Walk with God’s wisdom and power!

February 12, 2022

Luke 2
40 And the child grew, and waxed [became] strong ~~in spirit~~, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.
46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.

47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.
48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.

49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?
50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.

51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

In verse 40, the words “in spirit” are not in any critical Greek text or the Latin Vulgate texts and should therefore be deleted. This makes sense since Jesus Christ didn’t receive the gift of holy spirit until he was a legal adult at the age of 30, when he started his ministry.

You can verify this yourself by viewing two of the Greek texts and the Latin text [Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition (DRA)]:

1st Greek interlinear of Luke 2:40

2nd Greek interlinear & Latin Vulgate texts of Luke 2:40

The word “waxed” in verse 40 is King James old english and means “became”, as the above texts demonstrate. So the more accurate translation of verse 40 reads: And the child grew, and became strong, filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon him.

If we look at the Greek lexicon of verse 40, we can gain more powerful insights:
Greek lexicon of Luke 2:40

Go to the Strong’s column, link #2901 for a deeper look into the word strength:

Strong’s Concordance #2901
krataioó: to strengthen
Part of Speech: Verb
Transliteration: krataioó Phonetic Spelling: (krat-ah-yo’-o)
Definition: I strengthen, confirm; pass: I grow strong, become strong.

HELPS Word-studies
Cognate: 2901 krataióō (from 2904 /krátos) – to prevail by God’s dominating strength, i.e. as His power prevails over opposition (gains mastery). See 2904 (kratos). For the believer, 2901 /krataióō (“attain mastery, the upper-hand”) operates by the Lord inworking faith (His persuasion, 4102 /pístis).

The root word Kratos is power with an impact. You can see this in verses 47 & 48.

When we walk with God, using his wisdom instead of worldly wisdom, this is the kind of impact we can have in our day and time.

As verse 47 says, we can have understanding & answers! That’s what you get when you stay obedient to God’s word. The world will only give you lies, confusion, and darkness.

Verse 52 repeats the same basic truth as verse 40, placing a double emphasis on Jesus’ wisdom, growth, and favour [grace] with God.

52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.

Just as Jesus was subject to, meek and humble to, his parents who taught him many great truths from God’s word, we must be meek and humble to God, our father. Then we too will be able to walk with power, wisdom, understanding, and all the answers to life.

II Peter 1
1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,

3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

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