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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