John S said:
Since there are very few Bible Scriptures devoted to the life of Jesus Christ, I thought that I would speculate on it. Feel free to agree or disagree.
I assume you mean the early life of Christ because the Gospels are in fact an account of his life during his ministry.
John S said:
Guys - Here you are engaged to your fiance and you are preparing for your wedding. Then one day out of the blue, your fiance tells you that she is pregnant and you KNOW that it isn't yours. That must have been some conversation.
Joseph, I'm Sorry but I'm pregnant. He COULD have had her put to death, if it hadn't been for the visit of an angel.
It would not be wise to go beyond what is revealed in Scripture but there is enough recorded to give us an idea of how Joseph must have received the news. He obviously did not believe Mary but thought she had been with another man, which is the only possibility considering he intended to divorce her privately. A divorce would have been a simple matter, she had freely admitted that she was pregnant and Joseph could honestly attest that he had not been with her.
We also can tell that Joseph was a good man, not at all vindictive although in this case he would have every right to be angry. But he chose to put her away privately so as not to bring shame upon her … which would mean traveling to a more distant synagogue where their names would be unknown to file for the divorce, which was a simple matter of a formal testimony that Mary had been unfaithful which would have given Joseph legal grounds for putting her away.
It took divine intervention to convince Joseph of the truth of the child Mary carried, and one can well imagine the grief and repentance that would assail a good man in the face of his lack of trust which led him to misjudge and wrongly condemn Mary as unfaithful.
John S said:
I wonder how they spent the gold that they got from the 3 Wise men?
There is no record of the amount that was given, but certainly it would have proved a great help to the young couple who were forced to flee Judaea and journey to Egypt to escape the wrathful Herod. That would have been the night of February 23 of 4 B.C. The journey would have taken at least 10 days to reach Egypt, longer if they traveled into the interior or to Alexandria which city hosted the largest Jewish population of the Diaspora.
The Scriptures do not record how long the holy family remained in Egypt, but the legends of their sojourning there for a period of several years do not correlate with what is recorded in Scripture, which is that the Lord sent an angel to Joseph in Egypt to inform him that Herod had died, which occurred a month after the holy family fled to Egypt, and Joseph was instructed to “rise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel.” This revelation from the angel would have preceded the normal news channels which would require at least 10 days for the information to reach Egypt where the holy family were staying, and one can only assume that Joseph would not long delay obeying the angelic instructions but would most likely have packed up very soon after and returned with Mary and Jesus to Judaea.
John S said:
I guess that the infant Jesus got all of the diseases that young children get. Today that would be measles, mumps, chicken pox, belly aches, diarrhea, or whatever Jewish children got back then.
Again, from Scripture we know that Jesus was fully human and subject to all the same physical weaknesses that we are, he hungered and thirsted, he grew weary and needed rest. So it is reasonable to assume that as a child he suffered from the same physical ailments that any normal child is subject to.
John S said:
Since He grew up able to read, He must have had some schooling. It was probably only a few years. I wonder if He liked to go to school or found it boring.
All male Jews were educated and that education was limited to the study of the Bible. A child’s education began at age 3 when he learned at his mother’s knee a few simple Psalms and prayers. The daily life of the family also added to a child’s education in the Law as he saw the Law in its practical application in the day-to-day life of his family. At age 6 the child would begin his formal education, in the days of Jesus at the local synagogue by the Rabbi. They would begin with learning the alphabet which they were required to master as recording the Words of the Scripture was an exacting practice. When that was diligently mastered, they progressed to studying the book of Leviticus, which contained those ordinances which it was incumbent upon a Jew to learn as early as possible. Jewish children not only copied Scripture but were also required to memorize and recite, verbatim, long passages to train their memories so they would not forget the Law. It should be noted that for the Jew, the education of children was as much a moral undertaking as an intellectual one. The child progressed from the study of Leviticus to the rest of the Pentateuch, then to the Prophets, and lastly to the rest of the Hagiographa. At 10 the student then began study of the Mishna and at 15 he must be ready for study of the Talmud. From there he left the synagogue school and attended a more advanced academy to complete his education over a 3 to 5 year period, depending upon his aptitude.
Jewish children were also required to learn a trade, generally being apprentices to their fathers to carry on his line of work, but they were free to choose any other trade they felt led to pursue. Those who wished to enter the priesthood or become scribes (lawyers) entered into additional training at the Rabbinic academy in Jerusalem or at Babylon.
Again, Jesus’ love and apparent mastery of the Scriptures he evidences in his ministry can only be the fruit of years of diligent study, so it would be reasonable to assume that Jesus enjoyed his studies and reveled in the Scriptures, meditating in them and probably proving a delight to his teachers, and if the incident in the Temple when he was 12 is any indication, also proving a challenge to them! And Jesus’ habit of prayer in his adult life would not have been recently cultivated but was forged in the years of his childhood and with the example of godly parents who would have had a regular practice of prayer.
John S said:
When He had some free time, I bet He and his childhood peers played together - kicking a ball around, playing some form of tag, playing hide and go seek or something like that. MAYBE one of His peers was a boy named Lazarus.
There is every reason to assume that Jesus had a very normal and happy childhood. The Gospel accounts show that as an adult he had a warm and generous nature, a lively sense of humor, showed a high regard and tender consideration for women and children, possessed an innate wisdom and understanding of human nature, and a high moral standard that was neither hypocritical nor yet self-righteous but was the product of a profound and sincere love of God and of his fellow man.
We know from the Gospel accounts that Jesus was a perfect man. It is only reasonable to assume that he did not change when he reached maturity but rather was also a perfect child; sweet-natured as a babe, kind and considerate as a child, and at the same time serious and studious, generous, helpful to his family, friends, and neighbors. I cannot help but believe that he was a joy to Mary and Joseph. Certainly the Scripture says that he increased in “stature” (standing or reputation) and favor with God and with men. So he was both well-liked and respected.
John S said:
He would have also started helping His father out with the carpentry business.
When He was 12 or so, He and His parents went to Jerusalem. When He had the chance, He INTENTIONALLY snuck away from them. Mary spent several hours talking with the women alone and Joseph spent several hours alone talking to the men. When they met again, they were horrified. Their son was missing in the big city all by Himself. They must have been panicking. When they found Him. they "scolded" Him for sneaking away. He "talked back" to them by saying that He was doing His father's work. They continued to "scold" Him. He decided that it would be better to close His mouth and accept their "punishment". I wonder if He ever needed to be "scolded" at other times.
There is no reason to assume that Jesus sneaked away from his parents. He was 12 years old, certainly old enough to go about the city on his own, or with other young men. It wasn’t that he stole away from his parents, but simply that he was busy in the Temple and was unaware of their departure for home. Nor were Mary and Joseph negligent. Jesus was a young man and they were traveling with a large group, so it was completely reasonable for them to assume that he was among their band that left Jerusalem for the Galilee.
But you are making some assumptions here. There is no indication that Mary “scolded” Jesus, but rather her words to my mind sound more like sincere wonder that her son was calmly sitting in the temple in the midst of the learned Rabbis and Doctors of the Law discussing the Scriptures with them while she and Joseph had been frantically searching the city for him. Do you think Mary rushed up to Jesus in such an assembly and publicly scolded him in front of such an esteemed company? The Scripture says that Mary and Joseph were “amazed” when they found Jesus and her question to him showed that she was perplexed that he would not consider that they might be worried about his absence. They didn’t understand his response, but the fact that Mary “kept all these sayings in her heart” shows that she at least understood that Jesus was not being disobedient or even careless.
John S said:
It doesn't matter if it is 16 A.D or 2013 A.D, teenaged girls LOVE confident boys - and He was confident. You can be certain that they were looking at Him. Did He look at them? He would have reached puberty by now and puberty does bring out urges.
Again, on this we have to look to the Scripture about other “natural urges” Jesus would have confronted in his humanity. We see him undergoing severe temptation in the wilderness after his baptism, and yet what we do not see is any sign or inclination of weakness in the face of it. Jesus experienced temptation, but he did not struggle with it. His spirit was such that he was at all times master of his flesh and its desires. So if Jesus had experienced natural sexual desire as a young man, and there is no reason to assume that he didn’t, it is inconceivable that it would have proven a temptation that he had to struggle with, but rather, as with other incidents in his life, he was able in the strength of his spirit to overcome such temptations and rise above them and even as a child and a young man, live a sinless life.
John S said:
Sometime after He reached the age of adulthood, Joseph died. Since He was the eldest son, He would have inherited the family home and the family business.
At the age of 29, He was taking care of His mother in the family home by charging money for His carpentry services. This allowed them to buy groceries and whatever possessions that they needed. His siblings, assuming that He had some, would have been grown up and married by now. He was not married. I guess that His neighbors liked Him.
Then He turned 30,
And that’s the Gospel truth.
Enjoyed the discussion, thank you for letting me join in.
In Christ,
Pilgrimer
