PAPER 126
THE TWO CRUCIAL YEARS
126:0.1
OF ALL Jesus' earth-life experiences, the fourteenth
and fifteenth years were the most crucial. These two
years, after he began to be self-conscious of
divinity and destiny, and before he achieved a large
measure of communication with his indwelling
Adjuster, were the most trying of his eventful life
on Urantia. It is this period of two years which
should be called the great test, the real
temptation. No human youth, in passing through the
early confusions and adjustment problems of
adolescence, ever experienced a more crucial testing
than that which Jesus passed through during his
transition from childhood to young manhood.
126:0.2
This important period in Jesus' youthful development
began with the conclusion of the Jerusalem visit and
with his return to Nazareth. At first Mary was happy
in the thought that she had her boy back once more,
that Jesus had returned home to be a dutiful son --
not that he was ever anything else -- and that he
would henceforth be more responsive to her plans for
his future life. But she was not for long to bask in
this sunshine of maternal delusion and unrecognized
family pride; very soon she was to be more
completely disillusioned. More and more the boy was
in the company of his father; less and less did he
come to her with his problems, while increasingly
both his parents failed to comprehend his frequent
alternation between the affairs of this world and
the contemplation of his relation to his Father's
business. Frankly, they did not understand him, but
they did truly love him.
126:0.3
As he grew older, Jesus' pity and love for the
Jewish people deepened, but with the passing years,
there developed in his mind a growing righteous
resentment of the presence in the Father's temple of
the politically appointed priests. Jesus had great
respect for the sincere Pharisees and the honest
scribes, but he held the hypocritical Pharisees and
the dishonest theologians in great contempt; he
looked with disdain upon all those religious leaders
who were not sincere. When he scrutinized the
leadership of Israel, he was sometimes tempted to
look with favor on the possibility of his becoming
the Messiah of Jewish expectation, but he never
yielded to such a temptation.
126:0.4
The story of his exploits among the wise men of the
temple in Jerusalem was gratifying to all Nazareth,
especially to his former teachers in the synagogue
school. For a time his praise was on everybody's
lips. All the village recounted his childhood wisdom
and praiseworthy conduct and predicted that he was
destined to become a great leader in Israel; at last
a really great teacher was to come out of Nazareth
in Galilee. And they all looked forward to the time
when he would be fifteen years of age so that he
might be permitted regularly to read the Scriptures
in the synagogue on the Sabbath day.
1. HIS FOURTEENTH YEAR (A.D. 8)
126:1.1
This is the calendar year of his fourteenth
birthday. He had become a good yoke maker and worked
well with both canvas and leather. He was also
rapidly developing into an expert carpenter and
cabinetmaker. This summer he made frequent trips to
the top of the hill to the northwest of Nazareth for
prayer and meditation. He was gradually becoming
more self-conscious of the nature of his bestowal on
earth.
126:1.2
This hill, a little more than one hundred years
previously, had been the "high place of Baal," and
now it was the site of the tomb of Simeon, a reputed
holy man of Israel. From the summit of this hill of
Simeon, Jesus looked out over Nazareth and the
surrounding country. He would gaze upon Megiddo and
recall the story of the Egyptian army winning its
first great victory in Asia; and how, later on,
another such army defeated the Judean king Josiah.
Not far away he could look upon Taanach, where
Deborah and Barak defeated Sisera. In the distance
he could view the hills of Dothan, where he had been
taught Joseph's brethren sold him into Egyptian
slavery. He then would shift his gaze over to Ebal
and Gerizim and recount to himself the traditions of
Abraham, Jacob, and Abimelech. And thus he recalled
and turned over in his mind the historic and
traditional events of his father Joseph's people.
126:1.3
He continued to carry on his advanced courses of
reading under the synagogue teachers, and he also
continued with the home education of his brothers
and sisters as they grew up to suitable ages.
126:1.4
Early this year Joseph arranged to set aside the
income from his Nazareth and Capernaum property to
pay for Jesus' long course of study at Jerusalem, it
having been planned that he should go to Jerusalem
in August of the following year when he would be
fifteen years of age.
126:1.5
By the beginning of this year both Joseph and Mary
entertained frequent doubts about the destiny of
their first-born son. He was indeed a brilliant and
lovable child, but he was so difficult to
understand, so hard to fathom, and again, nothing
extraordinary or miraculous ever happened. Scores of
times had his proud mother stood in breathless
anticipation, expecting to see her son engage in
some superhuman or miraculous peformance, but always
were her hopes dashed down in cruel disappointment.
And all this was discouraging, even disheartening.
The devout people of those days truly believed that
prophets and men of promise always demonstrated
their calling and established their divine authority
by performing miracles and working wonders. But
Jesus did none of these things; wherefore was the
confusion of his parents steadily increased as they
contemplated his future.
126:1.6
The improved economic condition of the Nazareth
family was reflected in many ways about the home and
especially in the increased number of smooth white
boards which were used as writing slates, the
writing being done with charcoal. Jesus was also
permitted to resume his music lessons; he was very
fond of playing the harp.
126:1.7
Throughout this year it can truly be said that Jesus
"grew in favor with man and with God." The prospects
of the family seemed good; the future was bright.
2. THE DEATH OF JOSEPH
126:2.1
All did go well until that fateful day of Tuesday,
September 25, when a runner from Sepphoris brought
to this Nazareth home the tragic news that Joseph
had been severely injured by the falling of a
derrick while at work on the governor's residence.
The messenger from Sepphoris had stopped at the shop
on the way to Joseph's home, informing Jesus of his
father's accident, and they went together to the
house to break the sad news to Mary. Jesus desired
to go immediately to his father, but Mary would hear
to nothing but that she must hasten to her husband's
side. She directed that James, then ten years of
age, should accompany her to Sepphoris while Jesus
remained home with the younger children until she
should return, as she did not know how seriously
Joseph had been injured. But Joseph died of his
injuries before Mary arrived. They brought him to
Nazareth, and on the following day he was laid to
rest with his fathers.
126:2.2
Just at the time when prospects were good and the
future looked bright, an apparently cruel hand
struck down the head of this Nazareth household, the
affairs of this home were disrupted, and every plan
for Jesus and his future education was demolished.
This carpenter lad, now just past fourteen years of
age, awakened to the realization that he had not
only to fulfill the commission of his heavenly
Father to reveal the divine nature on earth and in
the flesh, but that his young human nature must also
shoulder the responsibility of caring for his
widowed mother and seven brothers and sisters -- and
another yet to be born. This lad of Nazareth now
became the sole support and comfort of this so
suddenly bereaved family. Thus were permitted those
occurrences of the natural order of events on
Urantia which would force this young man of destiny
so early to assume these heavy but highly
educational and disciplinary responsibilities
attendant upon becoming the head of a human family,
of becoming father to his own brothers and sisters,
of supporting and protecting his mother, of
functioning as guardian of his father's home, the
only home he was to know while on this world.
126:2.3
Jesus cheerfully accepted the responsibilities so
suddenly thrust upon him, and he carried them
faithfully to the end. At least one great problem
and anticipated difficulty in his life had been
tragically solved -- he would not now be expected to
go to Jerusalem to study under the rabbis. It
remained always true that Jesus "sat at no man's
feet." He was ever willing to learn from even the
humblest of little children, but he never derived
authority to teach truth from human sources.
126:2.4
Still he knew nothing of the Gabriel visit to his
mother before his birth; he only learned of this
from John on the day of his baptism, at the
beginning of his public ministry.
126:2.5
As the years passed, this young carpenter of
Nazareth increasingly measured every institution of
society and every usage of religion by the unvarying
test: What does it do for the human soul? does it
bring God to man? does it bring man to God? While
this youth did not wholly neglect the recreational
and social aspects of life, more and more he devoted
his time and energies to just two purposes: the care
of his family and the preparation to do his Father's
heavenly will on earth.
126:2.6
This year it became the custom for the neighbors to
drop in during the winter evenings to hear Jesus
play upon the harp, to listen to his stories (for
the lad was a master storyteller), and to hear him
read from the Greek scriptures.
126:2.7
The economic affairs of the family continued to run
fairly smoothly as there was quite a sum of money on
hand at the time of Joseph's death. Jesus early
demonstrated the possession of keen business
judgment and financial sagacity. He was liberal but
frugal; he was saving but generous. He proved to be
a wise and efficient administrator of his father's
estate.
126:2.8
But in spite of all that Jesus and the Nazareth
neighbors could do to bring cheer into the home,
Mary, and even the children, were overcast with
sadness. Joseph was gone. Joseph was an unusual
husband and father, and they all missed him. And it
seemed all the more tragic to think that he died ere
they could speak to him or hear his farewell
blessing.
3. THE FIFTEENTH YEAR (A.D. 9)
126:3.1
By the middle of this fifteenth year -- and we are
reckoning time in accordance with the
twentieth-century calendar, not by the Jewish year
-- Jesus had taken a firm grasp upon the management
of his family. Before this year had passed, their
savings had about disappeared, and they were face to
face with the necessity of disposing of one of the
Nazareth houses which Joseph and his neighbor Jacob
owned in partnership.
126:3.2
On Wednesday evening, April 17, A.D. 9, Ruth, the
baby of the family, was born, and to the best of his
ability Jesus endeavored to take the place of his
father in comforting and ministering to his mother
during this trying and peculiarly sad ordeal. For
almost a score of years (until he began his public
ministry) no father could have loved and nurtured
his daughter any more affectionately and faithfully
than Jesus cared for little Ruth. And he was an
equally good father to all the other members of his
family.
126:3.3
During this year Jesus first formulated the prayer
which he subsequently taught to his apostles, and
which to many has become known as "The Lord's
Prayer." In a way it was an evolution of the family
altar; they had many forms of praise and several
formal prayers. After his father's death Jesus tried
to teach the older children to express themselves
individually in prayer -- much as he so enjoyed
doing -- but they could not grasp his thought and
would invariably fall back upon their memorized
prayer forms. It was in this effort to stimulate his
older brothers and sisters to say individual prayers
that Jesus would endeavor to lead them along by
suggestive phrases, and presently, without intention
on his part, it developed that they were all using a
form of prayer which was largely built up from these
suggestive lines which Jesus had taught them.
126:3.4
At last Jesus gave up the idea of having each member
of the family formulate spontaneous prayers, and one
evening in October he sat down by the little squat
lamp on the low stone table, and, on a piece of
smooth cedar board about eighteen inches square,
with a piece of charcoal he wrote out the prayer
which became from that time on the standard family
petition.
126:3.5
This year Jesus was much troubled with confused
thinking. Family responsibility had quite
effectively removed all thought of immediately
carrying out any plan for responding to the
Jerusalem visitation directing him to "be about his
Father's business." Jesus rightly reasoned that the
watchcare of his earthly father's family must take
precedence of all duties; that the support of his
family must become his first obligation.
126:3.6
In the course of this year Jesus found a passage in
the so-called Book of Enoch which influenced him in
the later adoption of the term "Son of Man" as a
designation for his bestowal mission on Urantia. He
had thoroughly considered the idea of the Jewish
Messiah and was firmly convinced that he was not to
be that Messiah. He longed to help his father's
people, but he never expected to lead Jewish armies
in overthrowing the foreign domination of Palestine.
He knew he would never sit on the throne of David at
Jerusalem. Neither did he believe that his mission
was that of a spiritual deliverer or moral teacher
solely to the Jewish people. In no sense, therefore,
could his life mission be the fulfillment of the
intense longings and supposed Messianic prophecies
of the Hebrew scriptures; at least, not as the Jews
understood these predictions of the prophets.
Likewise he was certain he was never to appear as
the Son of Man depicted by the Prophet Daniel.
126:3.7
But when the time came for him to go forth as a
world teacher, what would he call himself? What
claim should he make concerning his mission? By what
name would he be called by the people who would
become believers in his teachings?
126:3.8
While turning all these problems over in his mind,
he found in the synagogue library at Nazareth, among
the apocalyptic books which he had been studying,
this manuscript called "The Book of Enoch"; and
though he was certain that it had not been written
by Enoch of old, it proved very intriguing to him,
and he read and reread it many times. There was one
passage which particularly impressed him, a passage
in which this term "Son of Man" appeared. The writer
of this so-called Book of Enoch went on to tell
about this Son of Man, describing the work he would
do on earth and explaining that this Son of Man,
before coming down on this earth to bring salvation
to mankind, had walked through the courts of
heavenly glory with his Father, the Father of all;
and that he had turned his back upon all this
grandeur and glory to come down on earth to proclaim
salvation to needy mortals. As Jesus would read
these passages (well understanding that much of the
Eastern mysticism which had become admixed with
these teachings was erroneous), he responded in his
heart and recognized in his mind that of all the
Messianic predictions of the Hebrew scriptures and
of all the theories about the Jewish deliverer, none
was so near the truth as this story tucked away in
this only partially accredited Book of Enoch; and he
then and there decided to adopt as his inaugural
title "the Son of Man." And this he did when he
subsequently began his public work. Jesus had an
unerring ability for the recognition of truth, and
truth he never hesitated to embrace, no matter from
what source it appeared to emanate.
126:3.9
By this time he had quite thoroughly settled many
things about his forthcoming work for the world, but
he said nothing of these matters to his mother, who
still held stoutly to the idea of his being the
Jewish Messiah.
126:3.10
The great confusion of Jesus' younger days now
arose. Having settled something about the nature of
his mission on earth, "to be about his Father's
business" -- to show forth his Father's loving
nature to all mankind -- he began to ponder anew the
many statements in the Scriptures referring to the
coming of a national deliverer, a Jewish teacher or
king. To what event did these prophecies refer? Was
not he a Jew? or was he? Was he or was he not of the
house of David? His mother averred he was; his
father had ruled that he was not. He decided he was
not. But had the prophets confused the nature and
mission of the Messiah?
126:3.11
After all, could it be possible that his mother was
right? In most matters, when differences of opinion
had arisen in the past, she had been right. If he
were a new teacher and
not the
Messiah, then how should he recognize the Jewish
Messiah if such a one should appear in Jerusalem
during the time of his earth mission; and, further,
what should be his relation to this Jewish Messiah?
And what should be his relation, after embarking on
his life mission, to his family? to the Jewish
commonwealth and religion? to the Roman Empire? to
the gentiles and their religions? Each of these
momentous problems this young Galilean turned over
in his mind and seriously pondered while he
continued to work at the carpenter's bench,
laboriously making a living for himself, his mother,
and eight other hungry mouths.
126:3.12
Before the end of this year Mary saw the family
funds diminishing. She turned the sale of doves over
to James. Presently they bought a second cow, and
with the aid of Miriam they began the sale of milk
to their Nazareth neighbors.
126:3.13
His profound periods of meditation, his frequent
journeys to the hilltop for prayer, and the many
strange ideas which Jesus advanced from time to
time, thoroughly alarmed his mother. Sometimes she
thought the lad was beside himself, and then she
would steady her fears, remembering that he was,
after all, a child of promise and in some manner
different from other youths.
126:3.14
But Jesus was learning not to speak of all his
thoughts, not to present all his ideas to the world,
not even to his own mother. From this year on,
Jesus' disclosures about what was going on in his
mind steadily diminished; that is, he talked less
about those things which an average person could not
grasp, and which would lead to his being regarded as
peculiar or different from ordinary folks. To all
appearances he became commonplace and conventional,
though he did long for someone who could understand
his problems. He craved a trustworthy and
confidential friend, but his problems were too
complex for his human associates to comprehend. The
uniqueness of the unusual situation compelled him to
bear his burdens alone.
4. FIRST SERMON IN THE SYNAGOGUE
126:4.1
With the coming of his fifteenth birthday, Jesus
could officially occupy the synagogue pulpit on the
Sabbath day. Many times before, in the absence of
speakers, Jesus had been asked to read the
Scriptures, but now the day had come when, according
to law, he could conduct the service. Therefore on
the first Sabbath after his fifteenth birthday the
chazan arranged for Jesus to conduct the morning
service of the synagogue. And when all the faithful
in Nazareth had assembled, the young man, having
made his selection of Scriptures, stood up and began
to read:
126:4.2
"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; to proclaim the year of
God's favor and the day of our God's reckoning; to
comfort all mourners, to give them beauty for ashes,
the oil of joy in the place of mourning, a song of
praise instead of the spirit of sorrow, that they
may be called trees of righteousness, the planting
of the Lord, wherewith he may be glorified.
126:4.3
"Seek good and not evil that you may live, and so
the Lord, the God of hosts, shall be with you. Hate
the evil and love the good; establish judgment in
the gate. Perhaps the Lord God will be gracious to
the remnant of Joseph.
126:4.4
"Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away
the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease
to do evil and learn to do good; seek justice,
relieve the oppressed. Defend the fatherless and
plead for the widow.
126:4.5
"Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, to bow
myself before the Lord of all the earth? Shall I
come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a
year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of
rams, ten thousands of sheep, or with rivers of oil?
Shall I give my first-born for my transgression, the
fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? for the
Lord has showed us, O men, what is good. And what
does the Lord require of you but to deal justly,
love mercy, and walk humbly with your God?
126:4.6
"To whom, then, will you liken God who sits upon the
circle of the earth? Lift up your eyes and behold
who has created all these worlds, who brings forth
their host by number and calls them all by their
names. He does all these things by the greatness of
his might, and because he is strong in power, not
one fails. He gives power to the weak, and to those
who are weary he increases strength. Fear not, for I
am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I
will strengthen you and I will help you; yes, I will
uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness,
for I am the Lord your God. And I will hold your
right hand, saying to you, fear not, for I will help
you.
126:4.7
"And you are my witness, says the Lord, and my
servant whom I have chosen that all may know and
believe me and understand that I am the Eternal. I,
even I, am the Lord, and beside me there is no
savior."
126:4.8
And when he had thus read, he sat down, and the
people went to their homes, pondering over the words
which he had so graciously read to them. Never had
his townspeople seen him so magnificently solemn;
never had they heard his voice so earnest and so
sincere; never had they observed him so manly and
decisive, so authoritative.
126:4.9
This Sabbath afternoon Jesus climbed the Nazareth
hill with James and, when they returned home, wrote
out the Ten Commandments in Greek on two smooth
boards in charcoal. Subsequently Martha colored and
decorated these boards, and for long they hung on
the wall over James's small workbench.
5. THE FINANCIAL STRUGGLE
126:5.1
Gradually Jesus and his family returned to the
simple life of their earlier years. Their clothes
and even their food became simpler. They had plenty
of milk, butter, and cheese. In season they enjoyed
the produce of their garden, but each passing month
necessitated the practice of greater frugality.
Their breakfasts were very plain; they saved their
best food for the evening meal. However, among these
Jews lack of wealth did not imply social
inferiority.
126:5.2
Already had this youth well-nigh encompassed the
comprehension of how men lived in his day. And how
well he understood life in the home, field, and
workshop is shown by his subsequent teachings, which
so repletely reveal his intimate contact with all
phases of human experience.
126:5.3
The Nazareth chazan continued to cling to the belief
that Jesus was to become a great teacher, probably
the successor of the renowned Gamaliel at Jerusalem.
126:5.4
Apparently all Jesus' plans for a career were
thwarted. The future did not look bright as matters
now developed. But he did not falter; he was not
discouraged. He lived on, day by day, doing well the
present duty and faithfully discharging the
immediate
responsibilities of his station in life. Jesus' life
is the everlasting comfort of all disappointed
idealists.
126:5.5
The pay of a common day-laboring carpenter was
slowly diminishing. By the end of this year Jesus
could earn, by working early and late, only the
equivalent of about twenty-five cents a day. By the
next year they found it difficult to pay the civil
taxes, not to mention the synagogue assessments and
the temple tax of one-half shekel. During this year
the tax collector tried to squeeze extra revenue out
of Jesus, even threatening to take his harp.
126:5.6
Fearing that the copy of the Greek scriptures might
be discovered and confiscated by the tax collectors,
Jesus, on his fifteenth birthday, presented it to
the Nazareth synagogue library as his maturity
offering to the Lord.
126:5.7
The great shock of his fifteenth year came when
Jesus went over to Sepphoris to receive the decision
of Herod regarding the appeal taken to him in the
dispute about the amount of money due Joseph at the
time of his accidental death. Jesus and Mary had
hoped for the receipt of a considerable sum of money
when the treasurer at Sepphoris had offered them a
paltry amount. Joseph's brothers had taken an appeal
to Herod himself, and now Jesus stood in the palace
and heard Herod decree that his father had nothing
due him at the time of his death. And for such an
unjust decision Jesus never again trusted Herod
Antipas. It is not surprising that he once alluded
to Herod as "that fox."
126:5.8
The close work at the carpenter's bench during this
and subsequent years deprived Jesus of the
opportunity of mingling with the caravan passengers.
The family supply shop had already been taken over
by his uncle, and Jesus worked altogether in the
home shop, where he was near to help Mary with the
family. About this time he began sending James up to
the camel lot to gather information about world
events, and thus he sought to keep in touch with the
news of the day.
126:5.9
As he grew up to manhood, he passed through all
those conflicts and confusions which the average
young persons of previous and subsequent ages have
undergone. And the rigorous experience of supporting
his family was a sure safeguard against his having
overmuch time for idle meditation or the indulgence
of mystic tendencies.
126:5.10
This was the year that Jesus rented a considerable
piece of land just to the north of their home, which
was divided up as a family garden plot. Each of the
older children had an individual garden, and they
entered into keen competition in their agricultural
efforts. Their eldest brother spent some time with
them in the garden each day during the season of
vegetable cultivation. As Jesus worked with his
younger brothers and sisters in the garden, he many
times entertained the wish that they were all
located on a farm out in the country where they
could enjoy the liberty and freedom of an unhampered
life. But they did not find themselves growing up in
the country; and Jesus, being a thoroughly practical
youth as well as an idealist, intelligently and
vigorously attacked his problem just as he found it,
and did everything within his power to adjust
himself and his family to the realities of their
situation and to adapt their condition to the
highest possible satisfaction of their individual
and collective longings.
126:5.11
At one time Jesus faintly hoped that he might be
able to gather up sufficient means, provided they
could collect the considerable sum of money due his
father for work on Herod's palace, to warrant
undertaking the purchase of a small farm. He had
really given serious thought to this plan of moving
his family out into the country. But when Herod
refused to pay them any of the funds due Joseph,
they gave up the ambition of owning a home in the
country. As it was, they contrived to enjoy much of
the experience of farm life as they now had three
cows, four sheep, a flock of chickens, a donkey, and
a dog, in addition to the doves. Even the little
tots had their regular duties to perform in the
well-regulated scheme of management which
characterized the home life of this Nazareth family.
126:5.12
With the close of this fifteenth year Jesus
completed the traversal of that dangerous and
difficult period in human existence, that time of
transition between the more complacent years of
childhood and the consciousness of approaching
manhood with its increased responsibilities and
opportunities for the acquirement of advanced
experience in the development of a noble character.
The growth period for mind and body had ended, and
now began the real career of this young man of
Nazareth.
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