Contemplative Bible Reading

Luke 2:52 (New Living Translation)

Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people.

This verse describes a mostly unknown part of the life of Jesus. What did Jesus do from about age 13 to about age 30? We don’t know much. This sentence gives us one glimpse into that part of Jesus’ life.

Jesus grew in favor with all the people.

People liked Jesus. This is hard to describe, but something we know when we see it. Jesus’ dad was a carpenter—a person who worked with wood. Jesus was probably pretty good at working with wood. Jesus was probably good with the tools of the trade and good with customer relations.

People probably came to Jesus with their wood problems. They probably came to Jesus with other problems as well. Jesus probably talked to people, reasoned with them, was sympathetic with their situations.

God doesn’t ask us to be popular. Being elected class president in the 6th grade is okay, but not a command from God. Still, we are told that Jesus grew in favor with all the people. As we strive to be like Jesus, Christ-like, or Christian, let’s remember this from the life of Jesus.