As parents, it’s our greatest desire to raise the perfect child, but in a sin filled world it’s next to impossible.  That, and the fact that even the most innocent looking children are born into this world already tarnished with sin.  Not one of them has to be taught how to be selfish, naughty or belligerent.  It’s part of the nature of things.

A couple thousand years ago, a boy was born completely without sin.  He never let the world entice Him and He physically resisted the snares of Satan with the use of His Father’s Words.

Can you imagine what it was like to be related to a kid like that?  The really “perfect” child.  His mother never had reason to scold or chastise Him, because He could do no wrong.  His stepdad could teach Him how to carve a piece of wood into a table or chair, but this boy was there when the creation of the world took place.  His stepbrothers and sisters must have become a bit irritated with this perfect kid in the house.

As Jesus grew in stature, He also grew as a human being.  One of those great mysteries we will never comprehend until we reach heaven.  He was God and man at the same time.

His early years of life are not revealed to us,  except for the time when His Mary and Joseph thought He was with the caravan returning to Nazareth, only to realize that he wasn’t.   How could you leave a child behind like that?  As they traveled with a large group of relatives, it might seem logical that a child could get lost in the shuffle – but this was no ordinary child.

Mary knew Jesus was sent by God to do something special for the world, but as a mother, she must’ve been beside herself.  Today we have instant access to our children with the invention of modern technology.  Mary didn’t have that luxury.  Her mind must’ve have thought of every dangerous scenario in the book.

When they returned to Jerusalem, there He was, in the temple, teaching the most intelligent and scholarly leaders of the Sanhedrin. This boy of 12 or so, had the Word at His fingertips.  He was the Word – God with us.

During those growing up years, Mary certainly had concerns when Jesus scraped His knees or cut a piece of His own flesh as He chiseled away at a piece of wood.  She cared for those things, because she was a mom.  She undoubtedly worried about Him, because she was a mom.  She loved Him as her own precious first born son, but she knew He was more than that – not because she was a mom, but because she had faith in what God had promised.

Along with all the other amazing things that had happened so far, Mary tucked these things into her heart and would recall them again one day.