Luke 2:40
And the Child grew and became strong. He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.
And the Child
This phrase refers to Jesus, the central figure of the New Testament. The term "Child" emphasizes His humanity and the reality of His incarnation. In Greek, the word used is "παιδίον" (paidion), which denotes a young child, highlighting Jesus' vulnerability and dependence during His early years. This reminds us of the mystery of the Incarnation, where the divine took on human flesh, experiencing growth and development like any other human being.

grew
The Greek word here is "αὐξάνω" (auxanō), meaning to increase or grow. This indicates a natural, physical development, affirming that Jesus experienced a normal human childhood. This growth is not just physical but also encompasses His mental and emotional development, showing that He fully participated in the human experience.

and became strong
The phrase "became strong" comes from the Greek "κραταιόω" (krataioō), which means to be strengthened or to increase in strength. This suggests not only physical robustness but also a strengthening of character and spirit. It reflects the holistic development of Jesus, preparing Him for His future ministry. This growth in strength is a testament to His preparation for the mission He was to undertake.

He was filled with wisdom
The Greek word for "wisdom" is "σοφία" (sophia), which implies not just knowledge but the application of knowledge in a way that is righteous and just. This wisdom is a divine gift, indicating that even as a child, Jesus possessed an understanding and insight beyond His years. It points to His unique relationship with God the Father and His role as the divine Logos, the Word made flesh.

and the grace of God
The term "grace" is translated from the Greek "χάρις" (charis), which means favor or kindness. This grace is indicative of God's special favor and presence in Jesus' life. It underscores the divine approval and blessing upon Him, marking Him as set apart for a holy purpose. This grace is not earned but is a testament to God's sovereign will and love.

was upon Him
The phrase "was upon Him" signifies a continuous state of being. The Greek construction suggests an ongoing presence of God's grace throughout Jesus' life. This divine favor was evident in His actions, teachings, and ultimately, His sacrificial death and resurrection. It reassures believers of the constant presence and support of God in their lives, as it was with Jesus.

Persons / Places / Events
1. The Child (Jesus)
This verse refers to Jesus Christ during His childhood. It highlights His growth in physical strength, wisdom, and divine favor.

2. Nazareth
Although not mentioned directly in this verse, Nazareth is the town where Jesus grew up, as indicated in the surrounding context of Luke 2.

3. The Grace of God
This refers to the divine favor and blessing that rested upon Jesus, indicating His unique relationship with God the Father.
Teaching Points
Growth in Wisdom and Strength
Just as Jesus grew in wisdom and strength, believers are called to pursue spiritual growth and maturity. This involves studying Scripture, prayer, and living out one's faith.

The Role of Divine Grace
The grace of God was upon Jesus, enabling Him to fulfill His mission. Believers, too, rely on God's grace for strength and guidance in their daily lives.

Model of Spiritual Development
Jesus serves as a model for holistic development—physically, intellectually, and spiritually. Christians are encouraged to seek balance in these areas.

Importance of Favor with God
Cultivating a relationship with God and seeking His favor should be a priority for believers, as it was for Jesus.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Jesus' growth in wisdom and strength challenge our understanding of spiritual maturity?

2. In what ways can we seek to have the grace of God upon us in our daily lives?

3. How does the example of Jesus' childhood growth inspire us to pursue balance in our physical, intellectual, and spiritual lives?

4. What practical steps can we take to grow in favor with God and others, as seen in the life of Jesus?

5. How do the connections between Luke 2:40 and other scriptures like 1 Samuel 2:26 and Isaiah 11:2 deepen our understanding of Jesus' development and mission?
Connections to Other Scriptures
1 Samuel 2:26
This verse speaks of Samuel growing in stature and favor with the Lord and people, paralleling Jesus' growth in wisdom and divine favor.

Isaiah 11:2
This prophecy describes the Spirit of wisdom and understanding resting upon the Messiah, which aligns with Jesus being filled with wisdom.

Proverbs 3:3-4
These verses discuss finding favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man, which can be related to Jesus' growth in wisdom and grace.
A Bishop's Dream of Our Lord's ChildhoodArchdeacon Farrar.Luke 2:40
An Address to Children on the Child JesusDean Stanley.Luke 2:40
Apocryphal Stories of the InfancyGeorge Dawson.Luke 2:40
Childhood Disparaged by the AncientsDavid Swing.Luke 2:40
Christ Our Example in YouthD. Moore, M. A.Luke 2:40
God's Mode of Training MenCanon Westcott.Luke 2:40
Great Results from Secret ProcessesCanon Westcott.Luke 2:40
Growth Under Ordinary EventsCanon Westcott.Luke 2:40
Jerome's Love for the Child JesusArchdeacon Farrar.Luke 2:40
Jesus the Friend of ChildrenArchdeacon Farrar.Luke 2:40
No Abasement in GrowthSunday School TimesLuke 2:40
Our Lord's Early Years Upon EarthS. P. C. K. SermonsLuke 2:40
Religion in ChildhoodLuke 2:40
St. Edmund's Vision of the Child JesusArchdeacon Farrar.Luke 2:40
Superstitious Reverence of Christ's Person Guarded AgainsJames Thomson, D. D.Luke 2:40
The Child Jesus, a Pattern for ChildrenS. Cox, D. D.Luke 2:40
The Development of Christ Through the Influences of Outward NatureStopford A. Brooke, MA.Luke 2:40
The Early Development of JesusF. W. Robertson, M. A.Luke 2:40
The Growth of ChildrenH. C. Trumbull.Luke 2:40
The Holy Child JesusDean Goulburn.Luke 2:40
The Source of Christ's GrowthSunday School TimesLuke 2:40
Youthful Piety of ChristDean Goulburn.Luke 2:40
The Circumcision and Presentation of JesusR.M. Edgar Luke 2:21-40
First Sunday After EpiphanyJ. A. Seiss, D. D.Luke 2:39-52
Glimpses of the Divine ChildhoodE. Johnson, M. A.Luke 2:39-52
NazarethJ. Stalker, L. A.Luke 2:39-52
The Early Years of Christ T. D. Woolsey, D. D.Luke 2:39-52
The Life of JesusJ. C. Jones.Luke 2:39-52
The Personality of JesusPrincipal Fairbairn, D. D.Luke 2:39-52
The Training of Jesus ChristG. D. Boardman.Luke 2:39-52
People
Anna, Aser, Asher, Augustus, Cyrenius, David, Jesus, Joseph, Mary, Phanuel, Simeon
Places
Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, Judea, Nazareth, Rome, Syria
Topics
Becoming, Child, Continued, Favor, Favour, Filled, Full, God's, Grace, Grew, Grow, Growing, Increasing, Rested, Spirit, Strengthened, Strong, Tall, Waxed, Wisdom
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Luke 2:40

     2027   Christ, grace and mercy
     2033   Christ, humanity
     2054   Christ, mind of
     2081   Christ, wisdom
     3050   Holy Spirit, wisdom
     5716   middle age
     5903   maturity, physical
     6668   grace, and Christ
     8162   spiritual vitality
     8348   spiritual growth, nature of

Luke 2:1-40

     5652   babies

Luke 2:38-52

     2520   Christ, childhood

Library
December 25. "I Bring You Glad Tidings" (Luke ii. 10).
"I bring you glad tidings" (Luke ii. 10). A Christmas spirit should be a spirit of humanity. Beside that beautiful object lesson on the Manger, the Cradle, and the lowly little child, what Christian heart can ever wish to be proud? It is a spirit of joy. It is right that these should be glad tidings, for, "Behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy which shall be to all people." It is a spirit of love. It should be the joy that comes from giving joy to others. The central fact of Christmas is
Rev. A. B. Simpson—Days of Heaven Upon Earth

Was, Is, is to Come
'... The babe lying in a manger...'--LUKE ii. 16. '... While He blessed them, He was parted from them, and carried up into heaven...'--LUKE xxiv. 51. 'This same Jesus... shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go...'--ACTS I. 11. These three fragments, which I have ventured to isolate and bring together, are all found in one author's writings. Luke's biography of Jesus stretches from the cradle in Bethlehem to the Ascension from Olivet. He narrates the Ascension twice, because it has two
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

The Boy in the Temple
'And He said unto them, How is it that ye sought Me! wist ye not that I must be about My Father's business?' --LUKE ii. 49. A number of spurious gospels have come down to us, which are full of stories, most of them absurd and some of them worse, about the infancy of Jesus Christ. Their puerilities bring out more distinctly the simplicity, the nobleness, the worthiness of this one solitary incident of His early days, which has been preserved for us. How has it been preserved? If you will look over
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Simeon's Swan-Song
'Lord, now lettest Thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: 30. For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation.'--LUKE ii. 29,30. That scene, when the old man took the Infant in his withered arms, is one of the most picturesque and striking in the Gospel narrative. Simeon's whole life appears, in its later years, to have been under the immediate direction of the Spirit of God. It is very remarkable to notice how, in the course of three consecutive verses, the operation of that divine Spirit
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

Shepherds and Angels
'And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid. 10. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions Of Holy Scripture

The Angel's Message and Song
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the LORD came upon them, and the glory of the LORD shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the LORD . And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

December the Nineteenth the Sun of Righteousness
"A light to lighten the Gentiles." --LUKE ii. 25-40. That was the wonder of wonders. Hitherto the light had been supposed to be for Israel alone; and now a heavenly splendour was to fall upon the Gentiles. Hitherto the light had been thought of as a lamp, illuming a single place; now it was to be a sun, shedding its glory upon a world. The "people that sat in darkness" are now to see "a great light." New regions are to be occupied; there is to be daybreak everywhere! "The Sun of Righteousness
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

December the Twenty-Fifth Christmas Cheer
"Good will toward men!" --LUKE ii. 8-20. The heavens are not filled with hostility. The sky does not express a frown. When I look up I do not contemplate a face of brass, but the face of infinite good will. Yet when I was a child, many a picture has made me think of God as suspicious, inhumanly watchful, always looking round the corner to catch me at the fall. That "eye," placed in the sky of many a picture, and placed there to represent God, filled my heart with a chilling fear. That God was
John Henry Jowett—My Daily Meditation for the Circling Year

Religious Joy.
"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."--Luke ii. 10, 11. There are two principal lessons which we are taught on the great Festival which we this day celebrate, lowliness and joy. This surely is a day, of all others, in which is set before us the heavenly excellence and the acceptableness in God's sight of that state which
John Henry Newman—Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VIII

The Wilderness: Temptation. Matthew 4:1-11. Mark 1:12, 13. Luke 4:1-13.
The University of Arabia: Jesus' naturalness--the Spirit's presence--intensity, Luke 2:45-51.--a true perspective--- the temptation's path--sin's path--John's grouping, 1 John 2:16.--the Spirit's plan--why--the devil's weakness--the Spirit's leading--a wilderness for every God-used man, Moses, Elijah, Paul. Earth's Ugliest, Deepest Scar: Jesus the only one led up to be tempted--the wilderness--its history, Genesis 13:10-13. 18:16-19:38.--Jesus really tempted--no wrong here in inner response--every
S. D. Gordon—Quiet Talks about Jesus

Joy Born at Bethlehem
In our text we have before us the sermon of the first evangelist under the gospel dispensation. The preacher was an angel, and it was meet it should be so, for the grandest and last of all evangels will be proclaimed by an angel when he shall sound the trumpet of the resurrection, and the children of the regeneration shall rise into the fullness of their joy. The key-note of this angelic gospel is joy--"I bring unto you good tidings of great joy." Nature fears in the presence of God--the shepherds
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

"Nunc Dimittis"
We shall note, this morning, first, that every believer may be assured of departing in peace; but that, secondly, some believers feel a special readiness to depart now: "Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace;" and, thirdly, that there are words of encouragement to produce in us the like readiness: "according to thy word." There are words of Holy Writ which afford richest consolation in prospect of departure. I. First, then, let us start with the great general principle, which is full of comfort;
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

Christ About his Father's Business
But now I shall invite your attention, first, to the spirit of the Saviour, as breathed in these words, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?" and then, secondly, I shall exhort the children of God, with all the earnestness which I can command, with all the intensity of power which I can summon to the point, to labour after the same spirit, that they too may unfeignedly say, "Wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business? " I. First, then note THE SPIRIT OF CHRIST. It was
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 3: 1857

The First Christmas Carol
Let us turn aside, having just thought of angels for a moment, to think rather of this song, than of the angels themselves. Their song was brief, but as Kitto excellently remarks, it was "well worthy of angels expressing the greatest and most blessed truths, in words so few, that they become to an acute apprehension, almost oppressive by the pregnant fulness of their meaning"--"Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace, good will toward men." We shall, hoping to be assisted by the Holy Spirit,
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 4: 1858

Christ's Boyhood
LUKE ii. 52. And Jesus increased in wisdom, and in stature, and in favour both with God and man. I do not pretend to understand these words. I preach on them because the Church has appointed them for this day. And most fitly. At Christmas we think of our Lord's birth. What more reasonable, than that we should go on to think of our Lord's boyhood? To think of this aright, even if we do not altogether understand it, ought to help us to understand rightly the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Charles Kingsley—The Good News of God

The Christ Child (Christmas Day. )
LUKE ii. 7. And she brought forth her first-born Son, and wrapt him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger. Mother and child.--Think of it, my friends, on Christmas day. What more beautiful sight is there in the world? What more beautiful sight, and what more wonderful sight? What more beautiful? That man must be very far from the kingdom of God--he is not worthy to be called a man at all--whose heart has not been touched by the sight of his first child in its mother's bosom. The greatest
Charles Kingsley—The Good News of God

Music (Christmas Day. )
LUKE ii. 13, 14. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. You have been just singing Christmas hymns; and my text speaks of the first Christmas hymn. Now what the words of that hymn meant; what Peace on earth and good-will towards man meant, I have often told you. To-day I want you, for once, to think of this--that it was a hymn; that these angels were singing, even as
Charles Kingsley—The Good News of God

Of Having Confidence in God when Evil Words are Cast at Us
"My Son, stand fast and believe in Me. For what are words but words? They fly through the air, but they bruise no stone. If thou are guilty, think how thou wouldst gladly amend thyself; if thou knowest nothing against thyself, consider that thou wilt gladly bear this for God's sake. It is little enough that thou sometimes hast to bear hard words, for thou art not yet able to bear hard blows. And wherefore do such trivial matters go to thine heart, except that thou art yet carnal, and regardest
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

The Birth of Jesus.
(at Bethlehem of Judæa, b.c. 5.) ^C Luke II. 1-7. ^c 1 Now it came to pass in those days [the days of the birth of John the Baptist], there went out a decree [a law] from Cæsar Augustus [Octavius, or Augustus, Cæsar was the nephew of and successor to Julius Cæsar. He took the name Augustus in compliment to his own greatness; and our month August is named for him; its old name being Sextilis], that all the world should be enrolled. [This enrollment or census was the first step
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Circumcision, Temple Service, and Naming of Jesus.
(the Temple at Jerusalem, b.c. 4) ^C Luke II. 21-39. ^c 21 And when eight days [Gen. xvii. 12] were fulfilled for circumcising him [The rite was doubtless performed by Joseph. By this rite Jesus was "made like unto his brethren" (Heb. ii. 16, 17); that is, he became a member of the covenant nation, and became a debtor to the law--Gal. v. 3] , his name was called JESUS [see Luke i. 59], which was so called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. [Luke i. 31.] 22 And when the days of their
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

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