This morning I started reading “Rediscover Jesus” by Matthew Kelly – a book I received from my church a few years back for Lent. I’m sure I’m reading it not as intended, as it was meant as a daily reflection. One of the first challenges posed was to “Write down everything you know about Jesus.” So this morning, I’m going to spend 15 minutes and see what I can write about Jesus, before he started his ministry!
- Jesus was born unlike many of us – to audible singing of angels, to the arrival of wise men, and while his parents were forced to travel for the Roman census.
- Jesus was conceived under very unusual circumstances – an angel announcing to His mother that she was chosen by God to carry His son, Mary accepting the responsibility, Joseph accepting Mary as his wife, even though she was already pregnant.
- Jesus lived for an undetermined amount of time in Egypt, as his parents fled from Herod’s killing of the children.
- Jesus knew at some level early on that He was God’s son, disappearing during a trip to be with “his Father” at the Temple in Jerusalem.
- Jesus was born to working parents. His father was a carpenter and his mother probably took care of the house.
- Jesus, very similar to me, took a similar career path as his step-father Joseph. He learned to be a carpenter and built things from wood for the majority of his life.
- Jesus grew up in a small, backwater town called Nazareth, not far from the Sea of Galilee, with a large extended family. We are told that he had brothers and sisters, but this could have meant simply cousins.
- He has some deep friendships both with men and women, Lazarus being his best friend.
- For some reason, he did not keep in touch with his cousin John, Elizabeth’s son. This often puzzled me, given John’s influence on his ministry and their early interactions.
- For 30 or so years, he kept a pretty low profile for the Son of God. I often wonder what his life was like during these years.
- He had either studied the Torah significantly or was miraculously or intuitively aware of its content as the Bible mentions that people in the synagogue were amazed at his insight and reflections on the passages, both as a boy and then at the start of his ministry.
That’s it! Not a lot of information from his early life!