702 lines
43 KiB
Plaintext
702 lines
43 KiB
Plaintext
Urantia Book Paper 123 The Early Childhood Of Jesus
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SPIRITWEB ORG, PROMOTING SPIRITUAL CONSCIOUSNESS ON THE INTERNET.
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Subjects Archive The Urantia Book Urantia Book PART IV: The Life and Teachings
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of Jesus : The Bestowal Of Michael On Urantia The Times Of Michael's Bestowal
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Birth And Infancy Of Jesus The Early Childhood Of Jesus The Later Childhood Of
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Jesus Jesus At Jerusalem The Two Crucial Years The Adolescent Years Jesus'
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Early Manhood The Later Adult Life Of Jesus On The Way To Rome The World's
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Religions The Sojourn At Rome The Return From Rome The Transition Years John
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The Baptist Baptism And The Forty Days Tarrying Time In Galilee Training The
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Kingdom's Messengers The Twelve Apostles The Ordination Of The Twelve Beginning
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The Public Work The Passover At Jerusalem Going Through Samaria At Gilboa And
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In The Decapolis Four Eventful Days At Capernaum First Preaching Tour Of
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Galilee The Interlude Visit To Jerusalem Training Evangelists At Bethsaida The
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Second Preaching Tour The Third Preaching Tour Tarrying And Teaching By The
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Seaside Events Leading Up To The Capernaum Crisis The Crisis At Capernaum Last
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Days At Capernaum Fleeing Through Northern Galilee The Sojourn At Tyre And
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Sidon At Caesarea-philippi The Mount Of Transfiguration The Decapolis Tour
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Rodan Of Alexandria Further Discussions With Rodan At The Feast Of Tabernacles
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Ordination Of The Seventy At Magadan At The Feast Of Dedication The Perean
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Mission Begins Last Visit To Northern Perea The Visit To Philadelphia The
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Resurrection Of Lazarus Last Teaching At Pella The Kingdom Of Heaven On The Way
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To Jerusalem Going Into Jerusalem Monday In Jerusalem ...
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Paper 123 The Early Childhood Of Jesus
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Introduction
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OWING to the uncertainties and anxieties of their sojourn in Bethlehem, Mary
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did not wean the babe until they had arrived safely in Alexandria, where the
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family was able to settle down to a normal life. They lived with kinsfolk, and
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Joseph was well able to support his family as he secured work shortly after
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their arrival. He was employed as a carpenter for several months and then
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elevated to the position of foreman of a large group of workmen employed on one
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of the public buildings then in process of construction. This new experience
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gave him the idea of becoming a contractor and builder after their return to
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Nazareth.
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All through these early years of Jesus' helpless infancy, Mary maintained one
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long and constant vigil lest anything befall her child which might jeopardize
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his welfare or in any way interfere with his future mission on earth; no mother
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was ever more devoted to her child. In the home where Jesus chanced to be there
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were two other children about his age, and among the near neighbors there were
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six others whose ages were sufficiently near his own to make them acceptable
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play-fellows. At first Mary was disposed to keep Jesus close by her side. She
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feared something might happen to him if he were allowed to play in the garden
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with the other children, but Joseph, with the assistance of his kinsfolk, was
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able to convince her that such a course would deprive Jesus of the helpful
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experience of learning how to adjust himself to children of his own age. And
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Mary, realizing that such a program of undue sheltering and unusual protection
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might tend to make him self-conscious and somewhat self-centered, finally gave
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assent to the plan of permitting the child of promise to grow up just like any
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other child; and though she was obedient to this decision, she made it her
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business always to be on watch while the little folks were at play about the
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house or in the garden. Only an affectionate mother can know the burden that
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Mary carried in her heart for the safety of her son during these years of his
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infancy and early childhood.
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Throughout the two years of their sojourn at Alexandria, Jesus enjoyed good
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health and continued to grow normally. Aside from a few friends and relatives
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no one was told about Jesus' being a "child of promise." One of Joseph's
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relatives revealed this to a few friends in Memphis, descendants of the distant
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Ikhnaton, and they, with a small group of Alexandrian believers, assembled at
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the palatial home of Joseph's relative-benefactor a short time before the
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return to Palestine to wish the Nazareth family well and to pay their respects
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to the child. On this occasion the assembled friends presented Jesus with a
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complete copy of the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures. But this copy
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of the Jewish sacred writings was not placed in Joseph's hands until both he
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and Mary had finally declined the invitation of their Memphis and Alexandrian
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friends to remain in Egypt. These believers insisted that the child of destiny
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would be able to exert a far greater world influence as a resident of
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Alexandria than of any designated place in Pales-
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top of page - 1356
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tine. These persuasions delayed their departure for Palestine for some time
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after they received the news of Herod's death.
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Joseph and Mary finally took leave of Alexandria on a boat belonging to their
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friend Ezraeon, bound for Joppa, arriving at that port late in August of the
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year 4 B.C. They went directly to Bethlehem, where they spent the entire month
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of September in counsel with their friends and relatives concerning whether
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they should remain there or return to Nazareth.
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Mary had never fully given up the idea that Jesus ought to grow up in
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Bethlehem, the City of David. Joseph did not really believe that their son was
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to become a kingly deliverer of Israel. Besides, he knew that he himself was
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not really a descendant of David; that his being reckoned among the offspring
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of David was due to the adoption of one of his ancestors into the Davidic line
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of descent. Mary, of course, thought the City of David the most appropriate
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place in which the new candidate for David's throne could be reared, but Joseph
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preferred to take chances with Herod Antipas rather than with his brother
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Archelaus. He entertained great fears for the child's safety in Bethlehem or in
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any other city in Judea, and surmised that Archelaus would be more likely to
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pursue the menacing policies of his father, Herod, than would Antipas in
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Galilee. And besides all these reasons, Joseph was outspoken in his preference
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for Galilee as a better place in which to rear and educate the child, but it
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required three weeks to overcome Mary's objections.
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By the first of October Joseph had convinced Mary and all their friends that it
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was best for them to return to Nazareth. Accordingly, early in October, 4 B.C.,
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they departed from Bethlehem for Nazareth, going by way of Lydda and
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Scythopolis. They started out early one Sunday morning, Mary and the child
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riding on their newly acquired beast of burden, while Joseph and five
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accompanying kinsmen proceeded on foot; Joseph's relatives refused to permit
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them to make the trip to Nazareth alone. They feared to go to Galilee by
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Jerusalem and the Jordan valley, and the western routes were not altogether
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safe for two lone travelers with a child of tender years.
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1. BACK IN NAZARETH
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On the fourth day of the journey the party reached its destination in safety.
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They arrived unannounced at the Nazareth home, which had been occupied for more
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than three years by one of Joseph's married brothers, who was indeed surprised
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to see them; so quietly had they gone about their business that neither the
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family of Joseph nor that of Mary knew they had even left Alexandria. The next
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day Joseph's brother moved his family, and Mary, for the first time since
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Jesus' birth, settled down with her little family to enjoy life in their own
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home. In less than a week Joseph secured work as a carpenter, and they were
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supremely happy.
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Jesus was about three years and two months old at the time of their return to
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Nazareth. He had stood all these travels very well and was in excellent health
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and full of childish glee and excitement at having premises of his own to run
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about in and to enjoy. But he greatly missed the association of his Alexandrian
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playmates.
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On the way to Nazareth Joseph had persuaded Mary that it would be unwise to
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spread the word among their Galilean friends and relatives that Jesus was a
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child of promise. They agreed to refrain from all mention of these matters to
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anyone. And they were both very faithful in keeping this promise.
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top of page - 1357
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Jesus' entire fourth year was a period of normal physical development and of
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unusual mental activity. Meantime he had formed a very close attachment for a
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neighbor boy about his own age named Jacob. Jesus and Jacob were always happy
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in their play, and they grew up to be great friends and loyal companions.
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The next important event in the life of this Nazareth family was the birth of
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the second child, James, in the early morning hours of April 2, 3 B.C. Jesus
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was thrilled by the thought of having a baby brother, and he would stand around
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by the hour just to observe the baby's early activities.
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It was midsummer of this same year that Joseph built a small workshop close to
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the village spring and near the caravan tarrying lot. After this he did very
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little carpenter work by the day. He had as associates two of his brothers and
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several other mechanics, whom he sent out to work while he remained at the shop
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making yokes and plows and doing other woodwork. He also did some work in
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leather and with rope and canvas. And Jesus, as he grew up, when not at school,
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spent his time about equally between helping his mother with home duties and
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watching his father work at the shop, meanwhile listening to the conversation
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and gossip of the caravan conductors and passengers from the four corners of
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the earth.
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In July of this year, one month before Jesus was four years old, an outbreak of
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malignant intestinal trouble spread over all Nazareth from contact with the
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caravan travelers. Mary became so alarmed by the danger of Jesus being exposed
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to this epidemic of disease that she bundled up both her children and fled to
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the country home of her brother, several miles south of Nazareth on the Megiddo
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road near Sarid. They did not return to Nazareth for more than two months;
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Jesus greatly enjoyed this, his first experience on a farm.
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2. THE FIFTH YEAR (2 B.C.)
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In something more than a year after the return to Nazareth the boy Jesus
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arrived at the age of his first personal and wholehearted moral decision; and
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there came to abide with him a Thought Adjuster, a divine gift of the Paradise
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Father, which had aforetime served with Machiventa Melchizedek, thus gaining
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the experience of functioning in connection with the incarnation of a
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supermortal being living in the likeness of mortal flesh. This event occurred
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on February 11, 2 B.C. Jesus was no more aware of the coming of the divine
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Monitor than are the millions upon millions of other children who, before and
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since that day, have likewise received these Thought Adjusters to indwell their
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minds and work for the ultimate spiritualization of these minds and the eternal
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survival of their evolving immortal souls.
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On this day in February the direct and personal supervision of the Universe
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Rulers, as it was related to the integrity of the childlike incarnation of
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Michael, terminated. From that time on throughout the human unfolding of the
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incarnation, the guardianship of Jesus was destined to rest in the keeping of
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this indwelling Adjuster and the associated seraphic guardians, supplemented
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from time to time by the ministry of midway creatures assigned for the
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performance of certain definite duties in accordance with the instruction of
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their planetary superiors.
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Jesus was five years old in August of this year, and we will, therefore, refer
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to this as his fifth (calendar) year of life. In this year, 2 B.C., a little
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more than one month before his fifth birthday anniversary, Jesus was made very
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happy by the coming of his sister Miriam, who was born on the night of July 11.
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During
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top of page - 1358
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the evening of the following day Jesus had a long talk with his father
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concerning the manner in which various groups of living things are born into
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the world as separate individuals. The most valuable part of Jesus' early
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education was secured from his parents in answer to his thoughtful and
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searching inquiries. Joseph never failed to do his full duty in taking pains
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and spending time answering the boy's numerous questions. From the time Jesus
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was five years old until he was ten, he was one continuous question mark. While
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Joseph and Mary could not always answer his questions, they never failed fully
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to discuss his inquiries and in every other possible way to assist him in his
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efforts to reach a satisfactory solution of the problem which his alert mind
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had suggested.
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Since returning to Nazareth, theirs had been a busy household, and Joseph had
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been unusually occupied building his new shop and getting his business started
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again. So fully was he occupied that he had found no time to build a cradle for
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James, but this was corrected long before Miriam came, so that she had a very
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comfortable crib in which to nestle while the family admired her. And the child
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Jesus heartily entered into all these natural and normal home experiences. He
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greatly enjoyed his little brother and his baby sister and was of great help to
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Mary in their care.
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There were few homes in the gentile world of those days that could give a child
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a better intellectual, moral, and religious training than the Jewish homes of
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Galilee. These Jews had a systematic program for rearing and educating their
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children. They divided a child's life into seven stages:
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1. The newborn child, the first to the eighth day.
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2. The suckling child.
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3. The weaned child.
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4. The period of dependence on the mother, lasting up to the end of the fifth
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year.
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5. The beginning independence of the child and, with sons, the father assuming
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responsibility for their education.
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6. The adolescent youths and maidens.
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7. The young men and the young women.
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It was the custom of the Galilean Jews for the mother to bear the
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responsibility for a child's training until the fifth birthday, and then, if
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the child were a boy, to hold the father responsible for the lad's education
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from that time on. This year, therefore, Jesus entered upon the fifth stage of
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a Galilean Jewish child's career, and accordingly on August 21, 2 B.C., Mary
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formally turned him over to Joseph for further instruction.
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Though Joseph was now assuming the direct responsibility for Jesus'
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intellectual and religious education, his mother still interested herself in
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his home training. She taught him to know and care for the vines and flowers
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growing about the garden walls which completely surrounded the home plot. She
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also provided on the roof of the house (the summer bedroom) shallow boxes of
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sand in which Jesus worked out maps and did much of his early practice at
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writing Aramaic, Greek, and later on, Hebrew, for in time he learned to read,
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write, and speak, fluently, all three languages.
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Jesus appeared to be a well-nigh perfect child physically and continued to make
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normal progress mentally and emotionally. He experienced a mild digestive
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upset, his first minor illness, in the latter part of this, his fifth
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(calendar) year.
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top of page - 1359
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Though Joseph and Mary often talked about the future of their eldest child, had
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you been there, you would only have observed the growing up of a normal,
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healthy, carefree, but exceedingly inquisitive child of that time and place.
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3. EVENTS OF THE SIXTH YEAR (1 B.C.)
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Already, with his mother's help, Jesus had mastered the Galilean dialect of the
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Aramaic tongue; and now his father began teaching him Greek. Mary spoke little
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Greek, but Joseph was a fluent speaker of both Aramaic and Greek. The textbook
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for the study of the Greek language was the copy of the Hebrew scriptures--a
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complete version of the law and the prophets, including the Psalms--which had
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been presented to them on leaving Egypt. There were only two complete copies of
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the Scriptures in Greek in all Nazareth, and the possession of one of them by
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the carpenter's family made Joseph's home a much-sought place and enabled
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Jesus, as he grew up, to meet an almost endless procession of earnest students
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and sincere truth seekers. Before this year ended, Jesus had assumed custody of
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this priceless manuscript, having been told on his sixth birthday that the
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sacred book had been presented to him by Alexandrian friends and relatives. And
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in a very short time he could read it readily.
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The first great shock of Jesus' young life occurred when he was not quite six
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years old. It had seemed to the lad that his father--at least his father and
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mother together--knew everything. Imagine, therefore, the surprise of this
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inquiring child, when he asked his father the cause of a mild earthquake which
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had just occurred, to hear Joseph say, "My son, I really do not know." Thus
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began that long and disconcerting disillusionment in the course of which Jesus
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found out that his earthly parents were not all-wise and all-knowing.
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Joseph's first thought was to tell Jesus that the earthquake had been caused by
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God, but a moment's reflection admonished him that such an answer would
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immediately be provocative of further and still more embarrassing inquiries.
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Even at an early age it was very difficult to answer Jesus' questions about
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physical or social phenomena by thoughtlessly telling him that either God or
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the devil was responsible. In harmony with the prevailing belief of the Jewish
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people, Jesus was long willing to accept the doctrine of good spirits and evil
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spirits as the possible explanation of mental and spiritual phenomena, but he
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very early became doubtful that such unseen influences were responsible for the
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physical happenings of the natural world.
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Before Jesus was six years of age, in the early summer of 1 B.C., Zacharias and
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Elizabeth and their son John came to visit the Nazareth family. Jesus and John
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had a happy time during this, their first visit within their memories. Although
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the visitors could remain only a few days, the parents talked over many things,
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including the future plans for their sons. While they were thus engaged, the
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lads played with blocks in the sand on top of the house and in many other ways
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enjoyed themselves in true boyish fashion.
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Having met John, who came from near Jerusalem, Jesus began to evince an unusual
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interest in the history of Israel and to inquire in great detail as to the
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meaning of the Sabbath rites, the synagogue sermons, and the recurring feasts
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of commemoration. His father explained to him the meaning of all these seasons.
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The first was the midwinter festive illumination, lasting eight days,
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top of page - 1360
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starting out with one candle the first night and adding one each successive
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night; this commemorated the dedication of the temple after the restoration of
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the Mosaic services by Judas Maccabee. Next came the early springtime
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celebration of Purim, the feast of Esther and Israel's deliverance through her.
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Then followed the solemn Passover, which the adults celebrated in Jerusalem
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whenever possible, while at home the children would remember that no leavened
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bread was to be eaten for the whole week. Later came the feast of the
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first-fruits, the harvest ingathering; and last, the most solemn of all, the
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feast of the new year, the day of atonement. While some of these celebrations
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and observances were difficult for Jesus' young mind to understand, he pondered
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them seriously and then entered fully into the joy of the feast of tabernacles,
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the annual vacation season of the whole Jewish people, the time when they
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camped out in leafy booths and gave themselves up to mirth and pleasure.
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During this year Joseph and Mary had trouble with Jesus about his prayers. He
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insisted on talking to his heavenly Father much as he would talk to Joseph, his
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earthly father. This departure from the more solemn and reverent modes of
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communication with Deity was a bit disconcerting to his parents, especially to
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his mother, but there was no persuading him to change; he would say his prayers
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just as he had been taught, after which he insisted on having "just a little
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talk with my Father in heaven."
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In June of this year Joseph turned the shop in Nazareth over to his brothers
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and formally entered upon his work as a builder. Before the year was over, the
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family income had more than trebled. Never again, until after Joseph's death,
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did the Nazareth family feel the pinch of poverty. The family grew larger and
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larger, and they spent much money on extra education and travel, but always
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Joseph's increasing income kept pace with the growing expenses.
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The next few years Joseph did considerable work at Cana, Bethlehem (of
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Galilee), Magdala, Nain, Sepphoris, Capernaum, and Endor, as well as much
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building in and near Nazareth. As James grew up to be old enough to help his
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mother with the housework and care of the younger children, Jesus made frequent
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trips away from home with his father to these surrounding towns and villages.
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Jesus was a keen observer and gained much practical knowledge from these trips
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away from home; he was assiduously storing up knowledge regarding man and the
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way he lived on earth.
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This year Jesus made great progress in adjusting his strong feelings and
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vigorous impulses to the demands of family co-operation and home discipline.
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Mary was a loving mother but a fairly strict disciplinarian. In many ways,
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however, Joseph exerted the greater control over Jesus as it was his practice
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to sit down with the boy and fully explain the real and underlying reasons for
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the necessity of disciplinary curtailment of personal desires in deference to
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the welfare and tranquillity of the entire family. When the situation had been
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explained to Jesus, he was always intelligently and willingly co-operative with
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parental wishes and family regulations.
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Much of his spare time--when his mother did not require his help about the
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house--was spent studying the flowers and plants by day and the stars by night.
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He evinced a troublesome penchant for lying on his back and gazing wonderingly
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up into the starry heavens long after his usual bedtime in this well-ordered
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Nazareth household.
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top of page - 1361
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4. THE SEVENTH YEAR (A.D. 1)
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This was, indeed, an eventful year in Jesus' life. Early in January a great
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snowstorm occurred in Galilee. Snow fell two feet deep, the heaviest snowfall
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Jesus saw during his lifetime and one of the deepest at Nazareth in a hundred
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years.
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The play life of Jewish children in the times of Jesus was rather
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circumscribed; all too often the children played at the more serious things
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they observed their elders doing. They played much at weddings and funerals,
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ceremonies which they so frequently saw and which were so spectacular. They
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danced and sang but had few organized games, such as children of later days so
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much enjoy.
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Jesus, in company with a neighbor boy and later his brother James, delighted to
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play in the far corner of the family carpenter shop, where they had great fun
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with the shavings and the blocks of wood. It was always difficult for Jesus to
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comprehend the harm of certain sorts of play which were forbidden on the
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Sabbath, but he never failed to conform to his parents' wishes. He had a
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capacity for humor and play which was afforded little opportunity for
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expression in the environment of his day and generation, but up to the age of
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fourteen he was cheerful and lighthearted most of the time.
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Mary maintained a dovecote on top of the animal house adjoining the home, and
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they used the profits from the sale of doves as a special charity fund, which
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Jesus administered after he deducted the tithe and turned it over to the
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officer of the synagogue.
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The only real accident Jesus had up to this time was a fall down the back-yard
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stone stairs which led up to the canvas-roofed bedroom. It happened during an
|
||
unexpected July sandstorm from the east. The hot winds, carrying blasts of fine
|
||
sand, usually blew during the rainy season, especially in March and April. It
|
||
was extraordinary to have such a storm in July. When the storm came up, Jesus
|
||
was on the housetop playing, as was his habit, for during much of the dry
|
||
season this was his accustomed playroom. He was blinded by the sand when
|
||
descending the stairs and fell. After this accident Joseph built a balustrade
|
||
up both sides of the stairway.
|
||
|
||
There was no way in which this accident could have been prevented. It was not
|
||
chargeable to neglect by the midway temporal guardians, one primary and one
|
||
secondary midwayer having been assigned to the watchcare of the lad; neither
|
||
was it chargeable to the guardian seraphim. It simply could not have been
|
||
avoided. But this slight accident, occurring while Joseph was absent in Endor,
|
||
caused such great anxiety to develop in Mary's mind that she unwisely tried to
|
||
keep Jesus very close to her side for some months.
|
||
|
||
Material accidents, commonplace occurrences of a physical nature, are not
|
||
arbitrarily interfered with by celestial personalities. Under ordinary
|
||
circumstances only midway creatures can intervene in material conditions to
|
||
safeguard the persons of men and women of destiny, and even in special
|
||
situations these beings can so act only in obedience to the specific mandates
|
||
of their superiors.
|
||
|
||
And this was but one of a number of such minor accidents which subsequently
|
||
befell this inquisitive and adventurous youth. If you envisage the average
|
||
childhood and youth of an aggressive boy, you will have a fairly good idea of
|
||
the youthful career of Jesus, and you will be able to imagine just about how
|
||
much anxiety he caused his parents, particularly his mother.
|
||
|
||
top of page - 1362
|
||
|
||
The fourth member of the Nazareth family, Joseph, was born Wednesday morning,
|
||
March 16, A.D. 1.
|
||
|
||
5. SCHOOL DAYS IN NAZARETH
|
||
|
||
Jesus was now seven years old, the age when Jewish children were supposed to
|
||
begin their formal education in the synagogue schools. Accordingly, in August
|
||
of this year he entered upon his eventful school life at Nazareth. Already this
|
||
lad was a fluent reader, writer, and speaker of two languages, Aramaic and
|
||
Greek. He was now to acquaint himself with the task of learning to read, write,
|
||
and speak the Hebrew language. And he was truly eager for the new school life
|
||
which was ahead of him.
|
||
|
||
For three years--until he was ten--he attended the elementary school of the
|
||
Nazareth synagogue. For these three years he studied the rudiments of the Book
|
||
of the Law as it was recorded in the Hebrew tongue. For the following three
|
||
years he studied in the advanced school and committed to memory, by the method
|
||
of repeating aloud, the deeper teachings of the sacred law. He graduated from
|
||
this school of the synagogue during his thirteenth year and was turned over to
|
||
his parents by the synagogue rulers as an educated "son of the
|
||
commandment"--henceforth a responsible citizen of the commonwealth of Israel,
|
||
all of which entailed his attendance at the Passovers in Jerusalem;
|
||
accordingly, he attended his first Passover that year in company with his
|
||
father and mother.
|
||
|
||
At Nazareth the pupils sat on the floor in a semicircle, while their teacher,
|
||
the chazan, an officer of the synagogue, sat facing them. Beginning with the
|
||
Book of Leviticus, they passed on to the study of the other books of the law,
|
||
followed by the study of the Prophets and the Psalms. The Nazareth synagogue
|
||
possessed a complete copy of the Scriptures in Hebrew. Nothing but the
|
||
Scriptures was studied prior to the twelfth year. In the summer months the
|
||
hours for school were greatly shortened.
|
||
|
||
Jesus early became a master of Hebrew, and as a young man, when no visitor of
|
||
prominence happened to be sojourning in Nazareth, he would often be asked to
|
||
read the Hebrew scriptures to the faithful assembled in the synagogue at the
|
||
regular Sabbath services.
|
||
|
||
These synagogue schools, of course, had no textbooks. In teaching, the chazan
|
||
would utter a statement while the pupils would in unison repeat it after him.
|
||
When having access to the written books of the law, the student learned his
|
||
lesson by reading aloud and by constant repetition.
|
||
|
||
Next, in addition to his more formal schooling, Jesus began to make contact
|
||
with human nature from the four quarters of the earth as men from many lands
|
||
passed in and out of his father's repair shop. When he grew older, he mingled
|
||
freely with the caravans as they tarried near the spring for rest and
|
||
nourishment. Being a fluent speaker of Greek, he had little trouble in
|
||
conversing with the majority of the caravan travelers and conductors.
|
||
|
||
Nazareth was a caravan way station and crossroads of travel and largely gentile
|
||
in population; at the same time it was widely known as a center of liberal
|
||
interpretation of Jewish traditional law. In Galilee the Jews mingled more
|
||
freely with the gentiles than was their practice in Judea. And of all the
|
||
cities of Galilee, the Jews of Nazareth were most liberal in their
|
||
interpretation of the social restrictions based on the fears of contamination
|
||
as a result of contact with
|
||
|
||
top of page - 1363
|
||
|
||
the gentiles. And these conditions gave rise to the common saying in Jerusalem,
|
||
"Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?"
|
||
|
||
Jesus received his moral training and spiritual culture chiefly in his own
|
||
home. He secured much of his intellectual and theological education from the
|
||
chazan. But his real education--that equipment of mind and heart for the actual
|
||
test of grappling with the difficult problems of life--he obtained by mingling
|
||
with his fellow men. It was this close association with his fellow men, young
|
||
and old, Jew and gentile, that afforded him the opportunity to know the human
|
||
race. Jesus was highly educated in that he thoroughly understood men and
|
||
devotedly loved them.
|
||
|
||
Throughout his years at the synagogue he was a brilliant student, possessing a
|
||
great advantage since he was conversant with three languages. The Nazareth
|
||
chazan, on the occasion of Jesus' finishing the course in his school, remarked
|
||
to Joseph that he feared he "had learned more from Jesus' searching questions"
|
||
than he had "been able to teach the lad."
|
||
|
||
Throughout his course of study Jesus learned much and derived great inspiration
|
||
from the regular Sabbath sermons in the synagogue. It was customary to ask
|
||
distinguished visitors, stopping over the Sabbath in Nazareth, to address the
|
||
synagogue. As Jesus grew up, he heard many great thinkers of the entire Jewish
|
||
world expound their views, and many also who were hardly orthodox Jews since
|
||
the synagogue of Nazareth was an advanced and liberal center of Hebrew thought
|
||
and culture.
|
||
|
||
When entering school at seven years (at this time the Jews had just inaugurated
|
||
a compulsory education law), it was customary for the pupils to choose their
|
||
"birthday text," a sort of golden rule to guide them throughout their studies,
|
||
one upon which they often expatiated at their graduation when thirteen years
|
||
old. The text which Jesus chose was from the Prophet Isaiah: "The spirit of the
|
||
Lord God is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good
|
||
news to the meek, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the
|
||
captives, and to set the spiritual prisoners free."
|
||
|
||
Nazareth was one of the twenty-four priest centers of the Hebrew nation. But
|
||
the Galilean priesthood was more liberal in the interpretation of the
|
||
traditional laws than were the Judean scribes and rabbis. And at Nazareth they
|
||
were also more liberal regarding the observance of the Sabbath. It was
|
||
therefore the custom for Joseph to take Jesus out for walks on Sabbath
|
||
afternoons, one of their favorite jaunts being to climb the high hill near
|
||
their home, from which they could obtain a panoramic view of all Galilee. To
|
||
the northwest, on clear days, they could see the long ridge of Mount Carmel
|
||
running down to the sea; and many times Jesus heard his father relate the story
|
||
of Elijah, one of the first of that long line of Hebrew prophets, who reproved
|
||
Ahab and exposed the priests of Baal. To the north Mount Hermon raised its
|
||
snowy peak in majestic splendor and monopolized the skyline, almost 3,000 feet
|
||
of the upper slopes glistening white with perpetual snow. Far to the east they
|
||
could discern the Jordan valley and far beyond lay 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.
|
||
|
||
top of page - 1364
|
||
|
||
From four directions Jesus could observe the caravan trains as they wended
|
||
their way in and out of Nazareth, and to the south he could overlook the broad
|
||
and fertile plain country of Esdraelon, stretching off toward Mount Gilboa and
|
||
Samaria.
|
||
|
||
When they did not climb the heights to view the distant landscape, they
|
||
strolled through the countryside and studied nature in her various moods in
|
||
accordance with the seasons. Jesus' earliest training, aside from that of the
|
||
home hearth, had to do with a reverent and sympathetic contact with nature.
|
||
|
||
Before he was eight years of age, he was known to all the mothers and young
|
||
women of Nazareth, who had met him and talked with him at the spring, which was
|
||
not far from his home, and which was one of the social centers of contact and
|
||
gossip for the entire town. This year Jesus learned to milk the family cow and
|
||
care for the other animals. During this and the following year he also learned
|
||
to make cheese and to weave. When he was ten years of age, he was an expert
|
||
loom operator. It was about this time that Jesus and the neighbor boy Jacob
|
||
became great friends of the potter who worked near the flowing spring; and as
|
||
they watched Nathan's deft fingers mold the clay on the potter's wheel, many
|
||
times both of them determined to be potters when they grew up. Nathan was very
|
||
fond of the lads and often gave them clay to play with, seeking to stimulate
|
||
their creative imaginations by suggesting competitive efforts in modeling
|
||
various objects and animals.
|
||
|
||
6. HIS EIGHTH YEAR (A.D. 2)
|
||
|
||
This was an interesting year at school. Although Jesus was not an unusual
|
||
student, he was a diligent pupil and belonged to the more progressive third of
|
||
the class, doing his work so well that he was excused from attendance one week
|
||
out of each month. This week he usually spent either with his fisherman uncle
|
||
on the shores of the Sea of Galilee near Magdala or on the farm of another
|
||
uncle (his mother's brother) five miles south of Nazareth.
|
||
|
||
Although his mother had become unduly anxious about his health and safety, she
|
||
gradually became reconciled to these trips away from home. Jesus' uncles and
|
||
aunts were all very fond of him, and there ensued a lively competition among
|
||
them to secure his company for these monthly visits throughout this and
|
||
immediately subsequent years. His first week's sojourn on his uncle's farm
|
||
(since infancy) was in January of this year; the first week's fishing
|
||
experience on the Sea of Galilee occurred in the month of May.
|
||
|
||
About this time Jesus met a teacher of mathematics from Damascus, and learning
|
||
some new techniques of numbers, he spent much time on mathematics for several
|
||
years. He developed a keen sense of numbers, distances, and proportions.
|
||
|
||
Jesus began to enjoy his brother James very much and by the end of this year
|
||
had begun to teach him the alphabet.
|
||
|
||
This year Jesus made arrangements to exchange dairy products for lessons on the
|
||
harp. He had an unusual liking for everything musical. Later on he did much to
|
||
promote an interest in vocal music among his youthful associates. By the time
|
||
he was eleven years of age, he was a skillful harpist and greatly enjoyed
|
||
entertaining both family and friends with his extraordinary interpretations and
|
||
able improvisations.
|
||
|
||
top of page - 1365
|
||
|
||
While Jesus continued to make enviable progress at school, all did not run
|
||
smoothly for either parents or teachers. He persisted in asking many
|
||
embarrassing questions concerning both science and religion, particularly
|
||
regarding geography and astronomy. He was especially insistent on finding out
|
||
why there was a dry season and a rainy season in Palestine. Repeatedly he
|
||
sought the explanation for the great difference between the temperatures of
|
||
Nazareth and the Jordan valley. He simply never ceased to ask such intelligent
|
||
but perplexing questions.
|
||
|
||
His third brother, Simon, was born on Friday evening, April 14, of this year,
|
||
A.D. 2.
|
||
|
||
In February, Nahor, one of the teachers in a Jerusalem academy of the rabbis,
|
||
came to Nazareth to observe Jesus, having been on a similar mission to
|
||
Zacharias's home near Jerusalem. He came to Nazareth at the instigation of
|
||
John's father. While at first he was somewhat shocked by Jesus' frankness and
|
||
unconventional manner of relating himself to things religious, he attributed it
|
||
to the remoteness of Galilee from the centers of Hebrew learning and culture
|
||
and advised Joseph and Mary to allow him to take Jesus back with him to
|
||
Jerusalem, where he could have the advantages of education and training at the
|
||
center of Jewish culture. Mary was half persuaded to consent; she was convinced
|
||
her eldest son was to become the Messiah, the Jewish deliverer; Joseph
|
||
hesitated; he was equally persuaded that Jesus was to grow up to become a man
|
||
of destiny, but what that destiny would prove to be he was profoundly
|
||
uncertain. But he never really doubted that his son was to fulfill some great
|
||
mission on earth. The more he thought about Nahor's advice, the more he
|
||
questioned the wisdom of the proposed sojourn in Jerusalem.
|
||
|
||
Because of this difference of opinion between Joseph and Mary, Nahor requested
|
||
permission to lay the whole matter before Jesus. Jesus listened attentively,
|
||
talked with Joseph, Mary, and a neighbor, Jacob the stone mason, whose son was
|
||
his favorite playmate, and then, two days later, reported that since there was
|
||
such a difference of opinion among his parents and advisers, and since he did
|
||
not feel competent to assume the responsibility for such a decision, not
|
||
feeling strongly one way or the other, in view of the whole situation, he had
|
||
finally decided to "talk with my Father who is in heaven"; and while he was not
|
||
perfectly sure about the answer, he rather felt he should remain at home "with
|
||
my father and mother," adding, "they who love me so much should be able to do
|
||
more for me and guide me more safely than strangers who can only view my body
|
||
and observe my mind but can hardly truly know me." They all marveled, and Nahor
|
||
went his way, back to Jerusalem. And it was many years before the subject of
|
||
Jesus' going away from home again came up for consideration.
|
||
|
||
top of page - 1366
|
||
|
||
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
Subjects Archive The Urantia Book Urantia Book PART IV: The Life and Teachings
|
||
of Jesus : The Bestowal Of Michael On Urantia The Times Of Michael's Bestowal
|
||
Birth And Infancy Of Jesus The Early Childhood Of Jesus The Later Childhood Of
|
||
Jesus Jesus At Jerusalem The Two Crucial Years The Adolescent Years Jesus'
|
||
Early Manhood The Later Adult Life Of Jesus On The Way To Rome The World's
|
||
Religions The Sojourn At Rome The Return From Rome The Transition Years John
|
||
The Baptist Baptism And The Forty Days Tarrying Time In Galilee Training The
|
||
Kingdom's Messengers The Twelve Apostles The Ordination Of The Twelve Beginning
|
||
The Public Work The Passover At Jerusalem Going Through Samaria At Gilboa And
|
||
In The Decapolis Four Eventful Days At Capernaum First Preaching Tour Of
|
||
Galilee The Interlude Visit To Jerusalem Training Evangelists At Bethsaida The
|
||
Second Preaching Tour The Third Preaching Tour Tarrying And Teaching By The
|
||
Seaside Events Leading Up To The Capernaum Crisis The Crisis At Capernaum Last
|
||
Days At Capernaum Fleeing Through Northern Galilee The Sojourn At Tyre And
|
||
Sidon At Caesarea-philippi The Mount Of Transfiguration The Decapolis Tour
|
||
Rodan Of Alexandria Further Discussions With Rodan At The Feast Of Tabernacles
|
||
Ordination Of The Seventy At Magadan At The Feast Of Dedication The Perean
|
||
Mission Begins Last Visit To Northern Perea The Visit To Philadelphia The
|
||
Resurrection Of Lazarus Last Teaching At Pella The Kingdom Of Heaven On The Way
|
||
To Jerusalem Going Into Jerusalem Monday In Jerusalem Tuesday Morning In The
|
||
Temple The Last Temple Discourse Tuesday Evening On Mount Olivet Wednesday, The
|
||
Rest Day Last Day At The Camp The Last Supper The Farewell Discourse Final
|
||
Admonitions And Warnings In Gethsemane The Betrayal And Arrest Of Jesus Before
|
||
The Sanhedrin Court The Trial Before Pilate Just Before The Crucifixion The
|
||
Crucifixion The Time Of The Tomb The Resurrection Morontia Appearances Of Jesus
|
||
Appearances To The Apostles And Other Leaders Appearances In Galilee Final
|
||
Appearances And Ascension Bestowal Of The Spirit Of Truth After Pentecost The
|
||
Faith Of Jesus
|
||
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>Ŀ
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