow. Jesus Christ was tempted
in all of those things and he was found completely sinless.
Verse 41. His parents went to Jerusalem
every year. At the feast of the Passover, it doesn’t say that
they took Jesus. It’s likely the case. We know
that on this occasion they took him. All male Jews of mature
age were to go to Jerusalem and 12 years old was that determining
time period. Verse 42, when he became 12,
they also went up there according to the custom of the feast. See,
it’s at 12 years old when the Jews began to consider the young
men responsible adults if you will. You know that the bar mitzvahs
now in this day and age that these. Celebrations. But it’s at that point that he
would begin to observe the law for himself. We might call it
in this day which there is no biblical support for by the way
we might call it or you might hear it called you’re not going
to hear from me the age of accountability right. Well, he was accountable
as all children are from the moment they’re born. And he would observe the law,
he would receive instruction, he was called a son of the law,
that he was now responsible and he would be schooled and catechized
and taught. Look at verse 43. And as they
were returning, spending a full number of days The boy Jesus
stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents were unaware of it.
This is not disobedience. This is not foolishness. It was
not, you know, hide and go seek. Jesus Christ was doing what he
will come to that point. He was doing what he was here
to do. Sometimes it was the. It was
this habit of traveling. The men would walk as a group.
I mean, you still see it, no matter what you do, kind of the
ladies all begin to congregate together, right? Because they
got a lot of words to, you know, and the men, they’re just kind
of meandering quietly behind, you know. And every once in a
while, they’ll run to say something if they have to. But they would
travel in these two separate groups. So it’s totally reasonable,
especially at this day and age. Is Jesus still a boy with the
women or is he a man walking with the men and it’s only reasonable
to understand that you know you got almost three million people. Josephus said would descend on
Jerusalem. It’s only reasonable that you
know in their haste to get out of town and get back home. One
of them gets left behind. I get it. It wasn’t on purpose
on their part it wasn’t it wasn’t carelessness as parents. And
it wasn’t foolishness on Christ’s part that would be said. But they supposed him for 40
44 to be in the caravan and they went a day’s journey. They began
looking for him among their relatives and acquaintances when they did
not find him they returned to Jerusalem looking for him. Verse
46 then after three days in other words they journeyed a day they
came back a day and spent part of a day looking and then they
found him. They found him in the temple, sitting in the midst
of the teachers, both listening to them and asking questions. And if you notice. Jesus never
attended, we know that from scripture, Jesus never attended formal religious
instruction. Mark six two says that when the
Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue and many listeners
were astonished, saying, where did this man get these things? What is this wisdom given to
him and such miracles are performed by his hand. They couldn’t figure
out where he had learned all of these things. John 7 15. The
Jews were astonished, saying, How does this man become learned? He didn’t go to one of our schools.
And because of that, they would have considered this man and
nobody. A man of the people. An unlearned man. What is he
doing here? But they were amazed. And notice
this. There’s not the slightest hint
of disrespect or hostility. You know, we think of that. We
read back into this scene so often based on the end of Christ’s
life and the hostility that brewed between him and the Pharisees,
but not here. It’s just a man sitting among
men discussing spiritual things. Look at verse 47. All who heard
him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. This word here,
it expresses great, they were shocked at what Jesus knew. And it would always be this way
with Christ, right? Always. Luke 4, Luke 8, his parents
were amazed, the Jews were amazed. Anytime Jesus seemed to open
his mouth, they were amazed at the things that he said. And
it all started here. Look at verse 48. When his parents saw him, when
they saw him, they were astonished, his mother said, son, why have
you treated us this way? There’s no doubt that she takes
umbrage that, you know, she felt like Jesus had wronged him. He
had not. He had not sinned. He had not
been rebellious or disobedient or cruel to them. Behold, your father and I have
been anxiously looking for you. He said, why is it that you were
looking for me? And it is a gentle rebuke. There’s no doubt about
it. It’s not a smart mouth answer,
mind you. That, too, would be sin. What
Jesus takes her to is to the truth. He says, didn’t you know
that I had to be in my father’s house? He’s baiting her. He’s pointing her to the truth
of who he was. And he uses the same word. She
mentions your father and he mentions my father. But they’re talking
about two different people. Mary was talking about Joseph.
Jesus is talking about his heavenly father. Basically says that it
had to have occurred to you. You must have known it should
have occurred to you that you You would find me here. You must
find me here. This is where I belong. As one
said, it was meant to remind his mother that he was no common
person. She was insensibly forgetting
that he had come to the world in no ordinary way. See, she
had her own agenda, right? And that she could not expect
him to be ever dwelling quietly at Nazareth. It was a solemn
reminder that is God. He had a father in heaven and
that this heavenly father’s work demanded his first attention. They were astonished. They were
astonished at his commitment. To his father’s work. From the
very beginning, it was never about. what Jesus program was
or what Jesus wanted to do. It was always about the Father.
It was always about what God wanted of him. Even in the garden
as he prepared for the cross. Not my will, but thine. Right? They didn’t understand that.
They were astounded by it. The bottom line here If you think
of it, Jesus Christ was tempted by indolence. He was tempted by a lack of focus. He was tempted by forgetfulness. He was tempted by all of those
things. And he was found innocent. He
was found absolutely dedicated to his father’s work, and I would
just I would just suggest to you. But the same is true for
us. How many of us are forgetful?
About the work of the father. Forgetful about ministry. Indolent
about the opportunity with the gospel. Indifferent about your
opportunity to serve Christ. Presumptuous about the fact that
somebody else will do it. Proud about the fact that if
you can’t do it your way, you won’t do it at all. Christ was
tempted in all of those things. Christ was tempted in all of
those things. And in the application of God’s
grace, he was found completely innocent. He was utterly dedicated
to his father’s work. It was his only purpose of existence. But there are two other two other
marks that we see here of a sinless savior. The boy Jesus was not
only tempted by foolishness and found sinless, he was tempted
by indolence and found sinless. Thirdly, he was tempted by defiance
and found sinless. Look at the passage, look at
verse 51. Now, if there was ever somebody,
a young person, preteen, adolescent person, If there was ever somebody
who we would dismiss a little defiance. Wouldn’t it be the
Lord Jesus Christ? The Creator of the entire universe?
Look at verse 51. And be prepared to be humble. And He went down with them and
came to Nazareth and he continued in subjection to them. That, to me, is utterly shocking.
This is the Lord Jesus Christ. If there was ever a time, I mean,
we would have totally justified if his ministry started here.
Mom, Dad, go home. I’m done. I’m the Lord of the
universe. One day you will, with the rest
of all creation, bow the knee to me. His mom, all she did was take
none of it. His mother treasured all these
things in her heart. The interesting thing about this
passage is the last mention of Joseph. By the time Jesus ministry starts. Joseph is almost certainly dead,
gone. But the fact that this statement
is made means that he continued in subjection to this earthly
authority. As long as Joseph was around,
his father was his authority. His mother was his authority,
his parents were authorities over him. That’s just astounding
to me. To me, that doesn’t make that doesn’t make much earthly
sense. Until you begin to gather in
the scriptures. One writer described for 18 years,
he applied himself in silence to the business of his earthly
father in Nazareth, where he is called the carpenter, submitting
himself in spontaneous and deliberate character. In other words, Jesus,
the surest way to have a testimony at that point was to be a good
son, and that meant being a good carpenter. Imagine Jesus, who
made the tree. sitting there taking direction
from Joseph on how to cut the tree and carve the tree and shape
the tree. And it’s just astounding. Until you begin to add scripture
to it. Philippians to have this attitude in yourselves, which
was also in Christ Jesus, who, although he existed in the form
of God, did not regard equality with God, a thing to be grasped,
but he emptied himself, taking the form of a bond servant being
made in the likeness of men. He humbled himself. He submitted
himself. You see. There are dozens of
reasons. There’s really only one reason
why you don’t submit yourself to someone else, it’s pride,
but that can take a myriad of different shapes. I don’t submit
myself to my earthly boss because he’s a knucklehead. He doesn’t
know what he’s talking about. He’s a fool. He’s an imbecile.
I’ve heard it. Maybe I’ve even thought it at
times. My husband, you don’t know my
husband. My parents. It’s pride. At the back of all of it, it’s
pride. Jesus Christ was tempted with this defiance, born out
of pride, and he was found sinless. And see, that’s why That’s why
in scripture, I don’t I don’t I don’t shy away from preaching
this. So when scripture talks about
submission in scripture, I don’t shy away from it, because if
the Lord Jesus Christ can submit himself to two people such as
Mary and Joseph, a carpenter and his wife. When it says that Christians
are to submit to every human institution, I don’t shy away
from that. To rulers and authorities, the governing authorities, even
though they didn’t vote for him. Doesn’t matter to me. Women are to submit to male church
leadership. First Corinthians 1434. I didn’t
say it. Paul did. And God stood behind
him as he wrote it. Ephesians 521. We are to submit
to one another. That’s the passage that leads
into the passage that talks about wives. submit to husbands, and
let me say that if if we submitted better to one another, wives
would have no problem. Submitting to their God given
husbands. The church, the church is to
be subject to Christ, Ephesians 524 bond slaves, this might surprise
you, are to submit to their masters. Young men, first first Peter
5-5 are to submit to the elders. Try that in a congregational
church. The most astounding one of all
was that Jesus Christ was in submission to his earthly parents,
and if Jesus Christ can do it and it’s good and right and proper.
And what about us? What about us? Isaiah, he grew
up before him like a tender shoot. Isaiah 53 too, like a root out
of parched ground. He had no stately form or majesty
that we should look upon him, nor appearance that we should
be attracted to him. He was despised and forsaken. A man, a man of
sorrows, acquainted with grief. This is the humble Savior that
came for you and I, and he was tempted in all of those things.
You mean to tell me that Joseph was a perfect man? Even when
he struck his thumb with a hammer? You mean to tell me that the
earthly townspeople, those in authority, the mayor of the town
was a perfect man? Not even. Jesus Christ was tempted
with defiance and found sinless. He was humble in his earthly
subjection. But I said that there were four.
Our sinless savior. The fourth mark of our sinless
savior is presented by Luke here in this passage. Not only was
he tempted by foolishness and found sinless, tempted by indolence
and found sinless, tempted by defiance and found sinless. Jesus
Christ was tempted by injustice and found sinless. Look at verse
52. Jesus kept increasing wisdom and stature. And in favor with God and men. Talk about that in a second. One pastor said that Luke here
gives a beautiful summary of the subsequent 18 years or so
of Jesus life until he began to appear. This is the last sentence
that you’ll hear before Jesus ministry breaks forth. He passed
through a natural, but perfect spiritual and physical development
at every stage. He was perfect for that stage.
According to his human nature and character, he grew and developed
in such a manner that his life and condition were at all times
in full agreement with God’s will. What a great statement.
He was at every moment exactly what God expected him to be.
Wisdom and stature and favor. He was precisely what God expected
and not just to God. It says that he grew in wisdom
and stature and in favor with God and men. Jesus Christ was exactly what
people needed to see. They needed to see. They needed
to see a godly man. They needed to see God incarnate. See what’s being mentioned here
is essentially the quality of righteousness where you’re right
with God and you’re right with people. See, the tendency is. Jesus Christ was tempted in the
same things that you are. He didn’t have to call customer
service in a foreign country. But he was tempted with the same
kind of difficulty, wasn’t he? Jesus was tempted to be unfair.
Jesus was tempted to be unkind. Jesus was tempted to be unmerciful. Jesus was tempted to be rude
and harsh and ornery and belittling and callous and insensitive and
selfish and racist and arrogant and exclusive and greedy. He
was tempted in all of those things. Yet he was found sinless. That’s
exactly what the passage tells us. That he was increasing in
favor towards not only with God only, but with men as well. That’s what righteousness is.
It’s justness, where we are good and kind to all. Take the saints on one quick
tour. Turn, if you would, in closing,
to the book of Hebrews. And I’m going to do in one minute
What it took my brother to do three or four months. Hebrews
chapter 1 through 4. Right? As Hebrews opens, what a beautiful
passage. It’s talking about the preeminence
of God’s final revelation, the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at chapter
1. God, after he spoke long ago to the fathers and the prophets
and in many portions and in many ways in these last days has spoken
to us in his son, whom he appointed heir of all things, through whom
also he made the world. He is it. He is God’s final revelation
to mankind. And then he talks about Christ’s
preeminence over the angels. Look at verse three of chapter
one. He is the radiance of his that
is the father’s glory, the exact representation of his nature.
He upholds all things by the word of his power. When he had
made purifications of sin, he sat down at the right hand of
majesty on high. He is preeminent. Then he begins to talk about
the angels in chapter two, verse one. For this reason, he admonishes
us. For this reason, we must pay
closer attention to what we have heard so that we do not drift
away from it. The whole thing is a call to Christ. Look down at verse 17. Therefore,
he had to be made like his brethren in all things. so that he might
become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining
to God to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since
he himself was tempted in that which he has suffered, he is
able to make to come to the aid of those who are tempted. He was tempted in everything
that you and I are tempted in. Yet he never sinned. Not only
the preeminence over the angels, but Christ is preeminent over
Moses. Look at verse chapter three, verse five begins to talk
about Moses. Jump down to verse 12. Take care,
brethren, that there be not any of you, any one of you, an evil,
unbelieving heart. Here again is a call to Christ.
an evil, unbelieving heart that falls away from the living God,
but encourage one another day after day, as long as it’s still
called today, so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness
of sin. Christ knows it. Come to Christ. Not only that, but Christ is
preeminent over the priesthood. Look at chapter 4. Jump all the
way down. into verse 14. Christ is preeminent. Christ is preeminent over the
angels. Christ is preeminent over Moses. Christ is preeminent
over the Sabbath. Christ is preeminent over the
priesthood. The ability to go into the Holy
of Holies and to make propitiation for sinners. Therefore, verse
14, since we have a great high priest, who has passed through
the heavens. Jesus, the Son of God, let us
hold faster confession. It’s a call to Christ. For we
do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses,
but one who has been tempted in all things as we are yet without
sin. And one last call. The writer
of Hebrews can’t leave it there. He says that Jesus Christ is
tempted. He is a preeminent high priest. Therefore, let us draw near.
Come to Christ. Let us draw near with confidence
to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find
grace to help in the time of need. I gave you a grocery list
of sins. Sins with which the Lord Jesus
Christ was mercilessly tempted. You don’t think the devil would
love to see him stumble in even the slightest offense? Tempted by foolishness, tempted
by indolence, tempted by defiance, tempted by injustice. Those are
only the beginning. And what he says is that Jesus
Christ ultimately, and in any, was found sinless. Absolutely
sinless. You think that you’ve done or
thought or Sin some sin that Jesus Christ
is unfamiliar with or will not forgive you. He was tempted in
all things as we are yet without sin and he stands there bidding
us come. Let’s go. Our merciful God. We would lay
off the idea of this foolish idea of trying to cultivate our
own righteousness. Lord, we have seen the Lord Jesus
from the earliest words of these accounts. We have found Him to
be true at every turn. He stands here having been tempted
in every possible way. And found to be wise, good, holy, Lord, we thank You and we praise
You for the Savior You have provided. For those of us who have come
to know Him, we rejoice in Your mercy that out of all You have granted
to us salvation. Lord, we rejoice that if there
are any here who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their
Savior, as the book of Hebrews says, over and over again today. Today is the day. Turn from sin. Place your faith in Christ. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen. In closing, if you would take
your hymnal and turn to 195, joy to the world. The Lord has
come. Let’s stand and sing together. you