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 esus’ early years as an infant, little child, teenager, and young adult are not recorded in the gospels. The only glimpse that we have of young Jesus is recorded in the gospel of Luke when he was twelve years old. None of the other gospels record anything about Jesus between His birth and His public appearance at the age of thirty years. There are a number of apocryphal myths which pretend to describe Jesus’ early years. The myths are recorded in some books referred to as The Infancy (2nd century), Infancy Story of Thomas (4th - 5th century), the Gospel of Psuedo-Matthew (8th - 9th century), and the Life of John (5th century). They claim to give us events that occurred in His early life. These books portray Jesus as abusing His divine power. These mythical events never occurred, and the books were written long after the death of Jesus. These books have been rejected by both Protestants and the Roman Catholic Church as not being inspired scripture. Only the gospel of Luke gives us any clue about the early life of Jesus. Luke describes only one event in Jesus’ youth. It is his visit to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover when He was 12 years of age.
Feast of The Passover.The Feast of Passover occurs once a year, at the time
of the full moon in the month of Nisan which starts in March and ends in April. In ancient Israel every Jewish
family was encouraged to travel to Jerusalem for three major feasts: the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of
Weeks or Pentecost, and the Feast of the Passover. Devout Jews would make the trip year after year and others
would come less frequently. Therefore, it is not surprising to read in Luke that Joseph and Mary went to Jerusalem
every year for the Feast of the Passover.
Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom . . . (NASB) Luke 2:41-42 Why did Luke tell us about this trip to Jerusalem? There appear to be three reasons.
The first reason is that when a Jewish boy reaches the age of 13, he is declared
to be a man and a “Son of the Covenant” or a “Son of the Law.” A
Bar Mitzvah was held as a celebration of this significant step in his life. After
the Bar Mitzvah he was expected to 1) keep the Law, 2) learn a trade, and 3) attend
a great Jewish feast. This trip to Jerusalem occurred one year before He would be
declared to be a man in the Jewish culture. The second reason is that the annual
Passover, a great Jewish feast celebrating Israelites’ exodus out of Egypt,
was occurring once again. But the third and most important reason has to do with
Jesus and what occurred during this visit.
. . . and as they were returning, after spending the full number of days, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem. But His parents were unaware of it, but supposed Him to be in the caravan, and went a day’s journey; and they began looking for Him among their relatives and acquaintances. (NASB) Luke 2:43-44 |
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| Life & Heart of Jesus | |||||
