A Lesson in Working With God

by Blake Botzum

Journal Prompt:

Our Sunday evening Bible Study from Luke 2:39-50 explored the story of the boy Jesus and an interaction he had with his parents. This story introduces Jesus as a fully human example for growth and developed (as opposed to an exception). What is something new that you learned from this Bible Study and how has it impacted you? 

Blake praying with SLAM (Students Living a Mission) students during a worship set this week.

My Thoughts

Something new I learned about boy Jesus in Luke 2:39-50 is how at age 12, the Hebrews were considered to be an adult and expected to work in the trades of their parents. The only exception to this is when your kid would have an exceptional skill or talent. 

For Jesus, he was in the temple listening and asked questions. The text says that those who heard him “were amazed at his understanding.” Jesus in this case was exceptional, yet his parents came back to get him. When in a dialogue with his mom, he said, “Do you not know that I must be about my father’s business?” In saying this, Jesus utilizes his new adulthood to do what his father does which is to become educated and to educate. 

His parents communicated the amount of stress this caused them, so Jesus responds submissively and goes back to Nazareth with his parents. 

The Interns had the opportunity to help facilitate SLAM this week. Pictured here is Blake during another time of worship and prayer.

A major point that stood out to me was that Jesus had been brought in to the ideal of what culture said following God looks like. When Jesus subjected himself to his parents, he subjected himself to the formation that God needed him to have. He received education from the Prophet John and demonstrated extreme Biblical literacy in the next scene where the spirit leads him to the wilderness to be tempted. This has brought up a big theme for me because I am learning to let God be the potter. God knows the experiences I need to form me and its up to me to be obedient and trusting. 

I am learning this in the way that I worship, listen and even from the stories that have been shared by various leaders. In many of the stories of healings that the leadership has testified to, the individual healing would pray and identify that it’s only what God can do to remove this demon or raise the person from the dead. 

It’s impacted me because we are working alongside God. As his children, we are to image the way he is, but that does not mean we do it without him or do it alone. God is very alive and my prayer is that I can become sensitive to work alongside him rather than push my own way or agenda. Im confident my sensitivity will grow and his word will form me in the person he needs to me to be.