7/6/25 Weekly Bible Lesson: Home Alone

Introduction — When Solomon became king of Israel, he may have been as young as twelve years old. Solomon asked God for wisdom to lead his people (1 Kings 3:9) and thereafter enjoyed a reputation as the wisest man who ever lived (1 Kings 3:12). One thousand years later, a twelve-year-old Jesus of Nazareth, the direct descendant of Solomon, evidenced astounding wisdom of His own. Let’s study the young Jesus for clues as to how God instills wisdom in the young.

God instills wisdom in the young through a godly community.

An old African proverb states, “It takes a village to raise a child.” In our text, we see the following elements of a godly community (village), which contributed to young Jesus’s wisdom.

Godly Parents — “Every year Jesus’s parents went to Jerusalem for the Passover Festival” (v 41). Mary and Joseph were faithful in the annual Passover observance. This devotion surely left an impression on their son.

Extended Friends and Family — “They started looking for him among their relatives and friends” (v 44). At first, Jesus’s parents were not worried even though he’d been missing for hours. That’s because they enjoyed an extensive network of trusted family and friends. They assumed Jesus was with them. Obviously, they were used to their young son spending time with this “village,” all of whom would have shared their “like precious faith.”

If we want our children to develop the wisdom of Jesus, we will cultivate a community of friends and family in which goldy wisdom can be learned and reinforced.

God instills wisdom in the young through organized religion.

“They finally discovered Him in the Temple, sitting among the religious teachers, listening to them and asking questions. All who heard Him were amazed at His understanding and His answers” (v 46-47).

“Religious teachers” was a term ascribed to rabbis, scribes, pharisees, and priests. All these teachers would have been in the temple for the Passover. This was organized religion at its most organized! Mary and Joseph did not “forsake the gathering of themselves together” during this annual festival. It is not a stretch to infer they were also regular in weekly synagogue worship in Nazareth. Young Jesus is interacting with these religious teachers, asking questions, listening to their answers, and even answering a few questions Himself. He is not passive in His corporate worship. He is fully engaged. Undoubtedly, this element of Jesus’ childhood and youth contributed to His wisdom.

“Organized religion,” has suffered a fall from grace in our age of “Spiritual But Not Religious” (SBNR) free spirits, but religion is a word used by James in a positive sense (James 1:27), and “the church” is organized at God’s instigation (Acts 14:23). Children who grow up in the life and rhythms of a local church, with youth coaches, teachers, elders, deacons, and preachers pouring into their lives, will have a significant head start in the wisdom department.

God instills wisdom in the young through an awakened consciousness.

“Why did you need to search? Didn’t you know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (v.49). By this time in His young life, Jesus was aware that God was His “father” in a unique sense. Thus, He was conscious that His primary responsibility was to God and God’s house. How did Jesus arrive at this awareness? We don’t know for sure. Perhaps a combination of His parents sharing the details of His birth, religious instruction, scriptural insight, prayer, and even direct revelation from God.

“The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10). To have wisdom, every child must come to the stage in life where they have a personal awareness, a consciousness, that they are creatures of the creator God and are accountable to Him. We call this “the age of accountability.” This is an awakening of the child’s consciousness that is built on the foundation of religious instruction, prayer, Bible study, and an open heart.

God instills wisdom in the young through humble obedience.

“Then He returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them” (v 51).

Even though Jesus caused his parents distress through this miscommunication, He was no juvenile delinquent! His overall posture was humble obedience to His parents, and that contributed to His young wisdom. “A wise son accepts his father’s discipline, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke” (Proverbs 13:1). Parents who do not teach their children to obey parental authority do a grave disservice to their children. Children who do not learn to humbly submit to parental authority will have a hard time submitting to divine authority when they grow up. Any parent who loves their child will be diligent to see that the child learns to obey the first time they are told to do something, without arguing, whining or complaining. This is true love. “If you don’t correct your children, you don’t love them. If you love them, you will be quick to discipline them” (Proverbs 13:23, ERV).

God instills wisdom in the young through productive growth.

“Jesus grew in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and all the people” (v 52).  Jesus’s wisdom was not stagnant. It continued to grow—and the growth was well-rounded. If a young person were looking for a “personal growth plan,” they could hardly do better than this: 1) Grow in Wisdom. 2) Grow in stature (physically). 3) Grow in favor with God. 4) Grow in favor with people.