With today’s post, we’ve flowed through the first section of this series, in looking at verses that prophesy Jesus’ coming, His arrival, and His early life.
Starting tomorrow, from Day 12-16 we will look at verses that focus on Jesus as The Son.
From Day 17-26, verses will focus on the preeminence of the Son, His works, and Ministry.
Days 27-30, His resurrection, ascension, and return.
Jesus’ Obedience
Coffman’s Commentaries on the Bible
The precocious wisdom of the boy Jesus, and his certain consciousness of his unique relationship to the Father in heaven, were not looked upon by Jesus as sufficient to his earthly mission; he recognized himself still to be a child. The hour of his emergence as the world’s Saviour would be awaited by him until some sure indication of the Father’s will informed him that “his hour” had come. In the meanwhile, he would not disgrace himself as a child prodigy. He manifested the noblest quality of youth, that of loving submission to his earthly parents.
Some Christmas specials, “history” documentaries, and apocryphal writings or media depict Jesus as a boy healing injured birds or raising dead children. None of this happened. Firstly, the word of God does not contain any such events. Secodnly, His prophetic timetable was specific and sure. Jesus repeatedly said in the Gospels He would not do certain things because ‘his hour had not come’.
Further Reading
Answers in Genesis: Christ’s Obedience to the Father Jesus honors the authority of His Father through complete obedience. A very clear but seldom pondered truth of the New Testament is that Christ’s entire life and ministry were orchestrated by His Father and that Jesus was careful to carry out every detail according to the will of His Father. “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come . . . to do thy will, O God’” (Hebrews 10:7).
Jesus Obeyed His parents “Among all the miracles and surprises surrounding God himself becoming man, Luke 2:51 may sound the most unexpected note of all: Jesus “went down [from Jerusalem] with [Joseph and Mary] and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them.””
The Bible is intentionally blank where Jesus’ boyhood is concerned. After His birth, the Bible is silent on what Jesus was doing. All we know is He lived in Galilee. We know as a child, not a baby, He was taken by his parents to Egypt, to flee Herod’s rage. And now suddenly He is 12 years old and in the Temple.
With Him are wisdom and might; To Him belong counsel and understanding (Job 12:13).
Other than the Magi’s visit to the child, this alone stands out as the sole incident recorded in the Bible about Jesus childhood, or even adulthood before the first Miracle at Cana. Since the Holy Spirit chose to include this single event in the boy Jesus’ life, it bears study.
Further Reading:
The Day Jesus Went AWOL Second, in this account are recorded the very first words of our Lord Jesus. Naturally, no words were recorded from the birth and infancy of Christ. Many of our Lord’s words were recorded from His later ministry. But the words of our Lord in this text are His first recorded words, and very important words they are indeed.
Twelve-year-old Jesus goes to the Temple After the host of witnesses to Jesus in Luke 1:5–2:40, Jesus now speaks for himself for the first time. This is the literary climax of Luke’s initial section and shows the sense of mission and self-awareness Jesus possesses. Jesus has a unique relationship to God and a clear sense of his calling, one that transcends his relationship to his earthly parents.
The Son of God at twelve years old This is the only story in the gospels about Jesus between his infancy and his public ministry as a man. Some have argued that the story is a legend created by the early church to fill in some of the gaps in their knowledge of Jesus’ life. What shall we say to this claim?
We are still in the section of verses from the Bible depicting the prophecy of Jesus’ coming, His arrival, and His early life before ministry. With two more days to go, afterward we shift into looking at Jesus Himself, His earthly ministry, and the different aspects of Himself that He displayed in His incarnation.
John MacArthur preached on Jesus’ brother James in a sermon called James: The Brother of Our Lord. In it, MacArthur discusses the early home life of Jesus and contrasts it to the rest of Jesus’ siblings. From the siblings’ point of view, especially the focus of James, what was it like to grow up with literally a perfect brother? The venerable theologian proposes this:
“I don’t know how many times Joseph and Mary said this, but they must have said it more than they ought to, “Why can’t you be like your brother?” which doesn’t really help either.”
LOL.
There are not many verses recounting the childhood and pre-ministry life of Jesus, but there are a few. Here is one:
What happened during Jesus’ childhood? (GotQuestions) Other than Luke 2:41–52, the Bible does not tell us anything about Jesus’ youth. From this incident we do know certain things about Jesus’ childhood. First, He was the son of parents* who were devout in their religious observances. As required in the law, Joseph and Mary made the yearly pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When Jesus was 12 years old, they brought Him along on the trip to celebrate the Feast with them. Luke paints a picture of a typical boy in a typical family of that day.
The boyhood of Jesus (Biblehub) Although the boy Jesus was gifted with a wisdom far beyond His years — a wisdom which was His because He was the Son of God, yet He lived much as other boys lived, doing the tasks that were given Him by His parents and being subject to them in all things.
Many people worshiped Jesus during His earthly ministry. They bowed before Him and called Him the Messiah, Son of God, or other titles indicating they knew they were worshiping the one True God. Some people worshiped extravagantly. We think of Mary with her bottle of expensive nard, or Joseph of Arimathea lavishly preparing His body with the most expensive ointments. Or from the OT, David worshiping God with all his might before the ark processional.
No one came farther or brought more expensive tokens of worship than the Magi, known as the Wise Men from the East. Their journey of about 900 miles was difficult, fraught with danger, and took months. Their gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh were expensive. But that was nothing to them. They journeyed, they found the child, they knelt before Him in humble worship. Though they themselves were considered rulers of sorts, when they saw His place they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. (Matthew 2:9). They knelt before a little child and presented their gifts of adoration.
During this Advent, let us do the same. We do not have the blessing of an incarnated Messiah in front of us to bow to, that will happen later, but we can rejoice today with exceeding joy and present to him our precious gift: our bodies as a living and holy sacrifice. (Romans 12:1).
Further Reading:
Grace To You: What the Magi Mean To Christmas Just exactly who are they and why are they there? Well, the question as to why they’re there is answered in the text, and that is to worship Him. They came to worship. That becomes absolutely clear. In chapter 2 and verse 2, they say, “We have come to worship Him.” That is their point. Herod even acknowledges this in verse 8 and says, “Come back and tell me when you find Him, that I too may come and worship Him.” Answers in Genesis: We Three Kings The Magi Arrive These magi followed the star, which moved ahead of them, bringing expensive gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh to Jesus—who was now a young child living in a house (Matthew 2:9–11).5 They worshipped the Christ Child (Matthew 2:11). Jesus is called a “young child” (paidion, Matthew 2) instead of babe (brephos, Luke 2:16) at the time that the magi arrived. Brephos specifically refers to a baby, whether born or unborn, while paidion refers to an immature child, possibly an infant (Matthew 2:11), so we should not be dogmatic about His age. Love Worth Finding: The Gifts of the Wise Men and Our Gifts to Jesus It’s that time of year again…time for gift-buying, gift-wrapping, and gift-exchanging. What are the gifts we could bring Jesus this Christmas? One way we can discover that is to look at Matthew 2:1-12, which tells of the gifts the wise men brought Him on the night when God became flesh and dwelt among us.
This beginning part of my Advent series is a presentation of 11 verses overlaid on photos depicting the life of Jesus from prophecy to birth and boyhood. There are additional links at the end of each day’s topic leading the reader to credible ministries to further explore the topic of the day.
The next section (#12-16) will feature verses about the Son as an adult God-Man.
From #17-26 we will survey the Preeminence of the Son, His attributes, and His ministry.
From #27-36 we’ll look at His Resurrection, Ascension, & Return. Yes we go over 30 days into a postlude that ends before the new year.
All photos are by EPrata unless otherwise noted.
There is no better refreshment for the soul than to meditate on Him. Enjoy!
I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. (Psalm 119:15).
Today’s verse: now that Jesus has been born, and the angels had announced His arrival to the Shepherds, who went to see with all haste this thing the angels had spoken of, now Jesus must flee. So we see from the first moments of His life, hatred against Jesus for who He is and what He has come to do. And so it will be for anyone IN Christ, as well. But His flight to Egypt did not happen before others made great efforts to come and see the Babe- namely the Magi from the East. It was their gift of gold which enabled the poverty-stricken Joseph and Mary to fund their flight to Egypt. God’s providence is perfect, and so is His timing.
This picture—at once austere and tender—belongs to a series of seven showing the life of Christ. The masterly depiction of the stable, which is viewed from slightly below, and the columnar solidity of the figures are typical of Giotto, the founder of European painting. The impetuous action of the kneeling king, who picks up the Christ Child, and Mary’s expression of concern translate the biblical account into deeply human terms. Though we know from scripture that the Magi did not arrive the night Jesus was born in the stable, but saw ‘the child’ likely at a house, the act depicted of the King from the East kneeling is representative of Jesus’ stature as King of Kings, even as a baby.
GotQuestions: What Does the Bible say about the Three Wise Men (Magi)? It is a common misconception that the wise men visited Jesus at the stable on the night of His birth. In fact, the wise men came days, months, or possibly even years later. That is why Matthew 2:11 says the wise men visited and worshiped Jesus in a house, not at the stable.
Answers in Genesis: We Three Kings The original meaning of mάgoi is likely in view here—wise men who interpreted special signs. There are at least three reasons for this identification. First, they acknowledged that they were interested in signs in the heavens.
Grace To You: Who Were the Wise Men? Vincent, who has written some very helpful word studies, says in regard to this, “Many absurd traditions and guesses respecting these visitors to our Lord’s cradle have found their way into popular belief and into Christian art. They were said to be kings and three in number. They were said to be representatives of three families of Shem, Ham, and Japheth and, therefore, one of them is pictured as an Ethiopian. Their names are given as Caspar, Balthazar, and Melchior.”
We’re in the section of the 30-day Advent flow of the prophecies of Jesus’ coming, his arrival, and his early life. Yesterday’s scripture picture was “The Babe has arrived” and the scripture was from Luke 2.
How can we go any further without pondering that He, the King of Glory, the Infinite, left glory in heaven to be wrapped in human flesh and dwell among sinners? To seek and save the lost, humbling himself not only as a God-Man, but departing His heavenly home of glory where He constantly received His due worship… To be rejected, despised among men, and killed. All for us, rotten sinners.
Our God is truly AMAZING!
To Know the Love of Christ, by Arthur W. Pink (1886-1952) “Consider Jehovah’s condescending to take upon Him a nature that was inferior to the angelic, so that when the Word became flesh His divine glory was almost completely eclipsed. Contemplate the unspeakable humiliation into which the Son of God descended, a humiliation which can only be gauged as we measure the distance between the throne of heaven and the manger of Bethlehem.”
Further information-
God’s Glory: Ligonier Devotional “We turn today to the first verse of the second chapter of James, wherein the apostle refers to Jesus as “the Lord of glory.” Even though this is an acceptable translation of the original Greek text, it is not necessarily the most accurate way to render the verse in English. As the note in the Reformation Study Bible indicates, it is also possible to translate “the Lord of glory” as simply “the glory.” In reality, it does not really matter which one we choose because the two translations are synonymous. However, to say Jesus is “the glory” is a good way to encapsulate a portion of the New Testament’s description of the majesty of Christ.”
Thinking about Jesus: Owen on meditating on Christ’s glory In his devotional work, The Glory of Christ, John Owen provided five useful helps to meditate on Christ as a divine/human Person. I pass these meditations along to you, hoping that they will increase your devotion to Christ (you can read the full section in Owen’s Works, 1:312-322). John Owen’s quotes on Jesus’ glory (Goodreads) “No man shall ever behold the glory of Christ by sight hereafter who does not in some measure behold it here by faith.”
Hearts Aflame: 5 minute devotional from the Puritans by Dustin Benge. Today: The Glory of Christ by John Owen
Bethlehem (around 2,000 years ago): Joseph and Mary arrive at the sleepy town in the middle of the night. Mary, already in labor, remains on the donkey while Joseph frantically searches for a room at the local inns. Desperate, he begs one reluctant innkeeper for any place at all to have this baby. The innkeeper finally relents and makes room for them in a tumbledown stable with the cows. There’s just one problem. This isn’t what the Bible teaches.
Read more from Answers in Genesis at the link above.
Why Spurgeon Loved the Incarnation First, Spurgeon cherished the incarnation because its purpose was to save men from sin and death. He said, “Incarnation prophesies salvation” (MTP 22:713). Since God entered into union with man through the incarnation, its end must be for blessing and not curse. For, “God cannot intend to destroy that race which He thus weds unto Himself.”[4] God had visited men many times before in redemptive history, but the incarnation was “the most wonderful visit of all…when He came to tarry here…to work out our salvation.”[5] More at the link
The Nativity by American artist Gari Melchers 1891. “Melchers, a painter of German descent, took the scene from the point of view of immediately after the birth of the Savior. In looking at Mary’s pose, one can almost feel her exhaustion, both emotional and physical. Joseph’s expression is one of concern and reflection of the incredible responsibility. All among a dirty alley…and yet the Babe’s head is aglow with the promise of God having sent the Light into the world. What were Mary and Joseph thinking and feeling then? We can ask them when we get there, but meanwhile, please enjoy this representation of the glorious moment when all was quiet, before heaven shouted with joy and all hell broke loose…of the coming of Jesus Christ the Lamb. ~By Elizabeth Prata
Luke 2:7 sets the scene: “[Mary] gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.”
That verse is explicitly concerned with a lonely birth. There were no midwives, no assistance to Mary at all. The Bible doesn’t even mention that Joseph was present. Perhaps he was, but if he was typical of first-time fathers, he would have been of little help to Mary. She was basically on her own.
Mary brought forth the child; she wrapped Him in swaddling cloths; and she laid Him in a manger. Where usually a midwife would clean the baby and wrap Him, there was no one. Mary did it herself. And where usually there would have been a cradle or basket for the baby, there was none. Mary had to put Him in an animal’s feeding trough.
When Christ entered the world, He came to a place that had some of the smelliest, filthiest, and most uncomfortable conditions. But that is part of the wonder of divine grace, isn’t it? When the Son of God came down from heaven, He came all the way down. He did not hang on to His equality with God; rather, He set it aside for a time and completely humbled Himself (Philippians 2:5-8).
Advent series in scripture photos. We are in the section of my Advent thirty day flow where we examine PROPHECY, ARRIVAL, and EARLY LIFE of Jesus.
‘He will save from sin…’ Do we even know of our sin?
Sin is the reason Jesus came. Sin is our great problem. Sin is a deep evil against a holy God.
“What we celebrate at Christmas is not so much the birth of a baby, as important as that is, but what’s so significant about the birth of that particular baby is that in this birth we have the incarnation of God Himself.” ~RC Sproul
Jesus flesh had no sin, nor was He able to sin.
Matthew Henry says of the parallel Luke 1:35 verse:
JESUS! the name that refreshes the fainting spirits of humbled sinners; sweet to speak and sweet to hear, Jesus, a Saviour! We know not his riches and our own poverty, therefore we run not to him; we perceive not that we are lost and perishing, therefore a Saviour is a word of little relish. Were we convinced of the huge mass of guilt that lies upon us, and the wrath that hangs over us for it, ready to fall upon us, it would be our continual thought, Is the Saviour mine? And that we might find him so, we should trample on all that hinders our way to him. ~Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
What is sin? “Sin is a riddle, a mystery, a reality that eludes definition and comprehension. Perhaps we most often think of sin as wrongdoing or transgression of God’s law. Sin includes a failure to do what is right. But sin also offends people; it is violence and lovelessness toward other people, and ultimately, rebellion against God. Further, the Bible teaches that sin involves a condition in which the heart is corrupted and inclined toward evil”.
What is the definition of sin? – Got Questions “Sin is described in the Bible as transgression of the law of God (1 John 3:4) and rebellion against God (Deuteronomy 9:7; Joshua 1:18). Sin had its beginning with Lucifer, probably the most beautiful and powerful of the angels. Not content with his position, he desired to be higher than God, and that was his downfall, the beginning of sin (Isaiah 14:12-15). Renamed Satan, he brought sin to the human race in the Garden of Eden, where he tempted Adam and Eve with the same enticement, “you shall be like God.”
Matthew Henry on Matthew 1:18-25 That she had conceived by the power of the Holy Ghost; not by the power of nature. The Holy Spirit, who produced the world, now produced the Saviour of the world, and prepared him a body, as was promised him, when he said, Lo, I come, Heb. 10:5. Hence he is said to be made of a woman (Gal. 4:4), and yet to be that second Adam that is the Lord from heaven, 1 Co. 15:47. He is the Son of God, and yet so far partakes of the substance of his mother as to be called the fruit of her womb, Lu. 1:42. It was requisite that his conception should be otherwise than by ordinary generation, that so, so though he partook of the human nature, yet he might escape the corruption and pollution of it, and not be conceived and shapen in iniquity.
Henry, M. (1994). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible: complete and unabridged in one volume (p. 1613). Hendrickson.
Thirty days of exalting Jesus through selected verses with pictures representing the prophecy, life, death, resurrection, and Second Coming of our Savior.
Adam & Eve’s fall into sin in the Garden of Eden precipitated God’s plan to redeem humanity. That plan was partially and indistinctly revealed to the pair in the subsequent discussion with God. (Genesis 3:15). And so it began.
The revelation of God’s plan to redeem humanity continued throughout the Old Testament, again, partially, hazily, for example, the prophecy above in Isaiah 7:14.
Charles Spurgeon on the prophecy of the virgin birth: “And, first, we see here, in speaking of this birth of Christ, a miraculous conception. The text says expressly, “Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son.” This expression is unparalleled even in Sacred Writ! Of no other woman could it be said beside the Virgin Mary, and of no other man could it be written that his mother was a virgin.“
“There is the finite and the Infinite, there is the mortal and the Immortal, corruption and Incorruption, the manhood and the Godhead, time married to eternity! There is God linked with a creature, the Infinity of the august Maker come to tabernacle on this speck of earth—the vast unbounded One whom earth could not hold and the heavens cannot contain—lying in His mother’s arms! He who fastened the pillars of the universe and riveted the nails of creation, hanging on a mortal breast, depending on a creature for nourishment! Oh, marvelous birth! Oh, miraculous conception! We stand and gaze and admire. Verily, angels may wish to look into a subject too dark for us to speak of! There we leave it, a virgin has conceived and borne a Son“. A sermon, The Birth of Christ
Charles Spurgeon on Christmas: “Though creation may be a majestic organ of praise, it cannot reach the compass of the golden canticle—Incarnation! There is more in that than in creation, more melody in Jesus in the manger, than there is in worlds on worlds rolling their grandeur round the throne of the Most High.” Sermon “The First Christmas Carol“, A sermon by Charles Spurgeon, Dec 20, 1857
We should think of the Savior, all the year, every day. (Philippians 4:8). But the Christmas season is a special time when we think more pointedly about His incarnation, life, death, burial, ascension, and return. Who is this Jesus? He was born, lived, died, rose again, and promised to return, to bring eternal life to those who believe and eternal death to those who reject. He tore the veil of human history, and changed everything.
I use my photographs of God’s beautiful creation and overlay a verse on them to publish every day. For Advent, the theme is Thirty Days of Jesus. Thirty verses, thirty photos of God’s creation that reflect His life and ministry.
This annually repeated series gives me an opportunity to continue posting edifying content but also it allows me to focus on my local life without the hours necessary to research and write new content every day. The series’ day 1 begins tomorrow, November 26, 2025.
Of course, “And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written one after the other, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written,” says John 21:25. No one can ever fully encapsulate Jesus’s life, death, resurrection, ascension, and future life with us in heaven. So I broke the series up into mini-themes, in order to present highlights.
I chose mini-themes for the Thirty Days’ scripture Advent photos that I believe will create a sufficient narrative of Jesus’ life.
FIRST SECTION: PROPHECY, ARRIVAL, and EARLY LIFE, 15 verses.
In this section I chose verses that reflect the prophecies that predict His coming the first time.
Then the beautiful verses that announce His arrival on the blessed morn.
Then a section are verses that mention Jesus as a child and boy, before He began His ministry.
SECOND SECTION: PREEMINENCE OF THE SON, HIS WORKS & MINISTRY, 15 verses
The Son 5 verses over 5 days
Beginning with verses that declare the Son, are verses that focus Him as the Second Person of the Trinity. His sonship is integral to His earthly ministry as the subordinate Person to God the Father. These verses reflect that reality.
Works & Ministry, 10 verses
This section, published over ten days, will present verses that detail His attributes while He was on earth; Jesus as servant, teacher, shepherd, healer, and so on. Of course, not completely. He has so many attributes. He has ALL the attributes, all at once, and in total holiness!
THIRD SECTION: RESURRECTION, ASCENSION, & RETURN
This last section Christ is unique in that He is the firstfruit of resurrection. He is unique in that He descended from heaven and ascended to heaven. Of the John 3:13 verse, says that only He is qualified to speak of heaven, being the only One who has been intimately involved with all its doings, and only he has seen the Father and come down from there and returned.
Jesus was raised to life and brought back to heaven, and several verses in this section will illustrate what He is doing while we wait the long centuries for the fulfillment of the end of all things, His glorious final return. The last verses will present Jesus in His glory, as He is in heaven now.
The flow mirrors the Revelation 1:8 verse, where it is declared,
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Let’s enjoy the season. I pray that it does not become a hectic shopping slog, frantic with focus on gifts and cleaning houses and to-do lists, though given family obligations and work colleague expectations, some of that is always inevitable. But don’t let it encroach more than it has to. Jesus is the reason for this season. If you’re a believer, this season is a gateway to a new year filled with many reasons each day to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. (Psalm 86:9)
Your people shall all be righteous; they shall possess the land forever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hands, that I might be glorified. (Isaiah 60:21).
For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:36)
or you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:20).
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” (Revelation 4:11).
the-end-time.org 