The Childhood of Jesus with Pastor Allen Nolan

as we celebrate the birth of Christ this Christmas season I want to talk about the genealogy of Jesus and his childhood now I know that most people skip over the genealogies in the Bible how many of you do that you read the Bible through in a year but when you come to the genealogies you just skip over that but those of you who do that you're skipping over some of the most interesting and valuable information in the Bible in fact did you know that the message of the gospel is plainly stated in the genealogy of Jesus it's true so before we look at Jesus childhood this morning let me show you the gospel in the genealogy of Jesus turn with me if you would to the book of Luke chapter 3 we're gonna read verses 36 through 38 and we're only gonna look at the last 10 people on the list notice what it says starting in verse 36 the son of cainan the son of Arphaxad the son of shem the son of noah the son of Lamech the son of Methuselah the son of Enoch the son of Jared the son of Mahalalel that's how you pronounce it Mahalalel so Mahalalel of the son of kenan the son of Enosh the son of Seth the son of Adam the son of God now if you've ever read the genealogy in Matthew you'll realize that Luke's genealogy is different than matthew's genealogy Matthew begins with Abraham and descends from Abraham to Jesus where as Luke begins with Jesus and the sins all the way to Adam now why in the world would Luke trace Jesus genealogy all the way back to Adam why doesn't he stop at Abraham because after all we know that the Messiah is going to come from the lineage of Abraham why would he go all the way back to Adam well the reason that he doesn't stop is because there's a hidden message in this part of the genealogy you see if you translate the meaning of the names from Adam to Noah it forms a sentence and this is what it says let me show you Adam means man Seth means appointed Enoch means mortal Kenan means sorrow Mahalo Mahalo el means the bless of God Jared means she'll come down Enoch means teaching Methuselah his death shall bring layman means the despairing Noah means comfort or rest now notice the sentence that's formed from the translation of the names in this part of the genealogy man is appointed mortal sorrow but the Blessed God shall come down teaching his death shall bring the despairing comfort or rest now you're probably looking at this and you're saying well pastor Allen I don't see the gospel in this well let me explain something about the Jews when the Jews thought about rest they thought about salvation because the word rest literally means to be free from your enemies and the greatest enemy that a person has is death would you'd agree the last enemy to be defeated the Bible says is what death death is the last enemy that's going to be defeated so when the Jews thought of rest they thought of salvation in fact those two words to them were synonymous so when you look at this word rest the meaning of Noah you realize that it's saying salvation now does everyone know what mortal means mortal means subject to death but not yet dead if you look at your neighbor just look at your neighbor right there their eye they are a mortal human being what do I mean by a mortal human being I mean they are subject to death they are going to die you are a mortal human being you are going to die unless Jesus comes back first all of us are mortal we are subject to death but we're not yet dead when someone dies we don't refer to them as being mortal they were mortal that's why they died but they're no longer mortal because they're dead mortal means that you're alive you're subject to death but you're not yet dead so notice what this sentence is saying man is appointed mortal sorrow in other words the reason their sorrow is because people die it's appointed unto man wants to die so it says man is appointed moral sorrow but the blessed God shall come down he manual god is with us teaching his death she'll bring the disappearing salvation or rest people that's the gospel plain and simple now why did the scholars refer to this as a secret message or a hidden message anyone know it's because in Luke's genealogy it goes in ascending order it starts with Jesus and it goes all the way back to Adam but when you translate the last ten names of it in order to get the message you don't go in ascending order you go in descending order so it's a message that's hidden in the genealogy of Jesus but that is the gospel it's hidden in the genealogy of Jesus and every Jew who understood Hebrew names because their society was much like our Native American Indian culture where you name someone but the name has a meaning we don't do that today the reason we give names is because we like the sound of it you named your children you said boy that sounds good that goes with our surname and you put all those names together how many of you have children and they all start with the same letter you did that purposely you like that didn't you it sounds good I can remember the Rosses there was mark Ross Mitch Ross Melanie Ross and Melinda Ross yeah all started with hymns that's just the way it was we have Michael joy and Maisie Michelle the three ends and the reason I say three M's is because we always refer to Lisa as mom so they have the three M weekends that they do but we choose names because we like the sound of it but in the Hebrew culture they didn't that's why many times God would change their name because their names had meaning so every Jew who read this genealogy and understood the meaning of the names and they would all understand the meaning of the names if they started looking at it backwards they go wait a minute there's a message here and that message is the gospel of Jesus Christ now that's the message in the genealogy genealogy now let's look at the childhood of Jesus what scholars call the silent years and the reason they're called the silent years since because the Bible doesn't have much to say about the childhood of Jesus we're told about his birth and we're tota bout one specific event that occurred when he was 12 years old but besides that the Bible really doesn't say much about Jesus childhood but that doesn't mean that we don't know anything about his childhood because we do in fact in Psalms chapter 69 we're tota bout Jesus childhood no details but it does describe the type of childhood that Jesus had and what his home life was like do you realize that now before we turn to the Book of Psalms chapter 69 let me explain a few things in Luke chapter 24 verse number 44 Jesus told us that many of the Psalms were about him look at Luke chapter 24 verse number 44 notice what it says then he said when I was with you before I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled so according to Jesus many of the Psalms are about him in other words they're messianic now how many of you have ever heard the term messianic psalm a messianic Psalm is a verse in the Book of Psalms that's about the Messiah and normally it's referred to as a messianic prophecy but the reason we call it a messianic Psalm is because it's from the book of psalms now how do we know if a psalm is messianic or not well one of the ways that we can tell is if it's a quote in the New Testament as a fulfillment of a messianic prophecy if it's quoted as a fulfillment of a messianic prophecy then it's a messianic Psalm and there's a good chance that the other verses in that same chapter are also about the Messiah does that make sense everyone understand what I'm saying if you're reading through in the New Testament it says that Jesus did something says that it might be fulfilled and then it gives this little saying there and you look it up and you realize well that comes from the book of Psalm that is a messianic Psalm it is a messianic prophecy it's telling you what the Messiah would do but because it's from the Book of Psalms it's called a messianic song everyone with me now let me give you an example to illustrate what I'm talking about many of you remember the story in which Jesus cleansed the temple yeah everyone remembers that story right what feast were they celebrating when Jesus cleansed the temple does anyone know the feast of Passover and when you get ready for the feast of Passover in order to start what's the first thing you have to do you have to make sure because the feast of Passover also kicks off the feast of unleavened bread so you have to make sure that there's no leaven in your home and leaven represents sin now Jesus home is what God's home the temples his house so he has a responsibility to make sure that there's no leaven in his house in order to get ready for the feast of Passover so this event actually occurs during the feast of Passover so this particular story is recorded in the book of John John chapter 2 verses 13 through 17 so let's go ahead and read that passage of Scripture if you don't mind notice what it says and the Jews Passover was at hand and Jesus went up to Jerusalem and he found in the temple those who sowed oxen and sheep and doves and the changers of money sitting that's kind of interesting here here's what's interesting to me this is the very first Passover when Jesus assumes his position as the Messiah so it's his responsibility to cleanse the temple in order for the Passover to be able to take place we don't hear about this happening for the next two Passover's why don't we because Jesus made such an impression on them they didn't come back for three years yeah so let's keep reading he found in the temple those who sowed oxen and sheep and doves and the changers of money sitting and when he had made a scourge of small cords in other words he didn't do this as spur of the moment he thought about it he went out he had time to make this little scourge of cords he drove them all out of the temple and the sheep and the oxen and he poured out the changers money and overthrew the tables and he said unto them that sold doves take these things hence make not my father's house a house of merchandise now it's kind of interesting when you study this because he drives the sheep and the goats out and it overturns the money changers the their money there and they have to pick it all up but when it comes to the Dubs he doesn't do that he tells them to take them out why did he do that because I didn't want anyone to lose their property they just weren't supposed to be in the temple so the reason he went ahead and ran the the cattle the goats out the sheep and the goats is that the shepherds would be able to say hey that's mine and they would be able to recollect them and they weren't losing anything but when it came to the doves they would just fly off so he didn't want to do anything that would hurt anyone but he wanted to make sure that the house was ready for Passover but here's what I want you to see and this is the point I kind of got off track here notice what it says verse 17 and his disciples remembered that it was written the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up now where is that written does anyone know in the book of psalms chapter 69 verse number 9 so John linked that event the event of Jesus cleansing the temple to a passage of Scripture in the Book of Psalms in other words he quoted a passage of scripture from Psalms chapter 69 to show that Jesus had cleansed the temple in fulfillment of a prophecy about the Messiah so we know that Psalms chapter 69 has to do with the Messiah not all of it but the majority of it now let me give you some other facts about Psalms chapter 69 Psalm 69 is quoted more often in the New Testament than any other chapter in the Book of Psalms with the exception of Psalms chapter 22 and the reason I say with the exception of Psalms chapter 22 is because Psalms chapter 22 is almost all miss en ik Psalms all about the Messiah and about his death on the cross but Psalms chapter 69 is quoted more than any other Book of Psalms in the New Testament with the exception of Psalms chapter 22 7 of it's 36 verses are quoted verbatim and many of the other verses are referred to and almost every time they're quoted in the New Testament it's in reference to Jesus it's either referring to him as a person or it's referring to his work in fact James Boyce anyone ever heard of James Boyce he's a bible scholar he says that Psalms chapter 69 is clearly about Jesus and as we dig into it we learn about Jesus home life as a child and people is not a pretty picture it's not what you think it was so let's look to see what it has to say about the childhood of Jesus and let's start with verse number eight says I am a foreigner to my own family a stranger to my own mother's children now we know that Mary was a virgin when Jesus was born but when a lot of Christians don't realize is that Mary had other children after Jesus was born in fact Jesus had four half-brothers and at least two half-sisters look at Matthew chapter 13 verses 55 through 56 and I'll prove it to you notice what it says then they scoffed he's just the carpenter's son Joseph son and we know Mary his mother and his brothers James Joseph Simon and Judas so we know that Jesus had at least four half-brothers but then let's keep reading all his sisters notice that the word sisters is plural which means that he had at least two half sisters live right here among us where did he learn all of these things now the reason that I'm referring to them as half-brothers and sisters is because they had the same mother but different fathers Jesus father was God and the father has half-brothers and sisters was Joseph of course now Jesus knew from a very early age that Joseph was not his biological father he knew that look with me if you would in Luke chapter 2 verses 42 through 49 I'll prove it to you says when Jesus was twelve years old they attended the feast as usual after the celebration was over they started home to Nazareth but Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem his parents didn't miss him at first because they assumed he was ma was among the other travelers but when he didn't show up that evening they started looking for him among the relatives and friends when they couldn't find him they went back to Jerusalem to search for him there three days later how many you parents realize you would be frantic if you'd lost your child for three days three days later 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 his parents didn't know what to think son his mother said to him why have you done this to us your father and I have been frantic searching for you everywhere now I want you to notice what Mary does she refers to Joseph as your father Jesus but Joseph wasn't his father Joseph was his stepfather it wasn't his biological father so notice what Jesus says but why did you need to search he asked didn't you know that I was I must be in my father's house now let me just explain something to you because the majority of us have grown up referring to God as our Father right in fact Jesus taught us to pray that way our Father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name but I want you to understand when Jesus taught that that was brand-new revelation Jews did not teach that in fact you didn't even mention the name of God the reason we think that it's pronounced Yahweh is because they didn't put any vowels in there because they wanted to make sure that no one pronounced the name of God so they wouldn't be breaking one of the Ten Commandments thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain and as a way to do that as they didn't put any vows in there so when they would come to the name of God they would only pronounce the letters but they never actually said God's name because he was revered and they surely didn't refer to him as father Jesus comes along and he begins to refer to him as father why because it he is his father yes but not only that those of us who we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior we become joined with Jesus so now we become adopted in the family of God therefore he is our Father but this was brand-new revelation when Jesus brought it out but here Jesus is at twelve years old and when his mother says your father and I he correct sir is that why were you looking for me didn't you know that I must be in my father's house by the age of 12 years old Jesus knew that Joseph was not his biological father God was he knew that he was supernaturally conceived and that God was his father now can you imagine how different Jesus must have been from all the other children and it's this difference that caused the problems between his half-brothers and sisters and himself they didn't want him being different but because he was they pretended like they didn't even know him look at how the NLT NLT translates verse 8 it says even my own brothers pretend they don't know me they treat me like a stranger so Jesus was a loner who was ostracized by his family and that must have hurt him very deeply in fact that gives us a little more insight into what he said in Matthew chapter 12 verses 46 to 50 you see most of us just read through the Bible and we never asked the right questions therefore we never get the right answers but notice what Jesus said and what Jesus did in this passage of Scripture Matthew chapter 12 verses 46 through 50 as Jesus was speaking to the crowd his mother and brothers there it is again plural stood outside asking to speak to him someone told Jesus your mother and your brothers are outside and they want to speak to you Jesus asked who is my mother who are my brothers then he pointed to his disciples and he said look these are my mother and brothers anyone who does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother now people Jesus wasn't being mean he just knew that the only reason that his brothers were there was because of his mother it wasn't because they believed in him because the truth is they did not believe in Jesus until after the resurrection turn to John chapter 7 verses three through five and I'll prove it to you and Jesus brother said to him leave here and go to Judea where your followers can see your miracles you can't become famous if you hide like this if you can do such wonderful things so show yourself to the world for even his brothers didn't believe in him you see that so when you read this you realize they weren't encouraging him to go to Jerusalem because they believed in him no they were being facetious the truth is they did not believe in Jesus but after the resurrection when Jesus appeared unto them they became believers now here's what's interesting all of Jesus years growing up his half brothers and his half sisters ostracized him I had nothing to do with him they print into like he wasn't one of the brothers I treated him horrible and yet when Jesus is resurrected he goes directly to his family not to show them but because he left him and that tells us the emphasis that God places on family when Jesus is resurrected one of the first things he wants to do is he wants to appear to his family so they can finally understand who he is and why he was the way he was turn to Matthew chapter 28 verse 10 I'll show you this is after the resurrection then Jesus said to them don't be afraid go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee now if you remember he was resurrected on the day on the feast of firstfruits so you had the feast of Passover very next day started the feast of unleavened bread and then on the first day of the week that same week was the feast of firstfruits that's when Jesus was resurrected so what he's saying is he says go tell my brothers because they would have been in Jerusalem at the time go back to Galilee I'm going to appear unto them she says don't be afraid go tell my brothers to leave for Galilee and they will see me there but my point is this his own half brothers and sisters ostracized him as a child they pretended not to know him because he was different now turn back to psalms chapter 69 in Lusaka verse 9 for the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up who quoted that John did remember when Jesus cleansed the temple and at the very end his disciples remembered that it was written and where was it written right here Psalm 69 9 so we're reading it for the zeal of thine house hath eaten me up but the next part is what I want to zero in on and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me let me read that again and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me so why was Jesus criticized and shunned because he loved God and the things of God and that was even more rare when you consider that he loved God and the things of God as a small child people as a toddler Jesus had a zeal for God and the things of God in fact let me go back the Bible only mentions one instance incident about his childhood when he's 12 years old and that's when his family when they were traveling back to Galilee found out that Jesus wasn't with him and so they go back to Jerusalem and they search for three days for him and of course they finding the temple we just got through reading that but that happened when Jesus was 12 how many of you know why that's important to say his age anyone know I'll tell you why at the age of 13 a young boy would have our Mitzvah bar means son Mitzvah course means the law and so at the age of 13 a young man became a son of the law at that point he had all of the rights and obligations of an adult and he was expected to fulfill all of the rights and obligations of the commandments now here's what's interesting at the age of 12 all the daughters all the females had bat mitzvah bat means daughter at the age of 12 they became a daughter of the commandments they had all of the rights and obligations of an adult all of the rights and obligations of the commandments now here's what's interesting if a young man well let me stop before I go there why why did women have bat Mitzvahed 12 and men have Bar Mitzvah at 13 anyone now because girls mature faster than boys amen yes that's why that's why because girls mature faster than boys now here's what's interesting if a young man proved himself to be exceptional if he had a zeal for God then he could have Bar Mitzvah at the same age as the girls at 12 but he had to have special permission the rabbi of his hometown actually would send him to Jerusalem to talk to the chief priests they would talk to the religious leaders and if they felt like he was mature enough to become a son of the commandment he became a son of the commandment at the age of 12 with all of the rights and obligations of an adult all the rights and obligations of the commandments so the reason that Jesus was in the temple and he was talking with them is because that was his Bar Mitzvah yeah he was exceptional when all of the other boys really didn't want to have Bar Mitzvah because then they had to be like a grown-up and not only do they have all the rights of the commandments but they also have the obligations so if you did something that broke it then you were responsible for that something is wrong in our society when we look at 20 and 21 year-old kids and we go they're just kids you're not kids you're adults you have the maturity you're just not using it I could really get off on that but I won't but here's what I want you to see Jesus at the age of 12 becomes a son of the commandment and the reason that's included in the Bible is for you to understand what an exceptional child he was you see Jesus did things as a child that most adults don't do or won't do look at verses 10 and 11 this is Psalms chapter 69 remember this is a messianic song these are all about Jesus childhood notice what it says when I weep and fast they scoff at me when I dress and bark burlap to show sorrow they make fun of me people can you imagine loving God so much that you weep and fast and yet Christ did as a child as a child Jesus would put on sackcloth and ash in fact that's what it means to dress in burlap it means that when he went too fast he would dress in sack cloth and put ashes on his head and here he is probably 9 10 11 years old and for that even the adults began to mock him and they scorned him and he became the joke around town and they made fun of him look at verse number 12 Psalms chapter 69 I am the favourite topic of town gossip and all the drunks sing about me and people I can imagine the gossip about Jesus around town because I know how it is in a small town most of us grew up here in telecoil we know what it's like you can't get away with anything when you're young and I get out and get in trouble before I got home my parents already knew about it someone would call them yeah you know how it is you did something when you were 15 years old you might be 65 now and your friends still talk about it that's the way it is in a small town everyone knows everyone else's business and the rumor was Mary was pregnant before Joseph and her were officially married so the rumor was Jesus was an illegitimate child the rumor was Jesus was a bastard I had someone come up the other day so I really don't like it when you use that word people that's the word the Bible uses go back and read your Bible in the Old Testament it's referred to as the curse of the bastard and the rumor was Mary was pregnant before Joseph and her were officially married turn to John chapter 8 verse number 41 30-something years later they still remembered that small town of Nazareth says you were doing the deeds of your father they said to him we were not born of fornication we have one father even God you see what Jesus is doing is he's saying the things that you're doing her the devil it says if you do the things of the devil you're doing the things of your father and boy they get upset so they retort we were not born of fornication I don't know if you noticed or not but they're insinuating that Jesus was illegitimate the Mary was fornicating and that's how she became pregnant with Jesus and this cost friction between Jesus and the rest of his family especially his half-brothers and half-sisters because they knew what the rumors were and if Jesus would have just stopped being so pious and if he Abel would have acted like all the other children he wouldn't have drawn attention to himself which then drew attention to the family and brought up all the old rumors again but no oh no not Jesus he had to do the things that drew attention to himself so his own brothers and sisters acted like they didn't even know him and the ridicule became so great when he was a child that even the drunks in the town of Nazareth were making up deity's about him look at the last part of verse 12 again says I am the favourite topic of town gossip and all the drunks sing about me and people these weren't ballads of Honor they were dirty jingles and making in the mocking rhymes it probably went something like this gentle Jesus meek and mild came from a mother who was lewd and wild oh yeah that's the little ditties that the drunks of nazareth were singing the truth is Jesus had a very very difficult childhood he was alone made fun of scorned ridiculed and even ostracized by his own family members especially his siblings in verses 19 and 20 in Psalms chapter 69 kind of sums it all up notice what it says you know of my shame scorn and disgrace you see all that my enemies are doing their insults have broken my heart and I am in despair if only one person would show some pity if only one would turn and comfort me now I'm not gonna throw stones at Mary Mary was a wonderful mother but Mary was still a human being and the implication of his verses even Mary didn't understand his calling and tried to tell him not to be so different can you imagine being Mary the framers are about you that you had fornicated the angel didn't appear to the synagogue when she was sitting in it to tell her that she was having us beside so everyone was a winds do know the Annunciation took place in private only she knew that she had supernaturally conceived and then God had to reveal it to Joseph in a dream but all these rumors were about her and here Jesus is he's a nine years old always had a zeal for God as a toddler he sits in in the synagogue and he eats it up and he answers questions when the rabbi asked it even if it's a rhetorical question and he loves God and he wants to live for God and even at seven eight nine he's dressing in sackcloth and ashes to commemorate this ninth of off when the temple was destroyed and everyone's looking at this weird little kid and every time they look at him it brings up his family and mom and all the half-brothers and half-sisters are complaining the marryin said he's so different mom and it makes everyone look at us and they say these awful things about us and even Mary probably said Jesus yeah I know you love God but can you tone it down a little bit hey can you not do that he says if only one person would show some pity if only one would turn and comfort me you want to know why when his mother and his brothers came to see him and he said who is my mother who are my brothers the reason he said that about his mother's because his mother didn't believe in him but even his mother tried to tell him to tone it down even his mother tried to get him to stop at times doing what God had called him to do and imagine Jesus he's perfect he wants to honor his mother because he wants to honor God and there's a principle that the Old Testament teaches we teach this when we're talking about obeying the laws of the land we as Christians are to obey the laws of land unless they do what violate the laws of God Daniel was told not to pray he still continued to pray for three days and three nights Shadrach Meshach and Abednego were supposed to fall down and worship the statue when they heard the musical instruments they refused to do it why because there was a higher law so Jesus is placed in this position of mom you're telling me this but this is what the commandments say and he's doing the will of his father so he looks at this and you can hear it and this is a Messianic prophecy if only one person would turn in comfort me doesn't that break your heart Jesus had to endure this kind of treatment for thirty years but he endured all of that for you and for me and because he endured all of that he's able to emphasize or empathize with us when were bullied ridiculed scorned and even persecuted look at Hebrews chapter four verse 15 for we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are yet he did not seem amazing even as a child the only one who did not have the Adamic nature and he was able to do everything that was perfect but let me tell you it was not an easy life some of you have not had a good life some of you were born into a family that didn't take care of you some of you were abused maybe even molested and you think no one understands let me tell Jesus understands Jesus has been there he's done it and from the moment he was born he was destined to die and he knew that but not for himself for the sins of the world and as we celebrate the birth of Jesus we also need to think about his childhood and we need to think why in the world would God allow Jesus to suffer all of that why would he not just make it where Mary couldn't have any more children he's an only child she can dote on him and he won't be ostracized he won't be ridiculed he won't be scorned his half-brothers and half-sisters won't act like he doesn't exist why didn't God do that because Jesus needed to know how it felt to be bullied to be scored to be mocked and to be ostracized and to be mentally and verbally abused so that he could relate to you that's who Jesus is there's not anything that you're going through that he hasn't experienced and can't relate to and that's the type of life that Jesus had

Channel: Cornerstone Fellowship

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Keywords: the childhood of jesus, jesus as a kid, jesus as a child, jesus teenager, silent years of jesus, silent years jesus bible study, life of christ bible study, life of jesus bible study, what was jesus life like, jesus egypt, jesus childhood, pastor allen nolan, cornerstone fellowship, Tahlequah oklahoma, jesus christ, jesus, new testament

Id: z3prHMjY11M

Length: 38min 24sec (2304 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 03 2018