Reading: “And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age.”—Luke 3:23
How marvelous in all things are the ways of God to us! Was Jesus indeed in the world, and the world made by him, and the world knew him not? And did he remain hid away, and unknown for the first thirty years of his life? Did the Son of God come on earth to do away sin by the sacrifice of himself, and yet enter not upon the full purpose of his mission until so large a portion of his life upon earth had passed away? Yet, though Jesus did not engage in his public ministry, until He was thirty, yet surely those thirty years are of vast importance concerning our redemption. Silent as the scriptures are on this great portion of thy life, yet is not their silence a call upon thy people to meditate on the subject?
I am convinced that the body that the Father gave Christ, and the human nature which He assumed for the purpose of salvation, was not produced in the ordinary method of generation, but by the miraculous influence of the Holy Ghost. I am equally convinced that during the whole of His life, from the manger to the cross, every act, word and thought manifested that He was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens. And shall I not also believe, that these thirty years were of some importance in His covenant engagements as our surety?
Can I suppose, that the thirty years of my Redeemer’s life, before his being publicly made known to Israel, were spent in doing nothing with relation to the great work which he came purposely to do? Did not those seasons minister also to canceling the sin of his people, taking away the curse by bearing it, and then by dying for it? And may we not suppose that God the Father had an eye to every minute act in the life of His dear Son—“this is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased”?
Taken from The Poor Man’s Evening and Morning Portions by Rev. Robert Hawker, Works, Vol. 8; 1830. Edited by Aaron Dunlop for thinkgospel.com ©2013.
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