When a child displays expert proficiency in a field usually only undertaken by adults, they are usually referred to as a prodigy. Here are some examples:
Murray Gell-Mann – (Known as The Man With 5 Brains) Taught himself calculus at seven. Went to Yale at 15 and received his PhD from MIT at 20. Winner of the 1969 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Lev Landau – Entered University at 14. Pioneered Condensed matter, and “created” the Russian school of theoretical physics. Winner of the 1962 Nobel Prize in Physics.
Robert Clark Young – was reading and writing English and Spanish by age of five, wrote a novel at the age of 13 and submitted it to New York publishers before he was a freshman in high school, sold his first newspaper article at 14.
Steve Kirsch – Wrote an e-mail program at the age of 12, witnessed, participated in the birth of the internet.
David Farragut – First Navy command at 12 years old.
Eric Lo Shih-kai – a 13-year-old Taiwanese golfer who last November became the youngest person ever to play in a PGA European Tour event.
The parents of these children must have known that they were raising a special child. Think of the great responsibility it is to raise a child with special gifts. Think of the pride they felt as they watched their child develop his or her gift.
Jesus was a child prodigy. The Bible says that Jesus was found at the temple teaching the men at age 12. Can you imagine how Mary and Joseph must have felt? (I can hear the other mothers now – “Get a load of Mary’s son. Did you see him teaching those men in Temple yesterday? It was amazing, I tell ya!) They knew that their son Jesus was from God. (He didn’t have a natural human father) They knew He was special. What kind of feelings dwelled up inside them as they realized the great responsibility of raising the Son of God!
Jesus was still a boy. A human being. He had feelings. He felt pain. He felt sad, happy, angry. He became physically tired and thirsty. But yet, He was still God. His ultimate human experience also showed us His deity. Jesus became man so that he could experience a human death. The greatest proof that he was human. But, we know the “rest of the story”. His death was necessary as THE final sacrifice for sin. Jesus demonstrated that He was also God by conquering death. He became alive again. It is in this single act that we receive our HOPE. It is the CORNERSTONE of our faith.
Joseph and Mary must have been proud…