1Start
Luke covers about eighteen years of Jesus’s life in one verse (Luke 2:52).
2Read Together
After the visit to the temple, Jesus went home to Nazareth with Mary and Joseph and “was subject unto them” (Luke 2:51). He grew up there as the son of a carpenter (Matthew 13:55). He was about thirty when his ministry began (Luke 3:23).
Luke 2:40 · King James Version
40And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.
Luke 2:52 · King James Version
52And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
3What It Teaches
“And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” (Luke 2:52). The verse names four ways to grow. Wisdom is the mind, stature is the body, favour with God is the spirit, and favour with man is how we treat others.
Jesus grew a step at a time. Earlier Luke wrote that the child “waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him” (Luke 2:40). Waxed means grew.
The Lord revealed that Jesus kept growing from grace to grace until he received a fulness (Doctrine and Covenants 93:12–13). The Son of God grew up the way we do, one day at a time.
Some growth is easy to measure, like height on a doorframe. Growth in favour with God is harder to see, and it is just as real.
4Talk About It
Luke 2:52 names four ways Jesus grew. Which one would you like to work on in the next month, and what is one small step?