What was Jesus doing?
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
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Anonymous
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He was a carpenter, so he probably apprenticed and then worked as one.
He may or may not have worked exclusively in Nazareth or Bethlehem, as many carpenters of the era were itinerant. Some, for example, went to work on Herod's ambitious building projects in places like Caesaria Maritima. Many of the towns in the region of Nazareth, like Caesaria, had vibrant intellectual communities. So one (pure) speculation is that he could have attended lectures, debates, or any type of public gathering where theology came up, although there's no proof. |
Anonymous
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Wine was flowing so were beers
So Jesus found his missing years He went to a dance and said, "This don't move me" So he hiked up his pants and he went to a movie On his thirteenth birthday he saw "Rebel without a Cause" He went straight on home and invented Santa Claus Who gave him a gift and he responded in kind He gave the gift of love and went out of his mind You see, him and the wife wasn't getting along So he took out his guitar and he wrote a song Called "The Dove of Love Fell Off the Perch" But he couldn't get divorced in the Catholic Church At least not back then anyhow Jesus was a good guy, he didn't need this sh*t So he took a pill with a bag of peanuts and a Coca Cola and he swallowed it He discovered the Beatles He recorded with the Stones Once he even opened up a three-way package in Southern California for old George Jones |
Anonymous
Great question OP. I always assumed he was preparing for ministry through prayer, fasting and living an exemplary life. But he became human - what does that mean when he was a teenager? Did he have any teen crushes? Was he rebellious in any subtle ways? We know he was extremely subversive in his ministry so wonder how he turned his teen and early adult conventions on its head. I imagined that he appreciated nature, fine carpentry, and observing ancient Jewish traditions in deeply spiritual ways. But what is he mainly observed humanity and our foolish ways as expressed in his fmaily and community? Did he feel great empathy for his family and peers or amusement or disgust? This is a great question OP! |
Anonymous
| I loved that book- lamb, or the gospel according to Biff |
Anonymous
Yes, he was missing during this pilgrimage and then when he was found in the Temple, he was teaching some pretty advanced stuff for a 12 year old in his Father’s house. |
Anonymous
| When did he learn his true identity? |
Anonymous
The Bible doesn’t tell us much about Jesus’ boyhood. We know that, as an adult, Jesus fully realized who He was, expressing it this way: “Very truly I tell you, . . . before Abraham was born, I am!” (John 8:58). And when He prayed, “Now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began” (John 17:5). When did Jesus know that He was God? From the heavenly perspective, the Son knew from eternity past who He was and what His earthly work was to be. From the earthly perspective, the incarnate Jesus came to that realization at some point early in life. We don’t know when that happened. |
Anonymous
| Interesting question to be sure. But Christians believe that Jesus is eternal God, so the fact that we don't know what he was up to (exactly) for a measly 18 years pales in comparison to our not knowing what he was up to (exactly) for the remainder of eternity. |
Anonymous
The Bible clearly says, that Jesus did not sin (2 Corinthians 5:21; 1 Peter 2:22). 2 Corinthians 5:21 (ESV) 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 1 Peter 2:22 (ESV) 22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. Although Jesus is fully human, He was not born with the sinful nature that we are born with. He certainly was tempted in the same way we are, in that temptations were put before Him by Satan, yet He remained sinless because God is incapable of sinning. It is against His very nature Jesus knows what it is like to be tempted, but He does not know what it is like to sin. Three sins common to man are “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16 NKJV). Jesus was tempted in every way and in every area that we are, but remained perfectly holy. |
Anonymous
| Mark 10:13–14, 16: “People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, ‘Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.’ . . . And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.” |
Anonymous
The fact that Jesus ate with sinners shows that He looked beyond culture to people’s hearts. Whereas the Pharisees disregarded people because of their past behavior, Jesus saw their spiritual need. All through Jesus’ ministry, He reached out to those who needed Him. He conversed with a despised Samaritan woman at a well—surprising even His disciples (John 4:27). He forgives an immoral woman in Luke 7, He helps a Syro-Phoenician woman in Mark 7, He touches a leper in Luke 5, and He enters Zacchaeus’s house and dines with him in Luke 19. Again and again, Jesus touched the untouchable and loved the unlovely. John 4:27 (ESV) 27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” Luke 7 English Standard Version 1After he had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. 2Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. 3When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. 4And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, 5for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.” 6And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. 7Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. 8For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” 9When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” 10And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well. 11Soon afterward he went to a town called Nain, and his disciples and a great crowd went with him. 12As he drew near to the gate of the town, behold, a man who had died was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow, and a considerable crowd from the town was with her. 13And when the Lord saw her, he had compassion on her and said to her, “Do not weep.” 14Then he came up and touched the bier, and the bearers stood still. And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” 15And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. 16Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” 17And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country. 18The disciples of John reported all these things to him. And John, 19calling two of his disciples to him, sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” 20And when the men had come to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?’” 21In that hour he healed many people of diseases and plagues and evil spirits, and on many who were blind he bestowed sight. 22And he answered them, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have good news preached to them. 23And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.” Mark 7 English Standard Version Chapter 7 1Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3(For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, 4and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) 5And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 7in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 8You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” 9And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God)— 12then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.” 14And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” 16 17And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” 24And from there he arose and went away to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. 25But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. 26Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” 28But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” 30And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone. 31Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.” |
Anonymous
The biblical references emphasizing Jesus’ that you cited are Saint Paul’s op Ed letters to the early Christian diaspora - not first hand observations in the synoptic gospels (even John’s gospel does not speak to me in a literal sense as the author was so highly stylized/ poetic and clearly symbolic. That said, I am sure you are right that Jesus lived a life beyond reproach. However, OP’s question is thought provoking as I really don’t have any idea what a blameless teenage and young adult life would look like - I suspect he would have challenged superficial social and religious norms in youth as well as during his three year ministry .., |
Anonymous
| Why do people come here for religious education? It is honestly so sad to me. You have no other sources or guidance or tradition or family who have educated or steered you on this topic? |