The readings for the second Sunday after Christmas are taken from 1 Kings 3:4-15, Ephesians 1:3-14, and Luke 2:40-52.
Solomon was a promised son of David; Jesus was THE promised son of David and David’s Lord. And we are children of God because God has chosen to regenerate our souls in the image of Christ. First Kings records how God invited Solomon to ask what he will (compare to Isaiah 7:10-14). Solomon admits that he is a child and asks for wisdom. God promises wisdom and gives it, but that wisdom will be ruined by the folly of Adam that is bound up in Solomon’s human nature—and in ours.
Paul unwraps the gift of Christ for the Ephesians. Because of Jesus Christ, God has predestined us to be adopted as His children, to live in a universe of forgiveness, and to be given wisdom and insight into the mystery of God’s will to unite all things in Christ.
Only Luke records the life of Jesus as a youth. Even Mary and Joseph become unaware or forget who Jesus is and how it is necessary for Him to be about His Father’s work. Part of Jesus’ work is to fulfill the condition that Solomon could not. From conception to ascension, Jesus fulfills everything that redemption and eternal life depend on—and we depend on Him.