QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ON LUKE 2:52: THE HUMAN KNOWLEDGE OF JESUS CHRIST

Luke 2:52
And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.

If Jesus is one of the Trinity, why did he need to grow in wisdom and grace?

When the fullness of time came, the divine Second Person of the Trinity united to himself a flesh animated by a rational soul, and thus became man (John 1:14; Galatians 4:4) remaining God (John 20:28; Acts 20:28; Colossians 2:9; Titus 2:13; 2 Peter 1:1). Therefore in Jesus Christ there are two natures, divine and human, without confusion or change or division or separation. In Christ, the soul, which had become proper to the divine Second Person of the Trinity, possessed an authentic human knowledge. In such knowledge one must distinguish between the acquired one, the infused one, and the blissful one. The first is that according to which Jesus had to inquire in order to learn (Matthew 15:34; Mark 8:27; John 11:34). By itself this knowledge is limited. And precisely this knowledge must refer to the words of Luke 2:52. The second is that which only God can instill in the intellect of man. Thus Jesus, full of the Spirit of God with his gifts (Isaiah 11:1-3), also in his humanity knows all the most secret thoughts of every heart (Mark 2:8; John 2:25; 6:61). The third is that according to which human knowledge is united with the divine knowledge of the Second Person of the Trinity, so that Jesus, also as man knows all things (John 21:17). Since that of Jesus is a human soul, it has been perfected just like the souls of other men, through habitual grace, which elevates the soul and enables it to live in communion with God. In this sense, Jesus grew in grace. As a divine person, however, Jesus had absolutely no need to grow in grace and knowledge.