We all know the story about baby Jesus who was born in a manger. He was a child who had two loving parents to take care and nuture him. I started wondering if Jesus was a bad kid because he was a perfect man?
When children are born, they experience life from a totally selfish perspective. Kids have to learn from their parents, how to live and survive in a sinful society. Parents teach these things to become productive, loving, law-abiding citizens. They also learn how to cope with the word “no” and accept that things may not always go as planned. Parents should teach their kids good versus evil.
We’ve all experienced a child that has bad behaviors. They’ve been allowed to do and say things that are not acceptable to the average adult. Kids are not born bad, but taught this behavior through lack of discipline, chemical imbalances or life issues beyond their control. We’ve also heard the saying that “kids will be kids” but was Jesus ever a bad kid?
Jesus was born to Mary and Joseph in Bethlehem. Mary was a virgin and had not yet married Joseph. The angel of the Lord spoke to Joseph in a dream and told him that they would have a baby conceived of the Holy Spirit.
Joseph wasn’t happy at first, because he was afraid of what people would think of him and Mary, but he did what the angel told him and married her anyway.
Matthew 1:20-21 says, “But when he was giving thought to these things, an angel of the Lord came to him in a dream, saying, Joseph, son of David, have no fear of taking Mary as your wife; because that which is in her body is of the Holy Spirit. And she will give birth to a son; and you will give him the name Jesus; for he will give his people salvation from their sins.”
As Jesus grew up he had to learn how to walk and talk just as we all do. And he went to school to learn his lessons as we do today.
Luke 2:40-52 tells us that when he became 12 years old, his family traveled to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover. They left to go back home to Galilee when the Passover feast was over. A day went by and they discovered that Jesus was not with them. So they went back to Jerusalem to find him.
After approximately three days they found him in the temple, which is the church today. His parents were angry asking him why he stayed there. Jesus told his parents that they shouldn’t have worried, because they should have known where he was. He told them he was in his Father’s house, which was pretty strange to his parents, because Joseph was his father. But in Jesus’ case, he was referring to his spiritual Father as God.
He obeyed his earthly parents and went home with them because Jesus was still a boy. This scripture shows us that even at 12 years old, Jesus knew that he should be in the temple (or the church), studying and applying God’s word in his life.
As Jesus grew up he never did anything wrong. He became wiser and God’s grace increased in his life. Jesus never sinned or did bad things. He never stole anything, said bad words, lied or disobeyed his parents. Even though Jesus was human, he was also God. And because he was God, he was perfect and unable to do wrong.
Jesus became God’s Son so he could be a perfect sacrifice for our sins and take away the wrong that we have done. He couldn’t accomplish this great sacrifice if he wasn’t perfect! God also wants us to do as Jesus did, so we can become as close to perfect, in order to please him.
For 1 Peter 2:21-24 says, “This is God’s purpose for you: because Jesus himself underwent punishment for you, giving you an example, so that you might go in his footsteps: Who did no evil, and there was no deceit in his mouth: To sharp words he gave no sharp answer; when he was undergoing pain, no angry word came from his lips; but he put himself into the hands of the judge of righteousness: He took our sins on himself, giving his body to be nailed on the tree, so that we, dead to sin, might have a new life in righteousness, and by his wounds we have been made well.”
Thank God – Jesus was a perfect sacrifice who was born to die for our sins! Amen
