Jesus grew in favour with God and people

Can you imagine Jesus also had to grow in favour with God and people?

Jesus already knew who he was when he was 12 years old- calling the temple “My Father’s house” (Luke 2:49). However Jesus grew in wisdom stature and favour with God and man (Luke 2: 52), so there must have been a time when these were less developed.

Jesus on a number of occasions said “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”(John 5:19). Was Jesus just waiting on Father God to give him the go ahead to do the miraculous? I would propose that it wasn’t a moment by moment permission to act out Father God's will. Let me explain.

There were two occasions when Jesus even seemed to do things ahead of time. The first was when Jesus turned the water into wine. It is clear that Jesus did not think it was the right time (John 2:4) yet he obeyed Mary’s request and it became a sign that revealed his glory (John 2:11). The second occasion, a Syrophoenecian woman begged Jesus to deliver her child. Jesus clearly expressed that he had come to the children of Israel and not others, yet when she boldly asked for crumbs from the table, Jesus healed her child (Mark 7:24-30). Was Jesus doing these things because he had permission from the Father to go ahead? I propose that Jesus acted out of knowing Father God’s heart. And because of this he knew what Father God wanted in all circumstances.

Philippians 2:6-8 says Jesus emptied himself of divine nature and came to earth as a human. It is tempting to think that because Jesus was divine he would always know instinctively what to do- yet this passage in Philippians suggests otherwise. Scripture reveals that Jesus withdrew to pray before making big decisions. I think this is a great example that even Jesus prayed about the things he had to navigate on earth (Luke 5:16).

While we all desire a moment by moment guidance by Holy Spirit, this does not produce growth and maturity in our Christian walk. I am aware that at the start we learn best by hearing clearly to obey Holy Spirit but after a time as children of God we need to know God’s nature so that we don’t have to wait for a prompt to do something instead we know what to do instinctively out of identity as children of God. This takes time and practice - to hear clearly and to practice walking out obedience in our daily lives. It is my deep desire to grow in favour with God and with others. This is something I am still growing in. I hope this is something you desire also.

There is an outcome of following Jesus – we become like him. This means that we imitate Jesus in our words and actions. This is what happened to the disciples. They became like Jesus. Their lives were changed from the inside out so that others were aware that they had been with Jesus (Acts 4:13). They became like Jesus because of the Holy Spirit guiding them and bringing Jesus’ words into their memory. But they also became like Jesus because they knew his nature and what motivated him and the core values that he practiced.

When my children only do the chores as I ask them, it tells me that they have not yet stepped up into a place of maturity. When they start to do the jobs I haven’t asked them to do but I would love them to do, I know that they are growing up to be responsible adults. I believe this is what Jesus demonstrated when he grew in wisdom and stature and favour with God and man. So Jesus grew in his relationship with Father God by obeying but also by knowing God’s nature and thus knowing what to do out of identity and a heart connection to the Father.

What would happen if our actions and words astonished others, so that people would exclaim “They have been with Jesus?” It is my desire that our time together at The Gap Encounter Rooms will be about meeting Jesus and growing to be like Jesus as we share, pray, encourage and spur each other in our faith. Jesus promised that his followers would do greater works than he did (John 14:12 “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”) We know that this is what God always intended- for Jesus to be elevated in our lives to such an extent that others will give him glory through the good works that we do (Ephesians 2:10).