When did Jesus realize that he was the Messiah, the Son of God?
The Bible doesn’t say, but I can’t help but wonder. When a baby is born he/she don’t know anything but the sound of his/her mother’s voice. If Jesus was fully human and fully God, I think there had to be a time when he didn’t know that he was God.
Did you ever wake up and realize you had been dreaming but you couldn’t quite remember what it was you were dreaming about? Maybe it was like that for baby Jesus. Before Jesus was born, he had lived in heaven with God. But as a baby, like a forgotten dream, he probably couldn’t remember heaven.
Sometimes people forget who they are after a bad knock on the head. When this happens it is called amnesia. I think Jesus allowed himself to have amnesia when he was born. Many times when people get amnesia they gradually begin to remember again, a little at a time.
The Bible tells us Jesus never sinned. The God-part of Jesus had to be so strong that he had a special gift for wanting to do the right thing all the time. That isn’t necessarily true for you and me. We struggle with our own selfish wants that get in the way of what is right for others around us.
We also read in the Bible that when Jesus was twelve years old he went to Jerusalem with Mary and Joseph and a lot of other friends and relatives.(Luke 2:41-52) When it was time to go home, the people started back to Nazareth where they lived. After Mary and Joseph had traveled for three days, they realized that Jesus wasn’t with them, and they and went back to look for him.
They found Jesus in the Temple talking with the teachers. When Mary asked him why he had treated his parents like this, he answered, “Didn’t you know I must be about my Father’s business?” Jesus must have been well on his way to understanding who he was.
It isn’t important that we know exactly when Jesus understood he was the Messiah, but thinking about it may be help us to realize what he gave up to leave the glory of heaven and live on earth as a man. It took a lot of love to do that, and even more so to die for us on a cross so our sins could be forgiven and we could become the adopted sons and daughters of God.
Thank you Jesus for leaving your home in heaven to live with us on earth. Thank you for dying for me and for coming to live in my heart. I love you Jesus.
© 2011 by Janice D. Green
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