And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.And Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.
5 sermons cite this verse
… and this boy goes back home with his mom and dad, and three verses later, in Luke 2.52, we read, and Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man. Does that sound familiar? It's the same language that was used to describe Samuel. Centuries later, God is intentionally pointing us back to this chapter where he promised a faithful priest and king who would come. A priest who would never once sin, never once profane God the Father. And he wouldn't just oversee sacrifices for sin. He would offer himself as a sacrifice for sin. 1 Samuel 2 is pointing us to Hebrews 9 and 10. When Christ, the Messiah, appeared as a high priest, Messiah, priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent, not a tabernacle made with hands, that is not of this creation, he entered once for all into the holy places, into the throne room of heaven itself. not by the means of blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. …
… And it says, Jesus was, read 52, Luke 2, 52. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and in favor with man. He grew. See, God's plan is growth. Just if you wonder what God's plan is for your life, God's plan is growth. He grew his son and he wants to grow your life. God wants you to grow. In fact, write down the last point today. If you keep showing up, you're going to keep growing up. But a lot of us wonder why we're not growing. It's because you come too infrequently. You read the Bible too infrequently. You pray too infrequently. If you want to keep growing up, you got to keep showing up. And notice the posture of Jesus when he did get there. When Jesus got there, he didn't go. October of 2018, I started a podcast called Leadership Lean In. And it was all based upon this truth that if you lean into God's word, and if you lean into God's way, and if you lean into wisdom, God's truth and God's way and God's kingdom will lean into you. …
… But his mother kept all these things in her heart, confused, but still taking note of what he said. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men. Spirit of the living God, bring us into the awareness of your presence. Awaken us to what is in this room, in this text, in this moment that is for us. God, whether someone is listening to it right now or this message finds them years from now, God, may it be a fresh word. May we increase in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and men as a result of the table that you will spread for us in this moment. God, I pray that you would still my nerves, that you would steady my heart, that you would fill me with your spirit. that I may be a vessel in this moment. Fill me with love for these, your sons and daughters. Give me a spirit of wisdom, of prophecy, of revelation, that this would be a work that is foundational for what you desire to do in 2026. …
… and you add more relationships in your life, and that's the kind of world that God wants you to live in. Look at Luke chapter 2, 52. I love this about Jesus. And Jesus grew in wisdom, and in stature, and in favor with God, and with man. In other words, when you got good character, it's not just that God loves you, now people love you, because people do not love a compromiser. People do not love somebody that's stuck in sketchy McNasty. People do not love people that are fraudulent. People love people that are trustworthy, that are carrying peace, that are walking in God's way. People that they can count on and bank on. I know you're not perfect, but you're trustworthy. And all of a sudden you got relationships. Oh, I love this next one. Put it on the screen. Proverbs 3. Let love and faithfulness never leave you. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and in the sight of man. Anybody want to have a good name? …
… in Luke chapter 2, and it's related to our Lord. Book 2 and verse 52 says concerning Jesus, He kept increasing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men. Now without sin, perfectly righteous, as a man nonetheless, He needed to increase in wisdom. He needed to increase in stature. We needed to increase in favor with God and to increase in favor with man. Now these are the four categories in which children develop. Wisdom is mental, stature is physical, favor with men is social, and favor with God is spiritual. Now our children are not perfect, our children are not righteous, they are not sinless like the Son of God. So we have to take on this reprobate that showed up disguised as a tender baby, and we have to understand what we're dealing with. They have to grow mentally, physically, socially, spiritually, and we have to care for them in all four categories. We teach them how to think. We teach them how to work. …