He Grew in Favor with God

To see whether you have a healthy, biblical view of Jesus, turn to Luke 2:52, which says He grew "in favor with God and man." Today, Sinclair Ferguson explains how this passage shows the true humanity of our incarnate Lord.

Yesterday on Things Unseen, we were thinking about how important it is that we all grow in the knowledge of who Jesus really is. And I was saying that I believe we need to hear more preaching and to reflect more on the way in which the New Testament focuses on who He is, His person, and what He is really like. I don’t think anyone who knew me would misunderstand what I’m trying to say here, because I love great works of biblical exegesis, I love biblical theology, and I really love systematic theology. But none of these became incarnate. None of these was crucified for me. It’s Jesus Christ Himself I need and want.

I sometimes think there’s a good litmus test that indicates whether or not I have a healthy biblical view of Jesus and whether He is truly real to me, as we sometimes say. It’s this—it’s found in a single verse in the Gospels, Luke 2:52: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.”

Now it’s obvious, isn’t it, that Jesus must have grown in stature. He was a baby small enough to fit into a manger. He became a boy. And Luke’s words cover His teenage years, at least: He grew in height, he filled out. No doubt as He worked in Joseph’s carpenter shop and elsewhere, He became stronger. So, He grew in stature. Yes, check. And I think we can understand that Jesus also grew in favor with men and women as they got to know Him. It was only later in His ministry that people seemed to turn against Him and He fell into disfavor. So, grow in physical stature, check. Grow in favor with man, check.

But then there’s this other statement, “Jesus grew in wisdom.” Well, you’ll allow, I think, that if He worked with Joseph the woodworker, and if He learned a trade, then from that point of view, He grew in wisdom. He didn’t have all Joseph’s skills when He was a three-year-old, presumably. He learned the tricks of the trade—how you get two pieces of wood to hold together, how to shape the wood, how to build a house or a piece of furniture, or yokes for oxen. So surely, we can grant that He grew in that kind of wisdom.

But what about spiritual wisdom? Didn’t He have all wisdom because He was God? But you see Luke is saying here that if Jesus was truly incarnate in our humanity, He must have needed to grow, to learn, to advance in spiritual wisdom and understanding. He must have grown, for example, by reflecting on the wisdom there is in the Old Testament. So, if we take seriously what Luke wrote here, then we’ll develop a new sense of wonder that Jesus learned more and more wisdom the older He got. He was truly human as well as truly divine.

But it’s the last statement that’s the real litmus test. So, let me put it this way: the Jesus that you trust, did He grow in favor with God as well as with man? That’s a staggering statement, isn’t it? Is that your personal Jesus, or is that just a step too far? And you see, if you have reservations about Jesus growing in favor with God, then somehow or another you’ve got caught up in a false theology. Underneath your view of Jesus lies some false thinking that’s not consistent with Scripture.

So, how can this be? I wonder if you recall some time ago, we were talking about the fact that while the two natures of our Lord are united in His one person—His deity and His humanity united in His divine person—they’re never mixed and they’re never confused with each other. Each nature retains and exercises the properties appropriate to that nature. And that’s what Luke is saying here. The tests and temptations that Jesus experienced increased in severity as He grew from infancy to childhood, to adolescence, to manhood. More demanding obedience was called for, more personal sacrifice was required. And as He became ultimately obedient to death, even to the horrible death of crucifixion, His father’s favor towards Him increased correspondingly. There was more reason for the Father to favor His Son in our flesh because His Son’s obedience expanded to the point where He was willing to die on the cross in obedience to His Father.

I’ve often said that when Jesus took the ultimate step of obedience in His death on the cross, we can imagine the heavenly Father singing quietly through His tears as it were: “My Jesus, I love You, I know You are mine. If ever I loved You, My Jesus, ‘tis now.” It’s not that the Father didn’t always love the incarnate Son perfectly; it’s that the incarnate Son gave Him more and more specific reasons to have favor towards Him.

The Christian church has often struggled with these verses, but I think you can see what Luke is saying, can’t you? Jesus is not an imitation man, not a pretend man, not half a man and half a God, nor is His human nature a composite of some parts human and some parts divine. No, He was truly man. His nature was the same as ours apart from sin.

Isn’t this the repeated message of the book of Hebrews? Jesus Christ is perfectly suited to be our Savior and our friend because He really and truly came among us, bound His flesh to our flesh in the same bundle of life. As the Christmas hymn puts it, “Day by day, like us He grew,” but that’s why the hymn can go on to say, “And He feeleth for our sadness, and He shareth in our gladness.” And we’ll think more about this tomorrow.