Ch. 5, The Two Crucial Years

“Son of Man: Urantia,” 2nd edition

The Two Crucial Years

The family’s return to Nazareth began a new phase in Jesus’ life. Everyone in town knew of Jesus’ attending the temple discussions in Jerusalem, and they were proud that someone from Galilee was finally becoming a notable teacher. Mary still thought she was going to be directing Jesus’ future, but she soon became disappointed as he spent more time with his father and less with her. Jesus’ mind was developing quickly. As Jesus the son of man, he was traversing the same confusing years all teenagers experience: as the Son of God he was more self-conscious of his divine nature and better able to communicate with his Thought Adjuster. What Jesus witnessed at the Passover weighed on him, and as his love and pity for his people grew so did his anger for their hypocritical leaders. He knew that some of the scribes were honest and that some of the Pharisees—a cult of Jews that thought they were more pious than the rest—were devoted to their faith. But most of them were not, and Jesus had nothing but contempt for those who used God to cheat others.

His Fourteenth Year (A.D. 8)

By the time Jesus was fourteen years old he was making yokes for the caravans and cabinets for the town people. He could sew both canvas and leather, and he was becoming an expert carpenter like his father. His uncle had taught him to fish and he knew how to garden and care for the family’s animals. Jesus was becoming well versed in the ways of his people.

When he was not with his father Jesus spent his time praying, thinking, and meditating. There was a hill close by that in ancient days had been known as the high place of Baal. Now it was named after a holy man named Simeon who was buried there. From this summit Jesus would look out over the countryside and recount all of the ancient history he had learned from his father. When in the temple Jesus continued to study the scriptures, and at home he was learning to play the harp and helping to raise his sisters and brothers.

Mary and Joseph became more bewildered over time. Jesus was smart and fun to be around, but he was also difficult to understand; he spent much of his time off by himself, thinking. Especially hard for Mary to accept was that he was not performing miracles. The Jews believed that holy men proved their divinity by working wonders, and when Jesus did not do so Mary became increasingly discouraged. Joseph still believed that Jesus would leave to study in Jerusalem when he turned fifteen years old, and he was already putting aside money to pay his tuition. All in all this was a good year for the family, and their future looked bright.

Joseph’s Death

In September tragedy struck. Joseph was crushed by a falling derrick while working in Sepphoris on the governor’s house. Mary took James, who was ten years old, and left for Sepphoris to see her husband. Jesus stayed behind in Nazareth to take care of the other children. Joseph died before Mary got to him, so his body was brought back to Nazareth and buried the next day.

Jesus was fourteen years old and now the head of the house. All other plans were put aside, and he did not have to worry any longer about going to the academy in Jerusalem. When it was said that Jesus sat at no man’s feet, this is what was meant—he never learned from other people what he later taught on Earth. The inspiration for Jesus’ teaching was divine and it came from inside—from his Thought Adjuster—and not from any other source. Jesus had seven siblings, Mary was again pregnant, and it was now his job to support the family. He was responsible for his sisters and brother’s education, punishing them when necessary, and managing the money Joseph had set aside in savings. The family was sad; they all missed Joseph. The situation was made all the worse because none of them ever had a chance to see him before he died. Jesus did his best to improve the situation for his family; in the evenings the neighbors would visit and he would tell them stories, play the harp, or read the scriptures.

The Fifteenth Year (A.D. 9)

Jesus’ baby sister, Ruth was born on April 17^th. Mary was depressed because Joseph was not alive to see his last child. Jesus was now a father for a newborn baby as well as for his siblings. His duties were increasing and the family’s savings were almost depleted. They sold one of the houses that Joseph and Jacob the stonemason had owned together, and they bought another cow. Miriam started selling milk to their friends, and James was put in charge of tending the doves that Mary kept up on the roof.

Jesus’ first responsibility was to care for his family; his mission for God was put off until later. Mary did not know what to think about her son. Sometimes everything seemed fine, and then he would do or say something to bring back her doubts. Jesus did not explain himself: he had learned to share less with others as he aged.

With Joseph gone it was Jesus’ responsibility to teach his sisters and brothers how to pray. The family had many different prayers and devotions they used to praise God. But Jesus explained to them, like he had argued to his father years before, that prayer was supposed to be a private conversation with God and not a memorized saying. For the Jews, formal prayers were sent off to a faraway God. But for Jesus, an entity that is one and the same with God lives in our minds and we should talk with him like we would a trusting father. The family had difficulty grasping this idea and often fell back to repeating their memorized lines. Eventually, Jesus gave up trying to change his family’s habits and one night he wrote on a cedar board what became known as The Lord’s Prayer. Years later Jesus taught this same prayer to his apostles because they also resisted the idea of personally talking with God.

Jesus was working to coordinate many lines of thought. The Jews were waiting for someone to save them, but Jesus knew that he was never going to lead an army to war: that he would never sit on the Throne of David as the King of the Jews. Furthermore, he knew he was not on the Earth for just the Jews but for all people. So if he was not the messiah, who was and what was he? What would he tell the people, and what was he supposed to call himself when he began his mission? Then one day when he was studying in the synagogue library, Jesus came across the Book of Enoch. In it was a passage that spoke of a “Son of Man” who would someday come to Earth. It said that this son of man had once walked in heaven with God the Father, but that he had relinquished all of that divine glory to come down to Earth and save its people. When Jesus read this he knew there was more truth in this short passage from an old almost forgotten book, than there was in any of the other Jewish beliefs of a coming savior: he decided to call himself the Son of Man.

Then there was the question of his family lineage. Joseph had said he was not in the line of David, but his mother still said he was. And many times Mary was right, not Joseph. He also wondered why there were so many prophecies about a Jewish savor. Jesus had already decided that his mission was to bring God to all people, not just the Jews. But if he was not the Jew’s future messiah, who was? Or did the prophets just get everything wrong? All of these questions and many more rolled through young Jesus’ mind as he went about his duties as head of the family, and he bore all of this weight alone.

First Sermon in the Synagogue

When Jesus turned fifteen years old he was then allowed to conduct the services in the synagogue, so the chazan scheduled him for the following Sabbath. Jesus had been asked to read in the synagogue before, but this was the first time he actually led the congregation. Jesus selected the scripture he was going to read, and when Saturday morning came the people in Nazareth saw a new Jesus. Never before had he looked so majestic or read with such sincerity.

For his first sermon Jesus read, “The spirit of the Lord God is on 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 announce 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.’

“Seek good and not evil that you may live, and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you. Hate the evil and love the good; establish judgment in the gate. Perhaps the Lord God will be gracious to the remnants of Joseph.’

“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.’

“Wherewith will I come before the Lord, to bow myself before the Lord of all the Earth? Will 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? Will I give my first-born for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? No! for the Lord has showed us, O people, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to deal justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God?’

“To whom, then, will you liken God who sits on 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 supremacy 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.’

“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.”

The Financial Struggle

The family was becoming poorer; Jesus was working longer every day for less pay each month. Since he had no time to do so himself, he would send James up to the camel lot to find out news from around the world. When Jesus had gone to Sepphoris to ask for Joseph’s back pay from Herod Antipas, he was cheated out of all of it. From that point on he never again trusted Herod, calling him “that fox.” The family was having trouble paying taxes and the various fees to attend the synagogue, and the Roman tax collector had even threatened to take Jesus’ harp. The situation became so bad that Jesus was worried that they might find and take his Greek copy of the scriptures, so instead he gave it to the synagogue library.

Their food was plain but healthy with most of it coming from their gardens, three cows, four sheep, and flock of chickens. They had enough eggs, milk, butter, cheese, and vegetables. The younger children had their daily chores, and the older ones worked their own garden plots to help feed the family. Jesus wanted to move everyone to the country, but they could not afford to do so. He was a practical young man who met his problems how and where he found them. Jesus did his best to adapt to the situation and improve it where he could. The family did not have much, but they well used what they did have under Jesus’ guidance.

At the time Jesus’ future did not look bright: all of his plans had been shattered. Jesus taught people that no matter what lofty ideas any of us may have for the future, our most important task is to meet the day’s immediate concerns. There has never been more of an idealist with a greater reason to become disillusioned than Jesus, yet he showed us how to keep our faith with grace. Living in the present and not in the past or future is a difficult lesson for many people.