GOD AND MAN Week 51

In Proverbs 3.1 Solomon writes--
Do not let kindness and truth leave you
bind them around your neck
Write them on the tablet of your hear
So you will find favor and good repute
in the sight of God and man.
We have seen the expression, God and man in Luke 2.52 when--
Jesus kept increasing in wisdom and stature
and in favor with God and man.

This was said about Jesus as a boy. It's one thing to grow in stature with God. We know that John the Baptist did. In Matt. 11.9 Jesus calls John a prophet, that no one born of woman is greater than he, 11.11. John was a desert dweller, a man of fasting and prayer, a Nazarene, a flaming preacher. But he did not dwell in the company of men.


Someone who did was Nicodemus. He has a conversation with Jesus in John 3.1, he meets with the Sanhedrin in John 7. 50, and he provides the spices for the burial of Christ's body when Joseph of Aramithea brings it down from the cross., John 19.39. Nicodemus seems to be accepted by men of high stature and reputation in the Sanhedrin and of low reputation at the cross. But he is not known for his relationship to God, the way the Baptist was.

These two men represent the two sides of God's covenant. Jesus says in that the two greatest commandments are to love God and love your neighbor.

God and man, kindness to men and truth to God.

And yet Jesus as a boy is increasing in stature with God and men. How did He master kindness and truth at such an early age?

Could it be that His relationship with God was due to his father Joseph? And His kindness is what He saw in His mother Mary? If this is so, how did Joseph help His only son become the man He became?

Joseph and His son heard the Hebrew scrolls read in synogogue. They both could have noticed how Israel is God's son. This is first expressed as a saying in Exodus 12.27 when the Lord speaks to Moses about the first Passover--
It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord who passed over the house of the sons of Israel...

Then in Deuteronomy 14.1 it becomes more than an expression. It is a description--
You are the sons of the Lord your God...


Joseph heard an angel tell him to take Mary and the baby Jesus out of Israel and into Egypt, thousands of miles away, Matt. 2.13. He simply did it. Joseph knew how to obey the leading of the Lord. So Jesus is led by that same Spirit out into the wilderness, He simply goes, Matt. 4.1.

Matthew gives us two quotes from the OT concerning the baby Jesus. One is Matt. 3.15—-
out of Egypt I called My Son,

and Matt. 2.18—
Rachel weeping for her children
and she refused to be comforted,
because they were no more. 

Matthew associates the children of Rachel with the young boy babies who were killed by Herod when he was searching for the baby Jesus. Did Joseph know of these prophecies? He may have because the angel told Joseph to return from Egypt as--
those who sought the Child's life are no more.


This is some indication Joseph knew who his son was and would teach Him to enter into the life His heavenly Father had for him. Jesus expresses His unique relationships with His heavenly Father in John 17.4-8.
From Mary He may have learned of the kindnes of His heavenly Father. In Ephesians 2.7 Paul speaks of the kindness of God--in order that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Kindness in Chrsit Jesus. In 2 Cor. 6.6 Paul says he commends himself as a servant of God--in purity, in knowledge, in patience, in kindness, in the Holy Spirit, in genuine love... And in Colossians 3.12 Paul says to--put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Such qualities were not promoted by the ancient classical world, but they are part of the foundation of the kingdom of God. He may have learned these qualities from Mary.


But now, is this growing in stature with God and man for us also?

The answer is yes.

When a lawyer came to Jesus, asking what is the greatest commandment, in Matt. 22.35, Jesus does not say which one—-He says two. The first is to love God and the second is to love one's neighbor. Jesus thrusts at the lawyer the significance of these two-—
upon all these hang the Law and Prophets, Matt. 22.40.


Paul summarizes our relationship with God and with man in Philippians For the God side, Paul says in Phil. 1.10--
so that you may approve the things which are excellent in order that you may be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ , having been filled with the fruit of righteousness which comes through Jesus Christ to the praise and glory of God.

And for the man side, Paul says in Phil. 2.15--
that you may prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world.

This is great stuff.