The Monday after the First Sunday after the Epiphany of our Lord
Posted on January 13, 2025 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 2:39-40 (NKJV)
2:39 So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth. 40 And the Child grew and became strong in spirit, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon Him.
Devotion
We confess with the Small Catechism that “I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ or come to Him.” Yet, the work of the Holy Ghost throughout God’s plan of salvation can sometimes be overlooked. There are the countless “I’s” throughout the Old and New Testaments who, not of their own reason or strength, became Christians and as a result produced good works. In the case of Mary and Joseph, “they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord.”
While Jesus was truly God, “the Child” was also true man. The same Spirit of God who conceived in the womb of Mary the very Son of God was the reason “the Child grew and became strong in spirit.” The mystery of the incarnation is that while being true God, Jesus, true to His humanity, would grow like any other child and be guided by the Holy Spirit.
Today’s reading from Scripture ends with this statement: “the grace of God was upon Him.” Why would Jesus, true God, need the grace of God upon Him? The answer is really quite simple. He is true man. The true and perfect Man has perfect faith in God the Father. Jesus, true Man, fears, loves, and trusts in God above all things, and does so all the way to the Cross and His death. “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” (Luke 23:46).
Collect: O Lord, we beseech Thee mercifully to receive the prayers of Thy people who call upon Thee; and grant that they may both perceive and know what things they ought to do, and also may have grace and power faithfully to fulfill the same; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
