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[No Limits]

Was baby Jesus omnipotent and omniscient? Because of the time of the year we are in, I got to thinking about baby Jesus and a few questions came to mind:

When Jesus was born from Mary, was he, as an infant, omnipotent and omniscient?
Could have have walked, talked, and performed miracles as a newborn baby?
If he couldn't, then when he obtain the ability to perform miracles?
If he was omniscient and omnipotent as a newborn, then was he just playing the part of a baby/child until he was old enough to be taken seriously by the public?

These may sound like silly questions, but I'm genuine in my curiosity.

[jimwalton]

The Bible is quite clear that Jesus always was God, that there was never a time when he was not. Therefore, by force of reason, he was always omnipotent and omniscient, even as a baby. Being a human being in every sense of the word (yet without sin, as the Bible says), he would have been subject to the normal characteristics of humanity. In other words, he didn't walk when he was 2 months old. Could he have? That's a trick question, because he never used his power before the resurrection to override his human nature. (Even when he walked on the water, we can assume he changed the surface tension of the water, not necessarily his human nature, as is evidenced by the fact that Peter was also enabled to walk on the water.)

When did he have the ability to perform miracles? Always, by virtue of reason. But he didn't begin to use that power until he started his ministry at age 30, after his baptism and temptation.

Was he just playing a part until he was old enough? In a sense. He was waiting until the time appointed by God the Father for him to begin his public ministry.

Two other verses play into your question. Lk. 2.52 says Jesus "grew in wisdom and stature." It's fair to say that Jesus could grow in wisdom in the sense that he was experiencing new things as a human: temptation, learning obedience, praying with other people, rejection even as a kid, human laughter. These kinds of experiences don't mean he wasn't omniscient, but that he was experiencing life as a human for the first time. It was actually part of the point of the incarnation.

But it also says he grew in wisdom. In the biblical sense, wisdom is a moral as well as intellectual quality, and mostly related to harnessing one's intelligence to a right end, always choosing the best and highest goal, acting in accord with God's will, and living a totally righteous life. In this sense it's easy to apply this word to Jesus who, as a growing human, would apply his intelligence and actions to the most proper end.

The other verse is Phil. 2.7, where it says Jesus "emptied himself" when he became incarnated. That has to be interpreted, but it's generally understood to mean that he voluntarily set aside the prerogatives of deity (not the nature of deity). He laid aside his divine appearance (the form of God); he did not divest himself of his divine nature. He took the form of a servant. There is no implication here that in coming to earth he became less than divine or couldn't do things that he had previously been able to do, but that he was choosing NOT to do them—he set aside that entitlement.