We are going to consider the Lord Jesus Christ as a model child. We Christians, who are conservative evangelicals, and that takes in just about all of us, may be hesitant to do that for two reasons. First, it requires us to consider the real human nature of Jesus, and we know that liberals old and new, are not able to say much more about Jesus than that He was a man. They cannot bring themselves to acknowledge that He is God. So   we tend, in defence of Him, to emphasize His Deity, sometimes failing to do justice to His real humanity. It will help us to remember that in the early centuries of Christianity, the Church had to state the doctrine of Who Christ is by confessing that He is fully God and fully man, for attacks were made on both sides of this teaching. Lets remind ourselves that anyone less than a fully divine and fully human Christ could not save us.

Second, we know that liberals deny both the Deity of our Lord and also His death as a sacrifice for sins. So they do not know what to make of Him other than that He is some sort of example for us to try to imitate. In reaction against them we may not want to see Jesus as a model at all. But that, too, is not right, for in at least one place (John 13) Jesus offers Himself to us as an example. We must never begin with Jesus as our Example. We begin with the fact that He lived a perfectly righteous life, died a sacrificial death, and rose from the dead. The Christian life is lived out of our union with Him in the power of His saving work. But when we are united to Him by faith, we may look to Him as a model, whom we will follow, as we live our lives as redeemed sinners.

When the first of our five sons was born, we decided that he would be a model child. We would not make the countless mistakes our own parents had made, for to rear a model child we would need to be model parents. Calvin, of course, would not have any weaknesses of personality or behaviour, for we would apply the strict discipline necessary to avoid such things developing. It goes beyond saying that he would be quite handsome, very smart, and flawlessly mannered. One day the model male would marry the model female with the model parents smiling. He would go on to success and money, become an elder in the church, and, naturally, produce model children.

By the time we realized it was not going to work, we were well on our way to producing a neurotic child. As is obvious to you, when Philip and Joel came along, we had long given up on any attempt to produce model children I want us to consider a Model Child. We must ever remember His absolute uniqueness, but at the same time we can find in His childhood a model to instruct us as parents and educators. I speak of the Lord Jesus Christ.

I. Exemplary Parenting

The home in which Jesus grew up was not a perfect home. His parents, Mary and Joseph, were sinners as you and I are, and I am sure that they, as sinners, made many mistakes in parenting Jesus and His siblings just as you and I do. Moreover, in rearing the Lord Jesus, they were rearing an extraordinary Child, because, while He was fully human, He was also God. Not only was He different because He had two natures, but also in His humanity, while He possessed the frail and mortal human nature common to us all after the Fall, He was sinless. The writer of Hebrews succinctly describes His human nature as being like ours in every respect but sin. There is no doubt this was a unique parenting situation. Yet they brought Him up as a Jewish baby and child and, from that, we can learn.

His parents brought Jesus up within the Old Testament faith. When He was eight days old, they did what New Testament parents do when they take their babies to church and present them for baptism. They had their son circumcised, which God told Abraham was the sign of the covenant in which the LORD promised to be the God of His people and to take them as His people. It is reasonable to assume that back in Nazareth they, like all pious Jews, went to the synagogue each Sabbath and that Jesus had learned to participate in the synagogue service of Scripture, singing, prayers, and teaching. What we have read about Jesus submitting to them shows also that they took responsibility to teach Him the way of life He should live as a boy of the covenant and that they expected Him to obey them in such things. They were bringing their Son up in the faith.

But they did not just bring their Son up within the faith. They also observed the faith themselves. After Jesus was born, they performed everything according to the Law of the Lord. When we come to the account of Jesus visit to the temple at the age of twelve, we find that it was their custom to go up to Jerusalem every year for the Feast of Passover. This was one of three times a year when the males were to appear before the LORD in Jerusalem. Joseph made it his habit to go, and, though it was not required, he took Mary with him. This was not a matter of jumping in the car and driving an hour or two. Jerusalem was 80 miles from Nazareth. To go there was at least a three-day journey, by foot or donkey, and required camping along the way. But it was important to Mary and Joseph to observe their faith. They did not just teach Jesus to practice the Old Testament faith. They set before Him the example of their own keeping of it.

There is something here for parents. We choose to send our children to a Christian school because we want school to nurture their faith and to teach all subjects in a manner consistent with their faith. But passing on the faith and nurturing it is not first a school matter. It is first a family and church matter. We as parents need to bring up the children in our faith, by teaching them what to believe and how to live. We must ourselves practice our faith before them. And in the practice of our faith we must not neglect the worship of the church and the whole teaching/discipling ministry of the church. I do not hesitate to say that if you do not teach and live the faith in your home, and if you are not conscientiously consistent about worship attendance and church life, you might as well put your money back in your pocket and save the tuition. The school cannot make up for, not was it ever intended to do, what must be done in the home and in the church.

But there is something here for educators, too. The first qualification of a Christian educator is to be a Christian and to practice Christianity. Unless you live the faith yourself, and unless you are participating in the means of grace every Lords Day in a congregation of faithful believers, you are lacking the credentials of a Christian teacher. Furthermore, as you take responsibility for the children, remember that you are not only an extension of the home but also an extension of the Church. Westminster Christian Academy is a parochial school - a school established and overseen by a congregation as a ministry of the church. Remember that families and churches are entrusting children to you to assist them in the Christian nurture of these little ones.

II. Exemplary Progress

In Jesus life also we find an example of the progress and development of a

child.

Luke calls attention to His physical development. The child grew and became strong (he) increased in stature (Luke 2: 40, 52). Just because Jesus was God and a man without sin does not mean He was exempt from the ordinary laws of human development. He did not come into this world as a full-grown human being. He was conceived in His mother’s womb and born as a baby. He developed in the womb as an unborn baby, and then developed outside the womb, as do all human babies, progressing through babyhood and childhood to adulthood. This is according to Gods plan even before sin - except for the first human pair, Adam and Eve, humans are meant to go through a process of development leading to physical maturity.

It is wise for parents and teachers alike to know and to take into account these laws of human development, so that we do not expect too much or too little of our children. We cannot expect children to be little adults. They are developing, and this includes the development not only of obvious physical traits, like strength and size, but also the development of their brains. We need to take into account what the child is able to bear when it comes to things like the length of a school day or a class or family devotions, or their attention spans, or their ability to sit still.

At the same time we must remember that they are developing. We should expect more of them as they become older, bigger, and stronger. Children are not meant to be babied when they are no longer babies. As they grow older, so our expectations and demands of them should grow.

Luke also highlights the mental and psychological development of Jesus. He is described as One Who was filled with wisdom (2: 40) and who increased in wisdom (2: 52). Wisdom begins with knowing God in light of His revelation of Himself in His Word.  It is then is an ability to live in Gods world, gaining knowledge and understanding from both Gods Word and Gods creation. It has a practical side in that wisdom is not just gaining information but also knowing how to live in a God-pleasing way. Jesus showed this wisdom when at twelve he visited Jerusalem and met with the teachers. A lot of education of that day took the form of questions and answers. The student asked questions of his teachers and the student answered questions directed to him by his teachers. These teachers in the temple listened to Jesus questions to them and His answers to their questions and were amazed at the insight He showed into the meaning of the Scriptures.   This, too, is important for the parent and for the educator. We want to produce wise children. A number of years ago I heard a dean of a seminary, who had recently gained a Doctor of Education degree, say that the best thing that had ever happened to American colleges and universities was to throw preachers off their boards of trustees and to reorient the educational process to produce students who could do something. That is the schools were to produce students who could go out and make more and better widgets. This was in contrast to the old idea of education that was that it was to produce educated people who could then take their education into the world and use it to understand the world, to reflect on it, to make sense of it, and so to contribute to the world as wise men and women. My purpose tonight is not to argue educational philosophies, but it is to remind us that we want to use teaching in the home and in the school, not to make wage earners, but to make wise students who know Gods Word an

Gods world and are able to live godly lives as scholars, professionals, businessmen, labourers, homemakers, and parents, and church members.

Then there is His social development. He increased in favour with God and man (2: 52). Jesus developed and lived in such a way as to have the approval of both God and man. Of course, the approval of God is first. Kids will seek all kinds of approval. They want the approval of parents and other adults whom they respect, such as teachers, coaches, and principals. As they come into what we call the teenage years, they come to desire the approval of their peers. Sometimes we adults give them the impression that we think all this approval from others is the main thing. I think Christian mothers sometimes help their daughters dress in ways that are primarily oriented to gaining approval of peers. We fathers may want sons to be seen primarily as manly men by coaches and peers.  But first and foremost is to teach them that God does not look on us as other people do, that God sees the heart, and that the great thing in life is to have His approval of who you are and how you live.

But there is a place for human approval. When the Scriptures say Jesus increased in favour with man, it does not mean that He craved acceptance, but that He was the kind of Child whose character and life gained the respect of adults who observed Him. They saw His development toward maturity, and they approved. I am sure there is something natural and not to be worried about too much when teenagers work through issues of non-conformity and questioning of authority. But we need not, as parents and educators, stand by as though we were helpless to guide and to limit it. We need to teach those under our tutelage that they need and should seek the approval of responsible adults.

All this development of Jesus took place in a home where Jesus was

submissive to His parents (Luke 2: 51). The Lord Jesus was an obedient Child. If He who was the Son of God and sinless man, could in His childhood submit to the teaching, commands, and training of His parents, I do not think it is too much to expect that ordinary children, who are sinners and desperately in need of guidance, will submit to their parents and to their parents representatives who are teachers and administrators in the school. We do our children a great disservice when we allow them not to respect or obey us. We need to make sure that our directives are not burdensome and that our discipline is not onerous. There is no place for the purely arbitrary or mean parent or educator, but submission to human authority is necessary for us all, including our children.

III. Exemplary Priority

In Jesus life we observe also an exemplary priority. When Jesus was twelve He went to Jerusalem with His parents for the Passover celebration. Whether this was the first time He went or whether He had gone with Joseph and Mary before, Luke does not say. But on this occasion something noteworthy happened. As it turns out, this is the only report we have of an incident in the boyhood life of Jesus. From His first two years or so, till His entrance into His public ministry at about the age of thirty, we have nothing except this report.

The entire Passover Feast lasted for eight days. Families travelled in groups to and from Jerusalem. On this occasion, when they set up camp on the first night on the trip back home, Joseph and Mary discovered that Jesus was missing. It is not as surprising as it might seem to us that they would not find out He was missing till after a day of travel. They travelled in groups and then sorted families out when they made camp at night. They did not feel a need to keep close tabs on this twelve year old, and had no reason not to assume He was travelling with the group. I once saw something like this happen with a much younger child. An elder and his wife with six children went home from church in separate cars, each with some of the children and each assuming the two year old was in the other car. When they got home they discovered him missing, and, when they got back to the church, they found him quite happy, eating out of the sugar bowl at church.

When Mary and Joseph discovered that Jesus was not with them, they returned to Jerusalem, and, when they found Him, He was in the temple discussing the Scriptures with the teachers. Mary, with understandable motherly anxiety, was upset and said to Him, Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.

Jesus answer gives us insight into the purpose of His life and the meaning of all His actions: Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Fathers house? Even at the age of twelve, Jesus had a consciousness of His unique relationship with God the Father. He was the Son of the Father who had come to earth. The temple was His Fathers house, the symbol of Gods place among His people and the focal point of His peoples worship of Him. As the Son, He always acts with the interests of the Father in mind. If the temple is the Fathers house, then the Son must be in the Fathers house seeing to the Fathers interests.

Even this early Jesus is showing the zeal for Gods house that would lead Him twice in His public ministry to enter the temple to cleanse it. Even now He is showing the zeal for the Fathers house, which as His disciples rightly predicted, would consume Him. It was His zeal for Gods glory, and Gods worship, and the salvation of Gods people that led inevitably to the cross where He would redeem a people who would worship God in Spirit and in truth, who would make up the living stones of the church, and would exist to the praise of His glory. It is not only the relationship of Jesus to the Father that is unique, but also the work that He did in the interests of His Father and His Fathers house. He is the Divine Son and the only Savoir. These things are unique to Him.

Yet we can learn from Him the priority of God, of Gods glory, and of Gods church. What are the priorities we as parents and educators have for the children? Is it that they make good grades and not cause too much trouble? Is it that they be protected from the practical atheism of the public schools? Is it that they be prepared to get into good colleges and obtain good jobs? I suppose that there is a place for such ambitions. But our priority for our children should be that they should be like Jesus, and, if they are like Jesus, their priority will be His priority. They will put God first. They will seek Gods will and Gods glory in all that they do. They will be loyal to Gods church and faithful in worship. We can do nothing better for them and should have no higher ambition for them than that they should, like Jesus, be in the Fathers house, minding the Fathers business.

Let us, as parents and educators, recommit ourselves to God, to the worship of the Church, to the ministry of our Christian School, and to the rearing of our children to be like Christ. And beyond all else, let us as parents, church, and school put before our children always, the Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God and Savoir of sinners.

WILLIAM SMITH

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH,

HUNTSVILLE

ALABAMA