Chapter 3, Jesus’ Later Childhood

“Son of Man: Urantia,” 2nd edition

Jesus’ Later Childhood

It was better for Jesus that he stayed with his family in Nazareth. If he had gone to Alexandria he would have only learned Jewish law. But Jesus came to Earth for all of humanity, not just the Jews. By remaining in Nazareth Jesus became more worldly in his views and better prepared to deliver his message to the world.

Jesus’ Ninth Year (A.D. 3)

The family was doing well. On Jesus’ weeks off from school he would travel with his father or visit with one of his uncles. He was asking hard questions and pushing the strict rules forced on his people. Jewish children were not allowed to draw pictures or make models out of clay: the religious leaders were afraid they would worship something material instead of God. But Jesus enjoyed drawing and playing with clay, and Mary and Joseph had been lax with him at home about breaking the rules if no one else was around. Then one day another student saw Jesus drawing on the floor and he told the chazan; soon everyone in town knew that Jesus had drawn a picture of his teacher on the floor with a piece of charcoal. This was a serious offense: Jesus had broken the rules and this time something had to be done. The chazan and a group of religious leaders went to Jesus’ house and blamed Mary and Joseph for not being strict enough with Jesus. According to them it was the parent’s fault that he was not following the rules. They had warned them about Jesus before, but this time the offense was too blatant to ignore.

While the rabbis were in the house scolding Mary and Joseph, Jesus was sitting just outside the door listening to everything being said. Finally, Jesus got mad. He could not understand why his parents were being blamed for something he had done. Jesus felt this was unfair, so he stood up and went inside. When Jesus entered the room full of adults everyone went into mild shock: children never argued with their parents, much less any other adult.

Jesus stood his ground and held his temper. He said he thought the law was stupid, but that he also agreed it was the law and that he had broken it. For amends, Jesus promised that he would obey his parents and stop drawing. This satisfied the rabbis and they left. Jesus loved his hobbies but he never broke the promise he made.

Jesus’ second sister, Martha, was born September 13^th. The family needed more space in the house so Joseph built on an addition. This room was part workshop during the day and a bedroom at night. Joseph built Jesus a small workbench, and throughout the rest of his life he worked at that same bench mastering his craft. A cold spell hit Palestine that year and for the first time Jesus saw ice. The fact that water could be both frozen solid or boiled into steam excited our creator’s young mind, as he wondered how these things could happen.

Jesus was a stout strong boy. When the season arrived in May he learned to harvest grain. His Thought Adjuster had been continuously spiritualizing his mind since its arrival, and Jesus was slowly realizing that he had a special mission in life. On July 5^th while taking a walk in the country with his father, Jesus told Joseph about these thoughts and then the next day he told his mother the same things. But Mary and Joseph said nothing, neither of them told Jesus what they knew. Jesus played well with most of the other children but it was becoming hard to talk with them: he preferred to be around adults. His questions were still perplexing his elders and he insisted on more than miracles for an answer. Still, he kept his promise to follow the rules and he always spoke to others with respect. When work was slow in Joseph’s shop he would take Jesus on short trips to the other towns around Nazareth.

The Tenth Year (A.D. 4)

By now all of Nazareth was in an uproar over Jesus’ questions. He wanted answers, and that put Mary and Joseph into a predicament. They knew who their son was, or at least they knew he had a special mission on Earth, so they would not tell him to stop questioning life. Jesus was now in the advanced class at school and the chazan found the whole situation rather funny.

Jesus’ friends at school did not notice anything odd about his questions, but they did wonder why he was always unwilling to physically fight for his rights. He was one of the biggest and strongest boys in the class, yet he would never hit back. But as it worked out Jesus did not have to worry too much about the other children. His best friend was Jacob the stone mason’s son who had made it his job to protect him, which he did on several occasions.

Jesus continued spending part of his free time fishing with his uncle on the Sea of Galilee and soon became an expert fisherman. He was meeting his duties as the oldest son in the family and he was well liked by most of his neighbors. Jesus was a born leader and teacher and those traits became apparent when he was with the other children. Joseph was starting to teach him the need to make an income, how to manage money, and the many different ways that people made their livings.

The Eleventh Year (A.D. 5)

This was the last year that Jesus enjoyed just being a boy. On Wednesday, June 24^th Mary gave birth to Jude her seventh child. There were problems with the delivery and Joseph had to stay home to care for his wife. Jesus ran errands for his father and helped to take care of his mother and younger sisters and brothers; he took on the seriousness and responsibilities that come with being an adult a year or two sooner than normal. During this time the chazan continued teaching Jesus the scriptures one night a week.

In May, Joseph took Jesus with him on a business trip to Scythopolis. In the past Scythopolis had been a Jewish city named Beth-shean; now it was the largest Greek city in the land. The people were gentiles and the Jews considered them unclean—heathens who worshipped false gods. Joseph was a devote Jew; for him everything that the people in Scythopolis did and all of the gods that they worshiped were insults to both the Jews and their God. By custom Joseph was forbidden to associate with them or participate in their culture, but business took precedence. As the son and father walked along the road leading to Scythopolis, Joseph ignored their surroundings and instead told Jesus stories about the times when the Jews ruled the city.

Jesus did not hold his father’s bias, and was enamored with the city. It was clean with real roads, open-air theaters, big beautiful buildings, and bright white marble temples. It was the most modern city that Jesus had ever seen in his young life, and it was complete with sewers, potable water, trash collectors, and many other public works that we have today.

Jesus and Joseph arrived in Scythopolis right at the time when the games were to start. These competitions were the Olympics of that era. There were many different athletic events, and the participants were running around town dressed in few cloths ready to compete. The crowds were festive and the people were enjoying themselves. For the prudish Jews everything happening in the city was wrong and ungodly: forbidden. No proper Jew would never praise heathens or anything about their lifestyle.

Jesus wanted to watch some of the athletic events regardless of his father’s feelings about the heathens. He was intent, and though it took some work he finally convinced Joseph to take him. Jesus was amazed at what he saw: he was excited and in his mind he immediately started making plans to begin something similar back home in Nazareth. Jesus thought it would be wonderful for him and his friends to start exercising and competing in athletic events. When Joseph heard Jesus actually voice these thoughts he was horrified: he told Jesus that what he had seen was wrong and that there was nothing good about the games or the heathens. But Jesus was not convinced and this time he continued to argue his point with Joseph. When he told his father about his plans to build a gym and arena in Nazareth so the Jews could compete in their own athletic events, it broke Joseph’s composure and he lost his temper. Grabbing Jesus by the shoulders and shaking him the whole time, Joseph told Jesus to never again utter such evil. Jesus was shocked: Joseph had never before physically reprimanded him. So in respect to his father, Jesus gave in and never again spoke of this subject as long as Joseph lived.

The Twelfth Year (A.D. 6)

At home Jesus was spending more time in the carpenter shop. Normally Joseph would have managed the money that Jesus earned, but instead he let him handle his own affairs. Jesus kept this arrangement with his father secret: he was already learning to be careful with what he told others. Jesus’ mind was developing quickly. Like with all people his personality was a blend of both the human and divine. But with Jesus, his mind was also struggling with the fact that he was the actual creator of this universe yet here he was growing up like any other mortal in the material realm. This was confusing to say the least. Yet throughout it all Jesus continued to grow in tack, compassion, and his ability to get along with people: he was fulfilling his need to know humanity.

Mary and Joseph were seeing the changes in Jesus as he matured. Both of these parents deserve the highest respect for the effort they put into raising this duel son of God and son of man: it was not always an easy job. Of the two of them Joseph had a clearer idea of Jesus’ spiritual mission, but as time passed Mary just seemed to become more confused by it all. Neither of them ever dreamed that their little boy, Joshua, was the actual creator of our universe.

Jesus was already hard to deceive. He could quickly spot a hypocrite, and he had no problem confronting someone who would say one thing and then do another. For example, it was the Jew’s custom to nail a small piece of parchment to the door frame of the house and then every time they went in or out they had to touch that paper with their finger, then kiss their finger, and finally say a prayer asking God to protect them. Jesus said this was hypocritical: if children could not draw pictures or model clay because they may worship them instead of God, why were the adults doing the same thing by worshiping their own little piece of paper. Jesus won the argument, at least in his family, and Joseph took down the parchment.

This was Nazareth, the most liberal town in all of Palestine: the rabbis were less strict and Jesus was able to push the boundaries of the control that they imposed on his people. This extra little bit of freedom to act and think on his own was important. Jesus also had to balance his duty to God with his duty to his parents; somehow he had to obey both and they were not always the same. But every day he improved.

His Thirteenth Year (A.D. 7)

Jesus entered puberty when he was thirteen years old, and just like all other children he began morphing into a young adult. His voice deepened, his hormones shifted, and his body started to develop into a man. On January 9^th Jesus’ brother Amos was born.

Jesus was now confident of his identity: he knew that he had incarnated on Earth to teach humanity the truth about God their Father, and that he was going to demonstrate this fact by how he lived his life. As his identity became clearer in his mind, Jesus started to plan his future mission.

On March 20^th Jesus graduated from school. This was a celebrated occasion, and he was now considered an adult learned in Jewish law and tradition. Jesus had performed well in his studies and the chazan tried to convince him to move to Jerusalem to study further. But Jesus continued to resist leaving Nazareth, and as it turned out he did not have to choose. Tragedy soon struck the family, fate took a different turn, and his life’s plans changed.

The Journey to Jerusalem

Now that Jesus was an adult he was allowed to attend the Passover in Jerusalem. Jews traveled from all around the world to participate in this festival. On Monday, April 4^th Mary, Joseph, and Jesus joined about one hundred other people from Nazareth who were going to Jerusalem. The Passover was at the end of the week on Saturday, April 9^th.

It was an easy walk through of the Jordan Valley. During the day the group enjoyed the countryside marveling at the scenery and retelling the ancient stories about Palestine. At night they would camp nearby a spring so they had water. As the group drew closer to Jerusalem they started to encounter people from other parts of the world. Everyone was excited and Jesus was eager to finally see the Holy City and its splendid temple dedicated to God the Father. Before they arrived the group rested in the small town of Bethany, and during this break they came to know a man named Simon who had three children about Jesus’ age: Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. The two families soon became best friends.

When the group from Nazareth reached the Mount of Olives, it was the first of many times that Jesus stood on that ridge looking down on Jerusalem. He saw the Jewish temple and the many palaces built to impress people and show off the owner’s importance. Right then at that moment Jesus experienced the greatest human thrill of his life. Soon though, he would stand on this same spot and cry for his people as he gazed down on the Jew’s holy city.

They arrived in Jerusalem Thursday evening. Mary, Joseph, and Jesus stayed with relatives until the Passover on Saturday. During the first few days Joseph took Jesus sightseeing and showed him the university he expected him to attend, but Jesus had already done away with that idea.

The Passover is a bloody religious ceremony based on killing hundreds of animals: this was somehow supposed to please God. The idea offended Jesus and he asked Joseph why God would want people to kill innocent animals for his sake. Joseph was put on the spot, and his only response was that it was correct because that was the Jewish law. It was obvious that Jesus did not accept his answer.

That Friday night before the Passover, Jesus was sad for his people: he loved them and felt sorry for them but what they were doing was obscene. Jesus knew that God would never want people to slaughter animals to please him. It was a backward and primitive practice that had no place in worshiping God. That night an angel visited Jesus in his dreams and told him that it was time to be about his Father’s will. All of Nebadon watched in suspense as this greatest of miracles unfolded.