Latest / Bible in a Year with Jack Graham / Young Jesus - The Gospels
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Let us pray. And the child grew and waxed strong
- 0:05Speaker 1: in the Spirit, filled with wisdom, and the grace of
- 0:08Speaker 1: God was upon him. Luke 2.40 As I continue to grow,
- 0:15Speaker 1: I thank you that I am increasing in wisdom and
- 0:18Speaker 1: understanding like Jesus. Even when others don't understand the magnitude
- 0:24Speaker 1: of my calling, I will remain true to what you've
- 0:27Speaker 1: placed inside of me, Lord. I choose to understand that
- 0:32Speaker 1: sometimes the people closest to me won't understand my anointing,
- 0:37Speaker 1: and that's okay. Nevertheless, I will not shrink or play
- 0:43Speaker 1: small when it comes to walking in my divine identity.
- 0:48Speaker 1: With Jesus as my focus, I will learn to walk
- 0:52Speaker 1: and talk in confidence as He did. I am ready
- 0:57Speaker 1: to live my fullest life and be involved with my
- 1:00Speaker 1: Heavenly Father's business. In Jesus' name.
- 1:06Speaker 2: Amen.
- 1:08Speaker 1: Thank you for making prayer a priority in your day.
- 1:12Speaker 1: To learn more about the Bible, stay tuned for today's story.
- 1:16Speaker 1: Brought to you by BibleInAYear.com.
- 1:29Speaker 2: Young Jesus. In our last story, the baby Jesus was
- 1:33Speaker 2: visited by three wise men. They were prominent scholars and astronomers,
- 1:38Speaker 2: yet they worshipped Jesus as king. Herod, the evil king
- 1:42Speaker 2: of the Jews, got word that there was a new
- 1:44Speaker 2: child born by prophecy. Seeing Jesus as a threat to
- 1:48Speaker 2: his power, he had every child under the age of
- 1:51Speaker 2: two killed, yet Joseph had his family flee just in time.
- 1:56Speaker 2: Now we get a glimpse into the childhood of Jesus.
- 1:59Speaker 2: His wisdom and purpose remained a mystery to Mary and Joseph,
- 2:03Speaker 2: inspired by the Gospels.
- 2:06Speaker 3: Hello everyone, Jack Graham here. In yesterday's episode, we learned
- 2:11Speaker 3: of the visit of the wise men who came from
- 2:13Speaker 3: the East to worship the Messiah. They brought lavish gifts
- 2:17Speaker 3: that symbolized the royalty, divinity, and ultimately, even the death
- 2:22Speaker 3: of Christ. Even as a baby, Jesus represented a threat
- 2:26Speaker 3: to the established power structure, and as we learned, King
- 2:30Speaker 3: Herod sought to kill him. But God protected Joseph, Mary,
- 2:34Speaker 3: and Jesus, and they escaped into Egypt until Herod died. Today,
- 2:40Speaker 3: we'll hear about the life of a young Jesus before
- 2:43Speaker 3: the beginning of his earthly ministry. We'll see how even
- 2:46Speaker 3: as a child, he was in fellowship with the Father,
- 2:49Speaker 3: and his wisdom and insight drew others to him. And
- 2:53Speaker 3: as they journey to Jerusalem for Passover, Joseph and Mary
- 2:56Speaker 3: will get a glimpse of just how special Jesus really is.
- 3:01Speaker 3: Let's hear now the reading of God's Word.
- 3:05Speaker 2: The crowds pushed and shoved as Mary and Joseph tried
- 3:08Speaker 2: to make their way from the temple. For the past
- 3:11Speaker 2: twelve years, the small family had made their way to
- 3:13Speaker 2: Jerusalem for Passover. Mary and Joseph had watched as Jesus
- 3:18Speaker 2: grew up and became strong. The boy was filled with
- 3:21Speaker 2: wisdom and carried the favor of God wherever he went.
- 3:25Speaker 2: Joseph did his best to guide his wife through the
- 3:27Speaker 2: busy crowd. Millions of people flocked the holy city during Passover.
- 3:32Speaker 2: So many, in fact, that Mary and Joseph had completely
- 3:35Speaker 2: lost track of Jesus. He was nowhere to be seen.
- 3:39Speaker 2: The sea of faces rolled like a rising tide, and
- 3:42Speaker 2: not one of them resembled the twelve-year-old boy. Frantic, Mary
- 3:47Speaker 2: scoured the city for three days in search of her child.
- 3:50Speaker 2: Jesus was not the type to wander off. He was considerate, obedient,
- 3:55Speaker 2: and wise beyond his years. He would not have gotten lost.
- 3:59Speaker 2: That's when Mary realized where he must be. The two
- 4:02Speaker 2: parents ran back to the temple courtyard. Thousands of people
- 4:05Speaker 2: rushed in and out of the gates, but Mary knew
- 4:08Speaker 2: Jesus must be within its walls. As the worried parents
- 4:11Speaker 2: entered the temple doors, they saw their son sitting in
- 4:14Speaker 2: front of priests and teachers. The boy asked deep and
- 4:18Speaker 2: profound questions. He was also filled with answers beyond their comprehension.
- 4:23Speaker 2: The priests and teachers hung on every word the boy said,
- 4:26Speaker 2: gleaning deep truths from his words. Mary did not want
- 4:30Speaker 2: to make a scene in front of the priests, so
- 4:32Speaker 2: she waited for a lull in their conversation, and then
- 4:35Speaker 2: grabbed Jesus away and scolded him. Why have you done
- 4:39Speaker 2: this to us? she said. Your father and I have
- 4:42Speaker 2: been searching day and night for you. The young boy
- 4:45Speaker 2: looked up at his mother. His face was not confused,
- 4:48Speaker 2: but concerned. Why would you look for days?
- 4:51Speaker 1: He asked.
- 4:52Speaker 2: Didn't you know that I would be in my father's house,
- 4:54Speaker 2: tending to his business? The full reality of who Jesus
- 4:58Speaker 2: truly was still escaped Mary. She knew of his immaculate conception,
- 5:03Speaker 2: and that he was a promised king. However, she could
- 5:06Speaker 2: not fully understand the depths of who he was. She
- 5:09Speaker 2: would soon discover who her son truly was, but for now,
- 5:13Speaker 2: he was her little twelve-year-old Jesus. So she cared for
- 5:16Speaker 2: him deeply. Joseph taught him the trade of carpentry and building.
- 5:21Speaker 2: So Jesus grew in stature, strength, and wisdom daily. Nobody
- 5:25Speaker 2: but him knew what was about to unfold.
- 5:30Speaker 3: In today's scripture, we get a picture of young Jesus.
- 5:34Speaker 3: The Bible doesn't say too much about the early days
- 5:37Speaker 3: of Jesus. In fact, this is the only account between
- 5:40Speaker 3: his flight to Egypt with his parents and the beginning
- 5:43Speaker 3: of his ministry three decades later. But in this one account,
- 5:48Speaker 3: we'll see so clearly a picture of how special Jesus
- 5:52Speaker 3: really is and how in fellowship he is with the Father,
- 5:55Speaker 3: even as a child. We'll see how he grew in wisdom, stature,
- 5:59Speaker 3: and in favor with God and man, as the Scripture
- 6:02Speaker 3: tells us. And so, as we heard, Jesus' family traveled
- 6:06Speaker 3: to Jerusalem to Passover, as was their custom. Not only theirs,
- 6:10Speaker 3: but millions of Jews traveled there each year. So the throngs,
- 6:14Speaker 3: the multitudes of people, filled the streets. You can only
- 6:17Speaker 3: imagine the chaos of trying to navigate yourself through Jerusalem
- 6:21Speaker 3: at that time. As they prepared to return home after
- 6:24Speaker 3: the feast, Jesus stayed behind in the temple. His parents
- 6:29Speaker 3: didn't notice right away, but when they did, you can
- 6:32Speaker 3: only imagine the panic that set in. Where is Jesus?
- 6:35Speaker 3: What happened to Jesus? They seemed to have lost Jesus.
- 6:40Speaker 3: They were in another town far from home among millions
- 6:42Speaker 3: of other people crowding the streets and Jesus was nowhere
- 6:46Speaker 3: to be found. Mary and Joseph searched for him three days.
- 6:51Speaker 3: Can you imagine? Three days they're looking for Jesus. Think
- 6:55Speaker 3: about the despair that must have filled their hearts. Where
- 6:59Speaker 3: could he be, they wondered. Friends and family had no idea.
- 7:02Speaker 3: So finally they entered the temple and there they saw Jesus.
- 7:07Speaker 3: He wasn't alone or afraid, looking for his mom and dad. No,
- 7:12Speaker 3: he was very fine. As we read in Luke 2,
- 7:15Speaker 3: verses 46 and 47, After three days they found him
- 7:19Speaker 3: in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them
- 7:22Speaker 3: and asking them questions. And all who heard him were
- 7:25Speaker 3: amazed at his understanding and his answers. This 12-year-old boy,
- 7:31Speaker 3: The boy Jesus was sitting among the rabbis, asking and
- 7:35Speaker 3: answering deep questions about life and living for God. He
- 7:39Speaker 3: was clearly unlike any other child. Did you notice that
- 7:43Speaker 3: it says all who heard him were amazed? Yes, Jesus
- 7:48Speaker 3: is amazing. Like any parent, Mary, when she found him,
- 7:53Speaker 3: expressed displeasure at what Jesus had done, asking where he
- 7:56Speaker 3: had been and why he had done this to Joseph
- 7:59Speaker 3: and her. But Jesus gently and respectfully responded that they
- 8:03Speaker 3: should have known he would be in the temple, his
- 8:06Speaker 3: Father's house. Throughout his life, Jesus would amaze people with
- 8:11Speaker 3: his insight, his wisdom, and his words, just as he
- 8:14Speaker 3: did in today's reading. Jesus was always about his Father's business. Clearly,
- 8:21Speaker 3: Jesus lived in perfect harmony and perfect fellowship with the Father.
- 8:26Speaker 3: And God sent him in the world to do his business.
- 8:29Speaker 3: So Jesus grew in favor with God and man. And
- 8:33Speaker 3: the next time we see him, God will give the
- 8:35Speaker 3: world a sign that Jesus is indeed the Son of God.
- 8:40Speaker 3: Dear God, we thank you for the Word, your Word.
- 8:45Speaker 3: And we thank you for the story of Jesus. From
- 8:48Speaker 3: birth to boyhood to life, death, resurrection, and ascension, We
- 8:53Speaker 3: see the power and the presence of Jesus. We see
- 8:56Speaker 3: him uniquely united with the Father, always and forever. Like Jesus,
- 9:03Speaker 3: in the power of your spirit, may we always be
- 9:06Speaker 3: about your business, Lord. Always sitting at your feet to
- 9:10Speaker 3: listen to your ways and to learn your wisdom. In Jesus' name, amen.
- 9:16Speaker 3: Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year.
- 9:19Speaker 3: I'm Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. You can download
- 9:23Speaker 3: the Pray.com app and make Bible study and prayer the
- 9:26Speaker 3: priority of your life. And if you appreciate this podcast,
- 9:30Speaker 3: please share it with someone else. I also want to
- 9:33Speaker 3: encourage you to go to JackGraham.org. That's JackGraham.org for information.
- 9:41Speaker 3: God bless you.