The Urantia Book
PAPER 123
THE EARLY CHILDHOOD OF JESUS
123:0.1 OWING to the uncertainties and anxieties
of their sojourn in Bethlehem, Mary did not wean the babe until
they had arrived safely in Alexandria, where the family was able
to settle down to a normal life. They lived with kinsfolk, and
Joseph was well able to support his family as he secured work
shortly after their arrival. He was employed as a carpenter for
several months and then elevated to the position of foreman of a
large group of workmen employed on one of the public buildings
then in process of construction. This new experience gave him the
idea of becoming a contractor and builder after their return to
Nazareth.
123:0.2 All through these early years of Jesus'
helpless infancy, Mary maintained one long and constant vigil lest
anything befall her child which might jeopardize his welfare or in
any way interfere with his future mission on earth; no mother was
ever more devoted to her child. In the home where Jesus chanced to
be there were two other children about his age, and among the near
neighbors there were six others whose ages were sufficiently near
his own to make them acceptable play-fellows. At first Mary was
disposed to keep Jesus close by her side. She feared something
might happen to him if he were allowed to play in the garden with
the other children, but Joseph, with the assistance of his
kinsfolk, was able to convince her that such a course would
deprive Jesus of the helpful experience of learning how to adjust
himself to children of his own age. And Mary, realizing that such
a program of undue sheltering and unusual protection might tend to
make him self-conscious and somewhat self-centered, finally gave
assent to the plan of permitting the child of promise to grow up
just like any other child; and though she was obedient to this
decision, she made it her business always to be on watch while the
little folks were at play about the house or in the garden. Only
an affectionate mother can know the burden that Mary carried in
her heart for the safety of her son during these years of his
infancy and early childhood.
123:0.3 Throughout the two years of their
sojourn at Alexandria, Jesus enjoyed good health and continued to
grow normally. Aside from a few friends and relatives no one was
told about Jesus' being a "child of promise." One of Joseph's
relatives revealed this to a few friends in Memphis, descendants
of the distant Ikhnaton, and they, with a small group of
Alexandrian believers, assembled at the palatial home of Joseph's
relative-benefactor a short time before the return to Palestine to
wish the Nazareth family well and to pay their respects to the
child. On this occasion the assembled friends presented Jesus with
a complete copy of the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures.
But this copy of the Jewish sacred writings was not placed in
Joseph's hands until both he and Mary had finally declined the
invitation of their Memphis and Alexandrian friends to remain in
Egypt. These believers insisted that the child of destiny would be
able to exert a far greater world influence as a resident of
Alexandria than of any designated place in Palestine. These
persuasions delayed their departure for Palestine for some time
after they received the news of Herod's death.
123:0.4
Joseph and Mary finally took leave of Alexandria on a boat
belonging to their friend Ezraeon, bound for Joppa, arriving at
that port late in August of the year 4 B.C. They went directly to
Bethlehem, where they spent the entire month of September in
counsel with their friends and relatives concerning whether they
should remain there or return to Nazareth.
123:0.5 Mary had never fully given up the idea
that Jesus ought to grow up in Bethlehem, the City of David.
Joseph did not really believe that their son was to become a
kingly deliverer of Israel. Besides, he knew that he himself was
not really a descendant of David; that his being reckoned among
the offspring of David was due to the adoption of one of his
ancestors into the Davidic line of descent. Mary, of course,
thought the City of David the most appropriate place in which the
new candidate for David's throne could be reared, but Joseph
preferred to take chances with Herod Antipas rather than with his
brother Archelaus. He entertained great fears for the child's
safety in Bethlehem or in any other city in Judea, and surmised
that Archelaus would be more likely to pursue the menacing
policies of his father, Herod, than would Antipas in Galilee. And
besides all these reasons, Joseph was outspoken in his preference
for Galilee as a better place in which to rear and educate the
child, but it required three weeks to overcome Mary's objections.
123:0.6 By the first of October Joseph had
convinced Mary and all their friends that it was best for them to
return to Nazareth. Accordingly, early in October, 4 B.C., they
departed from Bethlehem for Nazareth, going by way of Lydda and
Scythopolis. They started out early one Sunday morning, Mary and
the child riding on their newly acquired beast of burden, while
Joseph and five accompanying kinsmen proceeded on foot; Joseph's
relatives refused to permit them to make the trip to Nazareth
alone. They feared to go to Galilee by Jerusalem and the Jordan
valley, and the western routes were not altogether safe for two
lone travelers with a child of tender years.
1. BACK IN NAZARETH
123:1.1 On the fourth day of the journey the
party reached its destination in safety. They arrived unannounced
at the Nazareth home, which had been occupied for more than three
years by one of Joseph's married brothers, who was indeed
surprised to see them; so quietly had they gone about their
business that neither the family of Joseph nor that of Mary knew
they had even left Alexandria. The next day Joseph's brother moved
his family, and Mary, for the first time since Jesus' birth,
settled down with her little family to enjoy life in their own
home. In less than a week Joseph secured work as a carpenter, and
they were supremely happy.
123:1.2 Jesus was about three years and two
months old at the time of their return to Nazareth. He had stood
all these travels very well and was in excellent health and full
of childish glee and excitement at having premises of his own to
run about in and to enjoy. But he greatly missed the association
of his Alexandrian playmates.
123:1.3 On the way to Nazareth Joseph had
persuaded Mary that it would be unwise to spread the word among
their Galilean friends and relatives that Jesus was a child of
promise. They agreed to refrain from all mention of these matters
to anyone. And they were both very faithful in keeping this
promise.
123:1.4 Jesus' entire fourth year was a period
of normal physical development and of unusual mental activity.
Meantime he had formed a very close attachment for a neighbor boy
about his own age named Jacob. Jesus and Jacob were always happy
in their play, and they grew up to be great friends and loyal
companions.
123:1.5 The next important event in the life of
this Nazareth family was the birth of the second child, James, in
the early morning hours of April 2, 3 B.C. Jesus was thrilled by
the thought of having a baby brother, and he would stand around by
the hour just to observe the baby's early activities.
123:1.6 It was midsummer of this same year that
Joseph built a small workshop close to the village spring and near
the caravan tarrying lot. After this he did very little carpenter
work by the day. He had as associates two of his brothers and
several other mechanics, whom he sent out to work while he
remained at the shop making yokes and plows and doing other
woodwork. He also did some work in leather and with rope and
canvas. And Jesus, as he grew up, when not at school, spent his
time about equally between helping his mother with home duties and
watching his father work at the shop, meanwhile listening to the
conversation and gossip of the caravan conductors and passengers
from the four corners of the earth.
123:1.7 In July of this year, one month before
Jesus was four years old, an outbreak of malignant intestinal
trouble spread over all Nazareth from contact with the caravan
travelers. Mary became so alarmed by the danger of Jesus being
exposed to this epidemic of disease that she bundled up both her
children and fled to the country home of her brother, several
miles south of Nazareth on the Megiddo road near Sarid. They did
not return to Nazareth for more than two months; Jesus greatly
enjoyed this, his first experience on a farm.
2. THE FIFTH YEAR (2 B.C.)
123:2.1 In something more than a year after the
return to Nazareth the boy Jesus arrived at the age of his first
personal and wholehearted moral decision; and there came to abide
with him a Thought Adjuster, a divine gift of the Paradise Father,
which had aforetime served with Machiventa Melchizedek, thus
gaining the experience of functioning in connection with the
incarnation of a supermortal being living in the likeness of
mortal flesh. This event occurred on February 11, 2 B.C. Jesus was
no more aware of the coming of the divine Monitor than are the
millions upon millions of other children who, before and since
that day, have likewise received these Thought Adjusters to
indwell their minds and work for the ultimate spiritualization of
these minds and the eternal survival of their evolving immortal
souls.
123:2.2 On this day in February the direct and
personal supervision of the Universe Rulers, as it was related to
the integrity of the childlike incarnation of Michael, terminated.
From that time on throughout the human unfolding of the
incarnation, the guardianship of Jesus was destined to rest in the
keeping of this indwelling Adjuster and the associated seraphic
guardians, supplemented from time to time by the ministry of
midway creatures assigned for the performance of certain definite
duties in accordance with the instruction of their planetary
superiors.
123:2.3 Jesus was five years old in August of
this year, and we will, therefore, refer to this as his fifth
(calendar) year of life. In this year, 2 B.C., a little more than
one month before his fifth birthday anniversay, Jesus was made
very happy by the coming of his sister Miriam, who was born on the
night of July 11. During the evening of the following day Jesus
had a long talk with his father concerning the manner in which
various groups of living things are born into the world as
separate individuals. The most valuable part of Jesus' early
education was secured from his parents in answer to his thoughtful
and searching inquiries. Joseph never failed to do his full duty
in taking pains and spending time answering the boy's numerous
questions. From the time Jesus was five years old until he was
ten, he was one continuous question mark. While Joseph and Mary
could not always answer his questions, they never failed fully to
discuss his inquiries and in every other possible way to assist
him in his efforts to reach a satisfactory solution of the problem
which his alert mind had suggested.
123:2.4 Since returning to Nazareth, theirs had
been a busy household, and Joseph had been unusually occupied
building his new shop and getting his business started again. So
fully was he occupied that he had found no time to build a cradle
for James, but this was corrected long before Miriam came, so that
she had a very comfortable crib in which to nestle while the
family admired her. And the child Jesus heartily entered into all
these natural and normal home experiences. He greatly enjoyed his
little brother and his baby sister and was of great help to Mary
in their care.
123:2.5 There were few homes in the gentile
world of those days that could give a child a better intellectual,
moral, and religious training than the Jewish homes of Galilee.
These Jews had a systematic program for rearing and educating
their children. They divided a child's life into seven stages:
1. The newborn child, the first to the
eighth day.
2. The suckling child.
3. The weaned child.
4. The period of dependence on the
mother, lasting up to the end of the fifth year.
5. The beginning independence of the
child and, with sons, the father assuming responsibility for their
education.
6. The adolescent youths and maidens.
7. The young men and the young women.
123:2.6 It was the custom of the Galilean Jews
for the mother to bear the responsibility for a child's training
until the fifth birthday, and then, if the child were a boy, to
hold the father responsible for the lad's education from that time
on. This year, therefore, Jesus entered upon the fifth stage of a
Galilean Jewish child's career, and accordingly on August 21, 2
B.C., Mary formally turned him over to Joseph for further
instruction.
123:2.7 Though Joseph was now assuming the
direct responsibility for Jesus' intellectual and religious
education, his mother still interested herself in his home
training. She taught him to know and care for the vines and
flowers growing about the garden walls which completely surrounded
the home plot. She also provided on the roof of the house (the
summer bedroom) shallow boxes of sand in which Jesus worked out
maps and did much of his early practice at writing Aramaic, Greek,
and later on, Hebrew, for in time he learned to read, write, and
speak, fluently, all three languages.
123:2.8 Jesus appeared to be a well-nigh perfect
child physically and continued to make normal progress mentally
and emotionally. He experienced a mild digestive upset, his first
minor illness, in the latter part of this, his fifth (calendar)
year.
123:2.9 Though Joseph and Mary often talked
about the future of their eldest child, had you been there, you
would only have observed the growing up of a normal, healthy,
carefree, but exceedingly inquisitive child of that time and
place.
3. EVENTS OF THE SIXTH YEAR (1 B.C.)
123:3.1 Already, with his mother's help, Jesus
had mastered the Galilean dialect of the Aramaic tongue; and now
his father began teaching him Greek. Mary spoke little Greek, but
Joseph was a fluent speaker of both Aramaic and Greek. The
textbook for the study of the Greek language was the copy of the
Hebrew scriptures -- a complete version of the law and the
prophets, including the Psalms -- which had been presented to them
on leaving Egypt. There were only two complete copies of the
Scriptures in Greek in all Nazareth, and the possession of one of
them by the carpenter's family made Joseph's home a much-sought
place and enabled Jesus, as he grew up, to meet an almost endless
procession of earnest students and sincere truth seekers. Before
this year ended, Jesus had assumed custody of this priceless
manuscript, having been told on his sixth birthday that the sacred
book had been presented to him by Alexandrian friends and
relatives. And in a very short time he could read it readily.
123:3.2 The first great shock of Jesus' young
life occurred when he was not quite six years old. It had seemed
to the lad that his father -- at least his father and mother
together -- knew everything. Imagine, therefore, the surprise of
this inquiring child, when he asked his father the cause of a mild
earthquake which had just occurred, to hear Joseph say, "My son, I
really do not know." Thus began that long and disconcerting
disillusionment in the course of which Jesus found out that his
earthly parents were not all-wise and all-knowing.
123:3.3 Joseph's first thought was to tell Jesus
that the earthquake had been caused by God, but a moment's
reflection admonished him that such an answer would immediately be
provocative of further and still more embarrassing inquiries. Even
at an early age it was very difficult to answer Jesus' questions
about physical or social phenomena by thoughtlessly telling him
that either God or the devil was responsible. In harmony with the
prevailing belief of the Jewish people, Jesus was long willing to
accept the doctrine of good spirits and evil spirits as the
possible explanation of mental and spiritual phenomena, but he
very early became doubtful that such unseen influences were
responsible for the physical happenings of the natural world.
123:3.4 Before Jesus was six years of age, in
the early summer of 1 B.C., Zacharias and Elizabeth and their son
John came to visit the Nazareth family. Jesus and John had a happy
time during this, their first visit within their memories.
Although the visitors could remain only a few days, the parents
talked over many things, including the future plans for their
sons. While they were thus engaged, the lads played with blocks in
the sand on top of the house and in many other ways enjoyed
themselves in true boyish fashion.
123:3.5 Having met John, who came from near
Jerusalem, Jesus began to evince an unusual interest in the
history of Israel and to inquire in great detail as to the meaning
of the Sabbath rites, the synagogue sermons, and the recurring
feasts of commemoration. His father explained to him the meaning
of all these seasons. The first was the midwinter festive
illumination, lasting eight days, starting out with one candle the
first night and adding one each successive night; this
commemorated the dedication of the temple after the restoration of
the Mosaic services by Judas Maccabee. Next came the early
springtime celebration of Purim, the feast of Esther and Israel's
deliverance through her. Then followed the solemn Passover, which
the adults celebrated in Jerusalem whenever possible, while at
home the children would remember that no leavened bread was to be
eaten for the whole week. Later came the feast of the
first-fruits, the harvest ingathering; and last, the most solemn
of all, the feast of the new year, the day of atonement. While
some of these celebrations and observances were difficult for
Jesus' young mind to understand, he pondered them seriously and
then entered fully into the joy of the feast of tabernacles, the
annual vacation season of the whole Jewish people, the time when
they camped out in leafy booths and gave themselves up to mirth
and pleasure.
123:3.6 During this year Joseph and Mary had
trouble with Jesus about his prayers. He insisted on talking to
his heavenly Father much as he would talk to Joseph, his earthly
father. This departure from the more solemn and reverent modes of
communication with Deity was a bit disconcerting to his parents,
especially to his mother, but there was no persuading him to
change; he would say his prayers just as he had been taught, after
which he insisted on having "just a little talk with my Father in
heaven."
123:3.7 In June of this year Joseph turned the
shop in Nazareth over to his brothers and formally entered upon
his work as a builder. Before the year was over, the family income
had more than trebled. Never again, until after Joseph's death,
did the Nazareth family feel the pinch of poverty. The family grew
larger and larger, and they spent much money on extra education
and travel, but always Joseph's increasing income kept pace with
the growing expenses.
123:3.8 The next few years Joseph did
considerable work at Cana, Bethlehem (of Galilee), Magdala, Nain,
Sepphoris, Capernaum, and Endor, as well as much building in and
near Nazareth. As James grew up to be old enough to help his
mother with the housework and care of the younger children, Jesus
made frequent trips away from home with his father to these
surrounding towns and villages. Jesus was a keen observer and
gained much practical knowledge from these trips away from home;
he was assiduously storing up knowledge regarding man and the way
he lived on earth.
123:3.9 This year Jesus made great progress in
adjusting his strong feelings and vigorous impulses to the demands
of family co-operation and home discipline. Mary was a loving
mother but a fairly strict disciplinarian. In many ways, however,
Joseph exerted the greater control over Jesus as it was his
practice to sit down with the boy and fully explain the real and
underlying reasons for the necessity of disciplinary curtailment
of personal desires in deference to the welfare and tranquillity
of the entire family. When the situation had been explained to
Jesus, he was always intelligently and willingly co-operative with
parental wishes and family regulations.
123:3.10 Much of his spare time -- when his
mother did not require his help about the house -- was spent
studying the flowers and plants by day and the stars by night. He
evinced a troublesome penchant for lying on his back and gazing
wonderingly up into the starry heavens long after his usual
bedtime in this well-ordered Nazareth household.
4. THE SEVENTH YEAR (A.D. 1)
123:4.1 This was, indeed, an eventful year in
Jesus' life. Early in January a great snowstorm occurred in
Galilee. Snow fell two feet deep, the heaviest snowfall Jesus saw
during his lifetime and one of the deepest at Nazareth in a
hundred years.
123:4.2 The play life of Jewish children in the
times of Jesus was rather circumscribed; all too often the
children played at the more serious things they observed their
elders doing. They played much at weddings and funerals,
ceremonies which they so frequently saw and which were so
spectacular. They danced and sang but had few organized games,
such as children of later days so much enjoy.
123:4.3 Jesus, in company with a neighbor boy
and later his brother James, delighted to play in the far corner
of the family carpenter shop, where they had great fun with the
shavings and the blocks of wood. It was always difficult for Jesus
to comprehend the harm of certain sorts of play which were
forbidden on the Sabbath, but he never failed to conform to his
parents' wishes. He had a capacity for humor and play which was
afforded little opportunity for expression in the environment of
his day and generation, but up to the age of fourteen he was
cheerful and lighthearted most of the time.
123:4.4 Mary maintained a dovecote on top of the
animal house adjoining the home, and they used the profits from
the sale of doves as a special charity fund, which Jesus
administered after he deducted the tithe and turned it over to the
officer of the synagogue.
123:4.5 The only real accident Jesus had up to
this time was a fall down the back-yard stone stairs which led up
to the canvas-roofed bedroom. It happened during an unexpected
July sandstorm from the east. The hot winds, carrying blasts of
fine sand, usually blew during the rainy season, especially in
March and April. It was extraordinary to have such a storm in
July. When the storm came up, Jesus was on the housetop playing,
as was his habit, for during much of the dry season this was his
accustomed playroom. He was blinded by the sand when descending
the stairs and fell. After this accident Joseph built a balustrade
up both sides of the stairway.
123:4.6 There was no way in which this accident
could have been prevented. It was not chargeable to neglect by the
midway temporal guardians, one primary and one secondary midwayer
having been assigned to the watchcare of the lad; neither was it
chargeable to the guardian seraphim. It simply could not have been
avoided. But this slight accident, occurring while Joseph was
absent in Endor, caused such great anxiety to develop in Mary's
mind that she unwisely tried to keep Jesus very close to her side
for some months.
123:4.7 Material accidents, commonplace
occurrences of a physical nature, are not arbitrarily interfered
with by celestial personalities. Under ordinary circumstances only
midway creatures can intervene in material conditions to safeguard
the persons of men and women of destiny, and even in special
situations these beings can so act only in obedience to the
specific mandates of their superiors.
123:4.8 And this was but one of a number of such
minor accidents which subsequently befell this inquisitive and
adventurous youth. If you envisage the average childhood and youth
of an aggressive boy, you will have a fairly good idea of the
youthful career of Jesus, and you will be able to imagine just
about how much anxiety he caused his parents, particularly his
mother.
123:4.9 The fourth member of the Nazareth
family, Joseph, was born Wednesday morning, March 16, A.D. 1.
5. SCHOOL DAYS IN NAZARETH
123:5.1 Jesus was now seven years old, the age
when Jewish children were supposed to begin their formal education
in the synagogue schools. Accordingly, in August of this year he
entered upon his eventful school life at Nazareth. Already this
lad was a fluent reader, writer, and speaker of two languages,
Aramaic and Greek. He was now to acquaint himself with the task of
learning to read, write, and speak the Hebrew language. And he was
truly eager for the new school life which was ahead of him.
123:5.2 For three years -- until he was ten --
he attended the elementary school of the Nazareth synagogue. For
these three years he studied the rudiments of the Book of the Law
as it was recorded in the Hebrew tongue. For the following three
years he studied in the advanced school and committed to memory,
by the method of repeating aloud, the deeper teachings of the
sacred law. He graduated from this school of the synagogue during
his thirteenth year and was turned over to his parents by the
synagogue rulers as an educated "son of the commandment" --
henceforth a responsible citizen of the commonwealth of Israel,
all of which entailed his attendance at the Passovers in
Jerusalem; accordingly, he attended his first Passover that year
in company with his father and mother.
123:5.3 At Nazareth the pupils sat on the floor
in a semicircle, while their teacher, the chazan, an officer of
the synagogue, sat facing them. Beginning with the Book of
Leviticus, they passed on to the study of the other books of the
law, followed by the study of the Prophets and the Psalms. The
Nazareth synagogue possessed a complete copy of the Scriptures in
Hebrew. Nothing but the Scriptures was studied prior to the
twelfth year. In the summer months the hours for school were
greatly shortened.
123:5.4 Jesus early became a master of Hebrew,
and as a young man, when no visitor of prominence happened to be
sojourning in Nazareth, he would often be asked to read the Hebrew
scriptures to the faithful assembled in the synagogue at the
regular Sabbath services.
123:5.5 These synagogue schools, of course, had
no textbooks. In teaching, the chazan would utter a statement
while the pupils would in unison repeat it after him. When having
access to the written books of the law, the student learned his
lesson by reading aloud and by constant repetition.
123:5.6 Next, in addition to his more formal
schooling, Jesus began to make contact with human nature from the
four quarters of the earth as men from many lands passed in and
out of his father's repair shop. When he grew older, he mingled
freely with the caravans as they tarried near the spring for rest
and nourishment. Being a fluent speaker of Greek, he had little
trouble in conversing with the majority of the caravan travelers
and conductors.
123:5.7 Nazareth was a caravan way station and
crossroads of travel and largely gentile in population; at the
same time it was widely known as a center of liberal
interpretation of Jewish traditional law. In Galilee the Jews
mingled more freely with the gentiles than was their practice in
Judea. And of all the cities of Galilee, the Jews of Nazareth were
most liberal in their interpretation of the social restrictions
based on the fears of contamination as a result of contact with
the gentiles. And these conditions gave rise to the common saying
in Jerusalem, "Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?"
123:5.8 Jesus received his moral training and
spiritual culture chiefly in his own home. He secured much of his
intellectual and theological education from the chazan. But his
real education -- that equipment of mind and heart for the actual
test of grappling with the difficult problems of life -- he
obtained by mingling with his fellow men. It was this close
association with his fellow men, young and old, Jew and gentile,
that afforded him the opportunity to know the human race. Jesus
was highly educated in that he thoroughly understood men and
devotedly loved them.
123:5.9 Throughout his years at the synagogue he
was a brilliant student, possessing a great advantage since he was
conversant with three languages. The Nazareth chazan, on the
occasion of Jesus' finishing the course in his school, remarked to
Joseph that he feared he "had learned more from Jesus' searching
questions" than he had "been able to teach the lad."
123:5.10 Throughout his course of study Jesus
learned much and derived great inspiration from the regular
Sabbath sermons in the synagogue. It was customary to ask
distinguished visitors, stopping over the Sabbath in Nazareth, to
address the synagogue. As Jesus grew up, he heard many great
thinkers of the entire Jewish world expound their views, and many
also who were hardly orthodox Jews since the synagogue of Nazareth
was an advanced and liberal center of Hebrew thought and culture.
123:5.11 When entering school at seven years (at
this time the Jews had just inaugurated a compulsory education
law), it was customary for the pupils to choose their "birthday
text," a sort of golden rule to guide them throughout their
studies, one upon which they often expatiated at their graduation
when thirteen years old. The text which Jesus chose was from the
Prophet Isaiah: "The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, for the
Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the
meek, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the
captives, and to set the spiritual prisoners free."
123:5.12 Nazareth was one of the twenty-four
priest centers of the Hebrew nation. But the Galilean priesthood
was more liberal in the interpretation of the traditional laws
than were the Judean scribes and rabbis. And at Nazareth they were
also more liberal regarding the observance of the Sabbath. It was
therefore the custom for Joseph to take Jesus out for walks on
Sabbath afternoons, one of their favorite jaunts being to climb
the high hill near their home, from which they could obtain a
panoramic view of all Galilee. To the northwest, on clear days,
they could see the long ridge of Mount Carmel running down to the
sea; and many times Jesus heard his father relate the story of
Elijah, one of the first of that long line of Hebrew prophets, who
reproved Ahab and exposed the priests of Baal. To the north Mount
Hermon raised its snowy peak in majestic splendor and monopolized
the skyline, almost 3,000 feet of the upper slopes glistening
white with perpetual snow. Far to the east they could discern the
Jordan valley and, far beyond, the rocky hills of Moab. Also to
the south and the east, when the sun shone upon their marble
walls, they could see the Greco-Roman cities of the Decapolis,
with their amphitheaters and pretentious temples. And when they
lingered toward the going down of the sun, to the west they could
make out the sailing vessels on the distant Mediterranean.
123:5.13 From four directions Jesus could
observe the caravan trains as they wended their way in and out of
Nazareth, and to the south he could overlook the broad and fertile
plain country of Esdraelon, stretching off toward Mount Gilboa and
Samaria.
123:5.14 When they did not climb the heights to
view the distant landscape, they strolled through the countryside
and studied nature in her various moods in accordance with the
seasons. Jesus' earliest training, aside from that of the home
hearth, had to do with a reverent and sympathetic contact with
nature.
123:5.15 Before he was eight years of age, he
was known to all the mothers and young women of Nazareth, who had
met him and talked with him at the spring, which was not far from
his home, and which was one of the social centers of contact and
gossip for the entire town. This year Jesus learned to milk the
family cow and care for the other animals. During this and the
following year he also learned to make cheese and to weave. When
he was ten years of age, he was an expert loom operator. It was
about this time that Jesus and the neighbor boy Jacob became great
friends of the potter who worked near the flowing spring; and as
they watched Nathan's deft fingers mold the clay on the potter's
wheel, many times both of them determined to be potters when they
grew up. Nathan was very fond of the lads and often gave them clay
to play with, seeking to stimulate their creative imaginations by
suggesting competitive efforts in modeling various objects and
animals.
6. HIS EIGHTH YEAR (A.D. 2)
123:6.1 This was an interesting year at school.
Although Jesus was not an unusual student, he was a diligent pupil
and belonged to the more progressive third of the class, doing his
work so well that he was excused from attendance one week out of
each month. This week he usually spent either with his fisherman
uncle on the shores of the Sea of Galilee near Magdala or on the
farm of another uncle (his mother's brother) five miles south of
Nazareth.
123:6.2 Although his mother had become unduly
anxious about his health and safety, she gradually became
reconciled to these trips away from home. Jesus' uncles and aunts
were all very fond of him, and there ensued a lively competition
among them to secure his company for these monthly visits
throughout this and immediately subsequent years. His first week's
sojourn on his uncle's farm (since infancy) was in January of this
year; the first week's fishing experience on the Sea of Galilee
occurred in the month of May.
123:6.3 About this time Jesus met a teacher of
mathematics from Damascus, and learning some new techniques of
numbers, he spent much time on mathematics for several years. He
developed a keen sense of numbers, distances, and proportions.
123:6.4 Jesus began to enjoy his brother James
very much and by the end of this year had begun to teach him the
alphabet.
123:6.5 This year Jesus made arrangements to
exchange dairy products for lessons on the harp. He had an unusual
liking for everything musical. Later on he did much to promote an
interest in vocal music among his youthful associates. By the time
he was eleven years of age, he was a skillful harpist and greatly
enjoyed entertaining both family and friends with his
extraordinary interpretations and able improvisations.
123:6.6 While Jesus continued to make enviable
progress at school, all did not run smoothly for either parents or
teachers. He persisted in asking many embarrassing questions
concerning both science and religion, particularly regarding
geography and astronomy. He was especially insistent on finding
out why there was a dry season and a rainy season in Palestine.
Repeatedly he sought the explanation for the great difference
between the temperatures of Nazareth and the Jordan valley. He
simply never ceased to ask such intelligent but perplexing
questions.
123:6.7 His third brother, Simon, was born on
Friday evening, April 14, of this year, A.D. 2.
123:6.8 In February, Nahor, one of the teachers
in a Jerusalem academy of the rabbis, came to Nazareth to observe
Jesus, having been on a similar mission to Zacharias's home near
Jerusalem. He came to Nazareth at the instigation of John's
father. While at first he was somewhat shocked by Jesus' frankness
and unconventional manner of relating himself to things religious,
he attributed it to the remoteness of Galilee from the centers of
Hebrew learning and culture and advised Joseph and Mary to allow
him to take Jesus back with him to Jerusalem, where he could have
the advantages of education and training at the center of Jewish
culture. Mary was half persuaded to consent; she was convinced her
eldest son was to become the Messiah, the Jewish deliverer; Joseph
hesitated; he was equally persuaded that Jesus was to grow up to
become a man of destiny, but what that destiny would prove to be
he was profoundly uncertain. But he never really doubted that his
son was to fulfill some great mission on earth. The more he
thought about Nahor's advice, the more he questioned the wisdom of
the proposed sojourn in Jerusalem.
123:6.9 Because of this difference of opinion
between Joseph and Mary, Nahor requested permission to lay the
whole matter before Jesus. Jesus listened attentively, talked with
Joseph, Mary, and a neighbor, Jacob the stone mason, whose son was
his favorite playmate, and then, two days later, reported that
since there was such a difference of opinion among his parents and
advisers, and since he did not feel competent to assume the
responsibility for such a decision, not feeling strongly one way
or the other, in view of the whole situation, he had finally
decided to "talk with my Father who is in heaven"; and while he
was not perfectly sure about the answer, he rather felt he should
remain at home "with my father and mother," adding, "they who love
me so much should be able to do more for me and guide me more
safely than strangers who can only view my body and observe my
mind but can hardly truly know me." They all marveled, and Nahor
went his way, back to Jerusalem. And it was many years before the
subject of Jesus' going away from home again came up for
consideration.
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