Raising God's Son

My wife, Karen, and I have started over as parents. We had two children in our twenties and enjoyed watching them grow up into young adulthood. But as we approached forty, we found out another child was on the way. Kyle is a joy to be around, and he is keeping us young! We get to go back to elementary school and help with class parties and sit through Christmas concerts.

   The one great fear I have had since Kyle was born is that somehow he will be taken from us — snatched, kidnapped, stolen. It's an irrational fear. We've never had a child get lost and we've never been threatened, but the fear is still there. Usually it just sits in a dark corner of my mind like a rat gnawing away in a damp cellar. Occasionally it rises up with incredible power. Karen has talked me through it several times. I have prayed about it repeatedly, but it still lingers. Every time it

Page 78

clouds my spirit and chokes my emotions I am forced to give my fear — and my son — over to the care and concern of my Father.

   I wonder if what I feel at times is the same panic that gripped Mary and Joseph when they looked for Jesus one evening among their relatives and friends and couldn't find him. They had all traveled together from Nazareth in Galilee to Jerusalem in Judea for the festival of Passover. After the pageantry of the temple sacrifice and the Passover feast with family members, Mary and Joseph had packed their belongings and started back home. Jesus wasn't in their sight, but they assumed that he was with the other boys. It was only when they had set up camp for the night and began to ask around that they discovered Jesus was missing.

Growing Up in Nazareth

The Bible doesn't tell us much about the years of Jesus' childhood and young adulthood. But, as happens so often, when Scripture is silent, folklore tries to fill that tantalizing gap in the story. The Infancy Gospel of Thomas focuses almost entirely on the "hidden years" of Jesus in Nazareth. One story this apocryphal gospel tells takes place when Jesus is five years old. He is playing near a pool and makes twelve sparrows out of soft clay. When someone complains to Joseph that Jesus is profaning the sabbath day by making such objects, Jesus claps his hands, and the birds come to life and fly away. Other stories picture Jesus raising a boy back to life who had fallen from a rooftop and healing a man who had injured his foot with an ax.

   Not all the stories are positive, however. In some of the accounts Jesus is little more than a spoiled brat. He curses a child who muddies the pool of water Jesus is playing in; he gets angry with a boy who bumps against him and the boy falls down dead. Adults who try to rebuke Jesus are stricken with blind-

Page 79

ness. Even Joseph is threatened by Jesus when Joseph pulls Jesus by the ear in discipline.¹

   In contrast to the fanciful stories that emerged in later centuries, Luke summarizes the first twelve years of Jesus' childhood with a few simple words: "And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon him" (Luke 2:40). While we would certainly like more details, Luke's statement conveys quite a bit about Jesus' early years. It tells us that Jesus grew up pretty much like every other child in Nazareth. So what we know about Jewish culture in the first century gives us some insight into the home life of Mary and Joseph and their son Jesus.

   When Joseph and Mary returned to Nazareth after their stay in Egypt, life took on a sense of normal routine. Joseph went back to his work as a carpenter; Mary worked in their home and nurtured her son. Luke's comment that Jesus "grew and became strong" lets us know that Jesus grew from infancy to childhood just like every other child. In the Jewish society of that day, the parents took the responsibility for the early religious training and education of their children. Jesus would have learned to speak Aramaic, the language of the Jews. He would have been told the great stories of his people — the escape from Pharaoh, the majesty of King David, the faithfulness of Daniel. Simple songs of praise, the basic creeds of the faith and child-level prayers began to spring from Jesus' lips as his parents guided him in the first steps of obedience.

   At the age of five or six Jesus would have attended the synagogue school to learn to read the Scriptures in Hebrew and to write the letters of the sacred text. Reading and writing were important tools to every Jewish boy and girl because the Jews were people of the Book, the Torah, God's Word.

   It's not easy for us as Christians to think about Jesus as a "normal" boy learning his alphabet in school. We have been so

Page 80

impressed with Jesus' deity that we forget to balance his deity with his humanity. Jesus was not God pretending to be a human being; he was God who had become fully human. That means Jesus had to learn to crawl and walk and read. He was a sinless human being, so he never committed moral error, but our view of Jesus' sinlessness does not mean that he couldn't make a mistake in multiplication as he learned the basics of arithmetic. Just as Jesus grew and developed physically, he grew and developed intellectually — and Jesus apparently was an excellent student. He immersed himself in the Scriptures and drank deeply at the well of biblical truth. In the later years of his ministry Jesus quoted from every section of the Bible with ease and accuracy. He memorized key passages and meditated quietly about the significance and meaning of the Law and the Prophets.

   Jesus learned the rituals of the faith too — the weekly sabbath, the annual cycle of feasts and fasting, the importance of sacrifice. The obedience to the Law of Moses that Jesus saw modeled in Joseph and Mary was not dead, rigid legalism. Joseph and Mary knew the delight and joy of faith in God, and they kept the requirements of the Law with hearts of gratitude and love. Devotion to the Lord was not something peripheral to their lives; it was central. Decisions about work, family, leisure, finances, commitments of time and energy were made in full, conscious surrender to the rule of God over their lives as King.

About My Father's Business

It was this focused obedience to the Lord that brought Mary and Joseph and Jesus to Jerusalem in Jesus' twelfth year. They came for the celebration of the Passover, the joyous reminder of Israel's escape from slavery in Egypt. Fifteen hundred years had passed since God had set his people free, but the memory of God's incredible deliverance had not faded. Jesus may have

Page 81

come every year to Jerusalem with his parents, but it was particularly important that he came as a twelve-year-old. The Jews believed that at the age of thirteen a boy took upon himself the responsibility of obedience to the Law. The concept developed much later in Judaism into the ceremony of the bar mitzvah ("son of the covenant"). In preparation for that important spiritual transition, Jesus traveled with his parents to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast.

   Their journey came at a particularly troubled time in Judea. Herod's son Archelaus had ruled so poorly that his subjects had sent a delegation of protest to the emperor. After hearing their complaint, Augustus banished Archelaus to Gaul (modern France) and instituted direct Roman rule over Judea through a Roman governor. The Jews were pleased that Archelaus had been removed, but they were distressed by what they saw as even more direct oppression by Roman authority. A revolt was sparked by Judas of Galilee. The revolt was suppressed in A.D. 7, but tensions in Jerusalem were high, especially during the feasts. The potential for violence hung over the city like a dark, threatening cloud.

   When Mary and Joseph discovered that Jesus was missing from the group returning to Nazareth, they had every reason to be concerned. It was not a good time for a young boy to be missing. They spent that night in anxious concern and, at first light, headed back to Jerusalem. By the time they had traveled one day's journey away from Jerusalem and one day's journey back and then began to search the next morning, Jesus had been missing almost three days.

   Jesus was perfectly safe the whole time. He had gone into the temple complex and had stayed there. As the religious teachers gathered to discuss the Law, Jesus sat with the other students. At first Jesus listened with deep interest. Then he asked a question, as rabbis in training had a right to do. The

Page 82

question astonished the teachers almost as much as the source of the question. This twelve-year-old boy had a profound grasp of biblical truth. His question pierced to the heart of their discussion. Thoughtfully the religious scholars replied, and their reply prompted another question, equally perceptive and penetrating. Everyone who heard Jesus was amazed at the questions he asked and at the level of spiritual understanding he revealed.

   One common misconception about this incident is that Jesus was teaching the religious leaders of Israel. Luke makes it clear that Jesus was listening to the teachers and asking them questions (Luke 2:46). In this setting Jesus was the learner, not the teacher. But his questions displayed a depth of knowledge and maturity that few adults had reached, much less a twelve-year-old. This is the only time in the Gospels where Jesus is pictured as learning from the religious leaders of Israel. In the later years of his ministry Jesus would expose most of the teaching of the scribes and scholars as empty words produced by men whose hearts were far from God.

A Worried Mother

Joseph and Mary were just as astonished as everyone else when they saw what was going on. But it was Mary who took the initiative in rebuking Jesus. "Son," she said, "why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you" (Luke 2:48).

   On the Fourth of July a few years ago, our family went with some friends to the Civil War battlefield at Antietam. Twenty-five thousand people spread blankets and picnic suppers over a grassy slope as we waited for a concert and a fireworks display. Our son Kevin, a young teenager, decided to do a little exploring in the concession area. After an hour I went looking for him. When I came back to the group without him, we all got

Page 83

a little nervous. As we scanned the enormous crowd, one of our friends pointed and said, "Isn't that Kevin?" He had spotted Kevin about two hundred yards away!

   I picked my way across the hillside and came up behind Kevin, who by this time was frantic himself. All I said was his name. He wheeled around to me, and the tough-guy facade of a young teenager dissolved into tears. We stood there awhile until the tears were over and then made our way back to everyone else.

   Later that night my relief at finding him gave way to a little parental rebuke. "We were worried, Kevin. Don't ever wander off in a place like that until you take your bearings and know how to get back. Didn't you think about telling a security officer that you were lost?"

   I felt that day a little of what Mary felt! Here was Jesus, their obedient, studious son, doing something totally out of character. At least it seemed that way to her. She was relieved to find him but was also wounded by his apparent disregard for her feelings and her worry as a mother. "Why have you treated us this way?"

   When I attended seminary in Winona Lake, Indiana, the summer Bible conferences in the huge, old Billy Sunday Tabernacle were still being held. I would try to slip into the meetings whenever I got a chance. I remember hearing a sermon one warm summer evening based on this account of Jesus in the temple. The Bible teacher had some pretty harsh words for Mary. He felt that she should have known that Jesus was in the temple. He also thought Mary and Joseph should have taken a seat and waited until Jesus was ready to leave. After all, he reasoned, hadn't Mary been told by Gabriel and by old Simeon that Jesus was the Messiah? Didn't she realize that she was rebuking the Son of God?

   I had a real problem that night with his evaluation of Mary,

Page 84

and that was before I had any kids of my own. Twelve years in Mary's life had intervened since the angel's visit and Simeon's prophecy. In those twelve years Jesus had seemed pretty normal, more sensitive than most boys, certainly more obedient and trustworthy than any child, but otherwise normal. Now Jesus stays behind in Jerusalem, knowing his parents are headed home. He's not worried, wondering if they will come back for him; he's in the temple asking questions. If I had been Mary I would have been more than a little upset!

   Jesus' response is not a "slap in the face" (as the preacher I heard put it). Jesus expresses his own surprise at Mary's concern. Jesus thought they would know where to look for him. "Why were you searching for me?" he asked. "Didn't you know I had to be in my Father's house?" (Luke 2:49). The phrase "in my Father's house" is tricky to translate. Jesus could mean several related things: "Didn't you know I had to be among my Father's things, about my Father's business, involved with issues related to my Father?"

   From our perspective on this side of the cross and with plenty of hindsight to help, we understand what Jesus meant. He had come to the full awareness of who he was — Joseph's "son" in one sense but God's "Son" in a far more important sense. Mary was concerned that Jesus had worried his adopted father; Jesus was intent on pleasing his heavenly Father.

   These are the earliest actual words of Jesus recorded anywhere in the Gospels. Jesus is not spoken to or about but finds his own voice. Apart from the events surrounding Jesus' birth, Luke is the only Gospel writer to tell us anything about the first thirty years of Jesus' life. He includes this incident to show us that by the age of twelve, Jesus knew he was the Messiah, the unique Son of God. If you are thinking, But Jesus knew who he was all along, you are forgetting that Jesus became fully human. In the words of the apostle Paul, Jesus "emptied himself"

Page 85

(Philippians 2:6-7 NASB) — not of deity but of the use of his attributes of deity. Jesus did not live his life as God pretending to be a human being but as a fully Spirit-controlled man. Just as Jesus had to learn to speak and write, he had to come to his own self-awareness. Jesus had to reach his own personal understanding that he was God's Anointed One.

   A number of factors led Jesus to that conclusion. Undoubtedly Mary and Joseph had told Jesus the story of his miraculous conception. The words of the angel, the visit of the magi, the clear divine protection over his early life would have made a profound impression on him. Probably the most powerful source of his self-recognition came from the Scriptures. As Jesus read the words of the Hebrew Bible, he began to see himself. The Spirit of God who dwelt intimately and powerfully in Jesus brought assurance to his young heart that he was, in fact, the promised Messiah, God in the flesh.

   We have the biblical and historical perspective to understand Jesus' words to his mother, but Mary must have been perplexed. She knows who Jesus is, but she is suddenly jolted by the fact that Jesus now knows fully who he is. Luke is quick to add that Mary and Joseph "did not understand" what Jesus was saying (Luke 2:50). The full impact of Jesus' claim that God was his Father in a unique way came only as they had time to quietly reflect on what Jesus had said.

   The curtain drops on this scene in the temple, and eighteen more years of Jesus' life pass in silence. This would not be the last time that Mary and Joseph had to fine-tune their minds and attitudes toward their son. They had a young man focused on his own destiny — a destiny that would change the human condition forever. But Jesus would not become a rebel in his home or a mystic sitting in a cave. Jesus demonstrated his submission to his heavenly Father by living in submission to his earthly parents. "Then he went down to Nazareth with them

Page 86

and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men" (Luke 2:51-52).

   I'm sure that the people of Nazareth looked on young Jesus as a nice boy, even as an extraordinary student, but in the end they were convinced that he was pretty much like they were. In the years of his ministry Jesus came to Nazareth often and even worshiped in the synagogue there. On one occasion Jesus read a prophecy about the Messiah from Isaiah's book and then announced: "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing!" (Luke 4:21). His own friends and old school chums took offense at Jesus. They were so furious that this hometown boy would claim to be the Anointed One that they tried to push him off a cliff to his death (Luke 4:29-30).

Making It Personal

I wish we knew more about Jesus' young years. How did his parents deal with a perfect son? What did Jesus do to prepare himself for the intensity of the three years of his public ministry? I find myself asking out of my own curiosity what the people of Nazareth asked out of unbelief: "Where did this man get his wisdom?" Jesus' character was certainly molded by the Scriptures and by God's Spirit, but it was also marked by Joseph and Mary. Neither one of them was a great scholar or preacher. They lived fairly routine lives. But in the ordinary events of life Joseph and Mary modeled a consistent pattern of faithfulness and obedience and love for God.

   I sometimes think that the big dramatic things make the greatest impression on my children — taking my son to a Promise Keepers rally, being asked to speak to a large audience at a Bible conference, planning that great family vacation, receiving recognition from people around me. Mary and Joseph have convinced me that we make our most indelible impressions on

Page 87

our children in the quiet, mundane routine of life. I wonder how much love for God and faithful obedience to his Word my family sees as we sit down for a meal, as we rake leaves in the yard, as I drive them to school, as I tuck them in at night. Over the long haul, the words I speak on Sundays will probably mean very little. What those around me, especially my kids, will follow is what they see in me the rest of the week.

Chapter 10  ||  Table of Contents