The Urantia Book
PAPER 124
THE LATER CHILDHOOD OF JESUS
124:0.1 ALTHOUGH Jesus might have enjoyed a
better opportunity for schooling at Alexandria than in Galilee, he
could not have had such a splendid environment for working out his
own life problems with a minimum of educational guidance, at the
same time enjoying the great advantage of constantly contacting
with such a large number of all classes of men and women hailing
from every part of the civilized world. Had he remained at
Alexandria, his education would have been directed by Jews and
along exclusively Jewish lines. At Nazareth he secured an
education and received a training which more acceptably prepared
him to understand the gentiles, and which gave him a better and
more balanced idea of the relative merits of the Eastern, or
Babylonian, and the Western, or Hellenic, views of Hebrew
theology.
1. JESUS' NINTH YEAR (A.D. 3)
124:1.1 Though it could hardly be said that
Jesus was ever seriously ill, he did have some of the minor
ailments of childhood this year, along with his brothers and baby
sister.
124:1.2 School went on and he was still a
favored pupil, having one week each month at liberty, and he
continued to divide his time about equally between trips to
neighboring cities with his father, sojourns on his uncle's farm
south of Nazareth, and fishing excursions out from Magdala.
124:1.3 The most serious trouble as yet to come
up at school occurred in late winter when Jesus dared to challenge
the chazan regarding the teaching that all images, pictures, and
drawings were idolatrous in nature. Jesus delighted in drawing
landscapes as well as in modeling a great variety of objects in
potter's clay. Everything of that sort was strictly forbidden by
Jewish law, but up to this time he had managed to disarm his
parents' objection to such an extent that they had permitted him
to continue in these activities.
124:1.4 But trouble was again stirred up at
school when one of the more backward pupils discovered Jesus
drawing a charcoal picture of the teacher on the floor of the
schoolroom. There it was, plain as day, and many of the elders had
viewed it before the committee went to call on Joseph to demand
that something be done to suppress the lawlessness of his eldest
son. And though this was not the first time complaints had come to
Joseph and Mary about the doings of their versatile and aggressive
child, this was the most serious of all the accusations which had
thus far been lodged against him. Jesus listened to the indictment
of his artistic efforts for some time, being seated on a large
stone just outside the back door. He resented their blaming his
father for his alleged misdeeds; so in he marched, fearlessly
confronting his accusers. The elders were thrown into confusion.
Some were inclined to view the episode humorously, while one or
two seemed to think the boy was sacrilegious if not blasphemous.
Joseph was nonplused, Mary indignant, but Jesus insisted on being
heard. He had his say, courageously defended his viewpoint, and
with consummate self-control announced that he would abide by the
decision of his father in this as in all other matters
controversial. And the committee of elders departed in silence.
124:1.5 Mary endeavored to influence Joseph to
permit Jesus to model in clay at home, provided he promised not to
carry on any of these questionable activities at school, but
Joseph felt impelled to rule that the rabbinical interpretation of
the second commandment should prevail. And so Jesus no more drew
or modeled the likeness of anything from that day as long as he
lived in his father's house. But he was unconvinced of the wrong
of what he had done, and to give up such a favorite pastime
constituted one of the great trials of his young life.
124:1.6 In the latter part of June, Jesus, in
company with his father, first climbed to the summit of Mount
Tabor. It was a clear day and the view was superb. It seemed to
this nine-year-old lad that he had really gazed upon the entire
world excepting India, Africa, and Rome.
124:1.7 Jesus' second sister, Martha, was born
Thursday night, September 13. Three weeks after the coming of
Martha, Joseph, who was home for awhile, started the building of
an addition to their house, a combined workshop and bedroom. A
small workbench was built for Jesus, and for the first time he
possessed tools of his own. At odd times for many years he worked
at this bench and became highly expert in the making of yokes.
124:1.8 This winter and the next were the
coldest in Nazareth for many decades. Jesus had seen snow on the
mountains, and several times it had fallen in Nazareth, remaining
on the ground only a short time; but not until this winter had he
seen ice. The fact that water could be had as a solid, a liquid,
and a vapor -- he had long pondered over the escaping steam from
the boiling pots -- caused the lad to think a great deal about the
physical world and its constitution; and yet the personality
embodied in this growing youth was all this while the actual
creator and organizer of all these things throughout a far-flung
universe.
124:1.9 The climate of Nazareth was not severe.
January was the coldest month, the temperature averaging around
50° F. During July and August, the hottest months, the temperature
would vary from 75° to 90° F. From the mountains to the Jordan and
the Dead Sea valley the climate of Palestine ranged from the
frigid to the torrid. And so, in a way, the Jews were prepared to
live in about any and all of the world's varying climates.
124:1.10 Even during the warmest summer months a
cool sea breeze usually blew from the west from 10:00 A.M. until
about 10:00 P.M. But every now and then terrific hot winds from
the eastern desert would blow across all Palestine. These hot
blasts usually came in February and March, near the end of the
rainy season. In those days the rain fell in refreshing showers
from November to April, but it did not rain steadily. There were
only two seasons in Palestine, summer and winter, the dry and
rainy seasons. In January the flowers began to bloom, and by the
end of April the whole land was one vast flower garden.
124:1.11 In May of this year, on his uncle's
farm, Jesus for the first time helped with the harvest of the
grain. Before he was thirteen, he had managed to find out
something about practically everything that men and women worked
at around Nazareth except metal working, and he spent several
months in a smith's shop when older, after the death of his
father.
124:1.12 When work and caravan travel were
slack, Jesus made many trips with his father on pleasure or
business to nearby Cana, Endor, and Nain. Even as a lad he
frequently visited Sepphoris, only a little over three miles from
Nazareth to the northwest, and from 4 B.C. to about A.D. 25 the
capital of Galilee and one of the residences of Herod Antipas.
124:1.13 Jesus continued to grow physically,
intellectually, socially, and spiritually. His trips away from
home did much to give him a better and more generous understanding
of his own family, and by this time even his parents were
beginning to learn from him as well as to teach him. Jesus was an
original thinker and a skillful teacher, even in his youth. He was
in constant collision with the so-called "oral law," but he always
sought to adapt himself to the practices of his family. He got
along fairly well with the children of his age, but he often grew
discouraged with their slow-acting minds. Before he was ten years
old, he had become the leader of a group of seven lads who formed
themselves into a society for promoting the acquirements of
manhood -- physical, intellectual, and religious. Among these boys
Jesus succeeded in introducing many new games and various improved
methods of physical recreation.
2. THE TENTH YEAR (A.D. 4)
124:2.1 It was the fifth of July, the first
Sabbath of the month, when Jesus, while strolling through the
countryside with his father, first gave expression to feelings and
ideas which indicated that he was becoming self-conscious of the
unusual nature of his life mission. Joseph listened attentively to
the momentous words of his son but made few comments; he
volunteered no information. The next day Jesus had a similar but
longer talk with his mother. Mary likewise listened to the
pronouncements of the lad, but neither did she volunteer any
information. It was almost two years before Jesus again spoke to
his parents concerning this increasing revelation within his own
consciousness regarding the nature of his personality and the
character of his mission on earth.
124:2.2 He entered the advanced school of the
synagogue in August. At school he was constantly creating trouble
by the questions he persisted in asking. Increasingly he kept all
Nazareth in more or less of a hubbub. His parents were loath to
forbid his asking these disquieting questions, and his chief
teacher was greatly intrigued by the lad's curiosity, insight, and
hunger for knowledge.
124:2.3 Jesus' playmates saw nothing
supernatural in his conduct; in most ways he was altogether like
themselves. His interest in study was somewhat above the average
but not wholly unusual. He did ask more questions at school than
others in his class.
124:2.4 Perhaps his most unusual and outstanding
trait was his unwillingness to fight for his rights. Since he was
such a well-developed lad for his age, it seemed strange to his
playfellows that he was disinclined to defend himself even from
injustice or when subjected to personal abuse. As it happened, he
did not suffer much on account of this trait because of the
friendship of Jacob, a neighbor boy, who was one year older. He
was the son of the stone mason, a business associate of Joseph.
Jacob was a great admirer of Jesus and made it his business to see
that no one was permitted to impose upon Jesus because of his
aversion to physical combat. Several times older and uncouth
youths attacked Jesus, relying upon his reputed docility, but they
always suffered swift and certain retribution at the hands of his
self-appointed champion and ever-ready defender, Jacob the stone
mason's son.
124:2.5 Jesus was the generally accepted leader
of the Nazareth lads who stood for the higher ideals of their day
and generation. He was really loved by his youthful associates,
not only because he was fair, but also because he possessed a rare
and understanding sympathy that betokened love and bordered on
discreet compassion.
124:2.6 This year he began to show a marked
preference for the company of older persons. He delighted in
talking over things cultural, educational, social, economic,
political, and religious with older minds, and his depth of
reasoning and keenness of observation so charmed his adult
associates that they were always more than willing to visit with
him. Until he became responsible for the support of the home, his
parents were constantly seeking to influence him to associate with
those of his own age, or more nearly his age, rather than with
older and better-informed individuals for whom he evinced such a
preference.
124:2.7 Late this year he had a fishing
experience of two months with his uncle on the Sea of Galilee, and
he was very successful. Before attaining manhood, he had become an
expert fisherman.
124:2.8 His physical development continued; he
was an advanced and privileged pupil at school; he got along
fairly well at home with his younger brothers and sisters, having
the advantage of being three and one-half years older than the
oldest of the other children. He was well thought of in Nazareth
except by the parents of some of the duller children, who often
spoke of Jesus as being too pert, as lacking in proper humility
and youthful reserve. He manifested a growing tendency to direct
the play activities of his youthful associates into more serious
and thoughtful channels. He was a born teacher and simply could
not refrain from so functioning, even when supposedly engaged in
play.
124:2.9 Joseph early began to instruct Jesus in
the diverse means of gaining a livelihood, explaining the
advantages of agriculture over industry and trade. Galilee was a
more beautiful and prosperous district than Judea, and it cost
only about one fourth as much to live there as in Jerusalem and
Judea. It was a province of agricultural villages and thriving
industrial cities, containing more than two hundred towns of over
five thousand population and thirty of over fifteen thousand.
124:2.10 When on his first trip with his father
to observe the fishing industry on the lake of Galilee, Jesus had
just about made up his mind to become a fisherman; but close
association with his father's vocation later on influenced him to
become a carpenter, while still later a combination of influences
led him to the final choice of becoming a religious teacher of a
new order.
3. THE ELEVENTH YEAR (A.D. 5)
124:3.1 Throughout this year the lad continued
to make trips away from home with his father, but he also
frequently visited his uncle's farm and occasionally went over to
Magdala to engage in fishing with the uncle who made his
headquarters near that city.
124:3.2 Joseph and Mary were often tempted to
show some special favoritism for Jesus or otherwise to betray
their knowledge that he was a child of promise, a son of destiny.
But both of his parents were extraordinarily wise and sagacious in
all these matters. The few times they did in any manner exhibit
any preference for him, even in the slightest degree, the lad was
quick to refuse all such special consideration.
124:3.3 Jesus spent considerable time at the
caravan supply shop, and by conversing with the travelers from all
parts of the world, he acquired a store of information about
international affairs that was amazing, considering his age. This
was the last year in which he enjoyed much free play and youthful
joyousness. From this time on difficulties and responsibilities
rapidly multiplied in the life of this youth.
124:3.4 On Wednesday evening, June 24, A.D. 5,
Jude was born. Complications attended the birth of this, the
seventh child. Mary was so very ill for several weeks that Joseph
remained at home. Jesus was very much occupied with errands for
his father and with many duties occasioned by his mother's serious
illness. Never again did this youth find it possible to return to
the childlike attitude of his earlier years. From the time of his
mother's illness -- just before he was eleven years old -- he was
compelled to assume the responsibilities of the first-born son and
to do all this one or two full years before these burdens should
normally have fallen on his shoulders.
124:3.5 The chazan spent one evening each week
with Jesus, helping him to master the Hebrew scriptures. He was
greatly interested in the progress of his promising pupil;
therefore was he willing to assist him in many ways. This Jewish
pedagogue exerted a great influence upon this growing mind, but he
was never able to comprehend why Jesus was so indifferent to all
his suggestions regarding the prospects of going to Jerusalem to
continue his education under the learned rabbis.
124:3.6 About the middle of May the lad
accompanied his father on a business trip to Scythopolis, the
chief Greek city of the Decapolis, the ancient Hebrew city of
Beth-shean. On the way Joseph recounted much of the olden history
of King Saul, the Philistines, and the subsequent events of
Israel's turbulent history. Jesus was tremendously impressed with
the clean appearance and well-ordered arrangement of this
so-called heathen city. He marveled at the open-air theater and
admired the beautiful marble temple dedicated to the worship of
the "heathen" gods. Joseph was much perturbed by the lad's
enthusiasm and sought to counteract these favorable impressions by
extolling the beauty and grandeur of the Jewish temple at
Jerusalem. Jesus had often gazed curiously upon this magnificent
Greek city from the hill of Nazareth and had many times inquired
about its extensive public works and ornate buildings, but his
father had always sought to avoid answering these questions. Now
they were face to face with the beauties of this gentile city, and
Joseph could not gracefully ignore Jesus' inquiries.
124:3.7 It so happened that just at this time
the annual competitive games and public demonstrations of physical
prowess between the Greek cities of the Decapolis were in progress
at the Scythopolis amphitheater, and Jesus was insistent that his
father take him to see the games, and he was so insistent that
Joseph hesitated to deny him. The boy was thrilled with the games
and entered most heartily into the spirit of the demonstrations of
physical development and athletic skill. Joseph was inexpressibly
shocked to observe his son's enthusiasm as he beheld these
exhibitions of "heathen" vaingloriousness. After the games were
finished, Joseph received the surprise of his life when he heard
Jesus express his approval of them and suggest that it would be
good for the young men of Nazareth if they could be thus benefited
by wholesome outdoor physical activities. Joseph talked earnestly
and long with Jesus concerning the evil nature of such practices,
but he well knew that the lad was unconvinced.
124:3.8 The only time Jesus ever saw his father
angry with him was that night in their room at the inn when, in
the course of their discussions, the boy so far forgot the trends
of Jewish thought as to suggest that they go back home and work
for the building of an amphitheater at Nazareth. When Joseph heard
his first-born son express such un-Jewish sentiments, he forgot
his usual calm demeanor and, seizing Jesus by the shoulder,
angrily exclaimed, "My son, never again let me hear you give
utterance to such an evil thought as long as you live." Jesus was
startled by his father's display of emotion; he had never before
been made to feel the personal sting of his father's indignation
and was astonished and shocked beyond expression. He only replied,
"Very well, my father, it shall be so." And never again did the
boy even in the slightest manner allude to the games and other
athletic activities of the Greeks as long as his father lived.
124:3.9 Later on, Jesus saw the Greek
amphitheater at Jerusalem and learned how hateful such things were
from the Jewish point of view. Nevertheless, throughout his life
he endeavored to introduce the idea of wholesome recreation into
his personal plans and, as far as Jewish practice would permit,
into the later program of regular activities for his twelve
apostles.
124:3.10 At the end of this eleventh year Jesus
was a vigorous, well-developed, moderately humorous, and fairly
lighthearted youth, but from this year on he was more and more
given to peculiar seasons of profound meditation and serious
contemplation. He was much given to thinking about how he was to
carry out his obligations to his family and at the same time be
obedient to the call of his mission to the world; already he had
conceived that his ministry was not to be limited to the
betterment of the Jewish people.
4. THE TWELFTH YEAR (A.D. 6)
124:4.1 This was an eventful year in Jesus'
life. He continued to make progress at school and was
indefatigable in his study of nature, while increasingly he
prosecuted his study of the methods whereby men make a living. He
began doing regular work in the home carpenter shop and was
permitted to manage his own earnings, a very unusual arrangement
to obtain in a Jewish family. This year he also learned the wisdom
of keeping such matters a secret in the family. He was becoming
conscious of the way in which he had caused trouble in the
village, and henceforth he became increasingly discreet in
concealing everything which might cause him to be regarded as
different from his fellows.
124:4.2 Throughout this year he experienced many
seasons of uncertainty, if not actual doubt, regarding the nature
of his mission. His naturally developing human mind did not yet
fully grasp the reality of his dual nature. The fact that he had a
single personality rendered it difficult for his consciousness to
recognize the double origin of those factors which composed the
nature associated with that selfsame personality.
124:4.3 From this time on he became more
successful in getting along with his brothers and sisters. He was
increasingly tactful, always compassionate and considerate of
their welfare and happiness, and enjoyed good relations with them
up to the beginning of his public ministry. To be more explicit:
He got along with James, Miriam, and the two younger (as yet
unborn) children, Amos and Ruth, most excellently. He always got
along with Martha fairly well. What trouble he had at home largely
arose out of friction with Joseph and Jude, particularly the
latter.
124:4.4 It was a trying experience for Joseph
and Mary to undertake the rearing of this unprecedented
combination of divinity and humanity, and they deserve great
credit for so faithfully and successfully discharging their
parental responsibilities. Increasingly Jesus' parents realized
that there was something superhuman resident within this eldest
son, but they never even faintly dreamed that this son of promise
was indeed and in truth the actual creator of this local universe
of things and beings. Joseph and Mary lived and died without ever
learning that their son Jesus really was the Universe Creator
incarnate in mortal flesh.
124:4.5 This year Jesus paid more attention than
ever to music, and he continued to teach the home school for his
brothers and sisters. It was at about this time that the lad
became keenly conscious of the difference between the viewpoints
of Joseph and Mary regarding the nature of his mission. He
pondered much over his parents' differing opinions, often hearing
their discussions when they thought he was sound asleep. More and
more he inclined to the view of his father, so that his mother was
destined to be hurt by the realization that her son was gradually
rejecting her guidance in matters having to do with his life
career. And, as the years passed, this breach of understanding
widened. Less and less did Mary comprehend the significance of
Jesus' mission, and increasingly was this good mother hurt by the
failure of her favorite son to fulfill her fond expectations.
124:4.6 Joseph entertained a growing belief in
the spiritual nature of Jesus' mission. And but for other and more
important reasons it does seem unfortunate that he could not have
lived to see the fulfillment of his concept of Jesus' bestowal on
earth.
124:4.7 During his last year at school, when he
was twelve years old, Jesus remonstrated with his father about the
Jewish custom of touching the bit of parchment nailed upon the
doorpost each time on going into, or coming out of, the house and
then kissing the finger that touched the parchment. As a part of
this ritual it was customary to say, "The Lord shall preserve our
going out and our coming in, from this time forth and even
forevermore." Joseph and Mary had repeatedly instructed Jesus as
to the reasons for not making images or drawing pictures,
explaining that such creations might be used for idolatrous
purposes. Though Jesus failed fully to grasp their proscriptions
against images and pictures, he possessed a high concept of
consistency and therefore pointed out to his father the
essentially idolatrous nature of this habitual obeisance to the
doorpost parchment. And Joseph removed the parchment after Jesus
had thus remonstrated with him.
124:4.8 As time passed, Jesus did much to modify
their practice of religious forms, such as the family prayers and
other customs. And it was possible to do many such things at
Nazareth, for its synagogue was under the influence of a liberal
school of rabbis, exemplified by the renowned Nazareth teacher,
Jose.
124:4.9 Throughout this and the two following
years Jesus suffered great mental distress as the result of his
constant effort to adjust his personal views of religious
practices and social amenities to the established beliefs of his
parents. He was distraught by the conflict between the urge to be
loyal to his own convictions and the conscientious admonition of
dutiful submission to his parents; his supreme conflict was
between two great commands which were uppermost in his youthful
mind. The one was: "Be loyal to the dictates of your highest
convictions of truth and righteousness." The other was: "Honor
your father and mother, for they have given you life and the
nurture thereof." However, he never shirked the responsibility of
making the necessary daily adjustments between these realms of
loyalty to one's personal convictions and duty toward one's
family, and he achieved the satisfaction of effecting an
increasingly harmonious blending of personal convictions and
family obligations into a masterful concept of group solidarity
based upon loyalty, fairness, tolerance, and love.
5. HIS THIRTEENTH YEAR (A.D. 7)
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.
124:5.2 On Sunday night, January 9, A.D. 7, his
baby brother, Amos, was born. Jude was not yet two years of age,
and the baby sister, Ruth, was yet to come; so it may be seen that
Jesus had a sizable family of small children left to his watchcare
when his father met his accidental death the following year.
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.
124:5.4 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 Sepphoris, 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. Jesus had a larger and longer experience rearing this
family than was accorded to Joseph, his father; and he did measure
up to the standard which he subsequently set for himself: to
become a wise, patient, understanding, and effective teacher and
eldest brother to this family -- his family -- so suddenly
sorrow-stricken and so unexpectedly bereaved.
6. THE JOURNEY TO JERUSALEM
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.
124:6.10 They pressed on, soon standing on the
brink of Olivet, and Jesus saw for the first time (in his memory)
the Holy City, the pretentious palaces, and the inspiring temple
of his Father. At no time in his life did Jesus ever experience
such a purely human thrill as that which at this time so
completely enthralled him as he stood there on this April
afternoon on the Mount of Olives, drinking in his first view of
Jerusalem. And in after years, on this same spot he stood and wept
over the city which was about to reject another prophet, the last
and the greatest of her heavenly teachers.
124:6.11 But they hurried on to Jerusalem. It
was now Thursday afternoon. On reaching the city, they journeyed
past the temple, and never had Jesus beheld such throngs of human
beings. He meditated deeply on how these Jews had assembled here
from the uttermost parts of the known world.
124:6.12 Soon they reached the place prearranged
for their accommodation during the Passover week, the large home
of a well-to-do relative of Mary's, one who knew something of the
early history of both John and Jesus, through Zacharias. The
following day, the day of preparation, they made ready for the
appropriate celebration of the Passover Sabbath.
124:6.13 While all Jerusalem was astir in
preparation for the Passover, Joseph found time to take his son
around to visit the academy where it had been arranged for him to
resume his education two years later, as soon as he reached the
required age of fifteen. Joseph was truly puzzled when he observed
how little interest Jesus evinced in all these carefully laid
plans.
124:6.14 Jesus was profoundly impressed by the
temple and all the associated services and other activities. For
the first time since he was four years old, he was too much
preoccupied with his own meditations to ask many questions. He
did, however, ask his father several embarrassing questions (as he
had on previous occasions) as to why the heavenly Father required
the slaughter of so many innocent and helpless animals. And his
father well knew from the expression on the lad's face that his
answers and attempts at explanation were unsatisfactory to his
deep-thinking and keen-reasoning 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.
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