Jesus, Creator and Child

Continuing my meditation on Jesus' life, thinking about Him as a little child this morning. The verses are from Luke 2:39-40 NIV:

[39] "When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. [40] And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him."

I was just thinking about Jesus as a toddler. So much of what a child does during their first two years is discover new things, figure out how they work, etc. I remember my son was able to figure out any restraint system we used on drawers or cabinets and he was always interested in any button or knob on any electronics. He was constantly learning, excited to figure out something new. My question this morning is whether this was true of Jesus as well?

In the beginning of the Gospel of John, he makes it clear that the world was created through Jesus - John 1:1-4, 14 NIV:

[1] "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was with God in the beginning. [3] Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. [4] In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

[14] The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

As I was sitting here thinking abut Jesus, I realized that everything was created through Him, so how would he look at the new things He discovered as a toddler? Would it be the joy of discovery, or maybe the joy of finding something very familiar that you haven't seen for a long time? Not that this matters at all to our faith, or salvation, it is just an interesting line of thought and reflection.

As I wrote yesterday, I find the thought that Jesus really was a child comforting. There is an ability to approach Jesus as we would another human being. In Isaiah 55:8-9, the Lord speaks about how different His ways are than ours, yet with Jesus we have one whose experiences and understandings are very similar to ours. So we can be confident when approaching Him in prayer, knowing that He will understand us. This really is a significant point, for understanding and empathy aware not always found in those who have authority in our lives.

So let us approach Jesus as one who understands, one who created this glorious world, yet fully knows the struggles of living in it. His perspective of life here is truly unique.