Did Christ know who He was as a youth?

Question

Did Jesus Christ know as a baby that He was the Son of God?

When He worked carpentry with Joseph, His earthly father, did He know then Who or What He was? Did He sense in anyway prior to being a young prodigy (learning and eventually teaching in the temple) that He was the Anointed One?

Do the Scriptures say anything about this issue? Do any church traditions or the writings of the Early Church Fathers offer any perspective?

Answer 1

Luke 2 tells the story of Jesus as a boy in the Temple. His parents had taken Him to a feast there and had left Him behind on their return trip. When they returned to Jerusalem to find Him, Jesus asks His mother a question--"Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?"

Now, the Temple was not where Joseph lived, but was the House of God. So, from that very early age, Jesus understood who He was and that His Father was not Joseph, but God the Father.

Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the Feast of the Passover. And when he was twelve years old, they went up according to custom. And when the feast was ended, as they were returning, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. His parents did not know it, but supposing him to be in the group they went a day's journey, but then they began to search for him among their relatives and acquaintances, and when they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem, searching for him. After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. And when his parents saw him, they were astonished. And his mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us so? Behold, your father and I have been searching for you in great distress.” And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house?” And they did not understand the saying that he spoke to them. And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them. And his mother treasured up all these things in her heart. Luke 2:41-51 ESV

Answer 2

We know almost nothing for sure about the life of Jesus before starting his public ministry. From the Gospels we have only the birth narratives and "boy Jesus in the temple", which are really very little to go on. From those we can deduce a couple of things:

• Mary knew quite a lot about the destiny of her son, that he would "redeem his people". It's not known whether she chose to pass this knowledge on to Jesus. I don't know if that counts as 'knowing' in the way you mean.
• Jesus clearly knew he was unusual in some way, from the temple narrative. He must have known that it was not usual for young boys to be disputing theology with the teachers; at least he would have been told that afterwards
• Jesus clearly had foreknowledge of his destiny by the start of his public ministry

There are a number of ancient extra-biblical traditions regarding the infant Jesus, in which he performs miracles. The Infancy Gospel of Thomas is an example. If these have any credence at all then they would tend to support the view that Jesus at least knew he was not a normal child at an early age.

Answer 3

One of the best Biblical Scholars on the gospels that I know of implies that Christ was in many ways like a normal baby. Not only would he have not known that he was the Messiah when he was two, but he may not have been potty trained yet.

As far as I know his visit to the temple is seen as a potential place Jesus began to really become conscious that he was the Christ:

And yet this awakening of the Christ-consciousness on His first visit to the Temple, partial, and perhaps even temporary, as it may have been, seems itself like the morning-dawn, which from the pinnacle of the Temple the Priest watched, ere he summoned his waiting brethren beneath to offer the early sacrifice. (Alfred Edersheim, The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, P243)

This seems to be a valid suggestion because in many many places in the Bible even as an adult, where Jesus as a man was not aware of things that he naturally knew as God.

Rather:

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