he was submissive to them

There always seems to be a verse (or a phrase) that just assaults me when I'm reading the Bible. I guess that's what the Holy Spirit is good at. This morning, as I was finishing up Luke 2, this little phrase in verse 51 jumped out at me:

he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was submissive to them

Luke has just finished talking about Jesus' birth & childhood, specifically, Joseph & Mary's journey to Jerusalem for Passover where Jesus gets left behind. Once Mary & Joseph realize he is missing, they turn around and search from him in Jerusalem.

Three days later, when his parents finally find the 12 year old Jesus, he is "sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers." (v46-47). So Jesus has been hanging out in the synagogue, listening & asking questions of the teachers. But not only was he asking questions, Luke says he was answering them too--and with great understanding and wisdom. This isn't just your run of the mill 12 year old Jewish kid!

Now, we don't know how the whole Jesus-as-a-child thing all happened--how God Himself was in human form, eternally existent, but physically, mentally, and emotionally developing as a human being. There is a lot that I could speculate on, but I won't. I don't think it's really important to this point. But what we can clearly see from this account is that Jesus, at the age of 12, got a lot of the truth of God, who he was, & what needed to be done. Even at the age of 12, he was astonishing people by the way he talked, acted, and [presumably] loved. On some level, he seems to already know that "all authority [had] been given to [him] in heaven and on earth" (Matt. 28:18).

And that is what makes this little phrase so mind-blowing! Jesus--the sovereign Messiah & King, the one who created all things & to whom all things will be subjected, Almighty God himself--came to Nazareth [with his earthly parents], and was submissive to them. By all logical accounts, Jesus had the authority over Mary & Joseph as the second person of the Godhead, but, in humility, he chooses to subject himself to their authority and to obey them. Yes, he did it because it is the right thing for a child to do, but, even more than that, he submitted to the authority of his earthly father out of love for his heavenly one--and out of love for you & me. It was his humble obedience throughout his whole life that qualified Jesus of Nazareth to indeed be the Messiah--the dying Messiah come to take away the sins of the world. And it is through humble obedience to him & his word that I have fellowship with him & his father.

I am immensely challenged by this little phrase: he was submissive to them--not because of authority (though it did play a role), but because of humility. Jesus submitted to those over whom he had ultimate authority out of love--and I must do the same, even though I hold authority over none. If my authority is willing to submit & serve his subjects, I can most definitely submit & serve my equals in love.


To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever. Revelation 5:13