March 29, 2025

Mary and Joseph dedicated Jesus after He was born. We find that story in Luke 2. All the first borns were dedicated because they belonged to God, as God spared the lives of the firstborns at Passover by the blood of the lambs that were painted on the doors. Therefore, animals were sacrificed at baby dedications. It was to signify their redemption.

After the dedication, the family returned back home to Nazareth. Luke writes twice in the chapter that Jesus grew in wisdom. “And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.” (verse 20); “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” (veres 52)

During Jesus’ early years, He did not exercise His divinity and grew up as a human being, in which He was under Mary and Joseph’s care. We could only imagine from the Scriptures what Mary did to raise Jesus, and I could only imagine that she did her best to raise her Son in a godly way. The fact that she dedicated Jesus after birth testifies of her commitment to raise Jesus according to God’s ways. Therefore, Jesus was filled with wisdom as He was growing. James 3:17 writes that wisdom is “first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.” It’s not easy to say this describes the childhood of any person. Yet, this was made possible in Jesus’ childhood. He became our Example.

As parents, we need to follow the examples of Mary, and seek the Holy Spirit’s guidance teaching our children to walk in God’s ways, and help them to grow in wisdom, like Jesus. James also tells us in 1:5 that if we lack wisdom, “ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.” I believe God will also give us wisdom to lead our children to grow in wisdom as well, when we seek His help.

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