Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? Luke 2:49.

When Christ was twelve years old He went with His parents to Jerusalem to attend the feast of the Passover, and on their return He was lost in the multitude. After Joseph and Mary had searched for Him for three days, they found Him in the court of the Temple, “sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions. And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers” (Luke 2:46, 47).^{45The Youth’s Instructor, September 8, 1898.}

His parents listened in amazement as they heard His searching inquiries…. Though taking the attitude of a learner, Christ imparted light in every word He uttered. He interpreted the Scripture to the darkened mind of the rabbis, and gave them clear light in regard to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. The sharp, clear questions of the child learner brought a flood of light to their darkened understanding. The truth shone out as the clear shining of a light in a darkened place, as He received and imparted the knowledge of the plan of salvation.

It is plainly stated that Christ grew in knowledge. What a lesson is found in this incident in the life of Christ for all youth! If they shall diligently search the Word of God, and through the Holy Spirit receive divine guidance, they will be able to impart light to others….

Mary, the mother of Jesus, … asked, “Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.” Divine light shone through humanity as Jesus lifted His right hand and asked, “How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business? And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them” (verses 48-50). They did not comprehend the true meaning of His words. But, though He was the Son of God, He went down with His parents and came unto Nazareth, and was subject unto them…. At the age of twelve the Holy Spirit was abiding upon Jesus and He felt something of the burden of the mission for which He had come to our world.^{46Signs of the Times, July 30, 1896.}

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And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him. Luke 2:40.

The example of Jesus is a light to the young as well as to those of mature years, for His was a representative childhood and youth. From His earliest years His example was perfect. In both His physical and His spiritual nature He followed the divine order of growth illustrated by the plant, as He wishes all youth to do. Although He was the majesty of heaven, the King of glory, He became a babe in Bethlehem, and for a time represented the helpless infant in its mother’s care. In childhood He did the works of an obedient child. He spoke and acted with the wisdom of a child and not of a man, honoring His parents, and carrying out their wishes in helpful ways, according to the ability of a child. But at each stage of His development He was perfect, with the simple, natural grace of a sinless life.^{42The Youth’s Instructor, May 25, 1909.}

Joseph, and especially Mary, kept before them the remembrance of their child’s divine Fatherhood. Jesus was instructed in accordance with the sacred character of His mission. His inclination to right was a constant gratification to His parents. The questions He asked them led them to study most earnestly the great elements of truth. His soul-stirring words about nature and the God of nature opened and enlightened their minds.

On the rocks and knolls about His home the eye of the Son of God often rested. He was familiar with the things of nature. He saw the sun in the heavens, the moon and the stars fulfilling their mission. With the voice of singing He welcomed the morning light. He listened to the lark caroling forth music to its God, and joined His voice with the voice of praise and thanksgiving.^{43The Youth’s Instructor, September 8, 1898.}

Quiet and gentle, He seemed as one who was set apart. Whenever He could He went out alone into the fields and on the mountainsides to commune with the God of nature. When His work was done He wandered by the lakeside, among the trees of the forest, and in the green valleys, where He could think about God and lift His soul to heaven in prayer.^{44The Youth’s Instructor, December 5, 1895.}

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Unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. Luke 2:11, 12.

We cannot understand how Christ became a little, helpless babe. He could have come to earth in such beauty that He would have been unlike the sons of men. His face could have been bright with light, and His form could have been tall and beautiful. He could have come in such a way as to charm those who looked upon Him, but this was not the way that God planned He should come among the sons of men. He was to be like those who belonged to the human family and to the Jewish race. His features were to be like those of other human beings and He was not to have such beauty of person as to make people point Him out as different from others. He was to come as one of the human family, and to stand as a man before heaven and earth. He had come to take man’s place, to pledge Himself in man’s behalf, to pay the debt that sinners owed. He was to live a pure life on the earth, and show that Satan had told a falsehood when he claimed that the human family belonged to him forever, and that God could not take men out of his hands.

Men first beheld Christ as a babe, as a child. His parents were very poor, and He had nothing in this earth save that which the poor have. He passed through all the trials that the poor and lowly pass through from babyhood to childhood, from youth to manhood….

The more we think about Christ’s becoming a babe here on earth, the more wonderful it appears. How can it be that the helpless babe in Bethlehem’s manger is still the divine Son of God? Though we cannot understand it, we can believe that He who made the worlds, for our sakes became a helpless babe. Though higher than any of the angels, though as great as the Father on the throne of heaven, He became one with us. In Him God and man became one, and it is in this fact that we find the hope of our fallen race. Looking upon Christ in the flesh, we look upon God in humanity and see in Him the brightness of divine glory, the express image of God the Father.^{41The Youth’s Instructor, November 21, 1895.}

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And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:14.

When we want a deep problem to study, let us fix our minds on the most marvelous thing that ever took place in earth or heaven—the incarnation of the Son of God.^{37S.D.A. Bible Commentary 7:904.}

Christ alone was able to represent the Deity…. God Himself must be revealed to humanity. In order to do this, our Saviour clothed His divinity with humanity. He employed the human faculties, for only by adopting these could He be comprehended by humanity. Only humanity could reach humanity. He lived out the character of God through the human body which God had prepared for Him.^{38S.D.A. Bible Commentary 7:924.}

Had Christ come in His divine form, humanity could not have endured the sight. The contrast would have been too painful, the glory too overwhelming. Humanity could not have endured the presence of one of the pure, bright angels from glory; therefore Christ took not on Him the nature of angels; He came in the likeness of men.^{39S.D.A. Bible Commentary 5:1131.}

Looking upon Him, we behold the invisible God, who clothed His divinity with humanity in order that through humanity He might shed forth a subdued and softened glory, so that our eyes might be enabled to rest upon Him, and our souls not be extinguished by His undimmed splendor. We behold God through Christ, our Creator and Redeemer. It is our privilege to contemplate Jesus by faith, and see Him standing between humanity and the eternal throne. He is our Advocate, presenting our prayers and offerings as spiritual sacrifices to God. Jesus is the great sinless propitiation, and through His merit God and man may hold converse together.

Christ has carried His humanity into eternity. He stands before God as the representative of our race. When we are clothed with the wedding garment of His righteousness, we become one with Him, and He says of us, “They shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy” (Revelation 3:4). His saints will behold Him in His glory, with no dimming veil between.^{40S.D.A. Bible Commentary 7:925.}

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And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. 1 Corinthians 10:4.

Christ combines the two types. He is the rock, He is the living water.

The same beautiful and expressive figures are carried throughout the Bible. Centuries before the advent of Christ, Moses pointed to Him as the rock of Israel’s salvation; the psalmist sung of Him as “my redeemer,” “the rock of my strength,” “the rock that is higher than I,” “a rock of habitation,” “rock of my heart,” “rock of my refuge.” In David’s song His grace is pictured also as the cool, “still waters,” amid green pastures, beside which the heavenly Shepherd leads His flock. Again, “Thou shalt make them,” he says, “drink of the river of thy pleasures. For with thee is the fountain of life.” And the wise man declares, “The wellspring of wisdom as a flowing brook.” To Jeremiah, Christ is “the fountain of living waters”; to Zechariah, “a fountain opened … for sin and for uncleanness.”

Isaiah describes Him as the “rock of ages,” and “the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.” And he records the precious promise, bringing vividly to mind the living stream that flowed for Israel: “When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them.” “I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground”; “in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.” The invitation is given, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.” And in the closing pages of the sacred word this invitation is echoed. The river of the water of life, “clear as crystal,” proceeds from the throne of God and the Lamb; and the gracious call is ringing down through the ages, “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” ^{36 Patriarchs and Prophets, 413.}

References: Deuteronomy 32:15; Psalm 19:14; 62:7; 61:2; 71:3 (margin); 73:26 (margin); 94:22; 23:2; 36:8, 9; Proverbs 18:4; Jeremiah 2:13; Zechariah 13:1; Isaiah 26:4 (margin); 32:2; 41:17; 44:3; 35:6; 55:1; Revelation 22:1, 17.

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