Chapter

Luke 2:40

ESV And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom. And the favor of God was upon him.
NIV And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.
NASB Now the Child continued to grow and to become strong, increasing in wisdom; and the favor of God was upon Him.
CSB The boy grew up and became strong, filled with wisdom, and God’s grace was on him.
NLT There the child grew up healthy and strong. He was filled with wisdom, and God’s favor was on him.
KJV And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.
NKJV And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.

What does Luke 2:40 mean?

Very little is told about Jesus' childhood, between His birth and the beginning of His public ministry. The few stories which are recorded are here in the Gospel of Luke. One is the encounter between an infant Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and the devout Simeon in the temple (Luke 2:25–32). Another, on the same day, involves the prophetess Anna (Luke 2:36–38). Another is an incident, when Jesus is twelve, where his family loses track of Him only to find Him in the temple (Luke 2:46–49).

This verse comes with tremendous implications. Jesus Christ is the Son of God—God incarnate—and divinity in human form (Hebrews 1:3; John 1:1, 14). However, His humanity is complete. Jesus' early life included almost everything universal to mankind while growing out of infancy, including physical and intellectual development. The only thing Jesus did not experience was sin (Hebrews 4:15; 1 Peter 2:22). After the incident at the temple, Luke will once again point out that Jesus' youth included growing, learning, and developing (Luke 2:52).

A common point of controversy about these verses is rooted in the claim that Jesus was "perfect," therefore He could not learn nor develop. This presumes that Jesus already knew everything, actively, and never gained information from anyone. It's helpful to remember that not all "mistakes" are "sins." A child who sincerely forgets the name of a carpentry tool, makes an arithmetic error, or trips while learning to walk is not committing sin. Nothing in Scripture suggests Jesus' divine nature disqualified Him from the human experiences of learning and development.
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