<p>2:40 <i>And the child grew and became strong, filled with wisdom; and the grace of God was upon him</i>- &quot;Grace&quot; often refers to the gift of the Spirit. The parallel is with the growth of John the Baptist in 1:80, who was strong in the Spirit, and filled with the Spirit from the womb.&nbsp;</p><p>Hebrews always speaks of Him as &ldquo;perfected&rdquo;, as a verb (Heb. 2:10; 5:9; 7:28)- never with the adjective &lsquo;perfect&rsquo;. Apart from being a major problem for Trinitarian views, this simple fact sets Him up as <i>our</i> pattern, whom the Father seeks likewise &lsquo;to perfect&rsquo;. Yet the path the Lord had to take to achieve this was hard indeed. Not only did it culminate in the cross, but His growth as a young man is described by the word <i>prokoptein</i> (Lk. 2:40,52), defined by Karl Barth <i>Church Dogmatics</i> I 2, p. 158 as meaning &lsquo;to extend by blows, as a smith stretches metal by hammering&rsquo;. Through childhood crises and the turmoil of adolescence, this is what He went through, to lead Him to the final &lsquo;perfection&rsquo; of being able to say &ldquo;I am&rdquo;.&nbsp;</p>