-------- Original message --------
Subject: Jesus at Jerusalem
From: Will Pierce <willpier@gmail.com>
To:
CC:
Jesus at Jerusalem
NO INCIDENT in all Jesus' eventful earth career was more engaging,
more humanly thrilling, than this, his first remembered visit to Jerusalem.
He was especially stimulated by the experience of attending the temple
discussions by himself, and it long stood out in his memory as the great
event of his later childhood and early youth. This was his first opportunity
to enjoy a few days of independent living, the exhilaration of going and
coming without restraint and restrictions. This brief period of undirected
living, during the week following the Passover, was the first complete
freedom from responsibility he had ever enjoyed. And it was many years
subsequent to this before he again had a like period of freedom from all
sense of responsibility, even for a short time.
Women seldom went to the Passover feast at Jerusalem; they were not
required to be present. Jesus, however, virtually refused to go unless his
mother would accompany them. And when his mother decided to go, many other
Nazareth women were led to make the journey, so that the Passover company
contained the largest number of women, in proportion to men, ever to go up
to the Passover from Nazareth. Ever and anon, on the way to Jerusalem, they
chanted the one hundred and thirtieth Psalm.
From the time they left Nazareth until they reached the summit of the
Mount of Olives, Jesus experienced one long stress of expectant
anticipation. All through a joyful childhood he had reverently heard of
Jerusalem and its temple; now he was soon to behold them in reality. From
the Mount of Olives and from the outside, on closer inspection, the temple
had been all and more than Jesus had expected; but when he once entered its
sacred portals, the great disillusionment began.
In company with his parents Jesus passed through the temple precincts
on his way to join that group of new sons of the law who were about to be
consecrated as citizens of Israel. He was a little disappointed by the
general demeanor of the temple throngs, but the first great shock of the day
came when his mother took leave of them on her way to the women's gallery.
It had never occurred to Jesus that his mother was not to accompany him to
the consecration ceremonies, and he was thoroughly indignant that she was
made to suffer from such unjust discrimination. While he strongly resented
this, aside from a few remarks of protest to his father, he said nothing.
But he thought, and thought deeply, as his questions to the scribes and
teachers a week later disclosed.
He passed through the consecration rituals but was disappointed by
their perfunctory and routine natures. He missed that personal interest
which characterized the ceremonies of the synagogue at Nazareth. He then
returned to greet his mother and prepared to accompany his father on his
first trip about the temple and its various courts, galleries, and
corridors. The temple precincts could accommodate over two hundred thousand
worshipers at one time, and while the vastness of these buildings — in
comparison with any he had ever seen — greatly impressed his mind, he was
more intrigued by the contemplation of the spiritual significance of the
temple ceremonies and their associated worship.
Though many of the temple rituals very touchingly impressed his sense
of the beautiful and the symbolic, he was always disappointed by the
explanation of the real meanings of these ceremonies which his parents would
offer in answer to his many searching inquiries. Jesus simply would not
accept explanations of worship and religious devotion which involved belief
in the wrath of God or the anger of the Almighty. In further discussion of
these questions, after the conclusion of the temple visit, when his father
became mildly insistent that he acknowledge acceptance of the orthodox
Jewish beliefs, Jesus turned suddenly upon his parents and, looking
appealingly into the eyes of his father, said: "My father, it cannot be true
— the Father in heaven cannot so regard his erring children on earth. The
heavenly Father cannot love his children less than you love me. And I well
know, no matter what unwise thing I might do, you would never pour out wrath
upon me nor vent anger against me. If you, my earthly father, possess such
human reflections of the Divine, how much more must the heavenly Father be
filled with goodness and overflowing with mercy. I refuse to believe that my
Father in heaven loves me less than my father on earth."
When Joseph and Mary heard these words of their first-born son, they
held their peace. And never again did they seek to change his mind about the
love of God and the mercifulness of the Father in heaven.
1. Jesus Views the Temple
Everywhere Jesus went throughout the temple courts, he was shocked and
sickened by the spirit of irreverence which he observed. He deemed the
conduct of the temple throngs to be inconsistent with their presence in "his
Father's house." But he received the shock of his young life when his father
escorted him into the court of the gentiles with its noisy jargon, loud
talking and cursing, mingled indiscriminately with the bleating of sheep and
the babble of noises which betrayed the presence of the money-changers and
the vendors of sacrificial animals and sundry other commercial commodities.
But most of all was his sense of propriety outraged by the sight of
the frivolous courtesans parading about within this precinct of the temple,
just such painted women as he had so recently seen when on a visit to
Sepphoris. This profanation of the temple fully aroused all his youthful
indignation, and he did not hesitate to express himself freely to Joseph.
Jesus admired the sentiment and service of the temple, but he was
shocked by the spiritual ugliness which he beheld on the faces of so many of
the unthinking worshipers.
They now passed down to the priests' court beneath the rock ledge in
front of the temple, where the altar stood, to observe the killing of the
droves of animals and the washing away of the blood from the hands of the
officiating slaughter priests at the bronze fountain. The bloodstained
pavement, the gory hands of the priests, and the sounds of the dying animals
were more than this nature-loving lad could stand. The terrible sight
sickened this boy of Nazareth; he clutched his father's arm and begged to be
taken away. They walked back through the court of the gentiles, and even the
coarse laughter and profane jesting which he there heard were a relief from
the sights he had just beheld.
Joseph saw how his son had sickened at the sight of the temple rites
and wisely led him around to view the "gate beautiful," the artistic gate
made of Corinthian bronze. But Jesus had had enough for his first visit at
the temple. They returned to the upper court for Mary and walked about in
the open air and away from the crowds for an hour, viewing the Asmonean
palace, the stately home of Herod, and the tower of the Roman guards. During
this stroll Joseph explained to Jesus that only the inhabitants of Jerusalem
were permitted to witness the daily sacrifices in the temple, and that the
dwellers in Galilee came up only three times a year to participate in the
temple worship: at the Passover, at the feast of Pentecost (seven weeks
after Passover), and at the feast of tabernacles in October. These feasts
were established by Moses. They then discussed the two later established
feasts of the dedication and of Purim. Afterward they went to their lodgings
and made ready for the celebration of the Passover.
2. Jesus and the Passover
Five Nazareth families were guests of, or associates with, the family
of Simon of Bethany in the celebration of the Passover, Simon having
purchased the paschal lamb for the company. It was the slaughter of these
lambs in such enormous numbers that had so affected Jesus on his temple
visit. It had been the plan to eat the Passover with Mary's relatives, but
Jesus persuaded his parents to accept the invitation to go to Bethany.
That night they assembled for the Passover rites, eating the roasted
flesh with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. Jesus, being a new son of the
covenant, was asked to recount the origin of the Passover, and this he well
did, but he somewhat disconcerted his parents by the inclusion of numerous
remarks mildly reflecting the impressions made on his youthful but
thoughtful mind by the things which he had so recently seen and heard. This
was the beginning of the seven-day ceremonies of the feast of the Passover.
Even at this early date, though he said nothing about such matters to
his parents, Jesus had begun to turn over in his mind the propriety of
celebrating the Passover without the slaughtered lamb. He felt assured in
his own mind that the Father in heaven was not pleased with this spectacle
of sacrificial offerings, and as the years passed, he became increasingly
determined someday to establish the celebration of a bloodless Passover.
Jesus slept very little that night. His rest was greatly disturbed by
revolting dreams of slaughter and suffering. His mind was distraught and his
heart torn by the inconsistencies and absurdities of the theology of the
whole Jewish ceremonial system. His parents likewise slept little. They were
greatly disconcerted by the events of the day just ended. They were
completely upset in their own hearts by the lad's, to them, strange and
determined attitude. Mary became nervously agitated during the fore part of
the night, but Joseph remained calm, though he was equally puzzled. Both of
them feared to talk frankly with the lad about these problems, though Jesus
would gladly have talked with his parents if they had dared to encourage
him.
The next day's services at the temple were more acceptable to Jesus
and did much to relieve the unpleasant memories of the previous day. The
following morning young Lazarus took Jesus in hand, and they began a
systematic exploration of Jerusalem and its environs. Before the day was
over, Jesus discovered the various places about the temple where teaching
and question conferences were in progress; and aside from a few visits to
the holy of holies to gaze in wonder as to what really was behind the veil
of separation, he spent most of his time about the temple at these teaching
conferences.
Throughout the Passover week, Jesus kept his place among the new sons
of the commandment, and this meant that he must seat himself outside the
rail which segregated all persons who were not full citizens of Israel.
Being thus made conscious of his youth, he refrained from asking the many
questions which surged back and forth in his mind; at least he refrained
until the Passover celebration had ended and these restrictions on the newly
consecrated youths were lifted.
On Wednesday of the Passover week, Jesus was permitted to go home with
Lazarus to spend the night at Bethany. This evening, Lazarus, Martha, and
Mary heard Jesus discuss things temporal and eternal, human and divine, and
from that night on they all three loved him as if he had been their own
brother.
By the end of the week, Jesus saw less of Lazarus since he was not
eligible for admission to even the outer circle of the temple discussions,
though he attended some of the public talks delivered in the outer courts.
Lazarus was the same age as Jesus, but in Jerusalem youths were seldom
admitted to the consecration of sons of the law until they were a full
thirteen years of age.
Again and again, during the Passover week, his parents would find
Jesus sitting off by himself with his youthful head in his hands, profoundly
thinking. They had never seen him behave like this, and not knowing how much
he was confused in mind and troubled in spirit by the experience through
which he was passing, they were sorely perplexed; they did not know what to
do. They welcomed the passing of the days of the Passover week and longed to
have their strangely acting son safely back in Nazareth.
Day by day Jesus was thinking through his problems. By the end of the
week he had made many adjustments; but when the time came to return to
Nazareth, his youthful mind was still swarming with perplexities and beset
by a host of unanswered questions and unsolved problems.
Before Joseph and Mary left Jerusalem, in company with Jesus' Nazareth
teacher they made definite arrangements for Jesus to return when he reached
the age of fifteen to begin his long course of study in one of the
best-known academies of the rabbis. Jesus accompanied his parents and
teacher on their visits to the school, but they were all distressed to
observe how indifferent he seemed to all they said and did. Mary was deeply
pained at his reactions to the Jerusalem visit, and Joseph was profoundly
perplexed at the lad's strange remarks and unusual conduct.
After all, Passover week had been a great event in Jesus' life. He had
enjoyed the opportunity of meeting scores of boys about his own age, fellow
candidates for the consecration, and he utilized such contacts as a means of
learning how people lived in Mesopotamia, Turkestan, and Parthia, as well as
in the Far-Western provinces of Rome. He was already fairly conversant with
the way in which the youth of Egypt and other regions near Palestine grew
up. There were thousands of young people in Jerusalem at this time, and the
Nazareth lad personally met, and more or less extensively interviewed, more
than one hundred and fifty. He was particularly interested in those who
hailed from the Far-Eastern and the remote Western countries. As a result of
these contacts the lad began to entertain a desire to travel about the world
for the purpose of learning how the various groups of his fellow men toiled
for their livelihood.
3. Departure of Joseph and Mary
It had been arranged that the Nazareth party should gather in the
region of the temple at midforenoon on the first day of the week after the
Passover festival had ended. This they did and started out on the return
journey to Nazareth. Jesus had gone into the temple to listen to the
discussions while his parents awaited the assembly of their fellow
travelers. Presently the company prepared to depart, the men going in one
group and the women in another as was their custom in journeying to and from
the Jerusalem festivals. Jesus had gone up to Jerusalem in company with his
mother and the women. Being now a young man of the consecration, he was
supposed to journey back to Nazareth in company with his father and the men.
But as the Nazareth party moved on toward Bethany, Jesus was completely
absorbed in the discussion of angels, in the temple, being wholly unmindful
of the passing of the time for the departure of his parents. And he did not
realize that he had been left behind until the noontime adjournment of the
temple conferences.
The Nazareth travelers did not miss Jesus because Mary surmised he
journeyed with the men, while Joseph thought he traveled with the women
since he had gone up to Jerusalem with the women, leading Mary's donkey.
They did not discover his absence until they reached Jericho and prepared to
tarry for the night. After making inquiry of the last of the party to reach
Jericho and learning that none of them had seen their son, they spent a
sleepless night, turning over in their minds what might have happened to
him, recounting many of his unusual reactions to the events of Passover
week, and mildly chiding each other for not seeing to it that he was in the
group before they left Jerusalem.
4. First and Second Days in the Temple
In the meantime, Jesus had remained in the temple throughout the
afternoon, listening to the discussions and enjoying the more quiet and
decorous atmosphere, the great crowds of Passover week having about
disappeared. At the conclusion of the afternoon discussions, in none of
which Jesus participated, he betook himself to Bethany, arriving just as
Simon's family made ready to partake of their evening meal. The three
youngsters were overjoyed to greet Jesus, and he remained in Simon's house
for the night. He visited very little during the evening, spending much of
the time alone in the garden meditating.
Early next day Jesus was up and on his way to the temple. On the brow
of Olivet he paused and wept over the sight his eyes beheld — a spiritually
impoverished people, tradition bound and living under the surveillance of
the Roman legions. Early forenoon found him in the temple with his mind made
up to take part in the discussions. Meanwhile, Joseph and Mary also had
arisen with the early dawn with the intention of retracing their steps to
Jerusalem. First, they hastened to the house of their relatives, where they
had lodged as a family during the Passover week, but inquiry elicited the
fact that no one had seen Jesus. After searching all day and finding no
trace of him, they returned to their relatives for the night.
At the second conference Jesus had made bold to ask questions, and in
a very amazing way he participated in the temple discussions but always in a
manner consistent with his youth. Sometimes his pointed questions were
somewhat embarrassing to the learned teachers of the Jewish law, but he
evinced such a spirit of candid fairness, coupled with an evident hunger for
knowledge, that the majority of the temple teachers were disposed to treat
him with every consideration. But when he presumed to question the justice
of putting to death a drunken gentile who had wandered outside the court of
the gentiles and unwittingly entered the forbidden and reputedly sacred
precincts of the temple, one of the more intolerant teachers grew impatient
with the lad's implied criticisms and, glowering down upon him, asked how
old he was. Jesus replied, "thirteen years lacking a trifle more than four
months." "Then," rejoined the now irate teacher, "why are you here, since
you are not of age as a son of the law?" And when Jesus explained that he
had received consecration during the Passover, and that he was a finished
student of the Nazareth schools, the teachers with one accord derisively
replied, "We might have known; he is from Nazareth." But the leader insisted
that Jesus was not to be blamed if the rulers of the synagogue at Nazareth
had graduated him, technically, when he was twelve instead of thirteen; and
notwithstanding that several of his detractors got up and left, it was ruled
that the lad might continue undisturbed as a pupil of the temple
discussions.
When this, his second day in the temple, was finished, again he went
to Bethany for the night. And again he went out in the garden to meditate
and pray. It was apparent that his mind was concerned with the contemplation
of weighty problems.
5. The Third Day in the Temple
Jesus' third day with the scribes and teachers in the temple witnessed
the gathering of many spectators who, having heard of this youth from
Galilee, came to enjoy the experience of seeing a lad confuse the wise men
of the law. Simon also came down from Bethany to see what the boy was up to.
Throughout this day Joseph and Mary continued their anxious search for
Jesus, even going several times into the temple but never thinking to
scrutinize the several discussion groups, although they once came almost
within hearing distance of his fascinating voice.
Before the day had ended, the entire attention of the chief discussion
group of the temple had become focused upon the questions being asked by
Jesus. Among his many questions were:
1. What really exists in the holy of holies, behind the veil?
2. Why should mothers in Israel be segregated from the male temple
worshipers?
3. If God is a father who loves his children, why all this slaughter
of animals to gain divine favor — has the teaching of Moses been
misunderstood?
4. Since the temple is dedicated to the worship of the Father in
heaven, is it consistent to permit the presence of those who engage in
secular barter and trade?
5. Is the expected Messiah to become a temporal prince to sit on the
throne of David, or is he to function as the light of life in the
establishment of a spiritual kingdom?
And all the day through, those who listened marveled at these
questions, and none was more astonished than Simon. For more than four hours
this Nazareth youth plied these Jewish teachers with thought-provoking and
heart-searching questions. He made few comments on the remarks of his
elders. He conveyed his teaching by the questions he would ask. By the deft
and subtle phrasing of a question he would at one and the same time
challenge their teaching and suggest his own. In the manner of his asking a
question there was an appealing combination of sagacity and humor which
endeared him even to those who more or less resented his youthfulness. He
was always eminently fair and considerate in the asking of these penetrating
questions. On this eventful afternoon in the temple he exhibited that same
reluctance to take unfair advantage of an opponent which characterized his
entire subsequent public ministry. As a youth, and later on as a man, he
seemed to be utterly free from all egoistic desire to win an argument merely
to experience logical triumph over his fellows, being interested supremely
in just one thing: to proclaim everlasting truth and thus effect a fuller
revelation of the eternal God.
When the day was over, Simon and Jesus wended their way back to
Bethany. For most of the distance both the man and the boy were silent.
Again Jesus paused on the brow of Olivet, but as he viewed the city and its
temple, he did not weep; he only bowed his head in silent devotion.
After the evening meal at Bethany he again declined to join the merry
circle but instead went to the garden, where he lingered long into the
night, vainly endeavoring to think out some definite plan of approach to the
problem of his lifework and to decide how best he might labor to reveal to
his spiritually blinded countrymen a more beautiful concept of the heavenly
Father and so set them free from their terrible bondage to law, ritual,
ceremonial, and musty tradition. But the clear light did not come to the
truth-seeking lad.
6. The Fourth Day in the Temple
Jesus was strangely unmindful of his earthly parents; even at
breakfast, when Lazarus's mother remarked that his parents must be about
home by that time, Jesus did not seem to comprehend that they would be
somewhat worried about his having lingered behind.
Again he journeyed to the temple, but he did not pause to meditate at
the brow of Olivet. In the course of the morning's discussions much time was
devoted to the law and the prophets, and the teachers were astonished that
Jesus was so familiar with the Scriptures, in Hebrew as well as Greek. But
they were amazed not so much by his knowledge of truth as by his youth.
At the afternoon conference they had hardly begun to answer his
question relating to the purpose of prayer when the leader invited the lad
to come forward and, sitting beside him, bade him state his own views
regarding prayer and worship.
The evening before, Jesus' parents had heard about this strange youth
who so deftly sparred with the expounders of the law, but it had not
occurred to them that this lad was their son. They had about decided to
journey out to the home of Zacharias as they thought Jesus might have gone
thither to see Elizabeth and John. Thinking Zacharias might perhaps be at
the temple, they stopped there on their way to the City of Judah. As they
strolled through the courts of the temple, imagine their surprise and
amazement when they recognized the voice of the missing lad and beheld him
seated among the temple teachers.
Joseph was speechless, but Mary gave vent to her long-pent-up fear and
anxiety when, rushing up to the lad, now standing to greet his astonished
parents, she said: "My child, why have you treated us like this? It is now
more than three days that your father and I have searched for you sorrowing.
Whatever possessed you to desert us?" It was a tense moment. All eyes were
turned on Jesus to hear what he would say. His father looked reprovingly at
him but said nothing.
It should be remembered that Jesus was supposed to be a young man. He
had finished the regular schooling of a child, had been recognized as a son
of the law, and had received consecration as a citizen of Israel. And yet
his mother more than mildly upbraided him before all the people assembled,
right in the midst of the most serious and sublime effort of his young life,
thus bringing to an inglorious termination one of the greatest opportunities
ever to be granted him to function as a teacher of truth, a preacher of
righteousness, a revealer of the loving character of his Father in heaven.
But the lad was equal to the occasion. When you take into fair
consideration all the factors which combined to make up this situation, you
will be better prepared to fathom the wisdom of the boy's reply to his
mother's unintended rebuke. After a moment's thought, Jesus answered his
mother, saying: "Why is it that you have so long sought me? Would you not
expect to find me in my Father's house since the time has come when I should
be about my Father's business?"
Everyone was astonished at the lad's manner of speaking. Silently they
all withdrew and left him standing alone with his parents. Presently the
young man relieved the embarrassment of all three when he quietly said: "Come,
my parents, none has done aught but that which he thought best. Our Father
in heaven has ordained these things; let us depart for home."
In silence they started out, arriving at Jericho for the night. Only
once did they pause, and that on the brow of Olivet, when the lad raised his
staff aloft and, quivering from head to foot under the surging of intense
emotion, said: "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, and the people thereof, what slaves
you are — subservient to the Roman yoke and victims of your own traditions —
but I will return to cleanse yonder temple and deliver my people from this
bondage!"
On the three days' journey to Nazareth Jesus said little; neither did
his parents say much in his presence. They were truly at a loss to
understand the conduct of their first-born son, but they did treasure in
their hearts his sayings, even though they could not fully comprehend their
meanings.
Upon reaching home, Jesus made a brief statement to his parents,
assuring them of his affection and implying that they need not fear he would
again give any occasion for their suffering anxiety because of his conduct.
He concluded this momentous statement by saying: "While I must do the will
of my Father in heaven, I will also be obedient to my father on earth. I
will await my hour."
Though Jesus, in his mind, would many times refuse to *consent* to the
well-intentioned but misguided efforts of his parents to dictate the course
of his thinking or to establish the plan of his work on earth, still, in
every manner consistent with his dedication to the doing of his Paradise
Father's will, he did most gracefully*conform* to the desires of his earthly
father and to the usages of his family in the flesh. Even when he could not
consent, he would do everything possible to conform. He was an artist in the
matter of adjusting his dedication to duty to his obligations of family
loyalty and social service.
Joseph was puzzled, but Mary, as she reflected on these experiences,
gained comfort, eventually viewing his utterance on Olivet as prophetic of
the Messianic mission of her son as Israel's deliverer. She set to work with
renewed energy to mold his thoughts into patriotic and nationalistic
channels and enlisted the efforts of her brother, Jesus' favorite uncle; and
in every other way did the mother of Jesus address herself to the task of
preparing her first-born son to assume the leadership of those who would
restore the throne of David and forever cast off the gentile yoke of
political bondag
-------- Original message --------
Subject: The Early Childhood of Jesus
From: Will Pierce <willpier@gmail.com>
To:
CC:
The Early Childhood of Jesus
OWING to the uncertainties and anxieties of their sojourn in
Bethlehem, Mary did not wean the babe until they had arrived safely in
Alexandria, where the family was able to settle down to a normal life. They
lived with kinsfolk, and Joseph was well able to support his family as he
secured work shortly after their arrival. He was employed as a carpenter for
several months and then elevated to the position of foreman of a large group
of workmen employed on one of the public buildings then in process of
construction. This new experience gave him the idea of becoming a contractor
and builder after their return to Nazareth.
All through these early years of Jesus' helpless infancy, Mary
maintained one long and constant vigil lest anything befall her child which
might jeopardize his welfare or in any way interfere with his future mission
on earth; no mother was ever more devoted to her child. In the home where
Jesus chanced to be there were two other children about his age, and among
the near neighbors there were six others whose ages were sufficiently near
his own to make them acceptable play-fellows. At first Mary was disposed to
keep Jesus close by her side. She feared something might happen to him if he
were allowed to play in the garden with the other children, but Joseph, with
the assistance of his kinsfolk, was able to convince her that such a course
would deprive Jesus of the helpful experience of learning how to adjust
himself to children of his own age. And Mary, realizing that such a program
of undue sheltering and unusual protection might tend to make him
self-conscious and somewhat self-centered, finally gave assent to the plan
of permitting the child of promise to grow up just like any other child; and
though she was obedient to this decision, she made it her business always to
be on watch while the little folks were at play about the house or in the
garden. Only an affectionate mother can know the burden that Mary carried in
her heart for the safety of her son during these years of his infancy and
early childhood.
Throughout the two years of their sojourn at Alexandria, Jesus enjoyed
good health and continued to grow normally. Aside from a few friends and
relatives no one was told about Jesus' being a "child of promise." One of
Joseph's relatives revealed this to a few friends in Memphis, descendants of
the distant Ikhnaton, and they, with a small group of Alexandrian believers,
assembled at the palatial home of Joseph's relative-benefactor a short time
before the return to Palestine to wish the Nazareth family well and to pay
their respects to the child. On this occasion the assembled friends
presented Jesus with a complete copy of the Greek translation of the Hebrew
scriptures. But this copy of the Jewish sacred writings was not placed in
Joseph's hands until both he and Mary had finally declined the invitation of
their Memphis and Alexandrian friends to remain in Egypt. These believers
insisted that the child of destiny would be able to exert a far greater
world influence as a resident of Alexandria than of any designated place in
Palestine. These persuasions delayed their departure for Palestine for some
time after they received the news of Herod's death.
Joseph and Mary finally took leave of Alexandria on a boat belonging
to their friend Ezraeon, bound for Joppa, arriving at that port late in
August of the year 4 B.C. They went directly to Bethlehem, where they spent
the entire month of September in counsel with their friends and relatives
concerning whether they should remain there or return to Nazareth.
Mary had never fully given up the idea that Jesus ought to grow up in
Bethlehem, the City of David. Joseph did not really believe that their son
was to become a kingly deliverer of Israel. Besides, he knew that he himself
was not really a descendant of David; that his being reckoned among the
offspring of David was due to the adoption of one of his ancestors into the
Davidic line of descent. Mary, of course, thought the City of David the most
appropriate place in which the new candidate for David's throne could be
reared, but Joseph preferred to take chances with Herod Antipas rather than
with his brother Archelaus. He entertained great fears for the child's
safety in Bethlehem or in any other city in Judea, and surmised that
Archelaus would be more likely to pursue the menacing policies of his
father, Herod, than would Antipas in Galilee. And besides all these reasons,
Joseph was outspoken in his preference for Galilee as a better place in
which to rear and educate the child, but it required three weeks to overcome
Mary's objections.
By the first of October Joseph had convinced Mary and all their
friends that it was best for them to return to Nazareth. Accordingly, early
in October, 4 B.C., they departed from Bethlehem for Nazareth, going by way
of Lydda and Scythopolis. They started out early one Sunday morning, Mary
and the child riding on their newly acquired beast of burden, while Joseph
and five accompanying kinsmen proceeded on foot; Joseph's relatives refused
to permit them to make the trip to Nazareth alone. They feared to go to
Galilee by Jerusalem and the Jordan valley, and the western routes were not
altogether safe for two lone travelers with a child of tender years.
1. Back in Nazareth
On the fourth day of the journey the party reached its destination in
safety. They arrived unannounced at the Nazareth home, which had been
occupied for more than three years by one of Joseph's married brothers, who
was indeed surprised to see them; so quietly had they gone about their
business that neither the family of Joseph nor that of Mary knew they had
even left Alexandria. The next day Joseph's brother moved his family, and
Mary, for the first time since Jesus' birth, settled down with her little
family to enjoy life in their own home. In less than a week Joseph secured
work as a carpenter, and they were supremely happy.
Jesus was about three years and two months old at the time of their
return to Nazareth. He had stood all these travels very well and was in
excellent health and full of childish glee and excitement at having premises
of his own to run about in and to enjoy. But he greatly missed the
association of his Alexandrian playmates.
On the way to Nazareth Joseph had persuaded Mary that it would be
unwise to spread the word among their Galilean friends and relatives that
Jesus was a child of promise. They agreed to refrain from all mention of
these matters to anyone. And they were both very faithful in keeping this
promise.
Jesus' entire fourth year was a period of normal physical development
and of unusual mental activity. Meantime he had formed a very close
attachment for a neighbor boy about his own age named Jacob. Jesus and Jacob
were always happy in their play, and they grew up to be great friends and
loyal companions.
The next important event in the life of this Nazareth family was the
birth of the second child, James, in the early morning hours of April 2, 3
B.C. Jesus was thrilled by the thought of having a baby brother, and he
would stand around by the hour just to observe the baby's early activities.
It was midsummer of this same year that Joseph built a small workshop
close to the village spring and near the caravan tarrying lot. After this he
did very little carpenter work by the day. He had as associates two of his
brothers and several other mechanics, whom he sent out to work while he
remained at the shop making yokes and plows and doing other woodwork. He
also did some work in leather and with rope and canvas. And Jesus, as he
grew up, when not at school, spent his time about equally between helping
his mother with home duties and watching his father work at the shop,
meanwhile listening to the conversation and gossip of the caravan conductors
and passengers from the four corners of the earth.
In July of this year, one month before Jesus was four years old, an
outbreak of malignant intestinal trouble spread over all Nazareth from
contact with the caravan travelers. Mary became so alarmed by the danger of
Jesus being exposed to this epidemic of disease that she bundled up both her
children and fled to the country home of her brother, several miles south of
Nazareth on the Megiddo road near Sarid. They did not return to Nazareth for
more than two months; Jesus greatly enjoyed this, his first experience on a
farm.
2. The Fifth Year (2 B.C.)
In something more than a year after the return to Nazareth the boy
Jesus arrived at the age of his first personal and wholehearted moral
decision; and there came to abide with him a Thought Adjuster, a divine gift
of the Paradise Father, which had aforetime served with Machiventa
Melchizedek, thus gaining the experience of functioning in connection with
the incarnation of a supermortal being living in the likeness of mortal
flesh. This event occurred on February 11, 2 B.C. Jesus was no more aware of
the coming of the divine Monitor than are the millions upon millions of
other children who, before and since that day, have likewise received these
Thought Adjusters to indwell their minds and work for the ultimate
spiritualization of these minds and the eternal survival of their evolving
immortal souls.
On this day in February the direct and personal supervision of the
Universe Rulers, as it was related to the integrity of the childlike
incarnation of Michael, terminated. From that time on throughout the human
unfolding of the incarnation, the guardianship of Jesus was destined to rest
in the keeping of this indwelling Adjuster and the associated seraphic
guardians, supplemented from time to time by the ministry of midway
creatures assigned for the performance of certain definite duties in
accordance with the instruction of their planetary superiors.
Jesus was five years old in August of this year, and we will,
therefore, refer to this as his fifth (calendar) year of life. In this year,
2 B.C., a little more than one month before his fifth birthday
anniversary, Jesus was made very happy by the coming of his sister Miriam,
who was born on the night of July 11. During the evening of the following
day Jesus had a long talk with his father concerning the manner in which
various groups of living things are born into the world as separate
individuals. The most valuable part of Jesus' early education was secured
from his parents in answer to his thoughtful and searching inquiries. Joseph
never failed to do his full duty in taking pains and spending time answering
the boy's numerous questions. From the time Jesus was five years old until
he was ten, he was one continuous question mark. While Joseph and Mary could
not always answer his questions, they never failed fully to discuss his
inquiries and in every other possible way to assist him in his efforts to
reach a satisfactory solution of the problem which his alert mind had
suggested. *<http://www.urantia.org/en/urantia-book/text-standardization#U123_2_3>
Since returning to Nazareth, theirs had been a busy household, and
Joseph had been unusually occupied building his new shop and getting his
business started again. So fully was he occupied that he had found no time
to build a cradle for James, but this was corrected long before Miriam came,
so that she had a very comfortable crib in which to nestle while the family
admired her. And the child Jesus heartily entered into all these natural and
normal home experiences. He greatly enjoyed his little brother and his baby
sister and was of great help to Mary in their care.
There were few homes in the gentile world of those days that could
give a child a better intellectual, moral, and religious training than the
Jewish homes of Galilee. These Jews had a systematic program for rearing and
educating their children. They divided a child's life into seven stages:
1. The newborn child, the first to the eighth day.
2. The suckling child.
3. The weaned child.
4. The period of dependence on the mother, lasting up to the end of
the fifth year.
5. The beginning independence of the child and, with sons, the father
assuming responsibility for their education.
6. The adolescent youths and maidens.
7. The young men and the young women.
It was the custom of the Galilean Jews for the mother to bear the
responsibility for a child's training until the fifth birthday, and then, if
the child were a boy, to hold the father responsible for the lad's education
from that time on. This year, therefore, Jesus entered upon the fifth stage
of a Galilean Jewish child's career, and accordingly on August 21, 2 B.C.,
Mary formally turned him over to Joseph for further instruction.
Though Joseph was now assuming the direct responsibility for Jesus'
intellectual and religious education, his mother still interested herself in
his home training. She taught him to know and care for the vines and flowers
growing about the garden walls which completely surrounded the home plot.
She also provided on the roof of the house (the summer bedroom) shallow
boxes of sand in which Jesus worked out maps and did much of his early
practice at writing Aramaic, Greek, and later on, Hebrew, for in time he
learned to read, write, and speak, fluently, all three languages.
Jesus appeared to be a well-nigh perfect child physically and
continued to make normal progress mentally and emotionally. He experienced a
mild digestive upset, his first minor illness, in the latter part of this,
his fifth (calendar) year.
Though Joseph and Mary often talked about the future of their eldest
child, had you been there, you would only have observed the growing up of a
normal, healthy, carefree, but exceedingly inquisitive child of that time
and place.
3. Events of the Sixth Year (1 B.C.)
Already, with his mother's help, Jesus had mastered the Galilean
dialect of the Aramaic tongue; and now his father began teaching him Greek.
Mary spoke little Greek, but Joseph was a fluent speaker of both Aramaic and
Greek. The textbook for the study of the Greek language was the copy of the
Hebrew scriptures — a complete version of the law and the prophets,
including the Psalms — which had been presented to them on leaving Egypt.
There were only two complete copies of the Scriptures in Greek in all
Nazareth, and the possession of one of them by the carpenter's family made
Joseph's home a much-sought place and enabled Jesus, as he grew up, to meet
an almost endless procession of earnest students and sincere truth seekers.
Before this year ended, Jesus had assumed custody of this priceless
manuscript, having been told on his sixth birthday that the sacred book had
been presented to him by Alexandrian friends and relatives. And in a very
short time he could read it readily.
The first great shock of Jesus' young life occurred when he was not
quite six years old. It had seemed to the lad that his father — at least his
father and mother together — knew everything. Imagine, therefore, the
surprise of this inquiring child, when he asked his father the cause of a
mild earthquake which had just occurred, to hear Joseph say, "My son, I
really do not know." Thus began that long and disconcerting disillusionment
in the course of which Jesus found out that his earthly parents were not
all-wise and all-knowing.
Joseph's first thought was to tell Jesus that the earthquake had been
caused by God, but a moment's reflection admonished him that such an answer
would immediately be provocative of further and still more embarrassing
inquiries. Even at an early age it was very difficult to answer Jesus'
questions about physical or social phenomena by thoughtlessly telling him
that either God or the devil was responsible. In harmony with the prevailing
belief of the Jewish people, Jesus was long willing to accept the doctrine
of good spirits and evil spirits as the possible explanation of mental and
spiritual phenomena, but he very early became doubtful that such unseen
influences were responsible for the physical happenings of the natural
world.
Before Jesus was six years of age, in the early summer of 1 B.C.,
Zacharias and Elizabeth and their son John came to visit the Nazareth
family. Jesus and John had a happy time during this, their first visit
within their memories. Although the visitors could remain only a few days,
the parents talked over many things, including the future plans for their
sons. While they were thus engaged, the lads played with blocks in the sand
on top of the house and in many other ways enjoyed themselves in true boyish
fashion.
Having met John, who came from near Jerusalem, Jesus began to evince
an unusual interest in the history of Israel and to inquire in great detail
as to the meaning of the Sabbath rites, the synagogue sermons, and the
recurring feasts of commemoration. His father explained to him the meaning
of all these seasons. The first was the midwinter festive illumination,
lasting eight days, starting out with one candle the first night and adding
one each successive night; this commemorated the dedication of the temple
after the restoration of the Mosaic services by Judas Maccabee. Next came
the early springtime celebration of Purim, the feast of Esther and Israel's
deliverance through her. Then followed the solemn Passover, which the adults
celebrated in Jerusalem whenever possible, while at home the children would
remember that no leavened bread was to be eaten for the whole week. Later
came the feast of the first-fruits, the harvest ingathering; and last, the
most solemn of all, the feast of the new year, the day of atonement. While
some of these celebrations and observances were difficult for Jesus' young
mind to understand, he pondered them seriously and then entered fully into
the joy of the feast of tabernacles, the annual vacation season of the whole
Jewish people, the time when they camped out in leafy booths and gave
themselves up to mirth and pleasure.
During this year Joseph and Mary had trouble with Jesus about his
prayers. He insisted on talking to his heavenly Father much as he would talk
to Joseph, his earthly father. This departure from the more solemn and
reverent modes of communication with Deity was a bit disconcerting to his
parents, especially to his mother, but there was no persuading him to
change; he would say his prayers just as he had been taught, after which he
insisted on having "just a little talk with my Father in heaven."
In June of this year Joseph turned the shop in Nazareth over to his
brothers and formally entered upon his work as a builder. Before the year
was over, the family income had more than trebled. Never again, until after
Joseph's death, did the Nazareth family feel the pinch of poverty. The
family grew larger and larger, and they spent much money on extra education
and travel, but always Joseph's increasing income kept pace with the growing
expenses.
The next few years Joseph did considerable work at Cana, Bethlehem (of
Galilee), Magdala, Nain, Sepphoris, Capernaum, and Endor, as well as much
building in and near Nazareth. As James grew up to be old enough to help his
mother with the housework and care of the younger children, Jesus made
frequent trips away from home with his father to these surrounding towns and
villages. Jesus was a keen observer and gained much practical knowledge from
these trips away from home; he was assiduously storing up knowledge
regarding man and the way he lived on earth.
This year Jesus made great progress in adjusting his strong feelings
and vigorous impulses to the demands of family co-operation and home
discipline. Mary was a loving mother but a fairly strict disciplinarian. In
many ways, however, Joseph exerted the greater control over Jesus as it was
his practice to sit down with the boy and fully explain the real and
underlying reasons for the necessity of disciplinary curtailment of personal
desires in deference to the welfare and tranquillity of the entire family.
When the situation had been explained to Jesus, he was always intelligently
and willingly co-operative with parental wishes and family regulations.
Much of his spare time — when his mother did not require his help
about the house — was spent studying the flowers and plants by day and the
stars by night. He evinced a troublesome penchant for lying on his back and
gazing wonderingly up into the starry heavens long after his usual bedtime
in this well-ordered Nazareth household.
4. The Seventh Year (A.D. 1)
This was, indeed, an eventful year in Jesus' life. Early in January a
great snowstorm occurred in Galilee. Snow fell two feet deep, the heaviest
snowfall Jesus saw during his lifetime and one of the deepest at Nazareth in
a hundred years.
The play life of Jewish children in the times of Jesus was rather
circumscribed; all too often the children played at the more serious things
they observed their elders doing. They played much at weddings and funerals,
ceremonies which they so frequently saw and which were so spectacular. They
danced and sang but had few organized games, such as children of later days
so much enjoy.
Jesus, in company with a neighbor boy and later his brother James,
delighted to play in the far corner of the family carpenter shop, where they
had great fun with the shavings and the blocks of wood. It was always
difficult for Jesus to comprehend the harm of certain sorts of play which
were forbidden on the Sabbath, but he never failed to conform to his
parents' wishes. He had a capacity for humor and play which was afforded
little opportunity for expression in the environment of his day and
generation, but up to the age of fourteen he was cheerful and lighthearted
most of the time.
Mary maintained a dovecote on top of the animal house adjoining the
home, and they used the profits from the sale of doves as a special charity
fund, which Jesus administered after he deducted the tithe and turned it
over to the officer of the synagogue.
The only real accident Jesus had up to this time was a fall down the
back-yard stone stairs which led up to the canvas-roofed bedroom. It
happened during an unexpected July sandstorm from the east. The hot winds,
carrying blasts of fine sand, usually blew during the rainy season,
especially in March and April. It was extraordinary to have such a storm in
July. When the storm came up, Jesus was on the housetop playing, as was his
habit, for during much of the dry season this was his accustomed playroom.
He was blinded by the sand when descending the stairs and fell. After this
accident Joseph built a balustrade up both sides of the stairway.
There was no way in which this accident could have been prevented. It
was not chargeable to neglect by the midway temporal guardians, one primary
and one secondary midwayer having been assigned to the watchcare of the lad;
neither was it chargeable to the guardian seraphim. It simply could not have
been avoided. But this slight accident, occurring while Joseph was absent in
Endor, caused such great anxiety to develop in Mary's mind that she unwisely
tried to keep Jesus very close to her side for some months.
Material accidents, commonplace occurrences of a physical nature, are
not arbitrarily interfered with by celestial personalities. Under ordinary
circumstances only midway creatures can intervene in material conditions to
safeguard the persons of men and women of destiny, and even in special
situations these beings can so act only in obedience to the specific
mandates of their superiors.
And this was but one of a number of such minor accidents which
subsequently befell this inquisitive and adventurous youth. If you envisage
the average childhood and youth of an aggressive boy, you will have a fairly
good idea of the youthful career of Jesus, and you will be able to imagine
just about how much anxiety he caused his parents, particularly his mother.
The fourth member of the Nazareth family, Joseph, was born Wednesday
morning, March 16, A.D. 1.
5. School Days in Nazareth
Jesus was now seven years old, the age when Jewish children were
supposed to begin their formal education in the synagogue schools.
Accordingly, in August of this year he entered upon his eventful school life
at Nazareth. Already this lad was a fluent reader, writer, and speaker of
two languages, Aramaic and Greek. He was now to acquaint himself with the
task of learning to read, write, and speak the Hebrew language. And he was
truly eager for the new school life which was ahead of him.
For three years — until he was ten — he attended the elementary school
of the Nazareth synagogue. For these three years he studied the rudiments of
the Book of the Law as it was recorded in the Hebrew tongue. For the
following three years he studied in the advanced school and committed to
memory, by the method of repeating aloud, the deeper teachings of the sacred
law. He graduated from this school of the synagogue during his thirteenth
year and was turned over to his parents by the synagogue rulers as an
educated "son of the commandment" — henceforth a responsible citizen of the
commonwealth of Israel, all of which entailed his attendance at the
Passovers in Jerusalem; accordingly, he attended his first Passover that
year in company with his father and mother.
At Nazareth the pupils sat on the floor in a semicircle, while their
teacher, the chazan, an officer of the synagogue, sat facing them. Beginning
with the Book of Leviticus, they passed on to the study of the other books
of the law, followed by the study of the Prophets and the Psalms. The
Nazareth synagogue possessed a complete copy of the Scriptures in Hebrew.
Nothing but the Scriptures was studied prior to the twelfth year. In the
summer months the hours for school were greatly shortened.
Jesus early became a master of Hebrew, and as a young man, when no
visitor of prominence happened to be sojourning in Nazareth, he would often
be asked to read the Hebrew scriptures to the faithful assembled in the
synagogue at the regular Sabbath services.
These synagogue schools, of course, had no textbooks. In teaching, the
chazan would utter a statement while the pupils would in unison repeat it
after him. When having access to the written books of the law, the student
learned his lesson by reading aloud and by constant repetition.
Next, in addition to his more formal schooling, Jesus began to make
contact with human nature from the four quarters of the earth as men from
many lands passed in and out of his father's repair shop. When he grew
older, he mingled freely with the caravans as they tarried near the spring
for rest and nourishment. Being a fluent speaker of Greek, he had little
trouble in conversing with the majority of the caravan travelers and
conductors.
Nazareth was a caravan way station and crossroads of travel and
largely gentile in population; at the same time it was widely known as a
center of liberal interpretation of Jewish traditional law. In Galilee the
Jews mingled more freely with the gentiles than was their practice in Judea.
And of all the cities of Galilee, the Jews of Nazareth were most liberal in
their interpretation of the social restrictions based on the fears of
contamination as a result of contact with the gentiles. And these conditions
gave rise to the common saying in Jerusalem, "Can any good thing come out of
Nazareth?"
Jesus received his moral training and spiritual culture chiefly in his
own home. He secured much of his intellectual and theological education from
the chazan. But his real education — that equipment of mind and heart for
the actual test of grappling with the difficult problems of life — he
obtained by mingling with his fellow men. It was this close association with
his fellow men, young and old, Jew and gentile, that afforded him the
opportunity to know the human race. Jesus was highly educated in that he
thoroughly understood men and devotedly loved them.
Throughout his years at the synagogue he was a brilliant student,
possessing a great advantage since he was conversant with three languages.
The Nazareth chazan, on the occasion of Jesus' finishing the course in his
school, remarked to Joseph that he feared he "had learned more from Jesus'
searching questions" than he had "been able to teach the lad."
Throughout his course of study Jesus learned much and derived great
inspiration from the regular Sabbath sermons in the synagogue. It was
customary to ask distinguished visitors, stopping over the Sabbath in
Nazareth, to address the synagogue. As Jesus grew up, he heard many great
thinkers of the entire Jewish world expound their views, and many also who
were hardly orthodox Jews since the synagogue of Nazareth was an advanced
and liberal center of Hebrew thought and culture.
When entering school at seven years (at this time the Jews had just
inaugurated a compulsory education law), it was customary for the pupils to
choose their "birthday text," a sort of golden rule to guide them throughout
their studies, one upon which they often expatiated at their graduation when
thirteen years old. The text which Jesus chose was from the Prophet Isaiah:
"The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me; he has
sent me to bring good news to the meek, to bind up the brokenhearted, to
proclaim liberty to the captives, and to set the spiritual prisoners free."
Nazareth was one of the twenty-four priest centers of the Hebrew
nation. But the Galilean priesthood was more liberal in the interpretation
of the traditional laws than were the Judean scribes and rabbis. And at
Nazareth they were also more liberal regarding the observance of the
Sabbath. It was therefore the custom for Joseph to take Jesus out for walks
on Sabbath afternoons, one of their favorite jaunts being to climb the high
hill near their home, from which they could obtain a panoramic view of all
Galilee. To the northwest, on clear days, they could see the long ridge of
Mount Carmel running down to the sea; and many times Jesus heard his father
relate the story of Elijah, one of the first of that long line of Hebrew
prophets, who reproved Ahab and exposed the priests of Baal. To the north
Mount Hermon raised its snowy peak in majestic splendor and monopolized the
skyline, almost 3,000 feet of the upper slopes glistening white with
perpetual snow. Far to the east they could discern the Jordan valley and,
far beyond, the rocky hills of Moab. Also to the south and the east, when
the sun shone upon their marble walls, they could see the Greco-Roman cities
of the Decapolis, with their amphitheaters and pretentious temples. And when
they lingered toward the going down of the sun, to the west they could make
out the sailing vessels on the distant Mediterranean.
*<http://www.urantia.org/en/urantia-book/text-standardization#U123_5_12>
From four directions Jesus could observe the caravan trains as they
wended their way in and out of Nazareth, and to the south he could overlook
the broad and fertile plain country of Esdraelon, stretching off toward
Mount Gilboa and Samaria.
When they did not climb the heights to view the distant landscape,
they strolled through the countryside and studied nature in her various
moods in accordance with the seasons. Jesus' earliest training, aside from
that of the home hearth, had to do with a reverent and sympathetic contact
with nature.
Before he was eight years of age, he was known to all the mothers and
young women of Nazareth, who had met him and talked with him at the spring,
which was not far from his home, and which was one of the social centers of
contact and gossip for the entire town. This year Jesus learned to milk the
family cow and care for the other animals. During this and the following
year he also learned to make cheese and to weave. When he was ten years of
age, he was an expert loom operator. It was about this time that Jesus and
the neighbor boy Jacob became great friends of the potter who worked near
the flowing spring; and as they watched Nathan's deft fingers mold the clay
on the potter's wheel, many times both of them determined to be potters when
they grew up. Nathan was very fond of the lads and often gave them clay to
play with, seeking to stimulate their creative imaginations by suggesting
competitive efforts in modeling various objects and animals.
6. His Eighth Year (A.D. 2)
This was an interesting year at school. Although Jesus was not an
unusual student, he was a diligent pupil and belonged to the more
progressive third of the class, doing his work so well that he was excused
from attendance one week out of each month. This week he usually spent
either with his fisherman uncle on the shores of the Sea of Galilee near
Magdala or on the farm of another uncle (his mother's brother) five miles
south of Nazareth.
Although his mother had become unduly anxious about his health and
safety, she gradually became reconciled to these trips away from home.
Jesus' uncles and aunts were all very fond of him, and there ensued a lively
competition among them to secure his company for these monthly visits
throughout this and immediately subsequent years. His first week's sojourn
on his uncle's farm (since infancy) was in January of this year; the first
week's fishing experience on the Sea of Galilee occurred in the month of
May.
About this time Jesus met a teacher of mathematics from Damascus, and
learning some new techniques of numbers, he spent much time on mathematics
for several years. He developed a keen sense of numbers, distances, and
proportions.
Jesus began to enjoy his brother James very much and by the end of
this year had begun to teach him the alphabet.
This year Jesus made arrangements to exchange dairy products for
lessons on the harp. He had an unusual liking for everything musical. Later
on he did much to promote an interest in vocal music among his youthful
associates. By the time he was eleven years of age, he was a skillful
harpist and greatly enjoyed entertaining both family and friends with his
extraordinary interpretations and able improvisations.
While Jesus continued to make enviable progress at school, all did not
run smoothly for either parents or teachers. He persisted in asking many
embarrassing questions concerning both science and religion, particularly
regarding geography and astronomy. He was especially insistent on finding
out why there was a dry season and a rainy season in Palestine. Repeatedly
he sought the explanation for the great difference between the temperatures
of Nazareth and the Jordan valley. He simply never ceased to ask such
intelligent but perplexing questions.
His third brother, Simon, was born on Friday evening, April 14, of
this year, A.D. 2.
In February, Nahor, one of the teachers in a Jerusalem academy of the
rabbis, came to Nazareth to observe Jesus, having been on a similar mission
to Zacharias's home near Jerusalem. He came to Nazareth at the instigation
of John's father. While at first he was somewhat shocked by Jesus' frankness
and unconventional manner of relating himself to things religious, he
attributed it to the remoteness of Galilee from the centers of Hebrew
learning and culture and advised Joseph and Mary to allow him to take Jesus
back with him to Jerusalem, where he could have the advantages of education
and training at the center of Jewish culture. Mary was half persuaded to
consent; she was convinced her eldest son was to become the Messiah, the
Jewish deliverer; Joseph hesitated; he was equally persuaded that Jesus was
to grow up to become a man of destiny, but what that destiny would prove to
be he was profoundly uncertain. But he never really doubted that his son was
to fulfill some great mission on earth. The more he thought about Nahor's
advice, the more he questioned the wisdom of the proposed sojourn in
Jerusalem.
Because of this difference of opinion between Joseph and Mary, Nahor
requested permission to lay the whole matter before Jesus. Jesus listened
attentively, talked with Joseph, Mary, and a neighbor, Jacob the stone
mason, whose son was his favorite playmate, and then, two days later,
reported that since there was such a difference of opinion among his parents
and advisers, and since he did not feel competent to assume the
responsibility for such a decision, not feeling strongly one way or the
other, in view of the whole situation, he had finally decided to "talk with
my Father who is in heaven"; and while he was not perfectly sure about the
answer, he rather felt he should remain at home "with my father and mother,"
adding, "they who love me so much should be able to do more for me and guide
me more safely than strangers who can only view my body and observe my mind
but can hardly truly know me." They all marveled, and Nahor went his way,
back to Jerusalem. And it was many years before the subject of Jesus' going
away from home again came up for consideration.
