Published: March 15, 2026 | Speaker: Mark Freitag | Series: The Person and Work of the Holy Spirit 2 - Part 9 | Scripture: Luke 2
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going to put the outline up here again as we talk about the Holy Spirit's work. Um particularly in the now in the incarnation of Christ, we kind of said we're at stage one
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and if we call stage one a um the conception. What I want to do is move to uh 1B.
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growth and um primarily using two texts um Isaiah 11 Isaiah 11 and um Luke chapter 2
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um and we're indebted to Luke uh for giving us moment most of what we know about the uh childhood and early adulthood of of
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Christ. Um and uh I was going to start in chapter 11 of Isaiah to u again make the
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connection to the Old Testament. Um, growing up I was not much of a reader and uh, as my children came along and I
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started reading to them, I got more interested in reading, but I was very selective and I I don't do this very often anymore, but for a while I would if I went to the
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library, I would pick up a book and I would open to the middle just randomly in the middle and start reading. And I figured if I enjoyed what I was reading there, then I could start at the beginning. I would I would take check
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that book out and read. And I don't it really it didn't happen this way in what I'm going to read, but we're kind of starting somewhere in the middle of
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Isaiah chapter 11. And we're not going to go back to the beginning. But if we go from chapter 11 verse one
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and take a look at what happens in chapter 10, chapter 10, it makes what we're about to read in chapter 11 verse one make some more
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sense because Isaiah uses a metaphor that really um in the in the words of John Calvin in
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his commentary says it it must have struck terror in the heart of the believers in the Israelites as they heard these words of God in chapter 10.
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So if we read for example um starting at at chapter 10 verse 24, therefore thus says the Lord God of hosts, "Oh my people who dwell in Zion,
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do not fear the Assyrian who strikes you with the rod and lifts up his staff against you the way Egypt did. for in a very little while my indignation against you will be spent and my anger will be
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directed to their destruction. And he goes on and talks about um the uh how he will arouse a scourge and lift up his
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hand. And he he names these nations in 28 29 30 um and and basically says um he's going to strike these people. He is
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going to to do this thing and tells them you know cry aloud uh because it's it's coming upon you. And in verse 33, he says, "Behold, the Lord, the God of
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hosts, will lop off the boughs with a terrible crash. Those also who are tall in stature will be cut down, and those who are lofty will be abased, and he
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will cut down the thicket of the forest with an iron axe, and Lebanon will fall by the mighty one." Um, there's
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the the destruction of the forest will be complete. He's using a metaphor there. He he's talking about those who are they're they're tall in stature. So, you can picture tall trees. You can
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picture the mighty uh how they might have considered them the mighty oaks or that kind of thing. And he's saying they're they're going to come crashing down. I'm going to lop off these boughs,
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these branches, and I'm going to um cut down the thicket, and the mighty are going to fall. And there's there's this complete uh destruction
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of those uh those forests, those trees, and perhaps even reduced to stumps and
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ashes. And then we read in chapter 11, then a chute will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit. Um
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you're picturing the destruction of the forest and then there will be a shoot from the stump. There will be uh out of that root
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or in uh the old commentaries they call it the dry stock dry stock a branch will spring forth
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and it will be far more excellent than all the magnificence of the great forest, the tall trees.
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There will be a branch from the root that will that will spring forth. spring forth. God is now and again you know Calvin
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said the people must have been terrified seeing hearing what will happen to all of those nations. And it's as if if God knew they they
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needed a consolation. They needed They needed hope. They needed courage. And he says, "Well, then then a chute,
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a little sprout will spring from the stem of Jesse, a branch from his roots that will bear
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Um God tells what he's going to do and the manner in which he's going to do it. And
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yet there's still darkness. There's still
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What do we expect the name will be here? Do we expect Jesse? Was the house of Jesse given in the Old Testament prophets as
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the one from whom the line would come? Does what do we expect? How about David?
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Not David. Jesse, his dad, his father. Why would he do that?
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There wasn't any hope for the house of David at this time. There was uh some who considered
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the house of David um
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It's as if Isaiah is saying from a family really obscure. really obscure. Um, the peasant family with no superiority, no rank, no real name for
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itself from that stump. Um, not sure that I know the full depth of it, but at this time seemingly
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not much uh hope for the house of David. And yet he goes back to his father to Jesse and says, "No, from that stump a
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branch will come." Now compare that situation of little hope, of sadness, of
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wondering, of wondering, of terror perhaps to Luke's accounting
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Luke's accounting in chapter 2 of the incarnation of Christ. Um, and I guess, um, I'll say it now because I was thinking about this morning as I was tying my tie
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that we're talking about the Holy Spirit and his work in the incarnation, but I found it very, and I don't mean it the way it's going
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to come out, but it it's hard to talk about the work of the Holy Spirit and the incarnation without just marveling at
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what God did, the plan of God in redemption for people and exalting Christ as you read. Um, I know this is a Christmas story and I know that over the
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years growing up it was just, you know, I had to recite some of these verses uh as part of the play and you can say them and they come, you know, they're
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familiar and yet marvel at at what God has done and where what time
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the the scriptures say, and the time came that she should be delivered. Mary. But what time was this? The the prophecy was this time.
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this time. A time of terror. A time of confusion. A time of terror, of chaos. What time was it when Jesus actually
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came? Luke chapter 2 verse one. Now it came about in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.
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This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all who were all were proceeding to register for the census everyone to his own city.
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And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, in order to
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register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child. And it came about that while they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. and she gave birth to her
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firstborn son and wrapped him in cloths and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end. And in the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields
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keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were
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terribly frightened. And the angel said to them,"D" not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which shall be for all the people. For today
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in the city of David, there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you. You will find a baby wrapped in claws and lying in a manger." And suddenly
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there appeared with the angel multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men with whom he is
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pleased." Um,
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The Augustus is the the illustrious one. The the Caesar, the the emperor. He called himself that because he wanted to combine not only the authority,
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an authoritative status among or over people, but he brought upon himself a a reverence or appointed for himself, I
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guess, a reverence that suggests that he was a figure not merely human but semi- divine. a semi- divine ruler. Um, yes,
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there are some wonderful things that the Romans did at that time. The the you've read about the roads and uh there are those, you know, I read some of the
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magazines that why can't we make concrete roads like the Romans did? And there are some reasons why we we can't. But um
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But um they had I and I don't know how, but they had heated baths, heated pools. Um some of them, but the others um lived in
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squalor. They lived in in poverty. They lived in a world that literally and figuratively stank.
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figuratively stank. He was a desperate. He commanded the entire world to be enrolled. I don't think just because he wanted to
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count heads, count heads, right? He wanted the taxes. Everyone had to submit to him and his decree
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enrolled the entire world without a chance for appeal or protest. And it was
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the darkest hour, a dark hour for the world.
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But Isaiah 9, you know this verse again from Christmas pageantss. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. Those who live in a dark
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land, the light will shine on them. G. Campbell Morgan wrote, "The really insignificant person in the
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drama is the little puppet in the city on the seven hills called Caesar Augustus. And the significant personalities
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are the woman in whose womb tabernacles the son of God and the man who is guarding her."
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insignificance of a man who called himself really a god was so insignificant and yet part of the story that God used to bring
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his son into the world. And you may be saying, well, where's the Holy Spirit? Holy Spirit? Well, he's there.
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It struck me. Verse nine, and the angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them. He says, "The glory of the Lord, literally the Jehovah glory." Uh, I
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think it's the shikina glory shown around them. We don't know exactly what that looked like.
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In the Old Testament, we have the plea of Moses, you know, Lord, show me your glory. And here these shepherds keeping the flock
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the flock at night, at night, the glory of the Lord shone around them in the declaration of the incarnation of the son of God. Um, the Holy Spirit is
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definitely here. definitely here. This Jehovah glory
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We've talked about it some the the idea of the presence of of God. It represents a majestic presence of a radiant splendor of God
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revealing his holiness and power and divine nature. But there in the term there's just a weightiness of there's an honor there there's a
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importance attached to this Jehovah glory and the announcement of the Jehovah glory as Isaiah has
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predicted a great light will shine on them. Here is the beginning of that light. Here is the shining of this glory. an announcement that God is among
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them, that the Emmanuel, God with us, has has come. And there's this again the idea of the Shikina glory is is a
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permanence, a residing permanence with
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the Holy Spirit is definitely here. Uh definitely shining definitely um announcing the presence of the the son of God and the son of man. um
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to people to people joyless uh of people desparing of people who were under the thumb of a despot and
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yet uh yet uh for the history of the world he's as he says appreciated his words the little puppet
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on the seven hills day, a dawning of a day of consolation.
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And there were some who recognized it. And some are recorded here for us. I'm going to continue in
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um Luke chapter 2 down at verse 25. And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon. And this man was righteous and devout, looking for the
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consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in
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the spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus to carry out for him the custom of the law, then he took him into his arms and
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blessed God and said, "Now, Lord, thou dost let thy bondervant depart in peace according to thy word. For my eyes have
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seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people. And his
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father and mother were amazed at these things that were being said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, "Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rise of many
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in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed, and a sword will pierce pierce even your own soul to the end, that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed." And there
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was a prophetus, Anna, the daughter of Fuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with a husband seven years after her marriage and then as a widow to the age of 84.
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And she never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. And at that very moment, she came up and began giving thanks to God and continued
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to speak to him of all those who were looking for the redemption of Israel of Jerusalem. Um,
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there are people um that were looking for this constellation. They knew it. It seems they they had to have known Isaiah. They had to have been looking
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for that all of their lives. And as as Simeon says, "Now, Lord, let thy servant depart in peace." He didn't look at death any longer as
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with dread. But that great peace because he had seen what the spirit had promised him that he would see the Lord's Christ.
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Um, again, you can't help but but marvel at how God not only worked this through at this time, but the there were people here as as
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witnesses. Um, and I wouldn't have put this together. I together. I saw some one of the commentators say this. Um, and perhaps
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it's not, but he said basically, take a look at what Malachi says about these witnesses. Malachi 3:16 says, "Then those who
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feared the Lord spoke to one another and the and that's Anna, right? And the Lord gave attention and heard it and a book of remembrance was written before him
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for those who feared the Lord and who esteem his name. It this is may not be the book that Malachi was thinking but we have a book we have
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some verses of remembrance of of people like Simeon like Anna who did from the pages of scripture before
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The heavenly host announced it. They were looking for it with faith with faith and they got to see it and they
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rejoiced. And his parents even knowing the part that they were playing from the testimony of the angel to them and the revelation given even to Joseph, they
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were amazed. They marveled at what God was doing. Um, so, uh, again, I
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I just enjoyed
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our English how we use that word today,
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right? Consolation in our our day is uh you're the first loser.
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it's quite wonderful. But the Holy Spirit is here. He's working in Simeon, Anna, his Jesus' parents, guiding them. and I don't know the glory of the Lord is shining around
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them. Um,
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and maturity. Um, and I'll go ahead and put it up here. The wording The wording in the at least in New American Standard is helpful
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verse 30 uh 39 and 40 of Luke 2 Luke 2 sorry and when they had performed everything that's meaning his parents according to the law of the Lord they returned to Galilee to their own city of Nazareth and the child continued to grow
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and become stronger strong increasing in wisdom and the grace of God was upon him.
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But if you go down to verse 43, uh, and we'll read this in a minute, but as they were returning after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem.
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Luke is about to give us two verses that we have explaining really in encapsulating these years and these years.
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And our versions use the child, but when he gets to be 12 years old, he's the boy.
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This is perhaps the most familiar, but I think it covers these years. And there's a difference between this one and this one. They sound similar, and I don't mean to to rattle the cages at all. It's
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just helpful to see that sometimes our English translations are not as as good with certain words as as they could be. And
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I'll try to go through uh those as we get there. get there. But here we are in the
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in the time when Jesus is is now growing up yet let's go back to Isaiah 11 verse two.
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The spirit of the Lord will rest on him. The spirit of wisdom and understanding. The spirit of counsel and strength. the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the
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Lord. His his strength, his power, wisdom, his
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that is Christ would consist of all the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Um, and I just want to say again, we asked last week, is is it was it necessary? and just came across some verses again
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that I think emphasized for me that yes, it was necessary not just for fulfillment of prophecy
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that the spirit would rest on him but for our sake. Um it was necessary that he be and the the word um
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that some of the commentators picked used uh
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Jesus. Um not sure I could would have thought of that word in this context but I think it it fits here.
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It was necessary that he be enriched this way, that the spirit come upon him, this spirit of of wisdom, the spirit of might and strength of counsel um come
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upon him. In John 1 verse1 16 we read uh in John's prologue for of his fullness we have all received grace upon grace
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the eusion of the Holy Spirit upon Jesus as we talked about in the Old Testament the the coming upon him and and Jesus seems to to use our uh help us with that
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kind of uh language in John 7 uh and and this is getting a little ahead of ourselves But again, that necessity for what we're talking about. He says, "Now
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on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. He who believes in me, as the scripture said, from his
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innermost being will flow rivers of living water." But this he spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive. For the spirit was not
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yet given because Jesus was not yet glorified. It's coming. But Jesus is telling them this is how it comes. This is this is necessary that it
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be in me. If anyone is thirsty and comes to me and comes to me and drink, he shall have this. It it was necessary for our sakes that Isaiah 11:E2
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was there for us and fulfilled by the spirit in Christ. And so we here we have the the child.
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And when they had performed everything according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own city of Nazareth. And Jes and the child continued to grow and become strong,
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increasing in wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him.
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Jesus grew because of his human nature. He was growing in life activities uh in the realm of his will. uh he
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he did have responsibility in terms of obeying his parents and authorities
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but generally children do not have further they don't have power they don't have position
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have position their job is to grow in stature to grow bodily and Jesus physical body grew. I think that's what
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is emphasized first here is that he continued to grow. I think he grew physically. Uh I think there is a sense in which we could say that he grew um in
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um strength of his mind just observing things, understanding reason um just as any child would do. um the idea of um
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growing and becoming strong. I again there there's just uh I don't think uh that we could conceive anything different than um he was a
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child just he was growing up. um he was increasing in wisdom. It says so the the physical growth seems to precede
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in Luke's mind this uh increasing in wisdom and again increasing there um was being um
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so physical growth the increasing uh the idea is um being filled
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Um there is uh here the idea of a process a process of being filled with wisdom. um according to the the the words used
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here um he's he's gaining knowledge as many children do by observation uh by asking questions by receiving
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instruction. Um, instruction. Um, again it's um
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just as any child growing realizing beginning to try to understand their world. Uh, and I don't think it's it's worth even in mentioning some of the things that
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people want to put madeup stories about what Jesus was like with his peers, amazing them with different things. I don't want to go there at all. I I don't think scripture
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allows us to imagine any of those wild and stupid things. He was growing up and he was exploring his world. Uh I think that's that's what we see here. But he
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was being filled with wisdom and yes the grace of God was upon him. Uh the idea that the grace of God
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and the the word used here is upon him. Um, as opposed to what we might read was with him. It was on him. And I'm not sure that I can understand. Perhaps there's a subtlety here. But there's
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grace doesn't depend on the person. Grace doesn't depend on who it is. Grace upon him was um his
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surroundings, his parents, his home life, his circumstances. Um carpenter's son. Uh but there was a grace on him.
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Grace that that seemed to uh upon him. Um grace delighted in him. It it seems that
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the grace of God uh guarding him um imparting him things to him uh bringing him happy home life. Um
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grace is an activity that was done to him. Um and of course grace doesn't count the cost.
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Um, but notice that Luke sticks to the essentials. He doesn't do the incidentals, like I say, some madeup things that that people want to imagine.
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And the the ver all the verbs used here uh denote Um he continued
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to grow and become strong to be filled with wisdom and the grace of God continuing on him. Um I don't we the human nature of of Christ
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uh was capable of having new objects brought to his attention uh that things would be proposed to his mind and understanding. Um understanding. Um he he learned obedience Hebrews tells us
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from things that he suffered uh even during his childhood uh even before we think of the things that he suffered during his his ministry. Um there's
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there's an objectivity here learning wisdom increasing in wisdom but as any child we learn experimentally
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uh we we learn in to exercise grace uh to and of course with Christ we read in John 3 for he gives the spirit without
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measure that the holy spirit was guiding him and guarding him and continually and in all occasions the spirit was giving grace in the exercise of all the things
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that he did as a child. Um that's what I believe. Uh, I don't think I'm reading into the words of of Luke because that's
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what I get from the phrasing is he he grew as a child. But there's a change.
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We see a boy, no longer a child, but we see a boy Verse
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41. And his parents used to go to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the Passover. And when he became 12, they went up there according to the custom of the feast. And as they were returning, and
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after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, and his parents were unaware of it. but suppose him to be in the caravan and went a day's journey and
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they began looking for him among their relatives and acquaintances and when they did not find him they returned to Jerusalem looking for him and it came about that after three days
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they found him in the temple sitting in the midst of his of the teachers both listening to them and asking questions and all who heard him were amazed at his
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understanding and his answers and when they saw him they were astonished and his mother said to him, "Son, why have you treated us this way? Behold, your father and I have been anxiously looking
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for you." And he said to them, "Why is it that you were looking for me? Did you not know that I had to be in my father's house?" And they did not understand the
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statement which he had made to them. And he went down with them and came to uh Nazareth. And he continued in subjection to them. And his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus
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kept increasing in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men. Uh before you hop on X and and destroy
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his parents, for being dysfunctional family and not, you know, going a full day's journey and
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not knowing where their boy was. Jesus had either had his bar mitzvah or it was at this time he's 12 years
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old. He's Jewish. He's a man. Um the bar right means son
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means son and the mitzvah means commandment. He's the He's the son of the law.
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He's gone to the temple. As his right of entry into that temple and from that time he assumed the
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responsibility he's he's become a disciple.
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he's become eligible to sit at the feet of the teachers. But he also has become eligible as we see here in in Luke uh verse 46 sitting
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in the midst of the teachers both listening to them and asking them questions and he
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and he they taught him but he also asked questions as a learner as a disciple. He listened,
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He listened, but he also spoke and he gave answers. Verse 47. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding
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and his answers. He revealed to them that he had an insight at 12 years old. He had an
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insight. He had a comprehension. He had a clarity a clarity of what he had read in the scriptures and a clarity of his not only the apprehension of the things of God, but I
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I think what we see and we'll see this from verse 52. verse 52. I think he had an apprehension of his relationship to God now and his
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responsibility to God because he uses this phrase and I'm going to run out of time and we're going to end up here in the middle and leave you you hanging, but let me um to me I mean I I get
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goosebumps on these things. Um the literally the word is uh we we it's kind of droll in the New American Sand.
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I had to be in my father. It's like no I must be in the house
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the house of and this is how he addresses the father. The father. Every time Jesus looks at his father, he uses the article the father of mine.
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Jesus the boy now turning man is is understanding more who he is, his relationship to God. The spirit is is has worked in his
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heart, his mind, his soul. And now it's coming out in expression at 12. Yes. And without saying against
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him knowing his specific identity, I I have a light on the place in Deuteronomy where Moses tells him, "You are sons of Yahweh your
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God that he's not only from his special circumstances, but also from the scriptures, reading out, didn't you not did you not understand that I must be in
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the house of my father?" Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And even it's amazing in this part because because we we hear Mary, you know, she pondered these things in her heart. She she was totally
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Berean looking at her son trying to understand what she doesn't understand. But yes, I must be in the house of the father of mine. Um he knew
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what he ought to do. Yes.
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Okay. Yeah. I I had um looked up Psalm 119 where the psalmist says, "I have more insight than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation." that happened here
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and applied here. He was ready for it. Um, let me give you one uh I don't know. I I I I looked at this this a little Greek
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lesson. Um, when it says in verse 52, and we'll we'll come back and maybe start here next time. He kept again, New American Standard, he kept increasing.
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The the word is um he kept advancing. And there's a there's a difference um increasing here being filled
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but here advancing and it um from what I can understand and I don't go back to uh all the Greek commentaries but those who
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kind of help us understand the word it's a it's a word used the pioneers as they cleared the the the pathway clear blazed
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the trail into new territory. They chopped all the trees down. They cut the trees. Or a a a metal smmith hammering out the metal, the iron, flattening it
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and widening it to make a sword or something. That's the idea of this advancing it. It's it's an activity a strenuous activity um and an application
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of so he's not just you know oh I I you know I learned something new today it it it's it's gives us more a sense of
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moving forward chopping forward if you will um not passive development but strenuous activity bringing all life under control in responsibility. That's
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what Jesus was about starting starting here. And uh again we when we start to to imagine
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um again just silliness about what Jesus might have been like among his peers or all of that. Um just we need to go back to scripture and understand um Jesus
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had that uh understanding and yet he was continuing to advance in it continuing to grow in stature. It says and in the
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grace of God and the grace of men not only receiving it but also in living grace to God and men. Um, again an
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amazing thing and uh it's it's marvelous in our sight. Let let us pray. Our heavenly father, we do thank you for these words of scripture. We thank you
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for your plan of redemption and all these wonderful things that you have brought to our our minds and our attention. Please, Father, may we
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rejoice in these things. May we be grateful for these things. And may we we walk in walk in light of these things to know that you have been wonderful for us. That you
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have created for us a a way that we might come into your presence through our Lord Jesus Christ by this power uh
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that you have brought to us by the Holy Spirit. And we thank you for it and we ask that we might continue in it. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.