Stump the Pastor 4: What Was Jesus Like as a Child?

This may sound like a silly question at first, but I think it frustrates a lot of Christians: What was Jesus like as a child?

The frustrating answer is that we do not know nearly as much as we would like. The Bible does not give us a full childhood biography of Jesus. It does not tell us His favorite food, what games He liked to play, whether He was quiet or talkative, whether He laughed loudly, whether He was good with animals, or what His relationship with the neighborhood kids was like.

But Scripture does tell us enough to say some very important things.

First, Jesus was one hundred percent human.

That means Jesus did not merely appear to be human. He was not pretending. He was not God wearing a human costume. He took on our flesh and truly entered into our life. John says, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). Hebrews says that since we share in flesh and blood, Jesus Himself likewise partook of the same things (Hebrews 2:14).

So Jesus had a real body. He got tired. He became hungry and thirsty. He grew. He learned. He slept. He cried. As beloved as the Christmas hymn “Away in a Manger” may be, the line “no crying He makes” can give the wrong impression. Crying is not sinful. Babies cry. A truly human baby Jesus would have cried when He was hungry, tired, cold, startled, or uncomfortable.

He probably skinned His knees. He probably got splinters. He probably played. He probably had friends. He probably had chores. He probably heard Mary call Him in for supper. He probably knew what it was to be dusty, sweaty, sore, and exhausted after a long day.

This matters because Jesus did not redeem human life from a distance. He entered it. He sanctified it from the inside. He did not skip over childhood. He did not bypass family life. He did not jump straight from the manger to the cross. He lived the ordinary human life that we live, yet without sin.

That is the second important thing we know: Jesus was sinless.

Jesus was not a mischievous little sinner who needed to be corrected for selfishness, dishonesty, cruelty, laziness, or rebellion. Hebrews says that Jesus was “in every respect tempted as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15). Peter says, “He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2:22). He is the spotless Lamb of God, “without blemish or spot” (1 Peter 1:19).

He never sinned in thought, word, or deed. He never dishonored His parents. He never lied to get out of trouble. He never shoved a sibling out of anger. He never stole. He never pouted in selfish resentment. He never rolled His eyes at Mary or Joseph.

And honestly, that may have been frustrating for everyone else.

Can you imagine being one of Jesus’ brothers or sisters? The Gospels tell us that Jesus had brothers named James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas, and that He also had sisters (Matthew 13:55–56; Mark 6:3). You could not blame anything on Jesus. You could not say, “Jesus started it,” because He did not. You could not say, “Jesus was being selfish,” because He was not. The problem with living next to perfect holiness is that sinners tend to find holiness irritating before they find it beautiful.

We see a glimpse of this later in Jesus’ ministry when John tells us, “For not even his brothers believed in him” (John 7:5). That does not mean Jesus was hard to love. It means sinners have a hard time standing next to perfect righteousness. Even His family had to come to see Him not merely as their brother, but as their Lord.

The clearest biblical picture of Jesus as a child comes from Luke 2. Mary and Joseph take Jesus to Jerusalem for the Passover (Luke 2:41–42). When they begin the trip home, they assume He is with the traveling group. After a day’s journey, they realize He is missing. Like any parent would be, they panic. They return to Jerusalem and search for Him (Luke 2:43–45).

After three days, they find Him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. Luke tells us, “And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers” (Luke 2:46–47).

What a fascinating picture.

Jesus is not being sinful. He is not running away in rebellion. He is not trying to hurt His parents. He is in His Father’s house, drawn to the Word of God, listening, learning, asking, answering, and astonishing the teachers with His understanding.

Yet Mary says to Him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress” (Luke 2:48). That is such a human moment. Jesus has not sinned, and yet His parents are exasperated. He has not done wrong, and yet Mary and Joseph have been afraid, confused, and overwhelmed.

Jesus answers, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” (Luke 2:49). Even at twelve years old, Jesus knows who He is. He knows His life is ordered toward His Father’s will.

But then Luke tells us something just as important: “And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them” (Luke 2:51).

There is the beauty of Jesus’ childhood. He is perfectly devoted to His heavenly Father, and He is perfectly obedient to His earthly parents. He is free from sin, and He still submits. He is Lord of heaven and earth, and He still goes home when Mary and Joseph bring Him home.

Every parent might pause there and think, “Wouldn’t that be nice?”

But we should also pause in wonder. The eternal Son of God obeyed His parents. The One through whom all things were made learned to live under the care, instruction, and authority of Mary and Joseph.

Luke summarizes these years with one beautiful sentence: “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (Luke 2:52).

That verse is worth sitting with. Jesus grew in stature. His body grew from infancy to boyhood to manhood. Jesus grew in wisdom. According to His human nature, He truly learned. He learned to speak. He learned the Scriptures. He learned prayers. He learned the rhythms of Jewish worship. He learned a trade. He learned how to interact with neighbors, customers, relatives, and friends.

This does not mean Jesus stopped being God. It means His humanity was real. The mystery of Christmas is not that God looked human. The mystery is that God became man.

So what would His education have looked like?

Jesus grew up in a faithful Jewish home. Mary and Joseph brought Him to the temple. They observed the feasts. They knew the Word of God. In Nazareth, Jesus would have been shaped by the synagogue, by the Scriptures, by prayer, by memorization, and by the worship life of His people. Luke tells us that, as an adult, Jesus went to the synagogue on the Sabbath “as was his custom” (Luke 4:16). That habit did not begin out of nowhere. He was raised in the Word and worship of God.

Jewish children in His world learned deeply through repetition, listening, reciting, and asking questions. That fits beautifully with the scene in Luke 2, where Jesus is found among the teachers, listening and asking questions (Luke 2:46).

He would have known the Torah. He would have heard the Psalms. He would have grown up with the prophets. Later, when Jesus is tempted by Satan in the wilderness, He answers each temptation with Scripture, saying, “It is written” (Matthew 4:4, 7, 10). That did not come from nowhere. The Word of God filled His human mind and came naturally from His lips.

Jesus also would have learned Joseph’s trade.

The Gospels call Joseph a carpenter, and Jesus Himself is called the same. In Matthew, the people ask of Jesus, “Is not this the carpenter’s son?” (Matthew 13:55). In Mark, they ask, “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary?” (Mark 6:3).

The Greek word there is “tekton.” We often translate that as “carpenter,” which is not wrong, but the word can carry a broader meaning: craftsman, builder, or tradesman. Joseph probably did work with wood, but in Galilee that may not have meant only making chairs and tables. A builder might also work with stone, beams, roofs, doors, tools, carts, plows, yokes, and the materials needed for homes and village life.

So imagine Jesus in the workshop. Imagine Him learning how to measure, cut, carry, smooth, lift, repair, and build. Imagine Joseph showing Him how to use tools. Imagine Jesus developing calloused hands. Imagine Him knowing the satisfaction of honest work and the tiredness that comes at the end of the day.

There is also an interesting historical possibility here. Nazareth was not far from Sepphoris, a significant city rebuilt under Herod Antipas. We cannot prove that Joseph and Jesus worked there, and we should not say more than we know. But it is very possible that a craftsman from Nazareth could have found work in nearby building projects. That means Jesus may have grown up not only around village life, but also with some awareness of the larger world of construction, politics, wealth, poverty, labor, and empire.

Again, we should be careful. The Bible does not say, “Jesus worked in Sepphoris.” But historically, it is not hard to imagine that the carpenter’s son from Nazareth knew more than a tiny isolated village life. He knew work. He knew people. He knew laborers. He knew landowners. He knew religious leaders. He knew the poor. He knew the powerful. When Jesus later teaches in parables about builders, vineyards, laborers, debtors, managers, masters, servants, houses, foundations, and daily bread, He is not speaking as someone untouched by ordinary life.

He knew the world He came to save.

One of my favorite passages to imagine in connection with Jesus’ childhood comes from James. James writes, “Let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:19–20).

Now, I cannot prove that James was sitting there thinking, “This is what my brother Jesus was like when we were children.” Scripture does not tell us that. But it is hard not to wonder. James, the brother of our Lord, grew up near Jesus. He saw Him. He knew His gentleness. He knew His patience. He knew His moral beauty. He knew what it looked like when someone was quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.

Wouldn’t Jesus have stood out?

Not in a flashy way. Not in a self-righteous way. Not as a strange little religious show-off. But in quiet holiness. Patient. Gentle. Obedient. Faithful. Attentive to the Word. Kind to the weak. Truthful in every word. Without sinful anger. Without selfishness. Without deceit.

And yet, fully human.

That is the part we should not lose. Sometimes when we talk about Jesus’ sinlessness, we accidentally make Him sound less human. But sin is not what makes us human. Sin is what corrupts our humanity. Jesus is not less human because He is sinless. He is the only fully human person who has ever lived. He is humanity without the stain, without the corruption, without the rebellion, without the brokenness.

So what was Jesus like as a child?

He was a real child. A boy with a real body, real growth, real learning, real work, real relationships, and real family life.

He was a sinless child. Never selfish. Never cruel. Never rebellious. Never deceitful. Never dishonoring God or neighbor.

He was a faithful child. Drawn to His Father’s house. Filled with the Word. Obedient to Mary and Joseph. Growing in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man.

And He was already the Savior.

The child in the temple would one day cleanse the temple (John 2:13–17). The carpenter’s son would one day carry a wooden cross (John 19:17). The boy who learned the Scriptures would one day fulfill them (Luke 24:44). The obedient Son of Mary would one day pray, “Not my will, but yours, be done” (Luke 22:42). The sinless child would become the spotless Lamb, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29; 1 Peter 1:19).

We may not know everything we would like to know about Jesus’ childhood. But what we do know is enough to fill us with wonder.

God became man.

God became a child.

And He did it for you.