What
happened during Jesus’ teenage years?
Jesus Discerns His Destiny (Age 13)
124:5.1 In this year the lad of Nazareth passed from boyhood
to the beginning of young manhood; his voice began to change, and other
features of mind and body gave evidence of the oncoming status of manhood.
124:5.3 It was about the middle of February that Jesus became
humanly assured that he was destined to perform a mission on earth for the
enlightenment of man and the revelation of God. Momentous decisions, coupled
with far-reaching plans, were formulating in the mind of this youth, who was,
to outward appearances, an average Jewish lad of Nazareth. The intelligent life
of all Nebadon looked on with fascination and amazement as all this began to
unfold in the thinking and acting of the now adolescent carpenter's son.
124:6.15 On the day before the Passover Sabbath, flood tides of
spiritual illumination swept through the mortal mind of Jesus and filled his
human heart to overflowing with affectionate pity for the spiritually blind and
morally ignorant multitudes assembled for the celebration of the ancient
Passover commemoration. This was one of the most extraordinary days that the
Son of God spent in the flesh; and during the night, for the first time in his
earth career, there appeared to him an assigned messenger from Salvington,
commissioned by Immanuel, who said: "The hour has come. It is time that
you began to be about your Father's business."
124:6.16 And so, even ere the heavy responsibilities of the
Nazareth family descended upon his youthful shoulders, there now arrived the
celestial messenger to remind this lad, not quite thirteen years of age, that
the hour had come to begin the resumption of the responsibilities of a
universe. This was the first act of a long succession of events which finally
culminated in the completion of the Son's bestowal on Urantia and the replacing
of "the government of a universe on his human-divine shoulders."
124:6.17 As time passed, the mystery of the incarnation became,
to all of us, more and more unfathomable. We could hardly comprehend that this
lad of Nazareth was the creator of all Nebadon. Neither do we nowadays
understand how the spirit of this same Creator Son and the spirit of his
Paradise Father are associated with the souls of mankind. With the passing of
time, we could see that his human mind was increasingly discerning that, while
he lived his life in the flesh, in spirit on his shoulders rested the
responsibility of a universe.
124:6.18 Thus ends the career of the Nazareth lad, and begins
the narrative of that adolescent youth— the increasingly self-conscious divine
human—who now begins the contemplation of his world career as he strives to
integrate his expanding life purpose with the desires of his parents and his
obligations to his family and the society of his day and age.
Jesus Graduates from Synagogue (Age 13)
124:5.4 On the first day of the week, March 20, A.D. 7, Jesus
graduated from the course of training in the local school connected with the
Nazareth synagogue. This was a great day in the life of any ambitious Jewish
family, the day when the first-born son was pronounced a "son of the
commandment" and the ransomed first-born of the Lord God of Israel, a
"child of the Most High" and servant of the Lord of all the earth.
124:5.5 Friday of the week before, Joseph had come over from
Sepphorism where he was in charge of the work on a new public building, to be
present on this glad occasion. Jesus' teacher confidently believed that his
alert and diligent pupil was destined to some outstanding career, some
distinguished mission. The elders, notwithstanding all their trouble with Jesus'
nonconformist tendencies, were very proud of the lad and had already
begun laying plans which would enable him to go to Jerusalem to continue his
education in the renowned Hebrew academies.
124:5.6 As Jesus heard these plans discussed from time to
time, he became increasingly sure that he would never go to Jerusalem to study
with the rabbis. But he little dreamed of the tragedy, so soon to occur, which
would insure the abandonment of all such plans by causing him to assume the
responsibility for the support and direction of a large family, presently to
consist of five brothers and three sisters as well as his mother and himself.
The Journey to Jerusalem - Jesus Meets Mary, Martha And
Lazarus
124:6.1 Jesus, having now reached the threshold of young
manhood and having been formally graduated from the synagogue schools, was
qualified to proceed to Jerusalem with his parents to participate with them in
the celebration of his first Passover. The Passover feast of this year fell on
Saturday, April 9, A.D. 7. A considerable company (103) made ready to depart
from Nazareth early Monday morning, April 4, for Jerusalem. They journeyed
south toward Samaria, but on reaching Jezreel, they turned east, going around Mount
Gilboa into the Jordan valley in order to avoid passing through Samaria. Joseph
and his family would have enjoyed going down through Samaria by way of Jacob's
Well and Bethel, but since the Jews disliked to deal with the Samaritans, they
decided to go with their neighbors by way of the Jordan valley.
124:6.2 The much-dreaded Archelaus had been deposed, and they
had little to fear in taking Jesus to Jerusalem. Twelve years had passed since
the first Herod had sought to destroy the babe of Bethlehem, and no one would
now think of associating that affair with this obscure lad of Nazareth.
124:6.3 Before reaching the Jezreel junction, and as they
journeyed on, very soon, on the left, they passed the ancient village of
Shunem, and Jesus heard again about the most beautiful maiden of all Israel who
once lived there and also about the wonderful works Elisha performed there. In
passing by Jezreel, Jesus' parents recounted the doings of Ahab and Jezebel and
the exploits of Jehu. In passing around Mount Gilboa, they talked much about
Saul, who took his life on the slopes of this mountain, King David, and the
associations of this historic spot.
124:6.4 As they rounded the base of Gilboa, the pilgrims could
see the Greek city of Scythopolis on the right. They gazed upon the marble
structures from a distance but went not near the gentile city lest they so
defile themselves that they could not participate in the forthcoming solemn and
sacred ceremonies of the Passover at Jerusalem. Mary could not understand why
neither Joseph nor Jesus would speak of Scythopolis. She did not know about
their controversy of the previous year as they had never revealed this episode
to her.
124:6.5 The road now led immediately down into the tropical
Jordan valley, and soon Jesus was to have exposed to his wondering gaze the
crooked and ever-winding Jordan with its glistening and rippling waters as it
flowed down toward the Dead Sea. They laid aside their outer garments as they
journeyed south in this tropical valley, enjoying the luxurious fields of grain
and the beautiful oleanders laden with their pink blossoms, while massive
snow-capped Mount Hermon stood far to the north, in majesty looking down on the
historic valley. A little over three hours' travel from opposite Scythopolis
they came upon a bubbling spring, and here they camped for the night, out under
the starlit heavens.
124:6.6 On their second day's journey they passed by where the
Jabbok, from the east, flows into the Jordan, and looking east up this river
valley, they recounted the days of Gideon, when the Midianites poured into this
region to overrun the land. Toward the end of the second day's journey they
camped near the base of the highest mountain overlooking the Jordan valley,
Mount Sartaba, whose summit was occupied by the Alexandrian fortress where
Herod had imprisoned one of his wives and buried his two strangled sons
124:6.7 The third day they passed by two villages which had
been recently built by Herod and noted their superior architecture and their
beautiful palm gardens. By nightfall they reached Jericho, where they remained
until the morrow. That evening Joseph, Mary, and Jesus walked a mile and a half
to the site of the ancient Jericho, where Joshua, for whom Jesus was named, had
performed his renowned exploits, according to Jewish tradition.
124:6.8 By the fourth and last day's journey the road was a
continuous procession of pilgrims. They now began to climb the hills leading up
to Jerusalem. As they neared the top, they could look across the Jordan to the
mountains beyond and south over the sluggish waters of the Dead Sea. About
halfway up to Jerusalem, Jesus gained his first view of the Mount of Olives
(the region to be so much a part of his subsequent life), and Joseph pointed
out to him that the Holy City lay just beyond this ridge, and the lad's heart
beat fast with joyous anticipation of soon beholding the city and house of his
heavenly Father.
124:6.9 On the eastern slopes of Olivet they paused for rest
in the borders of a little village called Bethany. The hospitable villagers
poured forth to minister to the pilgrims, and it happened that Joseph and his
family had stopped near the house of one Simon, who had three children about
the same age as Jesus—Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. They invited the Nazareth
family in for refreshment, and a lifelong friendship sprang up between the two
families. Many times afterward, in his eventful life, Jesus stopped in this
home.
Jesus at Jerusalem - Questioning Authority
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.
125:0.2 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.
125:0.3 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.
125:0.4 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.
125:0.5 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.
125:0.6 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."
125:0.7 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.
Jesus Views the Temple:
125:1.1 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.
125:1.2 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.
125:1.3 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.
125:1.4 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.
125:1.5 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.
Jesus' First Passover:
125:2.1 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.
125:2.2 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.
125:2.3 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.
125:2.4 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.
125:2.5 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.
125:2.6 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.
125:2.7 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.
125:2.8 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.
125:2.9 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.
125:2.10 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.
125:2.11 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.
125:2.12 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.
Jesus Gets Left Behind:
125:3.1 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.
125:3.2 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.
Jesus' First and Second Days In The Temple:
125:4.1 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.
125:4.2 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.
125:4.3 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.
125:4.4 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.
Jesus' Third Day In The Temple:
125:5.1 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.
125:5.2 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:
125:5.3 1. What really exists in the holy of holies, behind the veil?
125:5.4 2. Why should mothers in Israel be segregated from the male temple
worshipers?
125:5.5 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?
125:5.6 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?
125:5.7 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?
125:5.8 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.
125:5.8 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.
125:5.10 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
Mary and Joseph Find Jesus In The Temple:
125:6.1 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.
125:6.2 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.
125:6.3 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.
125:6.4 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.
125:6.5 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.
125:6.6 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.
125:6.7 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?"
125:6.8 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."
125:6.9 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!"
125:6.10 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.
125:6.11 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."
125:6.12 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.
125:6.13 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 bondage.
The Calm Before The Storm:
126:1.1 This is the calendar year of his fourteenth birthday.
He had become a good yoke maker and worked well with both canvas and leather.
He was also rapidly developing into an expert carpenter and cabinetmaker. This
summer he made frequent trips to the top of the hill to the northwest of
Nazareth for prayer and meditation. He was gradually becoming more
self-conscious of the nature of his bestowal on earth.
126:1.2 This hill, a little more than one hundred years
previously, had been the "high place of Baal," and now it was the
site of the tomb of Simeon, a reputed holy man of Israel. From the summit of
this hill of Simeon, Jesus looked out over Nazareth and the surrounding
country. He would gaze upon Megiddo and recall the story of the Egyptian army
winning its first great victory in Asia, and how, later on, another such army
defeated the Judean king Josiah. Not far away he could look upon Taanach, where
Deborah and Barak defeated Sisera. In the distance he could view the hills of
Dothan, where he had been taught Joseph's brethren sold him into Egyptian
slavery. He then would shift his gaze over to Ebal and Gerizim and recount to
himself the traditions of Abraham, Jacob, and Abimelech. And thus he recalled
and turned over in his mind the historic and traditional events of his father
Joseph's people.
126:1.3 He continued to carry on his advanced courses of
reading under the synagogue teachers, and he also continued with the home
education of his brothers and sisters as they grew up to suitable ages.
126:1.4 Early this year Joseph arranged to set aside the
income from his Nazareth and Capernaum property to pay for Jesus' long course
of study at Jerusalem, it having been planned that he should go to Jerusalem in
August of the following year when he would be fifteen years of age.
126:1.5 By the beginning of this year both Joseph and Mary
entertained frequent doubts about the destiny of their first-born son. He was
indeed a brilliant and lovable child, but he was so difficult to understand,
so hard to fathom, and again, nothing extraordinary or miraculous ever happened.
Scores of times had his proud mother stood in breathless anticipation,
expecting to see her son engage in some superhuman or miraculous performance,
but always were her hopes dashed down in cruel disappointment. And all this was
discouraging, even disheartening. The devout people of those days truly believed
that prophets and men of promise always demonstrated their calling and
established their divine authority by performing miracles and working wonders.
But Jesus did none of these things; wherefore was the confusion of his parents
steadily increased as they contemplated his future.
126:1.6 The improved economic condition of the Nazareth family
was reflected in many ways about the home and especially in the increased
number of smooth white boards which were used as writing slates, the writing
being done with charcoal. Jesus was also permitted to resume his music lessons;
he was very fond of playing the harp.
126:1.7 Throughout this year it can truly be said that Jesus
"grew in favor with man and with God." The prospects of the family
seemed good; the future was bright.
The Death of Joseph: (Age 14)
126:2.1 All did go well until that fateful day of Tuesday,
September 25, when a runner from Sepphoris brought to this Nazareth home the
tragic news that Joseph had been severely injured by the falling of a derrick
while at work on the governor's residence. The messenger from Sepphoris had
stopped at the shop on the way to Joseph's home, informing Jesus of his
father's accident, and they went together to the house to break the sad news to
Mary. Jesus desired to go immediately to his father, but Mary would hear to
nothing but that she must hasten to her husband's side. She directed that
James, then ten years of age, should accompany her to Sepphoris while Jesus
remained home with the younger children until she should return, as she did not
know how seriously Joseph had been injured. But Joseph died of his injuries
before Mary arrived. They brought him to Nazareth, and on the following day he
was laid to rest with his fathers.
126:2.2 Just at the time when prospects were good and the
future looked bright, an apparently cruel hand struck down the head of this
Nazareth household, the affairs of this home were disrupted, and every plan for
Jesus and his future education was demolished. This carpenter lad, now just
past fourteen years of age, awakened to the realization that he had not only to
fulfill the commission of his heavenly Father to reveal the divine nature on
earth and in the flesh, but that his young human nature must also shoulder the
responsibility of caring for his widowed mother and seven brothers and sisters
—and another yet to be born. This lad of Nazareth now became the sole support
and comfort of this so suddenly bereaved family. Thus were permitted those
occurrences of the natural order of events on Urantia which would force this
young man of destiny so early to assume these heavy but highly educational and
disciplinary responsibilities attendant upon becoming the head of a human
family, of becoming father to his own brothers and sisters, of supporting and
protecting his mother, of functioning as guardian of his father's home, the
only home he was to know while on this world.
126:2.3 Jesus cheerfully accepted the responsibilities so
suddenly thrust upon him, and he carried them faithfully to the end. At least
one great problem and anticipated difficulty in his life had been tragically
solved—he would not now be expected to go to Jerusalem to study under the
rabbis. It remained always true that Jesus "sat at no man's feet."
He was ever willing to learn from even the humblest of little children, but he
never derived authority to teach truth from human sources.
126:2.4 Still he knew nothing of the Gabriel visit to his
mother before his birth; he only learned of this from John on the day of his
baptism, at the beginning of his public ministry.
Jesus Formulates "The Lord's Prayer":
126:3.3 During this year Jesus first formulated the prayer
which he subsequently taught to his apostles, and which to many has become
known as "The Lord's Prayer." In a way it was an evolution of the
family altar; they had many forms of praise and several formal prayers. After
his father's death Jesus tried to teach the older children to express
themselves individually in prayer—much as he so enjoyed doing—but they
could not grasp his thought and would invariably fall back upon their memorized
prayer forms. It was in this effort to stimulate his older brothers and sisters
to say individual prayers that Jesus would endeavor to lead them along by
suggestive phrases, and presently, without intention on his part, it developed
that they were all using a form of prayer which was largely built up from these
suggestive lines which Jesus had taught them.
126:3.4 At last Jesus gave up the idea of having each member
of the family formulate spontaneous prayers, and one evening in October he sat
down by the little squat lamp on the low stone table, and, on a piece of smooth
cedar board about eighteen inches square, with a piece of charcoal he wrote out
the prayer which became from that time on the standard family petition.
Jesus Ponders His Mission - The "Son Of Man":
126:3.5 This year Jesus was much troubled with confused
thinking. Family responsibility had quite effectively removed all thought of
immediately carrying out any plan for responding to the Jerusalem visitation
directing him to "be about his Father's business." Jesus rightly
reasoned that the watchcare of his earthly father's family must take precedence
of all duties; that the support of his family must become his first obligation.
126:3.6 In the course of this year Jesus found a passage in
the so-called Book of Enoch which influenced him in the later adoption
of the term "Son of Man" as a designation for his
bestowal mission on Urantia. He had thoroughly considered the idea of the
Jewish Messiah and was firmly convinced that he was not to be that Messiah. He
longed to help his father's people, but he never expected to lead Jewish armies
in overthrowing the foreign domination of Palestine. He knew he would never sit
on the throne of David at Jerusalem. Neither did he believe that his mission
was that of a spiritual deliverer or moral teacher solely to the Jewish people.
In no sense, therefore, could his life mission be the fulfillment of the
intense longings and supposed Messianic prophecies of the Hebrew scriptures; at
least, not as the Jews understood these predictions of the prophets. Likewise
he was certain he was never to appear as the Son of Man depicted by the Prophet
Daniel.
126:3.7 But when the time came for him to go forth as a world
teacher, what would he call himself? What claim should he make concerning his
mission? By what name would he be called by the people who would become
believers in his teachings?
126:3.8 While turning all these problems over in his mind, he
found in the synagogue library at Nazareth, among the apocalyptic books which
he had been studying, this manuscript called "The Book of Enoch";
and though he was certain that it had not been written by Enoch of old, it
proved very intriguing to him, and he read and reread it many times. There was
one passage which particularly impressed him, a passage in which this term "Son
of Man" appeared. The writer of this so-called Book of Enoch went on
to tell about this Son of Man, describing the work he would do on earth and
explaining that this Son of Man, before coming down on this earth to bring
salvation to mankind, had walked through the courts of heavenly glory with his
Father, the Father of all; and that he had turned his back upon all this
grandeur and glory to come down on earth to proclaim salvation to needy
mortals. As Jesus would read these passages (well understanding that much
of the Eastern mysticism which had become admixed with these teachings was
erroneous), he responded in his heart and recognized in his mind that of all
the Messianic predictions of the Hebrew scriptures and of all the theories
about the Jewish deliverer, none was so near the truth as this story tucked
away in this only partially accredited Book of Enoch; and he then and there
decided to adopt as his inaugural title "the Son of Man." And this he
did when he subsequently began his public work. Jesus had an unerring ability
for the recognition of truth, and truth he never hesitated to embrace, no
matter from what source it appeared to emanate.
126:3.9 By this time he had quite thoroughly settled many
things about his forthcoming work for the world, but he said nothing of these
matters to his mother, who still held stoutly to the idea of his being the
Jewish Messiah.
126:3.10 The great confusion of Jesus' younger days now arose.
Having settled something about the nature of his mission on earth, "to be
about his Father's business"—to show forth his Father's loving nature to
all mankind—he began to ponder anew the many statements in the Scriptures
referring to the coming of a national deliverer, a Jewish teacher or king. To
what event did these prophecies refer? Was not he a Jew? or was he? Was he
or was he not of the house of David? His mother averred he was; his father had
ruled that he was not. He decided he was not. But had the prophets confused
the nature and mission of the Messiah?
126:3.11 After all, could it be possible that his mother was
right? In most matters, when differences of opinion had arisen in the past, she
had been right. If he were a new teacher and not
the Messiah, then how should he recognize the Jewish Messiah if
such a one should appear in Jerusalem during the time of his earth mission;
and, further, what should be his relation to this Jewish Messiah? And what
should be his relation, after embarking on his life mission, to his family? to
the Jewish commonwealth and religion? to the Roman Empire? to the gentiles and
their religions? Each of these momentous problems this young Galilean turned
over in his mind and seriously pondered while he continued to work at the
carpenter's bench, laboriously making a living for himself, his mother, and
eight other hungry mouths.
126:3.13 His profound periods of meditation, his frequent
journeys to the hilltop for prayer, and the many strange ideas which Jesus
advanced from time to time, thoroughly alarmed his mother. Sometimes she
thought the lad was beside himself, and then she would steady her fears,
remembering that he was, after all, a child of promise and in some manner
different from other youths.
126:3.14 But Jesus was learning not to speak of all his
thoughts, not to present all his ideas to the world, not even to his own
mother. From this year on, Jesus' disclosures about what was going on in his
mind steadily diminished; that is, he talked less about those things which an
average person could not grasp, and which would lead to his being regarded as
peculiar or different from ordinary folks. To all appearances he became
commonplace and conventional, though he did long for someone who could
understand his problems. He craved a trustworthy and confidential friend, but
his problems were too complex for his human associates to comprehend. The
uniqueness of the unusual situation compelled him to bear his burdens alone.
Jesus' First Sermon In The Synagogue: (Age 15)
126:4.1 With the coming of his fifteenth birthday, Jesus could
officially occupy the synagogue pulpit on the Sabbath day. Many times before,
in the absence of speakers, Jesus had been asked to read the Scriptures, but
now the day had come when, according to law, he could conduct the service.
Therefore on the first Sabbath after his fifteenth birthday the chazan arranged
for Jesus to conduct the morning service of the synagogue. And when all the
faithful in Nazareth had assembled, the young man, having made his selection of
Scriptures, stood up and began to read:
126:4.2 "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; to proclaim the year of God's favor and the day of our God's
reckoning; to comfort all mourners, to
give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy in the place of mourning, a song of
praise instead of the spirit of sorrow, that they may be called trees of
righteousness, the planting of the Lord, wherewith he may be glorified.
126:4.3 "Seek good and not evil that you may live, and so the Lord,
the God of hosts, shall be with you. Hate the evil and love the good; establish
judgment in the gate. Perhaps the Lord God will be gracious to the remnant of
Joseph.
126:4.4 "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of
your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil and learn to do good; seek
justice, relieve the oppressed. Defend the fatherless and plead for the widow.
126:4.5 "Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, to bow myself before
the Lord of all the earth? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with
calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, ten
thousands of sheep, or with rivers of oil? Shall I give my first-born for my
transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? for the Lord has
showed us, O men, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to
deal justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God?
126:4.6 "To whom, then, will you liken God who sits upon the circle
of the earth? Lift up your eyes and behold who has created all these worlds,
who brings forth their host by number and calls them all by their names. He
does all these things by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong
in power, not one fails. He gives power to the weak, and to those who are
weary he increases strength. Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed,
for I am your God. I will strengthen you and I will help you; yes, I will uphold
you with the right hand of my righteousness, for I am the Lord your God. And I
will hold your right hand, saying to you, fear not, for I will help you.
126:4.7 And you are my witness, says the Lord, and my servant whom I have
chosen that all may know and believe me and understand that I am the Eternal.
I, even I, am the Lord, and beside me there is no savior."
126:4.8 And when he had thus read, he sat down, and the people
went to their homes, pondering over the words which he had so graciously read to
them. Never had his townspeople seen him so magnificently solemn; never had
they heard his voice so earnest and so sincere; never had they observed him so
manly and decisive, so authoritative.
126:4.9 This Sabbath afternoon Jesus climbed the Nazareth hill
with James and, when they returned home, wrote out the Ten Commandments in
Greek language on two smooth boards in charcoal. Subsequently Martha colored
and decorated these boards, and for long they hung on the wall over James's
small workbench.
The Financial Struggle At Home:
126:5.1 Gradually Jesus and his family returned to the simple
life of their earlier years. Their clothes and even their food became simpler.
They had plenty of milk, butter, and cheese. In season they enjoyed the produce
of their garden, but each passing month necessitated the practice of greater
frugality. Their breakfasts were very plain; they saved their best food for the
evening meal. However, among these Jews lack of wealth did not imply social
inferiority.
126:5.2 Already had this youth well-nigh encompassed the
comprehension of how men lived in his day. And how well he understood life in
the home, field, and workshop is shown by his subsequent teachings, which so
repletely reveal his intimate contact with all phases of human experience.
126:5.3 The Nazareth chazan continued to cling to the belief
that Jesus was to become a great teacher, probably the successor of the
renowned Gamaliel at Jerusalem.
126:5.4 Apparently all Jesus' plans for a career were
thwarted. The future did not look bright as matters now developed. But he did
not falter; he was not discouraged. He lived on, day by day, doing well the
present duty and faithfully discharging the immediate responsibilities of his station in
life. Jesus' life is the everlasting comfort of all disappointed idealists.
126:5.5 The pay of a common day-laboring carpenter was slowly
diminishing. By the end of this year Jesus could earn, by working early and
late, only the equivalent of about twenty-five cents a day. By the next year
they found it difficult to pay the civil taxes, not to mention the synagogue
assessments and the temple tax of one-half shekel. During this year the tax
collector tried to squeeze extra revenue out of Jesus, even threatening to take
his harp.
126:5.6 Fearing that the copy of the Greek scriptures might be
discovered and confiscated by the tax collectors, Jesus, on his fifteenth
birthday, presented it to the Nazareth synagogue library as his maturity
offering to the Lord.
126:5.7
The great shock of his fifteenth year came when Jesus went over to Sepphoris to
receive the decision of Herod regarding the appeal taken to him in the dispute
about the amount of money due Joseph at the time of his accidental death. Jesus
and Mary had hoped for the receipt of a considerable sum of money when the
treasurer at Sepphoris had offered them a paltry amount. Joseph's brothers had
taken an appeal to Herod himself, and now Jesus stood in the palace and heard
Herod decree that his father had nothing due him at the time of his death. And
for such an unjust decision Jesus never again trusted Herod Antipas. It is not
surprising that he once alluded to Herod as "that fox."
126:5.8 The close work at the carpenter's bench during this
and subsequent years deprived Jesus of the opportunity of mingling with the
caravan passengers. The family supply shop had already been taken over by his
uncle, and Jesus worked altogether in the home shop, where he was near to help
Mary with the family. About this time he began sending James up to the camel
lot to gather information about world events, and thus he sought to keep in
touch with the news of the day.
126:5.9 As he grew up to manhood, he passed through all those
conflicts and confusions which the average young persons of previous and
subsequent ages have undergone. And the rigorous experience of supporting his
family was a sure safeguard against his having overmuch time for idle
meditation or the indulgence of mystic tendencies.
Jesus, Tiller Of the Soil: (Age 15)
126:5.10 This was the year that Jesus rented a considerable
piece of land just to the north of their home, which was divided up as a family
garden plot. Each of the older children had an individual garden, and they
entered into keen competition in their agricultural efforts. Their eldest
brother spent some time with them in the garden each day during the season of
vegetable cultivation. As Jesus worked with his younger brothers and sisters in
the garden, he many times entertained the wish that they were all located on a
farm out in the country where they could enjoy the liberty and freedom of an
unhampered life. But they did not find themselves growing up in the country;
and Jesus, being a thoroughly practical youth as well as an idealist,
intelligently and vigorously attacked his problem just as he found it, and did
everything within his power to adjust himself and his family to the realities
of their situation and to adapt their condition to the highest possible
satisfaction of their individual and collective longings.
126:5.11 At one time Jesus faintly hoped that he might be able
to gather up sufficient means, provided they could collect the considerable sum
of money due his father for work on Herod's palace, to warrant undertaking the
purchase of a small farm. He had really given serious thought to this plan of
moving his family out into the country. But when Herod refused to pay them any
of the funds due Joseph, they gave up the ambition of owning a home in the
country. As it was, they contrived to enjoy much of the experience of farm life
as they now had three cows, four sheep, a flock of chickens, a donkey, and a
dog, in addition to the doves. Even the little tots had their regular duties to
perform in the well-regulated scheme of management which characterized the home
life of this Nazareth family.
126:5.12 With the close of this fifteenth year Jesus completed
the traversal of that dangerous and difficult period in human existence, that time
of transition between the more complacent years of childhood and the
consciousness of approaching manhood with its increased responsibilities and
opportunities for the acquirement of advanced experience in the development of
a noble character. The growth period for mind and body had ended, and now began
the real career of this young man of Nazareth.
The Head Of Household: (Age 16)
AS JESUS entered upon his adolescent years, he found
himself the head and sole support of a large family. Within a few years after
his father's death all their property was gone. As time passed, he became
increasingly conscious of his pre-existence; at the same time he began more
fully to realize that he was present on earth and in the flesh for the express
purpose of revealing his Paradise Father to the children of men.
127:0.2 No adolescent youth who has lived or ever will live on
this world or any other world has had or ever will have more weighty problems
to resolve or more intricate difficulties to untangle. No youth of Urantia will
ever be called upon to pass through more testing conflicts or more trying
situations than Jesus himself endured during those strenuous years from
fifteen to twenty.
127:0.3 Having thus tasted the actual experience of living
these adolescent years on a world beset by evil and distraught by sin, the Son
of Man became possessed of full knowledge about the life experience of the
youth of all the realms of Nebadon, and thus forever he became the
understanding refuge for the distressed and perplexed adolescents of all ages
and on all worlds throughout the local universe.
127:0.4 Slowly, but certainly and by actual experience, this
divine Son is earning the right to become sovereign of his
universe, the unquestioned and supreme ruler of all created intelligences on
all local universe worlds, the understanding refuge of the beings of all ages
and of all degrees of personal endowment and experience.
127:1.5 This year Simon started to school, and they were
compelled to sell another house. James now took charge of the teaching of his
three sisters, two of whom were old enough to begin serious study. As soon as
Ruth grew up, she was taken in hand by Miriam and Martha. Ordinarily the girls
of Jewish families received little education, but Jesus maintained (and his
mother agreed) that girls should go to school the same as boys, and since the
synagogue school would not receive them, there was nothing to do but conduct a
home school especially for them.
127:1.6 Throughout this year Jesus was closely confined to the
workbench. Fortunately he had plenty of work; his was of such a superior grade
that he was never idle no matter how slack work might be in that region. At
times he had so much to do that James would help him.
127:1.7 By the end of this year he had just about made up his
mind that he would, after rearing his family and seeing them married, enter
publicly upon his work as a teacher of truth and as a revealer of the heavenly
Father to the world. He knew he was not to become the expected Jewish Messiah,
and he concluded that it was next to useless to discuss these matters with his
mother; he decided to allow her to entertain whatever ideas she might choose
since all he had said in the past had made little or no impression upon her and
he recalled that his father had never been able to say anything that would
change her mind. From this year on he talked less and less with his mother, or
anyone else, about these problems. His was such a peculiar mission that no one
living on earth could give him advice concerning its prosecution.
127:1.8 He was a real though youthful father to the family; he
spent every possible hour with the youngsters, and they truly loved him. His
mother grieved to see him work so hard; she sorrowed that he was day by day
toiling at the carpenter's bench earning a living for the family instead of
being, as they had so fondly planned, at Jerusalem studying with the rabbis.
While there was much about her son that Mary could not understand, she did love
him, and she most thoroughly appreciated the willing manner in which he
shouldered the responsibility of the home.
Jesus Shuns The Political Arena: (Age 17)
127:2.1 At about this time there was considerable agitation,
especially at Jerusalem and in Judea, in favor of rebellion against the payment
of taxes to Rome. There was coming into existence a strong nationalist party,
presently to be called the Zealots. The Zealots, unlike the Pharisees, were not
willing to await the coming of the Messiah. They proposed to bring things to a
head through political revolt.
127:2.2 A group of organizers from Jerusalem arrived in
Galilee and were making good headway until they reached Nazareth. When they
came to see Jesus, he listened carefully to them and asked many questions but
refused to join the party. He declined fully to disclose his reasons for not
enlisting, and his refusal had the effect of keeping out many of his youthful
fellows in Nazareth.
127:2.3 Mary did her best to induce him to enlist, but she
could not budge him. She went so far as to intimate that his refusal to espouse
the nationalist cause at her behest was insubordination, a violation of his
pledge made upon their return from Jerusalem that he would be subject to his
parents; but in answer to this insinuation he only laid a kindly hand on her
shoulder and, looking into her face, said: "My mother, how could you?" And Mary withdrew her statement.
127:2.4 One of Jesus' uncles (Mary's brother Simon) had
already joined this group, subsequently becoming an officer in the Galilean
division. And for several years there was something of an estrangement between
Jesus and his uncle.
127:2.5 But trouble began to brew in Nazareth. Jesus' attitude
in these matters had resulted in creating a division among the Jewish youths of
the city. About half had joined the nationalist organization, and the other
half began the formation of an opposing group of more moderate patriots, expecting
Jesus to assume the leadership. They were amazed when he refused the honor
offered him, pleading as an excuse his heavy family responsibilities, which
they all allowed. But the situation was still further complicated when,
presently, a wealthy Jew, Isaac, a moneylender to the gentiles, came forward
agreeing to support Jesus' family if he would lay down his tools and assume
leadership of these Nazareth patriots.
127:2.6 Jesus, then scarcely seventeen years of age, was
confronted with one of the most delicate and difficult situations of his early
life. Patriotic issues, especially when complicated by tax-gathering foreign
oppressors, are always difficult for spiritual leaders to relate themselves to,
and it was doubly so in this case since the Jewish religion was involved in all
this agitation against Rome.
127:2.7 Jesus' position was made more difficult because his
mother and uncle, and even his younger brother James, all urged him to join the
nationalist cause. All the better Jews of Nazareth had enlisted, and those
young men who had not joined the movement would all enlist the moment Jesus
changed his mind. He had but one wise counselor in all Nazareth, his old
teacher, the chazan, who counseled him about his reply to the citizens'
committee of Nazareth when they came to ask for his answer to the public appeal
which had been made. In all Jesus' young life this was the very first time he
had consciously resorted to public strategy. Theretofore, always had he
depended upon a frank statement of truth to clarify the situation, but now he
could not declare the full truth. He could not intimate that he was more than a
man; he could not disclose his idea of the mission which awaited his attainment
of a riper manhood. Despite these limitations his religious fealty and national
loyalty were directly challenged. His family was in a turmoil, his youthful
friends in division, and the entire Jewish contingent of the town in a hubbub.
And to think that he was to blame for it all! And how innocent he had been of
all intention to make trouble of any kind, much less a disturbance of this
sort.
127:2.8 Something had to be done. He must state his position,
and this he did bravely and diplomatically to the satisfaction of many, but not
all. He adhered to the terms of his original plea, maintaining that his first
duty was to his family, that a widowed mother and eight brothers and sisters
needed something more than mere money could buy—the physical necessities of
life—that they were entitled to a father's watchcare and guidance, and that he
could not in clear conscience release himself from the obligation which a cruel
accident had thrust upon him. He paid compliment to his mother and eldest
brother for being willing to release him but reiterated that loyalty to a dead
father forbade his leaving the family no matter how much money was forthcoming
for their material support, making his never-to-be-forgotten statement that "money cannot love." In the course of this address Jesus made several
veiled references to his "life mission" but explained that, regardless of whether or not it
might be inconsistent with the military idea, it, along with everything else in
his life, had been given up in order that he might be able to discharge
faithfully his obligation to his family. Everyone in Nazareth well knew he was
a good father to his family, and this was a matter so near the heart of every
noble Jew that Jesus' plea found an appreciative response in the hearts of many
of his hearers; and some of those who were not thus minded were disarmed by a
speech made by James, which, while not on the program, was delivered at this
time. That very day the chazan had rehearsed James in his speech, but that was
their secret.
127:2.9 James stated that he was sure Jesus would help to
liberate his people if he (James) were only old enough to assume responsibility
for the family, and that, if they would only consent to allow Jesus to remain
"with us, to be our father and teacher, then you will have not just one
leader from Joseph's family, but presently you will have five loyal
nationalists, for are there not five of us boys to grow up and come forth from
our brother-father's guidance to serve our nation?" And thus did the lad
bring to a fairly happy ending a very tense and threatening situation.
127:2.10 The crisis for the time being was over, but never was
this incident forgotten in Nazareth. The agitation persisted; not again was
Jesus in universal favor; the division of sentiment was never fully overcome.
And this, augmented by other and subsequent occurrences, was one of the chief
reasons why he moved to Capernaum in later years. Henceforth Nazareth maintained a division of
sentiment regarding the Son of Man.
Jesus and James Travel To Jerusalem:
127:3.1 In the course of this year all the family property,
except the home and garden, was disposed of. The last piece of Capernaum
property (except an equity in one other), already mortgaged, was sold. The
proceeds were used for taxes, to buy some new tools for James, and to make a
payment on the old family supply and repair shop near the caravan lot, which
Jesus now proposed to buy back since James was old enough to work at the house
shop and help Mary about the home. With the financial pressure thus eased for
the time being, Jesus decided to take James to the Passover. They went up to
Jerusalem a day early, to be alone, going by way of Samaria. They walked, and
Jesus told James about the historic places en route as his father had taught
him on a similar journey five years before.
127:3.2 In passing through Samaria, they saw many strange
sights. On this journey they talked over many of their problems, personal,
family, and national. James was a very religious type of lad, and while he did
not fully agree with his mother regarding the little he knew of the plans
concerning Jesus' lifework, he did look forward to the time when he would be
able to assume responsibility for the family so that Jesus could begin his
mission. He was very appreciative of Jesus' taking him up to the Passover, and
they talked over the future more fully than ever before.
127:3.3 Jesus did much thinking as they journeyed through
Samaria, particularly at Bethel and when drinking from Jacob's Well. He and his
brother discussed the traditions of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He did much to
prepare James for what he was about to witness at Jerusalem, thus seeking to
lessen the shock such as he himself had experienced on his first visit to the
temple. But James was not so sensitive to some of these sights. He commented on
the perfunctory and heartless manner in which some of the priests performed
their duties but on the whole greatly enjoyed his sojourn at Jerusalem.
127:3.4 Jesus took James to Bethany for the Passover supper.
Simon had been laid to rest with his fathers, and Jesus presided over this
household as the head of the Passover family, having brought the paschal lamb
from the temple.
127:3.5 After the Passover supper Mary sat down to talk with
James while Martha, Lazarus, and Jesus talked together far into the night. The
next day they attended the temple services, and James was received into the commonwealth
of Israel. That morning, as they paused on the brow of Olivet to view the
temple, while James exclaimed in wonder, Jesus gazed on Jerusalem in silence.
James could not comprehend his brother's demeanor. That night they again
returned to Bethany and would have departed for home the next day, but James
was insistent on their going back to visit the temple, explaining that he
wanted to hear the teachers. And while this was true, secretly in his heart he
wanted to hear Jesus participate in the discussions, as he had heard his mother
tell about. Accordingly, they went to the temple and heard the discussions, but
Jesus asked no questions. It all seemed so puerile and insignificant to this
awakening mind of man and God—he could only pity them. James was disappointed
that Jesus said nothing. To his inquiries Jesus only made reply, "My hour has not yet come."
127:3.6 The next day they journeyed home by Jericho and the
Jordan valley, and Jesus recounted many things by the way, including his former
trip over this road when he was thirteen years old.
Jesus and John Meet Once More: (Age 18)
127:3.11 In September, Elizabeth and John came to visit the
Nazareth family. John, having lost his father, intended to return to the Judean
hills to engage in agriculture and sheep raising unless Jesus advised him to
remain in Nazareth to take up carpentry or some other line of work. They did
not know that the Nazareth family was practically penniless. The more Mary and
Elizabeth talked about their sons, the more they became convinced that it would
be good for the two young men to work together and see more of each other.
127:3.12 Jesus and John had many talks together; and they
talked over some very intimate and personal matters. When they had finished
this visit, they decided not again to see each other until they should meet
in their public service after "the heavenly Father should call" them
to their work. John was tremendously impressed by what he saw at Nazareth
that he should return home and labor for the support of his mother. He became
convinced that he was to be a part of Jesus' life mission, but he saw that
Jesus was to occupy many years with the rearing of his family; so he was much
more content to return to his home and settle down to the care of their little
farm and to minister to the needs of his mother. And never again did John and
Jesus see each other until that day by the Jordan when the Son of Man presented
himself for baptism.
Another Tragedy On Top Of Poverty:
127:3.13 On Saturday afternoon, December 3, of this year, death
for the second time struck at this Nazareth family. Little Amos, their baby
brother, died after a week's illness with a high fever. After passing through
this time of sorrow with her first-born son as her only support, Mary at last
and in the fullest sense recognized Jesus as the real head of the family; and
he was truly a worthy head.
127:3.14 For four years their standard of living had steadily
declined; year by year they felt the pinch of increasing poverty. By the close
of this year they faced one of the most difficult experiences of all their
uphill struggles. James had not yet begun to earn much, and the expenses of a
funeral on top of everything else staggered them. But Jesus would only say to
his anxious and grieving mother: "Mother-Mary, sorrow will not help us; we are all doing our
best, and mother's smile, perchance, might even inspire us to do better. Day by
day we are strengthened for these tasks by our hope of better days ahead." His sturdy and practical optimism was truly contagious; all the children lived in an atmosphere of
anticipation of better times and better things. And this hopeful courage
contributed mightily to the development of strong and noble characters, in
spite of the depressiveness of their poverty.
127:3.15 Jesus possessed the ability effectively to mobilize
all his powers of mind, soul, and body on the task immediately in hand. He
could concentrate his deep-thinking mind on the one problem which he wished to
solve, and this, in connection with his untiring patience, enabled him serenely to endure the
trials of a difficult mortal existence—to live as if he were "seeing Him
who is invisible."
Family Matters:
127:4.1 By this time Jesus and Mary were getting along much
better. She regarded him less as a son; he had become to her more a father to
her children. Each day's life swarmed with practical and immediate
difficulties. Less frequently they spoke of his lifework, for, as time passed,
all their thought was mutually devoted to the support and upbringing of their
family of four boys and three girls.
127:4.2 By the beginning of this year Jesus had fully won his
mother to the acceptance of his methods of child training—the positive
injunction to do good in the place of the older Jewish method of forbidding to
do evil. In his home and throughout his public-teaching career Jesus
invariably employed the positive form of exhortation. Always and everywhere
did he say, "You shall do this—you ought to do that." Never did he employ the negative mode of teaching derived from
the ancient taboos. He refrained from placing emphasis on evil by forbidding
it, while he exalted the good by commanding its performance. Prayer
time in this household was the occasion for discussing anything and everything
relating to the welfare of the family.
127:4.3 Jesus began wise discipline upon his brothers and
sisters at such an early age that little or no punishment was ever required to
secure their prompt and wholehearted obedience. The only exception was Jude,
upon whom on sundry occasions Jesus found it necessary to impose penalties for
his infractions of the rules of the home. On three occasions when it was deemed
wise to punish Jude for self-confessed and deliberate violations of the family
rules of conduct, his punishment was fixed by the unanimous decree of the
older children and was assented to by Jude himself before it was inflicted.
127:4.4 While Jesus was most methodical and systematic in
everything he did, there was also in all his administrative rulings a
refreshing elasticity of interpretation and an individuality of adaptation that
greatly impressed all the children with the spirit of justice which actuated
their father-brother. He never arbitrarily disciplined his brothers and
sisters, and such uniform fairness and personal consideration greatly endeared
Jesus to all his family.
127:4.5 James and Simon grew up trying to follow Jesus' plan
of placating their bellicose and sometimes irate playmates by persuasion and
nonresistance, and they were fairly successful; but Joseph and Jude, while
assenting to such teachings at home, made haste to defend themselves when
assailed by their comrades; in particular was Jude guilty of violating the
spirit of these teachings. But nonresistance was not a rule of the family. No penalty was attached
to the violation of personal teachings.
127:4.6 In general, all of the children, particularly the
girls, would consult Jesus about their childhood troubles and confide in him
just as they would have in an affectionate father.
127:4.7 James was growing up to be a well-balanced and
even-tempered youth, but he was not so spiritually inclined as Jesus. He was a
much better student than Joseph, who, while a faithful worker, was even less
spiritually minded. Joseph was a plodder and not up to the intellectual level
of the other children. Simon was a well-meaning boy but too much of a dreamer.
He was slow in getting settled down in life and was the cause of considerable
anxiety to Jesus and Mary. But he was always a good and well-intentioned lad.
Jude was a firebrand. He had the highest of ideals, but he was unstable in temperament.
He had all and more of his mother's determination and aggressiveness, but he
lacked much of her sense of proportion and discretion.
127:4.8 Miriam was a well-balanced and level-headed daughter
with a keen appreciation of things noble and spiritual. Martha was slow in
thought and action but a very dependable and efficient child. Baby Ruth was the
sunshine of the home; though thoughtless of speech, she was most sincere of
heart. She just about worshiped her big brother and father. But they did not spoil
her. She was a beautiful child but not quite so comely as Miriam, who was the
belle of the family, if not of the city.
127:4.9 As time passed, Jesus did much to liberalize and
modify the family teachings and practices related to Sabbath observance and many
other phases of religion, and to all these changes Mary gave hearty assent. By
this time Jesus had become the unquestioned head of the house.
127:4.10 This year Jude started to school, and it was necessary
for Jesus to sell his harp in order to defray these expenses. Thus disappeared
the last of his recreational pleasures. He much loved to play the harp when
tired in mind and weary in body, but he comforted himself with the thought that
at least the harp was safe from seizure by the tax collector.
Rebecca Falls In Love With Jesus: (Age 19)
127:5.1 Although Jesus was poor, his social standing in
Nazareth was in no way impaired. He was one of the foremost young men of the
city and very highly regarded by most of the young women. Since Jesus was such
a splendid specimen of robust and intellectual manhood, and considering his
reputation as a spiritual leader, it was not strange that Rebecca, the eldest
daughter of Ezra, a wealthy merchant and trader of Nazareth, should discover
that she was slowly falling in love with this son of Joseph. She first confided
her affection to Miriam, Jesus' sister, and Miriam in turn talked all this over
with her mother. Mary was intensely aroused. Was she about to lose her son, now
become the indispensable head of the family? Would troubles never cease? What
next could happen? And then she paused to contemplate what effect marriage
would have upon Jesus' future career; not often, but at least sometimes, did
she recall the fact that Jesus was a "child of promise." After she and
Miriam had talked this matter over, they decided to make an effort to stop it
before Jesus learned about it, by going direct to Rebecca, laying the whole
story before her, and honestly telling her about their belief that Jesus was
a son of destiny; that he was to become a great religious leader, perhaps
the Messiah.
127:5.2 Rebecca listened intently; she was thrilled with the
recital and more than ever determined to cast her lot with this man of her
choice and to share his career of leadership. She argued (to herself) that such
a man would all the more need a faithful and efficient wife. She interpreted
Mary's efforts to dissuade her as a natural reaction to the dread of losing the
head and sole support of her family; but knowing that her father approved of
her attraction for the carpenter's son, she rightly reckoned that he would
gladly supply the family with sufficient income fully to compensate for the
loss of Jesus' earnings. When her father agreed to such a plan, Rebecca had
further conferences with Mary and Miriam, and when she failed to win their
support, she made bold to go directly to Jesus. This she did with the
co-operation of her father, who invited Jesus to their home for the celebration
of Rebecca's seventeenth birthday
.
127:5.3 Jesus listened attentively and sympathetically to the
recital of these things, first by the father, then by Rebecca herself. He made
kindly reply to the effect that no amount of money could take the place of his
obligation personally to rear his father's family, to "fulfill the most sacred of all human trusts—loyalty to one's
own flesh and blood." Rebecca's father was deeply touched by Jesus' words of
family devotion and retired from the conference. His only remark to Mary, his
wife, was: "We can't have him for a son; he is too noble for us."
127:5.4 Then began that eventful talk with Rebecca. Thus far
in his life, Jesus had made little distinction in his association with boys and
girls, with young men and young women. His mind had been altogether too much
occupied with the pressing problems of practical earthly affairs and the
intriguing contemplation of his eventual career "about his Father's
business" ever to have given serious consideration to the consummation
of personal love in human marriage. But now he was face to face with
another of those problems which every average human being must confront and
decide. Indeed was he "tested in all points like as you are."
127:5.5 After listening attentively, he sincerely thanked
Rebecca for her expressed admiration, adding, "it shall cheer and comfort me all the days of my life." He explained that he was not free to enter into relations with
any woman other than those of simple brotherly regard and pure friendship. He
made it clear that his first and paramount duty was the rearing of his father's
family, that he could not consider marriage until that was accomplished; and
then he added: "If I am a son of destiny, I must not assume obligations of
lifelong duration until such a time as my destiny shall be made manifest."
127:5.6 Rebecca was heartbroken. She refused to be comforted
and importuned her father to leave Nazareth until he finally consented to move
to Sepphoris. In after years, to the many men who sought her hand in marriage,
Rebecca had but one answer. She lived for only one purpose—to await the hour
when this, to her, the greatest man who ever lived would begin his career as a
teacher of living truth. And she followed him devotedly through his eventful
years of public labor, being present (unobserved by Jesus) that day when he
rode triumphantly into Jerusalem; and she stood "among the other
women" by the side of Mary on that fateful and tragic afternoon when the
Son of Man hung upon the cross, to her, as well as to countless worlds on high,
"the one altogether lovely and the greatest among ten thousand."
The First "Bloodless" Passover With The
Zebedees: (Age 20)
127:6.3 Although they could hardly afford it, Jesus had a
strange longing to go up to Jerusalem for the Passover. His mother, knowing of
his recent experience with Rebecca, wisely urged him to make the journey. He
was not markedly conscious of it, but what he most wanted was an opportunity
to talk with Lazarus and to visit with Martha and Mary. Next to his own
family he loved these three most of all.
127:6.4 In making this trip to Jerusalem, he went by way of
Megiddo, Antipatris, and Lydda, in part covering the same route traversed when
he was brought back to Nazareth on the return from Egypt. He spent four days
going up to the Passover and thought much about the past events which had
transpired in and around Megiddo, the international battlefield of Palestine.
127:6.5 Jesus passed on through Jerusalem, only pausing to
look upon the temple and the gathering throngs of visitors. He had a strange
and increasing aversion to this Herod-built temple with its politically
appointed priesthood. He wanted most of all to see Lazarus, Martha, and
Mary. Lazarus was the same age as Jesus and now head of the house; by the time
of this visit Lazarus's mother had also been laid to rest. Martha was a little
over one year older than Jesus, while Mary was two years younger. And Jesus
was the idolized ideal of all three of them.
127:6.6 On this visit occurred one of those periodic outbreaks
of rebellion against tradition—the expression of resentment for those
ceremonial practices which Jesus deemed misrepresentative of his Father in
heaven. Not knowing Jesus was coming, Lazarus had arranged to celebrate the
Passover with friends in an adjoining village down the Jericho road. Jesus now
proposed that they celebrate the feast where they were, at Lazarus's house.
"But," said Lazarus, "we have no paschal lamb." And then
Jesus entered upon a prolonged and convincing dissertation to the effect that
the Father in heaven was not truly concerned with such childlike and
meaningless rituals. After solemn and fervent prayer they rose, and Jesus said:"Let the childlike and darkened minds of my people serve
their God as Moses directed; it is better that they do, but let us who have
seen the light of life no longer approach our Father by the darkness of death.
Let us be free in the knowledge of the truth of our Father's eternal
love."
127:6.7 That evening about twilight these four sat down and
partook of the first Passover feast ever to be celebrated by devout Jew without
the paschal lamb. The unleavened bread and the wine had been made ready for
this Passover, and these emblems, which Jesus termed "the bread of life" and "the water of life," he served to his companions, and they ate in solemn
conformity with the teachings just imparted. It was his custom to engage in
this sacramental ritual whenever he paid subsequent visits to Bethany.
When he returned home, he told all this to his mother. She was shocked at first
but came gradually to see his viewpoint; nevertheless, she was greatly relieved
when Jesus assured her that he did not intend to introduce this new idea of the
Passover in their family. At home with the children he continued, year by year,
to eat the Passover "according to the law of Moses."
On The Threshold Of Full Manhood: (Age 20)
127:6.12 Jesus is rapidly becoming a man, not just a young man
but an adult. He has learned well to bear responsibility. He knows how to carry
on in the face of disappointment. He bears up bravely when his plans are
thwarted and his purposes temporarily defeated. He has learned how to be fair
and just even in the face of injustice. He is learning how to adjust his ideals
of spiritual living to the practical demands of earthly existence. He is
learning how to plan for the achievement of a higher and distant goal of
idealism while he toils earnestly for the attainment of a nearer and immediate
goal of necessity. He is steadily acquiring the art of adjusting his
aspirations to the commonplace demands of the human occasion. He has very
nearly mastered the technique of utilizing the energy of the spiritual drive to
turn the mechanism of material achievement. He is slowly learning how to live
the heavenly life while he continues on with the earthly existence. More and
more he depends upon the ultimate guidance of his heavenly Father while he
assumes the fatherly role of guiding and directing the children of his earth
family. He is becoming experienced in the skillful wresting of victory from the
very jaws of defeat; he is learning how to transform the difficulties of time
into the triumphs of eternity.
127:6.13 And so, as the years pass, this young man of Nazareth
continues to experience life as it is lived in mortal flesh on the worlds of
time and space. He lives a full, representative, and replete life on Urantia.
He left this world ripe in the experience which his creatures pass through
during the short and strenuous years of their first life, the life in the
flesh. And all this human experience is an eternal possession of the Universe
Sovereign. He is our understanding brother, sympathetic friend, experienced
sovereign, and merciful father.
127:6.14 As a child he accumulated a vast body of knowledge; as
a youth he sorted, classified, and correlated this information; and now as a
man of the realm he begins to organize these mental possessions preparatory to
utilization in his subsequent teaching, ministry, and service in behalf of his
fellow mortals on this world and on all other spheres of habitation throughout
the entire universe of Nebadon.
127:6.15 Born into the world a babe of the realm, he has lived
his childhood life and passed through the successive stages of youth and young
manhood; he now stands on the threshold of full manhood, rich in the experience
of human living, replete in the understanding of human nature, and full of
sympathy for the frailties of human nature. He is becoming expert in the divine
art of revealing his Paradise Father to all ages and stages of mortal
creatures.
127:6.16 And now as a full-grown man—an adult of the realm—he
prepares to continue his supreme mission of revealing God to men and leading
men to God.
An Average Human Life
AS JESUS of Nazareth entered upon the early years of
his adult life, he had lived, and continued to live, a normal and average human
life on earth. Jesus came into this world just as other children come; he had
nothing to do with selecting his parents. He did choose this particular world
as the planet whereon to carry out his seventh and final bestowal, his
incarnation in the likeness of mortal flesh, but otherwise he entered the world
in a natural manner, growing up as a child of the realm and wrestling with the
vicissitudes of his environment just as do other mortals on this and on similar
worlds.
