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His Childhood.
We know that many people knew His mother, father, brothers,
and sisters. Jesus was not unknown. They knew Him as a person
in the community.
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And coming to His home town He began teaching them in
their synagogue, so that they became astonished,
and said, “Where did this man get this wisdom,
and these miraculous powers? Is not this the carpenter’s
son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers,
James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And His sisters,
are they not all with us? Where then did this man
get all these things?” And they took offense
at Him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet
is not without honor except in his home town, and
in his own household.” (NASB) Matthew 13:54-57
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When Jesus started performing miracles as an adult, they were surprised.
This implies that Jesus did not perform any public miracles as a child. They
really did not know Him as a child. They did not know Him as Mary did. They knew
that Jesus' father was a carpenter. They had thought that Jesus was just like
them.
Unknown Childhood.
But his mother knew that He could perform miracles. We discover
this at the wedding of Cana (John 2:1-11). There Jesus' mother
asks Him to make wine for the guests. What miracles, if any,
did He perform as a child? The answer is, "We do not know." Scripture
never tells us anything more about His childhood. Why? Because
it is not important. It is not needed for us to understand
that Jesus came to earth to die for our sins or that we might
know He returned to life. It is not needed for us to believe
in Jesus
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First Impressions.
Our first impression of a person is often the opinion that
we keep about him. That happened to Jesus. Rather than change
their opinion, they rejected Him. That happens to many preachers,
teachers, and others who are involved in ministry. Sometimes
families do not appreciate the ministry the Lord has given
to an individual. It can also be true of men and women within
the church who do not have formal education. The same can be
true of young people in the ministry.
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Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather
in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show
yourself an example of those who believe. (NASB)
1 Timothy 4:12
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Jesus was considered a young person at thirty years of age. Yet, He
started His ministry at the age a young man would begin to serve as a priest.
Conclusion:
The gospels do not record everything that Jesus did during
His ministry. It would be wonderful if it did, but then we
might miss the message about who Jesus was. The apostle John
summarizes the information about Jesus' life with these words,
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And there are also many other things which Jesus did,
which if they were written in detail, I suppose that
even the world itself would not contain the books
which were written.(NASB) John 21:25
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