Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Luke 2:51
And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
51. with them ] We may infer from the subsequent omission of Joseph’s name, and from the traditional belief of his age, that he died shortly after this event, as the Apocryphal Gospels assert.
to Nazareth ] In many respects there was a divine fitness in this spot for the human growth of Jesus “as a tender plant and a root out of the dry ground.” Apart from the obscurity and evil fame of Nazareth which were meant to teach lessons similar to those of which we have just spoken, we may notice (i) its seclusion. It lies in a narrow cleft in the limestone hills which form the boundary of Zabulon entirely out of the ordinary roads of commerce, so that none could say that our Lord had learnt either from Gentiles or from Rabbis. (ii) Its beauty and peacefulness. The flowers of Nazareth are famous, and the appearance of its inhabitants shews its healthiness. It was a home of humble peace and plenty. The fields of its green valley are fruitful, and the view from the hill which overshadows it is one of the loveliest and most historically striking in all Palestine.
was subject unto them ] “He made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant,” Php 2:7; Isa 53:2. With the exception of these two verses, the Gospels preserve but one single word to throw light on the Life of our Lord, between His infancy and His baptism. That word is “ the carpenter ” in Mar 6:3, altered in some MSS. out of irreverent and mistaken reverence into “ the son of the carpenter.” They shew that (i) our Lord’s life was spent in poverty but not in pauperism; (ii) that He sanctified labour as a pure and noble thing; (iii) that God looks on the heart, and that the dignity or humility, the fame or obscurity, of the outer lot is of no moment in His eyes. Rom 14:17-18.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Went down with them – Down from Jerusalem, which was in a high, mountainous region.
Was subject unto them – Performed the duty of a faithful and obedient child, and not improbably was engaged in the trade of Joseph – that of a carpenter. Every Jew was required to learn some trade, and there is every reason to think that our Saviour followed that of his reputed father. And from this we learn:
1. That obedience to parents is a duty. Jesus has set an example in this that all children should follow. Though he was the Son of God, and on proper occasions was engaged in the great work of redemption, yet he was also the son of Mary, and he loved and obeyed his mother, and was subject to her.
2. It is no dishonor to be a mechanic, or to be brought up in an obscure employment. Jesus has conferred honor on virtuous industry, and no man should be ashamed of industrious parents, though poor, or of a condition of life that is far from ease and affluence. Industry is honorable, and virtuous poverty should not be regarded as a matter of reproach. The only thing to be ashamed of, in regard to this matter, is when people are idle, or when children are too proud to hear or speak of the occupation of their parents, or to follow the same occupation.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 51. Was subject unto them] Behaved towards them with all dutiful submission. Probably his working with his hands at his reputed father’s business, is here also implied: See Clarke on Lu 2:41. No child among the Jews was ever brought up in idleness. Is not this the carpenter? was a saying of those Jews who appear to have had a proper knowledge of his employment while in Joseph’s house. See Clarke on Mt 13:55.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
We left him at Nazareth, after Marys purification, Luk 2:39; we find him at Nazareth now at twelve years old. We shall now read no more of him till Luk 3:23, when he came to be about thirty years of age. What he did in the mean time is a business of too much curiosity for us to inquire, and of very little significance to us if we knew. Some think he wrought with his father upon his trade. As I cannot tell how to prove it, so I know nothing against it. It is not likely he was sent to any of the schools of their prophets, as he who could argue with the doctors pertinently at twelve years of age, and to whom the Spirit was given not by measure, had no need of their instructions: so their academies were not such as we can reasonably think that Joseph and Mary should seek any education for him in them; and I know no reason why we should think, that he who abhorred not the womb of the virgin, nor a stable, nor a manger, should abhor the works of an honest vocation, and not much more abhor an idle life. But we dispute about these things in vain, being such as to which we can never be satisfied (God having hidden them from our knowledge); what is for our instruction is told us, he was subject unto his parents. This teacheth the greatest and highest mortals to honour their fathers and mothers; which (saith the apostle) is the first commandment with promise. Solomon honoured his mother, and behold a greater than Solomon is here, paying his homage also both to the womb that bare him, and to his (supposed) father that provided for him, and protected him.
But his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. Mary was no forgetful hearer, some things she did not yet clearly understand, but she kept them in her heart; and those who do so as to Gods word shall in time understand them.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And he went down with them,…. From the temple, and from Jerusalem, which were on high ground:
and came to Nazareth; where he, and his parents, had lived ever since their return from Egypt:
and was subject unto them; for though he thought fit to let them know, or, at least, put them in mind, that he had a Father in heaven, whose business he came about, and must do, and therefore did not judge it necessary to ask their leave to stay at Jerusalem on that account; yet, as man, and willing to set an example of filial subjection to parents, he went along with them, and showed all dutiful respect unto them, yielding a ready and cheerful obedience to their commands, living with them, and working under them, and for them: and so he continued till he was about thirty years of age:
but his mother kept all these sayings, or things; for this relates not only to the words of Christ, but to the whole history of his staying behind them at Jerusalem, of his sitting among the doctors, hearing them, and asking them questions, to the astonishment of all. These things she treasured up, and preserved,
in her heart; that is, in her memory; so the word is used in Jewish writings. It is reported of R. Meir f, that
“he went to intercalate the year in Asia, and there was no Megilla (the book of Esther) there, and he wrote it, , “out of his heart”, (i.e. out of his memory,) and read it.”
f T. Bab. Megilla, fol. 18. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He was subject unto them ( ). Periphrastic imperfect passive. He continued subject unto them, this wondrous boy who really knew more than parents and rabbis, this gentle, obedient, affectionate boy. The next eighteen years at Nazareth (Lu 3:23) he remained growing into manhood and becoming the carpenter of Nazareth (Mr 6:3) in succession to Joseph (Mt 13:55) who is mentioned here for the last time. Who can tell the wistful days when Jesus waited at Nazareth for the Father to call him to his Messianic task?
Kept (). Imperfect active. Ancient Greek word (), but only here and Ac 15:29 in the N.T. though in Ge 37:11. She kept thoroughly () all these recent sayings (or things, ). In 2:19 is the word used of Mary after the shepherds left. These she kept pondering and comparing all the things. Surely she has a full heart now. Could she foresee how destiny would take Jesus out beyond her mother’s reach?
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Was subject [ ] . The participle and finite verb, denoting habitual, continuous subjection. “Even before, he had been subject to them; but this is mentioned now, when it might seem that he could by this time have exempted himself. Not even to the angels fell such an honor as to the parents of Jesus” (Bengel). Compare Heb 1:4 – 8. Kept [] . Only here and Act 14:29. The preposition dia, through, indicated close, faithful, persistent keeping, through all the circumstances which might have weakened the impression of the events. Compare Gen 37:11.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And he went down with them,” (kai katebe met’ auton) “And he went down (from Jerusalem) with them” in condescension, out of the temple, His Father’s house, Luk 2:49; Joh 2:16-17.
2) “And came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them:” (kai elthen eis Nazareth kai en hupotassomenos autois) “And he came to Nazareth, and was continually subject to them,” Mat 15:4; Mar 6:3, where He was brought up, Mat 2:23, in that despised little town of “across the railroad-tracks” kind, Joh 1:46.
3) “But his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.” (kai he meter autou dieterei panta ta hremata en te kaedia autes) “And his mother carefully guarded all these matters in her heart,” after which Joseph disappears from the scene of life. With former mystery matters about Him. His Holy Spirit conception, the messages to her and Joseph about Him, directly from the angel Gabriel, the praise of Him by Elizabeth, Simeon, and Anna, the message of the shepherds given them by the heavenly host, the visit of the Magi from the East and their worship of and gifts to Him.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
51. And he was subject to them It was for our salvation that Christ took upon him this low estate, — that the Lord and head of angels voluntarily became subject to mortal creatures. Such was the purpose of God, that Christ should remain, for some time, under a shadow, beating the name of Joseph. Though this subjection, on the part of Christ, arose from no necessity which he could not have avoided, yet, as he had taken upon him human nature on the condition of being subject to parents, and had assumed the character both of a man and of a servant, — with respect to the office of Redeemer, this was his lawful condition. The more cheerfully, on this account, ought every one to bear the yoke which the Lord has been pleased to lay upon him. (242)
(242) “ D’autant plus faut-il que chacun de nous s’assujettisse de bon coeur, st ploye le col sous le joug auquel il plaira a Dieu de nous soumettre.” — “So much the more must every one of us submit heartily, and bend the neck under the yoke, to which it shall please God to subject us.”
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(51) Was subject unto them.There was, therefore, in the years that followed, no premature assumption of authoritynothing but the pattern of a life perfect in all its home-relationships. In such a household as that of the carpenter of Nazareth, this subjection must, in the nature of things, have involved much manual and menial worka share in the toil alike of the workshop and the house.
His mother kept all these sayings.The repetition of words like those of Luk. 2:19 is significant. The twelve years that had passed had not changed the character of the Virgin Mother. It was still conspicuous, more even than that of Joseph, for the faith which accepted what it could not understand, and waited patiently for the solution of its perplexities.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
51. Was subject unto them And thus from the very divinity of his nature he was able to give the most wonderful example of filial obedience known or conceivable.
Kept all these sayings Who should remember them but that mother? And from whom could Luke, or whoever was the writer of this account, derive it but from her lips?
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and he was subject to them, and his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.’
Responding immediately to His parents Jesus went down with them to Nazareth (going from Jerusalem is always ‘down’, even for those who go up). And there He continued to be subject to them. There had been no intention of rebellion. He had merely been doing what He saw to be right. And His mother kept in her heart all the things that were said, (and when she was asked by Luke, unburdened them to him. And by then she had gained a little more understanding). But Mary was still only a teenager herself. While she pondered she did not fully understand. And later, when she felt that she must save her boy from Himself, possibly egged on by His brothers (Mar 3:21; Mar 3:25), she was only doing what was natural for a mother. But it is a reminder to us that she too was human and so very much like us.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The return to Nazareth:
v. 51 And He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them; but His mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
v. 52. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man. A period of approximately eighteen years is covered in this simple statement of the evangelist. Although He had given His parents evidence of a greater and higher calling, He yet went with them as an obedient son. He was subject to them. In His complete fulfillment of the Law for our sakes He willingly subjected Himself to every commandment and rendered a perfect obedience, in order to atone, also in this respect, for the sins of the children. Note: Mary’s method of keeping the words she could not understand, of mulling over them continually, of preserving them fresh in her memory, deserves a wide imitation. Meanwhile it is recorded that the growth of Jesus was normal, both mentally and physically. His state of humiliation was so perfect that not only His body was subject to the general rule of nature, but also His mind. He continued His studies eagerly and gladly, He stored up a large fund of knowledge. Note: There was no sowing of wild oats in the sinless Christ. But the best and most excellent growth was that in spiritual matters. He grew in the favor, in the good will of both God and men. He lived His life in full accordance with the precepts which He learned, He put His full trust in His heavenly Father and gave evidence of this in a life of love, the most perfect example for the young men and women of all times.
Summary. Jesus is born at Bethlehem, visited by the shepherds, given the name Jesus at His circumcision, presented to the Lord in the Temple, where Simeon sings his beautiful hymn, seconded by the prophetess Anna, and visits Jerusalem at the age of twelve years.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Luk 2:51. But his mother And his mother.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
(51) And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart. (52) And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
The Reader will have all suitable apprehensions of what is contained in these verses, if he keeps in view the recollection of the Godhead, and of the Manhood of Christ. In his human nature he was, as hath been before observed in this Chapter, a true and proper man, in all point’s as we are, yet without sin. And had he not been so, he could not have been a true and proper surety. In this nature therefore, he was subject to Mary and Joseph, in all subordination. And in this nature, he increased in wisdom and stature, and in age also, (as it is rendered in the margin of our Bibles,) and in favor with God and man. For as the holiness and purity of his life became daily greater in accession, so of consequence it increased in favor both in the eye of God and man, as tending more and more to perfection. But in his divine nature there could be no increase, being in the essential properties of Jehovah, one with the Father over all God blessed forever. Amen. If men of no grace would read their Bibles with candour only, (for with more than this, untaught of God, they never can,) and recollect, that the faith once delivered to the saints, contemplates the person of Christ in his two-fold nature of God and Man united; they might from the same candour be led to suppose, that in all those passages, such as is contained in these two verses, it is the simple humanity of Christ only, which the Holy Ghost is treating of. But what becomes a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, to Infidels of every description and character, is to the faithful among the sweetest and most precious testimonies of his suitability and fitness as the Christ of God. Yes! thou dearest Lord! thy humble birth, thy laborious life, in eating bread by the sweat of thy brow, in fulfilling all righteousness, and in thy ignominious death, even the death of the cross, mark thee as the very Lamb slain from the foundation of the world! Hail! thou Lord of all, while servant of all! To thee shall every knee bow, and every tongue confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
Ver. 51. And was subject unto them ] Labouring with his hands, &c.,Mar 6:5Mar 6:5 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
51. ] The high consciousness which had manifested itself in Luk 2:49 did not interfere with His self-humiliation, nor render Him independent of his parents. This voluntary subjection probably shewed itself in working at his reputed father’s trade: see Mar 6:2 and note.
From this time we have no more mention of Joseph (ch. Luk 4:22 is not to the point): the next we hear is of His mother and brethren ( Joh 2:12 ): whence it is inferred that, between this time and the commencement of our Lord’s public life, Joseph died .
. ] These words tend to confirm the common belief that these opening chapters, or at least this narrative, may have been derived from the testimony of the mother of the Lord herself . She kept them, as in wonderful coincidence with the remarkable circumstances of His birth, and its announcement, and His presentation in the temple, and the offerings of the Magi; but in what way, or by what one great revelation all these things were to be gathered in one, did not yet appear, but was doubtless manifested to her afterwards: see Act 1:14 ; Act 2:1 .
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Luk 2:51 . , He went down with them, gentle, affectionate, habitually obedient ( ), yet tar away in thought, and solitary. : she did not forget, though she did not understand.
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
subject. See note on Luk 2:42.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
51.] The high consciousness which had manifested itself in Luk 2:49 did not interfere with His self-humiliation, nor render Him independent of his parents. This voluntary subjection probably shewed itself in working at his reputed fathers trade: see Mar 6:2 and note.
From this time we have no more mention of Joseph (ch. Luk 4:22 is not to the point): the next we hear is of His mother and brethren (Joh 2:12): whence it is inferred that, between this time and the commencement of our Lords public life, Joseph died.
.] These words tend to confirm the common belief that these opening chapters, or at least this narrative, may have been derived from the testimony of the mother of the Lord herself. She kept them, as in wonderful coincidence with the remarkable circumstances of His birth, and its announcement, and His presentation in the temple, and the offerings of the Magi; but in what way, or by what one great revelation all these things were to be gathered in one, did not yet appear, but was doubtless manifested to her afterwards: see Act 1:14; Act 2:1.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Luk 2:51. [ , to Nazareth) In that place, wherein men were supposing that nothing good resided, He who was the only good man was now staying.-V. g.]-, subject) of His own free will. Marvellous was the subjection of Him, to whom all things are subject. Even previously He had been subject to them; but this is expressly mentioned now, when it might seem that He could have by this time exempted Himself from their control. There was not even vouchsafed to the angels such an honour as was vouchsafed to the parents of Jesus.-, unto them) After this passage there is no mention of Joseph; so that it is probable that Joseph died a short while after, and that Jesus experienced the trials to which orphans are subjected. See Mar 6:2; Joh 2:12. The Theol. du Cur, Part i. pp. 9, 10, has marvellous things respecting S. Joseph.-) So the LXX. Gen 37:11, .
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
came: Luk 2:39
and was: Mat 3:15, Mar 6:3, Eph 5:21, Eph 6:1, Eph 6:2, 1Pe 2:21
kept: Luk 2:19, Gen 37:11, Dan 7:28
Reciprocal: Gen 24:21 – wondering at Deu 6:6 – shall be 1Sa 21:12 – laid up Job 22:22 – lay up Psa 119:11 – Thy word Pro 2:1 – hide Pro 24:32 – considered it Isa 53:2 – he shall grow Mar 9:10 – they Luk 1:29 – and cast Luk 1:66 – laid Luk 2:27 – the parents Luk 4:16 – to Luk 9:44 – these Luk 18:37 – Jesus Joh 7:28 – Ye both Col 3:16 – dwell 1Ti 5:4 – learn
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
AT NAZARETH
And He went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man.
Luk 2:51-52
In this glorious life of the Lord let us trace some lessons which may enable us the better to fight the good fight. See three thingssubmission, work, growth.
I. Submission.He was subjectobedientunto them. The characteristic virtue of childhood, its natural and necessary condition. The Apocryphal Gospels are full of marvels said to have been done by the Child Jesus at work or at play. Of such things Holy Scripture knows nothing. They would have been out of keeping with the laws of childhood, and it became Him, Who took our nature upon Him, to fulfil all righteousness. Every life has its times of Nazareth, its call for daily, hourly submission to the wills, the ways of others. The happiness or misery of life depends largely on the use of such opportunities. Since family life is an essential part of human probation, the Lord has left us herein an example that we should follow His steps.
II. Work.We know that the Lord shared the daily toil of the carpenter. Doing each days work in its appointed timebe the work what it mayfitted Him for the future when the work was different. Surely the lesson is not what do you do, but how do you do it?
III. Growth.Here we tread on more difficult ground. Two things seem clear amid the darkness:
(a) We must remember when we speak of growth that it does not necessarily imply imperfection. The child is not to blame because he is not a man all at once. It is the law of his being to grow. He lives by growth. Up to his measure he may be perfectly developed; but that measure, that capacity is continually expanding. And since all true growth, according to His own Divine law, must always be pleasing to God, it is but natural to read of the increase of Divine favour that accompanied the increase in wisdom as in bodily stature.
(b) Nothing can be more plain than this, that the Lords humanity was real indeed. Every line of the Gospels tell us this.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
1
Whatever object God wished to accomplish in the temple at this time by this 12-year-old boy, was done, and he was then left to accompany his parents to their home. Jesus furnishes an important example of obedience to parents that all other children should imitate. Although he possessed wisdom that was given him in a special manner (which no boy or girl today can have), yet he realized his duty to his parents. All of the things that were happening were wonderful to his mother, and she kept them in her heart or held them as a cherished subject of meditation in her young motherly affections.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Luk 2:51. Was in subjection unto them. Rendering full obedience, probably working at His reputed fathers trade (Mar 6:2). In the light of Luk 2:49 this obedience appears as a self-humiliation. It adds to our conception of the completeness of His vicarious work during these long years, to remember that there were other children in the household to try Him in the ways so common to children. The passive virtues could scarcely be manifested had He been alone.
But his mother, etc. Joseph disappears from the history at this point He probably died at some time during the eighteen years before our Lords ministry began. Mary kept all these sayings in her heart during these years, and from her the Evangelist may have derived his information.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Luk 2:51. And he went down with them to Nazareth That he might not seem to encourage disobedience in children, by withdrawing himself in that weak age from under the government of his parents, he very willingly retired with them into the obscure city of Nazareth, where for many years he was, as it were, buried alive. Doubtless he came up to Jerusalem to worship at the feast three times a year: but whether he ever went again into the temple to dispute with the doctors there, we are not told; it is, however, not improbable that he might. But we learn here, what it is more important that all children should know, namely, that he was subject to his parents. Though his parents were poor and mean, though his father, so called, was only his supposed father; yet he was subject to them; though he was strong in spirit and filled with wisdom, nay, though he was in a peculiar and proper sense the Son of God most high, yet he was subject to his human parents: how then will they answer it to God who, though ignorant, foolish, weak, and wretched, yet are disobedient to their parents? But his mother kept all these sayings in her heart She was deeply impressed with them, and thought much upon them, though she did not perfectly understand them. Doubtless she expected that hereafter they would be explained to her, and she should not only fully comprehend their meaning, but derive important instruction from them.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
3. The residence at Nazareth: Luk 2:51-52.
From this moment Jesus possesses within Him this ideal of a life entirely devoted to the kingdom of God, which had just flashed before His eyes. For eighteen years He applied Himself in silence to the business of His earthly father at Nazareth, where He is called the carpenter (Mar 6:3). The analytical form indicates the permanence of this submission; and the pres. partic. mid., submitting Himself, its spontaneous and deliberate character. In this simple word, submitting Himself, Luke has summed up the entire work of Jesus until His baptism.
But why did not God permit the child to remain in the temple of Jerusalem, which during the feastdays had been His Eden? The answer is not difficult. He must inevitably have been thrown too early into the theologico-political discussions which agitated the capital; and after having excited the admiration of the doctors, He would have provoked their hatred by His original and independent turn of thought. If the spiritual atmosphere of Nazareth was heavy, it was at least calm; and the labours of the workshop, in the retirement of this peaceful valley, under the eye of the Father, was a more favourable sphere for the development of Jesus than the ritualism of the temple and the Rabbinical discussions of Jerusalem.
The remark at the end of Luk 2:51 is similar to that at Luk 2:19; only for the verb , which denoted the grouping of a great number of circumstances, to collect and combine them, Luke substitutes here another compound, . This denotes the permanence of the recollection, notwithstanding circumstances which might have effaced it, particularly the inability to understand recorded in Luk 2:50. She carefully kept in her possession this profound saying as an unexplained mystery.
The fifty-second verse describes the youth of Jesus, as the fortieth verse had depicted His childhood; and these two brief sketches correspond with the two analogous pictures of John the Baptist (Luk 1:66; Luk 1:80). Each of these general remarks, if it stood alone, might be regarded, as Schleiermacher has suggested, as the close of a small document. But their relation to each other, and their periodical recurrence, demonstrate the unity of our writing. This form is met with again in the book of the Acts. does not here denote age, which would yield no meaning at all, but height, stature, just as Luk 19:3. This term embraces the entire physical development, all the external advantages; , wisdom, refers to the intellectual and moral development. The third term, favour with God and men, completes the other two. Over the person of this young man there was spread a charm at once external and spiritual; it proceeded from the favour of God, and conciliated towards Him the favour of men. This perfectly normal human being was the beginning of a reconciliation between heaven and earth. The term wisdom refers rather to with God; the word stature to with men. The last words, with men, establish a contrast between Jesus and John the Baptist, who at this very time was growing up in the solitude of the desert; and this contrast is the prelude to that which later on was to be exhibited in their respective ministries.
There is no notion for the forgetfulness or denial of which theology pays more dearly than that of a development in pure goodness. This positive notion is derived by biblical Christianity from this verse. With it the humanity of Jesus may be accepted, as it is here presented by Luke, in all its reality.
Fuente: Godet Commentary (Luke, John, Romans and 1 Corinthians)
Verse 51
The peculiar character of Mary’s feelings towards her infant son is beautifully intimated to us in these and similar expressions, which show the strong affection of the mother, repressed and controlled by the mysterious sacredness with which the subject of it was invested. She observes every thing, watches every thing, but is silent in respect to what she sees, laying it up in her heart. It seems as if the sacred writers perceived the peculiar dramatic interest of her position; for every allusion to her is in keeping with it, and heightens the effect. Wherever she appears,–on this occasion, at the marriage in Cana of Galilee, in her attendance upon Jesus in his journeyings, and at his last hour, standing by his side, at the cross,–we seem to see in her look, her attitude, her tone of voice, and in the meaning of the few words she utters, that mingling of maternal pride and maternal anxiety,–of motherly fondness for a son, and of religious veneration for a Savior,–which we might almost have supposed to have been inconsistent with each other. Silent, unobtrusive, and retiring, but ever watchful, ever at hand, we know not which most to admire, the ardent affection which kept her near her son, even in his greatest dangers, or the singular quietness of spirit and reserve, through which she always keeps, in every scene, a position so becoming to the gentleness and modesty of woman. It is not surprising that in the dark and superstitious ages of the church, she was almost worshipped as divine.
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
2:51 {9} And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
(9) Christ, very man, is made like us in every way except sin.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
7. Jesus’ continuing growth 2:51-52
Jesus’ obedience to His heavenly Father included obedience to His earthly parents (Exo 20:12; cf. Col 3:20). Luke balanced the former revelation of Jesus’ deity with this indication of His humanity. His second reference to Mary meditating on these things continues the implication that his record of these events came from her or from someone close to her (cf. Gen 37:11).
Usually young people who give God His proper place in their lives develop into normal adults, people whom God and other people approve (cf. Pro 3:1-12). This was true of Jesus (cf. 1Sa 2:26). Jesus’ mental, social, and spiritual powers developed along with His physical powers. He was fully man as well as fully God who voluntarily set aside some of His divine prerogatives temporarily in the Incarnation (Php 2:7). The Greek word translated "increased" or "grew" (Luk 2:52, prokopto) literally means to make one’s way forward by chopping down obstacles, a vivid description of the maturation process (cf. Luk 2:40).
Luke’s original Greek readers were familiar with the concept of gods visiting humans. This was common in their mythology. However those gods did not become humans; they remained different from mortals. Luke probably recorded so much information about Jesus’ birth and early life to help them believe that Jesus became a real man at the Incarnation.
"The [Greco-Roman] biographical tradition used a combination of birth, family, and boyhood stories to give anticipations about the future life of the hero. . . . All of these components functioned also as prophecies of the character of the public career of the subject of the biography. If this was their purpose in the Greco-Roman biographies, then this is how a reader/hearer of Luke would most probably have taken the material of a similar nature in Luk 1:5 to Luk 4:15.
"Virtually the totality of the material about Jesus in Luk 1:5 to Luk 4:15 would have been regarded as an anticipation of his later public greatness. . . . [This material] would combine to foretell/foreshadow the type of person Jesus would be in his public ministry which began at Luk 4:16-30." [Note: Charles H. Talbert, "Prophecies of Future Greatness: The Contribution of Greco-Roman Biographies to an Understanding of Luke 1:5-4:15," in The Divine Helmsman: Studies on God’s Control of Human Events, Presented to Lou H. Silberman, p. 137.]