Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 10, Number 47, DeMotte, Jasper County, 10 October 1940 — IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY SCHOOL Lesson [ARTICLE]

IMPROVED UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL SUNDAY SCHOOL Lesson

By HAROLD L. LUNDQUIST, D. D.

Dean of The Moody Bible Institute of Chicago. (Released by Western Newspaper Union.)

Lesson for October 13 Lesson subjects and Scripture texts selected and copyrighted by International Council of Religious Education; used by permission. THE BOYHOOD OF JESUS LESSON TEXT—Luke 2:40-52. GOLDEN TEXT—And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.—Luke 2:52. One brief but revealing glimpse into the earthly life of our Lord is all we have from His birth to the time when he entered upon His public ministry at His baptism in the Jordan. How appropriate it is that he was permitted to live those years of His life behind the curtain of divine silence. The incident in our lesson shows Jesus at the age of responsibility, and in His Father’s house. This is preceded by one verse which reveals Him as the growing child, and is followed by another verse which tells of his advancement from boyhood into manhood. Luke, who is the only one who presents this story, thus fills out the picture of the divine-human personality of the One whom he purposes to reveal as the perfect and universal Saviour. I. The Child Grows (v, 40). Like every other child in the world (apart, of course, from any sin or blemish), Jesus grew during the first 12 years of His life on earth. One rightly regards that growth as the normal, happy development of every child, a time of physical development, or carefree play, of learning obedience in the household at Nazareth. A child should not bear the burdens of life nor be required to make its weighty decisions. Jesus came into the world to die as the Saviour of sinful men, but for these childhood years we are glad that He just grew, waxed strong in body as well as in ; spirit, developing mentally, and that in it all “the grace of God was upon him.” May our children have a similar opportunity and privilege! . 11. The Boy Meets Life’s Responsibilities (vv. 41-51). Soon enough came the day when as a “son of the law” Jesus reached the age of accountability and went with His parents to keep the feast of the Passover. He entered the temple, and there took over the responsibility for his own religious life, which until then had been borne by His parents. Such a day is of vital importance in the life of every boy and girl, and in the case of Jesus was of special significance. Acting for Himself, He tarried in the temple. As a good learner, He asked and answered questions, at the same time amazing those who heard by His understanding. There His mother (who had shown her confidence that He was to be trusted to be where He ought to be) found Him after she had looked in vain for Him at eventide in their company on the road. To Him it was the natural and expected thing that He would be in His Father’s house, going about the business of God. He recognized the special relationship between Himself and the Father—His very own Father—and He began to assume the responsibility of His divine mission on earth. t He Was about to turn the corner from boyhood and start toward manhood, but there were yet 18 years that He was to show His perfect submission to the will of God by His obedience to His parents. There is a real lesson there for every growing boy and girl. 111. The Youth Goes On to Manhood (v. 52). The curtain is drawn again, and the boy Jesus develops into the man; yes, the man who was to bear on Calvary’s tree your sins and mine. What do we know about these years when a boy with the consciousness that He must be about His Father’s business went forward to manhood under the loving and watchful eye of the mother who “kept all these sayings in her heart” (v. 51)? Only what Luke tells us, but that is a great deal. Jesus “advanced,” the word being entirely different in meaning from the “grew” of verse 40. The child grows without any thought or purpose of doing so, but the boy pressing on to manhood has to beat his way forward, cutting a path through life to his goal. The fact that Jesus did that should encourage every young man and woman who is doing the same in a difficult and hostile world, and cause them to seek the daily companionship and help of the Son of God and Son of Man who has passed that way before them. The development here puts the mental first, then the physical. The latter is important, but must be under control of the former. Crowding them both is His growth in grace, fellowship with God and fellowship with men, the latter glorified and made useful by the former. Here again we may learn of Him who, though the Son of God with power, w r as obedient to the limitations of the humanity He had taken, and yet advanced “in wisdom and stature, arid in favor with God and man” (v. 52).