THE IMPACT FROM ANALYZING THE SILENT YEARS OF JESUS
The Impact from Analyzing the Silent Years of Jesus – Our imaginations have been corrupted by sin natures. It’s too easy to project sin into Christ’s perfect life if we analyze his silent years. But it’s even easier not to dig into the scriptures and consider all the ways Jesus was our perfect example.
Have you ever wondered when Jesus was 12 and correcting his parents at the temple, why didn’t he just tell them before they left that he wanted to stay there? You shouldn’t think, “It’s easier to get forgiveness than permission,” because that’s not right. Usually, Christians just won’t think about it, and I wouldn’t have, either, except for Alfred Edersheim. His works are considered outdated by many leading scholars, but I’m particularly thankful for one of his insights.
DID JESUS EVER MAKE MISTAKES, FORGET THINGS OR HAVE MISUNDERSTANDINGS?
I agree with the article “Jesus is Fully Human,” but I must go further. To me Isaiah 7:16 seems to be a messianic verse along with verses 15 and of course verse 14:
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. 15 He will be eating curds and honey when he knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, 16 for before the boy knows enough to reject the wrong and choose the right, the land of the two kings you dread will be laid waste.
I think Jesus had to learn everything–even what sin was–to avoid sinning. Did Jesus have his hand slapped once to learn what “no” means? He didn’t intend to disobey. He wasn’t negligent about learning. Sin starts in hearts as either rebellion or a negligence that doesn’t care, but Jesus wanted to do right. I think it could be he just didn’t know that “no” means no. Why else would he neglect to tell his parents he wanted to stay in Jerusalem at the temple?
We’re wrong to think holiness–especially Christ’s holiness–means looking for chances to harshly judge, confront, appear stricter than everyone else, or have a “holier than thou” mentality. In contrast, it’s holy to be gracious, servant-like, teachable, humble, and loving, which includes communicating clearly. Judging the Pharisees as Christ did (i.e. righteous judgment), this was also holy due to the circumstances. This will be clarified in Part Two.
What was it like to be Christ’s parents? What an awe-inspiring responsibility! Their influence would impact their Messiah. And with all that messiah-craze surrounding them, to lead a battle against the Romans. That small community of Nazareth would also assume Mary wasn’t a virgin when she married Joseph. Proving Jesus was their Messiah would help prove Mary was a virgin. But do you think they would’ve allowed their pressures to affect Jesus himself? Would they tell Jesus he was the Messiah when he was, say, 2 years old? Or how about 3? I don’t think so. He’s too young for that. Wait until he’s older.
It’s possible Jesus knew from an angel’s message, or a dream, from a very young age, that he was the Messiah. Whether or not this was true, however, I suspect the problem Jesus had with his parents in Jerusalem was just a misunderstanding.
Suppose for a minute they had just told Jesus he was their Messiah, just before this feast. Could that throw off their ability to predict what they’d normally expect from each other? Say if Jesus already knew he was the Messiah but was somehow told not to bring this up to his parents until they chose to discuss it. If he previously felt talking about his Messiahship with his parents was always a taboo subject, or even if he had just discovered he was the Messiah, this was now a whole new situation. This would’ve been most significant for all three of them. It would make a conscientious, learning-focused boy think his parents would now expect he “must be about his Father’s business.” They, on the other hand, would’ve expected him to take this knowledge seriously, but to come back to Galilee with them, as they did yearly (Luke 2:41).
Do you take respecting your parents as seriously as you think Jesus would’ve done? Do you take seriously your own responsibility to learn what sin is to avoid it?
The above pictures are from Living in the Time of Jesus of Nazareth
