Most endnotes and Urantia Book cross-references have been deleted to enhance readability.
Sources for Paper 126, in the order in which they appear
(1) Robert Norwood, The Man Who Dared to Be God: A Story of Jesus (New York: CharlesScribner’s Sons, 1929)
(2) George A. Barton, Ph.D., LL.D., Jesus of Nazareth: A Biography (New York, TheMacmillan Company, 1922)
(3) P. Whitwell Wilson, The Christ We Forget: A Life of Our Lord for Men of To-day (NewYork: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1917)
(4) Walter Russell Bowie, The Master: A Life of Jesus Christ (New York: Charles Scribner’sSons, 1928)
(5) Rev. Alfred Edersheim, M.A.Oxon, D.D., Ph.D., The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah(Volume One) (New York: Longman, Green, & Co., Eighth Edition, Revised, 1899)
Key
(a) Green indicates where a source author first appears, or where he/she reappears.
(b) Yellow highlights most parallelisms.
(c) Tan highlights parallelisms not occurring on the same row, or parallelisms separated byyellowed parallelisms.
(d) An underlined word or words indicates where the source and the UB writer pointedlydiffer from each other.
(e) Blue indicates original (or “revealed”) information, or UB-specific terminology andconcepts. (What to highlight in this regard is debatable. The highlights are tentative.)
126:0.1 Of all Jesus’ earth-lifeexperiences, the fourteenth and fifteenthyears were the most crucial. These twoyears, after he began to be self-consciousof divinity and destiny, and before heachieved a large measure of commun-ication with his indwelling Adjuster, werethe most trying of his eventful life onUrantia. It is this period of two yearswhich should be called the great test, thereal temptation. No human youth, inpassing through the early confusions andadjustment problems of adolescence, everexperienced a more crucial testing thanthat which Jesus passed through duringhis transition from childhood to youngmanhood.
126:0.2 This important period in Jesus’youthful development began with theconclusion of the Jerusalem visit and withhis return to Nazareth.
[The heart of Mary was happy, for God had givenback to her the son of her soul, the fulfilment of herbody (Norwood 79).]
At first Mary was happy in the thoughtthat she had her boy back once more,
[Still, he was a dutiful boy. He went back toNazareth with his parents and was subject to themas any other Jewish boy would have been (Barton97).]
that Jesus had returned home to be adutiful son—not that he was everanything else—
and that he would henceforth be moreresponsive to her plans for his future life.
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But she was not for long to bask in thissunshine of maternal delusion andunrecognized family pride; very soon shewas to be more completely disillusioned.More and more the boy was in thecompany of his father; less and less didhe come to her with his problems, whileincreasingly both his parents failed tocomprehend his frequent alternationbetween the affairs of this world and thecontemplation of his relation to hisFather’s business. Frankly, they did notunderstand him, but they did truly love1
him.
VI: THE DISCIPLINE OF OBEDIENCE(Norwood 71)
126:0.3 As he grew older, Jesus’ pityand love for the Jewish people deepened,but with the passing years, theredeveloped in his mind a growingrighteous resentment of
Hell had invaded his Father’s housebecause the priests were politicalimpostors;
the presence in the Father’s temple of thepolitically appointed priests.
Jesus had great respect for the sincerePharisees and the honest scribes,
the scribes, foolish and fumblingtheologians; the Pharisees, conservativeand bigoted ritualists! Together, priests,scribes, Pharisees, had betrayed Israel andinsulted God! . . . No wonder the land ofhis fathers was invaded by Rome (N 77).
but he held the hypocritical Pharisees andthe dishonest theologians in greatcontempt;
he looked with disdain upon all thosereligious leaders who were not sincere.
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[Contrast Norwood 77-78, 95-99.] When he scrutinized the leadership ofIsrael, he was sometimes tempted to lookwith favor on the possibility of hisbecoming the Messiah of Jewishexpectation, but he never yielded to sucha temptation.
126:0.4 The story of his exploits amongthe wise men of the temple in Jerusalemwas gratifying to all Nazareth, especiallyto his former teachers in the synagogueschool.
Nahor [the Nazareth chazzan] boasted ofJesus’ learning, and Nazareth more thanever took him to its heart... (N 81).
For a time his praise was on everybody’slips.
All the village recounted his childhoodwisdom and praiseworthy conduct andpredicted that he was destined to becomea great leader in Israel; at last a reallygreat teacher was to come out of Nazarethin Galilee. And they all looked forward tothe time when he would be fifteen yearsof age so that he might be permittedregularly to read the Scriptures in thesynagogue on the Sabbath day.
1. HIS FOURTEENTH YEAR
(A.D. 8)
126:1.1 This is the calendar year of hisfourteenth birthday. He had become agood yoke maker and worked well withboth canvas and leather. He was alsorapidly developing into an expertcarpenter and cabinetmaker.
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XIV: THE SILENT YEARS ATNAZARETH (Barton 98)
This summer he made frequent trips to
During these years of silence it seemsprobable, as others have suggested, thatJesus often climbed to the top of the hillto the northwest of Nazareth which risesto a height of 1,600 feet above theMediterranean Sea and from the top ofwhich an extensive and beautiful view isseen (B 99).
the top of the hill to the northwest ofNazareth
for prayer and meditation.
He was gradually becoming moreself-conscious of the nature of hisbestowal on earth.
126:1.2 This hill, a little more than onehundred years previously,
Of course the worship of Baal on the hillabove Nazareth was [discontinued after John Hyrcanus I’s conquest of southernGalilee in about 109 B.C. and the forcedconversion of its inhabitants to Judaism],but, like similar hills in other parts ofPalestine, the hill remained sacred in theestimation of the people. The sanctitywas, as in other cases, accounted for bysupposing that some saintly Jew had beenburied there, and people often resorted tohis tomb to pray (B 99).
had been the “high place of Baal,”
We cannot be wrong, therefore, insupposing that, when Jesus climbed thehill, its top was occupied by the tomb (orthe supposed tomb) of a saintly Jewnamed Simeon, for the name Sim‘an, bywhich the possessor of the tomb is stillknown is an Arabic corruption of Simeon,and names in Palestine persist throughmany centuries (B 99-100).
and now it was the site of the tomb ofSimeon, a reputed holy man of Israel.
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From the summit of this hill of Simeon,Jesus looked out over Nazareth and thesurrounding country.
One can but think that he gazed muchmore often at Mount Carmel to thesouthwest [than at Sepphoris], andmarked with his eye the spot on itssummit where Elijah, centuries before,had had his contest with the prophets ofBaal. Or he may have looked a little tothe east of that to Megiddo,
He would gaze upon Megiddo
and recall the story of
where fifteen hundred years before, thearmies of the great Egyptian kingThothmes had won their first greatvictory in Asia,
the Egyptian army winning its first greatvictory in Asia;
and where nine hundred years lateranother Egyptian king had defeated andkilled the good Judæan king Josiah.
and how, later on, another such armydefeated the Judean king Josiah.
Near it he could discern Taanach whereDeborah and Barak had defeated Sisera.
Not far away he could look uponTaanach, where Deborah and Barakdefeated Sisera.
In the same general direction he could spyout the hills that lay about the plain ofDothan,
In the distance he could view the hills ofDothan,
where Joseph’s brethren had sold him asa slave to be taken to Egypt.
where he had been taught Joseph’sbrethren sold him into Egyptian slavery.
Far to the south he could distinguish thepeaks of Ebal and Gerizim,
He then would shift his gaze over to Ebaland Gerizim
about which hovered traditions ofAbraham, Jacob, Shechem, Abimelech,and many others (B 102-03).
and recount to himself the traditions ofAbraham, Jacob, and Abimelech.
And thus he recalled and turned over inhis mind the historic and traditionalevents of his father Joseph’s people.
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Possibly after the return fromJerusalem Jesus continued for a time toattend the synagogue school (B 98).
126:1.3 He continued to carry on hisadvanced courses of reading under thesynagogue teachers,
and he also continued with the homeeducation of his brothers and sisters asthey grew up to suitable ages.
126:1.4 Early this year Joseph arrangedto set aside the income from his Nazarethand Capernaum property to pay for Jesus’long course of study at Jerusalem, ithaving been planned that he should go toJerusalem in August of the following yearwhen he would be fifteen years of age.
126:1.5 By the beginning of this yearboth Joseph and Mary entertainedfrequent doubts about the destiny of theirfirst-born son. He was indeed a brilliantand lovable child, but he was so difficultto understand, so hard to fathom, andagain, nothing extraordinary or miracu-lous ever happened. Scores of times hadhis proud mother stood in breathlessanticipation, expecting to see her sonengage in some superhuman ormiraculous performance, but always wereher hopes dashed down in crueldisappointment. And all this was dis-couraging, even disheartening.
[[The Apocryphal Gospels] love to representJoseph as a clumsy workman, who was alwaysmaking mistakes that ruined his work, and Jesus ascoming to Joseph’s aid and performing a miraclewhich saved Joseph from disgrace and loss. We arebeginning now to understand that that is not God’sway.... We are to think of Jesus as helping in thesimple parts of the carpenter’s work, just as anyother boy of his years might do (B 98-99).]
The devout people of those days trulybelieved that prophets and men ofpromise always demonstrated theircalling and established their divineauthority by performing miracles andworking wonders.
But Jesus did none of these things;wherefore was the confusion of hisparents steadily increased as theycontemplated his future.
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126:1.6 The improved economiccondition of the Nazareth family wasreflected in many ways about the homeand especially in the increased number of
[ ... writing the picturesque letters of thatancient tongue with a wedge of charcoal on asmooth bit of pine-board found in Joseph’s shop(Norwood 31-32).]
smooth white boards which were used aswriting slates, the writing being donewith charcoal.
[See 123:6.5.] Jesus was also permitted to resume hismusic lessons; he was very fond ofplaying the harp.
126:1.7 Throughout this year it cantruly be said that Jesus
[And Jesus advanced in wisdom and stature,and in favour with God and men (Lk 2:52).]
“grew in favor with man and with God.”
The prospects of the family seemed good;the future was bright.
2. THE DEATH OF JOSEPH
126:2.1 All did go well until that fatefulday of Tuesday, September 25, when arunner from Sepphoris brought to thisNazareth home the tragic news thatJoseph had been severely injured by thefalling of a derrick while at work on thegovernor’s residence. The messengerfrom Sepphoris had stopped at the shopon the way to Joseph’s home, informingJesus of his father’s accident, and theywent together to the house to break thesad news to Mary. Jesus desired to goimmediately to his father, but Marywould hear to nothing but that she musthasten to her husband’s side.
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She directed that James, then ten years ofage, should accompany her to Sepphoriswhile Jesus remained home with theyounger children until she should return,as she did not know how seriously Josephhad been injured. But Joseph died of hisinjuries before Mary arrived. Theybrought him to Nazareth, and on thefollowing day he was laid to rest with hisfathers.
126:2.2 Just at the time when prospectswere good and the future looked bright,an apparently cruel hand struck down thehead of this Nazareth household, theaffairs of this home were disrupted, andevery plan for Jesus and his futureeducation was demolished. This carpenterlad, now just past fourteen years of age,awakened to the realization that he hadnot only to fulfill the commission of hisheavenly Father to reveal the divinenature on earth and in the flesh, but thathis young human nature must alsoshoulder the responsibility of caring forhis widowed mother and seven brothersand sisters—and another yet to be born.
XIV: THE SILENT YEARS ATNAZARETH (Barton 98)
Some years before Jesus began hisministry Joseph died and Jesus, the oldestson, became the sole support of thefamily (B 103).
This lad of Nazareth now became the solesupport and comfort of this so suddenlybereaved family.
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Thus were permitted those occurrences ofthe natural order of events on Urantiawhich would force this young man ofdestiny so early to assume these heavybut highly educational and disciplinaryresponsibilities attendant upon becomingthe head of a human family, of becomingfather to his own brothers and sisters, ofsupporting and protecting his mother, offunctioning as guardian of his father’shome, the only home he was to knowwhile on this world.
126:2.3 Jesus cheerfully accepted theresponsibilities so suddenly thrust uponhim, and he carried them faithfully to theend. At least one great problem andanticipated difficulty in his life had beentragically solved—he would not now beexpected to go to Jerusalem to studyunder the rabbis.
X: CHRIST THE QUESTIONER(Wilson 72)
It remained always true that
Paul, when a boy, went to the Templeand sat as a disciple at the feet ofGamaliel, as if the only authority to berecognized by youth is the authority ofthe past. Jesus sat at no man’s feet (W73).
Jesus “sat at no man’s feet.”
He was ever willing to learn from eventhe humblest of little children, but henever derived authority to teach truthfrom human sources.
126:2.4 Still he knew nothing of theGabriel visit to his mother before hisbirth; he only learned of this from Johnon the day of his baptism, at thebeginning of his public ministry.
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II: THE THOUGHTS AND PASSIONSOF THE TIME (Bowie 47)
126:2.5 As the years passed, this youngcarpenter of Nazareth
Instinctively he measured everyinstitution of society and of religion, bythis test,—
increasingly measured every institution ofsociety and every usage of religion by theunvarying test:
what does it do for human souls? What does it do for the human soul?
does it bring God to man?
What does it do to bring men nearer God?(B 50)
does it bring man to God?
While this youth did not wholly neglectthe recreational and social aspects of life,more and more he devoted his time andenergies to just two purposes: the care ofhis family and the preparation to do hisFather’s heavenly will on earth.
126:2.6 This year it became the customfor the neighbors to drop in during thewinter evenings
to hear Jesus play upon the harp,
[Even in his boyhood Jesus was a master ofstories. He made words live.... His mimicry wasperfect. He saw what he said and, seeing, gavereality to the words that fell from his lips like dropsof water poured gently from a jug (Norwood 64).]
to listen to his stories (for the lad was amaster storyteller),
and to hear him read from the Greekscriptures.
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126:2.7 The economic affairs of thefamily continued to run fairly smoothlyas there was quite a sum of money onhand at the time of Joseph’s death. Jesusearly demonstrated the possession ofkeen business judgment and financialsagacity. He was liberal but frugal; hewas saving but generous. He proved to bea wise and efficient administrator of hisfather’s estate.
126:2.8 But in spite of all that Jesusand the Nazareth neighbors could do tobring cheer into the home, Mary, andeven the children, were overcast withsadness. Joseph was gone. Joseph was anunusual husband and father, and they allmissed him. And it seemed all the moretragic to think that he died ere they couldspeak to him or hear his farewellblessing.
3. THE FIFTEENTH YEAR
(A.D. 9)
126:3.1 By the middle of this fifteenthyear—and we are reckoning time inaccordance with the twentieth-centurycalendar, not by the Jewish year—Jesushad taken a firm grasp upon themanagement of his family. Before thisyear had passed, their savings had aboutdisappeared, and they were face to facewith the necessity of disposing of one ofthe Nazareth houses which Joseph andhis neighbor Jacob owned in partnership.
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126:3.2 On Wednesday evening, April17, A.D. 9, Ruth, the baby of the family,was born, and to the best of his abilityJesus endeavored to take the place of hisfather in comforting and ministering tohis mother during this trying andpeculiarly sad ordeal. For almost a scoreof years (until he began his publicministry) no father could have loved andnurtured his daughter any moreaffectionately and faithfully than Jesuscared for little Ruth. And he was anequally good father to all the othermembers of his family.
126:3.3 During this year Jesus firstformulated the prayer which hesubsequently taught to his apostles, andwhich to many has become known as“The Lord’s Prayer.” In a way it was anevolution of the family altar; they hadmany forms of praise and several formalprayers. After his father’s death Jesustried to teach the older children toexpress themselves individually inprayer—much as he so enjoyed doing—but they could not grasp his thought andwould invariably fall back upon theirmemorized prayer forms. It was in thiseffort to stimulate his older brothers andsisters to say individual prayers that Jesuswould endeavor to lead them along bysuggestive phrases, and presently, with-out intention on his part, it developed thatthey were all using a form of prayerwhich was largely built up from thesesuggestive lines which Jesus had taughtthem.
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126:3.4 At last Jesus gave up the ideaof having each member of the familyformulate spontaneous prayers, and oneevening in October he sat down by thelittle squat lamp on the low stone table,and, on a piece of smooth cedar boardabout eighteen inches square, with apiece of charcoal he wrote out the prayerwhich became from that time on thestandard family petition.
126:3.5 This year Jesus was muchtroubled with confused thinking. Familyresponsibility had quite effectivelyremoved all thought of immediatelycarrying out any plan for responding tothe Jerusalem visitation directing him to“be about his Father’s business.” Jesusrightly reasoned that the watchcare of hisearthly father’s family must takeprecedence of all duties; that the supportof his family must become his firstobligation.
126:3.6 In the course of this year Jesusfound a passage in the so-called Book ofEnoch which influenced him in the lateradoption of the term “Son of Man” as adesignation for his bestowal mission onUrantia. He had thoroughly consideredthe idea of the Jewish Messiah and wasfirmly convinced that he was not to bethat Messiah. He longed to help hisfather’s people, but he never expected tolead Jewish armies in overthrowing theforeign domination of Palestine. He knewhe would never sit on the throne of Davidat Jerusalem. Neither did he believe thathis mission was that of a spiritualdeliverer or moral teacher solely to theJewish people.
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In no sense, therefore, could his lifemission be the fulfillment of the intenselongings and supposed Messianicprophecies of the Hebrew scriptures; atleast, not as the Jews understood thesepredictions of the prophets.
[In the prophecy of Daniel for the first timeappeared the name which Jesus was afterward totake—Son of Man (Bowie 64).]
[In Dan. 7:13 the term [Son of Man] had beenemployed to designate a human being to whom theMessianic kingdom was likened. This was incontrast to the fierce beasts to which the earthlykingdoms, mentioned in the preceding verses, hadbeen compared (Barton 107).]
Likewise he was certain he was never toappear as the Son of Man depicted by theProphet Daniel.
126:3.7 But when the time came forhim to go forth as a world teacher, whatwould he call himself? What claimshould he make concerning his mission?By what name would he be called by thepeople who would become believers inhis teachings?
VII: THE SON OF MAN (Norwood 83)
126:3.8 While turning all theseproblems over in his mind,
Through Nahor [Jesus] had access to thesynagogue library, which included theapocalyptic writings as well as the fulltexts of the Law and the Prophets (N 83).
he found in the synagogue library atNazareth,
among the apocalyptic books which hehad been studying,
[I]n the course of time there came to thesynagogue of Nazareth a well-handledroll of parchment called “the Book ofEnoch.” Its theme was salvation throughMessiah (N 88).
this manuscript called “The Book ofEnoch”;
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[[Apocalypses] were written by teachers who, forfear of the Phrarisees and scribes, sought to com-municate their message under the supposititousauthorship of famous men of the olden days (N87).]
and though he was certain that it had notbeen written by Enoch of old,
it proved very intriguing to him, and heread and reread it many times.
[Of all the pre-Christian apocalypses known to usit alone applies to the Messiah the term “Son ofMan” (see Enoch 46:1, 2; 48:2) (Barton 107).]
There was one passage which particularlyimpressed him, a passage in which thisterm “Son of Man” appeared. 2
The writer of this so-called Book ofEnoch went on to tell about this Son ofMan, describing the work he would do onearth and explaining that this Son ofMan, before coming down on this earth tobring salvation to mankind,
[In his imagination he walked with Enoch along thegolden highway of Heaven, past the patriarchs,prophets, kings, and saints, to the glorious throneof God, where he saw, lifted above even Michaeland Gabriel, the Saviour of the world in the natureand likeness of a man, yet sharing the splendor ofthe Eternal (N 88).]
had walked through the courts ofheavenly glory with his Father, the Fatherof all;
and that he had turned his back upon allthis grandeur and glory to come down onearth to proclaim salvation to needymortals.
As Jesus would read these passages
[The theme of these writings had its roots inPersian theosophy (N 87).]
(well understanding that much of theEastern mysticism which had becomeadmixed with these teachings waserroneous),
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he responded in his heart and recognizedin his mind that of all the Messianicpredictions of the Hebrew scriptures andof all the theories about the Jewishdeliverer, none was so near the truth asthis story tucked away in this onlypartially accredited Book of Enoch; andhe then and there decided to adopt as hisinaugural title “the Son of Man.”
[Afterward, when Jesus entered upon his Messianicmission, he chose this term “Son of Man” out of allthe titles applied to the Messiah as the one bywhich to call himself (Barton 107).]
And this he did when he subsequentlybegan his public work.
Jesus had an unerring ability for therecognition of truth, and truth he neverhesitated to embrace, no matter fromwhat source it appeared to emanate.
126:3.9 By this time he had quitethoroughly settled many things about hisforthcoming work for the world, but hesaid nothing of these matters to hismother, who still held stoutly to the ideaof his being the Jewish Messiah.
126:3.10 The great confusion of Jesus’younger days now arose. Having settledsomething about the nature of his missionon earth, “to be about his Father’sbusiness”—to show forth his Father’sloving nature to all mankind—he beganto ponder anew the many statements inthe Scriptures referring to the coming ofa national deliverer, a Jewish teacher orking. To what event did these propheciesrefer? Was not he a Jew? or was he? Washe or was he not of the house of David?His mother averred he was; his father hadruled that he was not. He decided he wasnot. But had the prophets confused thenature and mission of the Messiah?
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[Then it came to him that his father waswrong, his mother right, concerning Messiah(Norwood 103).]
126:3.11 After all, could it be possiblethat his mother was right?
[?] In most matters, when differences ofopinion had arisen in the past, she hadbeen right.
If he were a new teacher and not theMessiah, then how should he recognizethe Jewish Messiah if such a one shouldappear in Jerusalem during the time of hisearth mission; and, further, what shouldbe his relation to this Jewish Messiah?And what should be his relation, afterembarking on his life mission, to hisfamily? to the Jewish commonwealth andreligion? to the Roman Empire? to thegentiles and their religions? Each of thesemomentous problems this young Galileanturned over in his mind and seriouslypondered while he continued to work atthe carpenter’s bench, laboriously makinga living for himself, his mother, and eightother hungry mouths.
126:3.12 Before the end of this yearMary saw the family funds diminishing.She turned the sale of doves over toJames. Presently they bought a secondcow, and with the aid of Miriam theybegan the sale of milk to their Nazarethneighbors.
126:3.13 His profound periods ofmeditation, his frequent journeys to thehilltop for prayer, and the many strangeideas which Jesus advanced from time totime, thoroughly alarmed his mother.Sometimes she thought the lad wasbeside himself, and then she wouldsteady her fears, remembering that hewas, after all, a child of promise and insome manner different from other youths.
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126:3.14 But Jesus was learning not tospeak of all his thoughts, not to presentall his ideas to the world, not even to hisown mother. From this year on, Jesus’disclosures about what was going on inhis mind steadily diminished; that is, hetalked less about those things which anaverage person could not grasp, andwhich would lead to his being regardedas peculiar or different from ordinaryfolks. To all appearances he becamecommonplace and conventional, thoughhe did long for someone who couldunderstand his problems. He craved atrustworthy and confidential friend, buthis problems were too complex for hishuman associates to comprehend. Theuniqueness of the unusual situationcompelled him to bear his burdens alone.
4. FIRST SERMON IN THE
SYNAGOGUE
[?] 126:4.1 With the coming of hisfifteenth birthday, Jesus could officiallyoccupy the synagogue pulpit on theSabbath day. Many times before, in theabsence of speakers, Jesus had beenasked to read the Scriptures, but now theday had come when, according to law, hecould conduct the service. Therefore onthe first Sabbath after his fifteenthbirthday the chazan arranged for Jesus toconduct the morning service of thesynagogue. And when all the faithful inNazareth had assembled, the young man,having made his selection of Scriptures,stood up and began to read:
1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me;because the LORD hath anointed me
126:4.2 “The spirit of the Lord God isupon me, for the Lord has anointed me;
to preach good tidings unto the meek; he has sent me to bring good news to themeek,
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he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, toproclaim liberty to the captives,
to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaimliberty to the captives,
and the opening of the prison to them that arebound;
and to set the spiritual prisoners free;
2 To proclaim the acceptable year of theLORD ,
to proclaim the year of God’s favor
[to proclaim the year of Jehovah’s favor (ARV)]
and the day of vengeance of our God; and the day of our God’s reckoning;
to comfort all that mourn; to comfort all mourners,
3 To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, togive unto them beauty for ashes, to give them beauty for ashes,
the oil of joy for mourning, the oil of joy in the place of mourning,
the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; a song of praise instead of the spirit ofsorrow,
that they might be called trees of righteousness, theplanting of the LORD,
that they may be called trees ofrighteousness, the planting of the Lord,
that he might be glorified (Isa. 61:1-3). wherewith he may be glorified.
14 Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: 126:4.3 “Seek good and not evil thatyou may live,
and so the LORD , the God of hosts, shall be withyou, as ye have spoken.
and so the Lord, the God of hosts, shallbe with you.
15 Hate the evil, and love the good, andestablish judgment in the gate:
Hate the evil and love the good; establishjudgment in the gate.
it may be that the Lord God of hosts will begracious unto the remnant of Joseph (Amos 5:14-15).
Perhaps the Lord God will be gracious tothe remnant of Joseph.
1 Wash you, make you clean; 126:4.4 “Wash yourselves, makeyourselves clean;
put away the evil of your doings from before mineeyes; cease to do evil;
put away the evil of your doings frombefore my eyes; cease to do evil
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2 Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve theoppressed,
and learn to do good; seek justice, relievethe oppressed.
[seek justice (ARV)]
judge the fatherless, plead for the widow (Isa. 1:16-17).
Defend the fatherless and plead for thewidow.
6 Wherewith shall I come before the LORD, 126:4.5 “Wherewith shall I comebefore the Lord,
and bow myself before the high God? to bow myself before the Lord of all theearth?
shall I come before him with burnt offerings, withcalves of a year old?
Shall I come before him with burntofferings, with calves a year old?
7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands oframs, or with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Will the Lord be pleased with thousandsof rams, ten thousands of sheep, or withrivers of oil?
shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, thefruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
Shall I give my first-born for mytransgression, the fruit of my body for thesin of my soul?
8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; for the Lord has showed us, O men, whatis good.
and what doth the LORD require of thee, but to dojustly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly withthy God? (Micah 6:6-8)
And what does the Lord require of youbut to deal justly, love mercy, and walkhumbly with your God?
25 To whom then will ye liken me, or shall Ibe equal? saith the Holy One.
126:4.6 “To whom, then, will you likenGod
[It is he that sitteth above the circle of the earth ...(Isa 40:22).]
who sits upon the circle of the earth?
26 Lift up your eyes on high, and behold whohath created these things,
Lift up your eyes and behold who hascreated all these worlds,
that bringeth out their host by number: he calleththem all by names
who brings forth their host by numberand calls them all by their names.
He does all these things
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by the greatness of his might, for that he is strongin power; not one faileth (Isa. 40:25-26).
by the greatness of his might, andbecause he is strong in power, not onefails.
29 He giveth power to the faint; and to themthat have no might he increaseth strength (Isa.40:29).
He gives power to the weak, and to thosewho are weary he increases strength.
10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be notdismayed; for I am thy God:
Fear not, for I am with you; be notdismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; I will strengthen you and I will help you;
yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of myrighteousness (Isa. 41:10).
yes, I will uphold you with the right handof my righteousness,
13 For I the LORD thy God for I am the Lord your God.
will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not;I will help thee (Isa. 41:13).
And I will hold your right hand, saying toyou, fear not, for I will help you.
10 Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD , 126:4.7 “And you are my witness, saysthe Lord,
and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye mayknow and believe me, and understand that I am he:
and my servant whom I have chosen thatall may know and believe me andunderstand that I am the Eternal.
before me there was no God formed, neither shallthere be after me.
11 I, even I, am the LORD; and beside methere is no saviour (Isa. 43:10-11).
even I, am the Lord, and beside me thereis no savior.”
126:4.8 And when he had thus read, hesat down, and the people went to theirhomes, pondering over the words whichhe had so graciously read to them. Neverhad his townspeople seen him somagnificently solemn; never had theyheard his voice so earnest and so sincere;never had they observed him so manlyand decisive, so authoritative.
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126:4.9 This Sabbath afternoon Jesusclimbed the Nazareth hill with James and,when they returned home, wrote out theTen Commandments in Greek on twosmooth boards in charcoal. SubsequentlyMartha colored and decorated theseboards, and for long they hung on thewall over James’s small workbench.
5 . T H E F I N A N C I A L
STRUGGLE
126:5.1 Gradually Jesus and his familyreturned to the simple life of their earlieryears.
II, X: IN THE HOUSE OF THE HEAVENLY,AND IN THE HOME OF HIS EARTHLYFATHER—THE TEMPLE OF JERU-SALEM—THE RETIREMENT AT NAZARETH.
(Edersheim1 235)
[See three rows down.] Their clothes and even their food becamesimpler.
[Deborah [the family cow] had died someyears before, but her calf was now in her place,giving Mary milk, curds, and butter (Norwood89).]
They had plenty of milk, butter, andcheese.
In season they enjoyed the produce oftheir garden, but each passing monthnecessitated the practice of greaterfrugality.
The morning and midday meal must havebeen of the plainest, and even the largerevening meal of the simplest, in the homeat Nazareth.... The same simplicity wouldprevail in dress and manners (E1 250-51).
Their breakfasts were very plain;
they saved their best food for the eveningmeal.
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There was not such separation betweenrich and poor as with us, and whilewealth might confer social distinction, theabsence of it in no way implied socialinferiority (E1 252).
However, among these Jews lack ofwealth did not imply social inferiority.
126:5.2 Already had this youth well-nigh encompassed the comprehension ofhow men lived in his day.
[Compare E1 250-54, re how Jesus was influencedby Home, Nature, and Prevailing Ideas.]
And how well he understood life in thehome, field, and workshop is shown byhis subsequent teachings, which sorepletely reveal his intimate contact withall phases of human experience.
VI: THE SON OF MAN (Norwood 83)
Nahor [the Nazareth chazzan] nowdirected Jesus’ reading, ... and more thanever sure of his destiny as a successor toHillel, if not to the great Gamaliel ... (N83).
126:5.3 The Nazareth chazan continuedto cling to the belief that Jesus was tobecome a great teacher, probably thesuccessor of the renowned Gamaliel atJerusalem.
126:5.4 Apparently all Jesus’ plans fora career were thwarted. The future didnot look bright as matters now developed.But he did not falter; he was notdiscouraged. He lived on, day by day,doing well the present duty and faithfullydischarging the immediate respons-ibilities of his station in life.
[Jesus’ story will eternally comfort the idealists ofthe world (N 71).]
Jesus’ life is the everlasting comfort ofall disappointed idealists.
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XIV: THE SILENT YEARS ATNAZARETH (Barton 98)
The carpenters of Nazareth were simplefolk, whose work was probably confinedto making yokes for oxen, the wood partof plows, making and putting up doors forhouses and sheepfolds, and similarwork.... It was humble work and the paywas small.
126:5.5 The pay of a commonday-laboring carpenter was slowlydiminishing.
By the end of this year Jesus could earn,by working early and late,
We know that the wages of unskilledlaborers at the time were a Romandenarius (about sixteen cents) a day. Wedo not know whether carpenters werepaid more, but probably they were not (B104).
only the equivalent of about twenty-fivecents a day.
By the next year they found it difficult topay
Civil taxes were not fixed by law. Thesystem known as tax-farming prevailed.An official was given the privilege ofcollecting the taxes. This official had topay over to his superiors a certainamount, but was permitted to collect fromthe people as much as he could squeezeout of them.
the civil taxes,
[?] not to mention the synagogue assess-ments
In addition to the political taxes, therewere the Temple taxes of a half-shekeleach year (B 105).
and the temple tax of one-half shekel.
During this year the tax collector tried tosqueeze extra revenue out of Jesus, eventhreatening to take his harp.
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[?]
126:5.6 Fearing that the copy of theGreek scriptures might be discovered andconfiscated by the tax collectors, Jesus,on his fifteenth birthday, presented it tothe Nazareth synagogue library as hismaturity offering to the Lord.
126:5.7 The great shock of his fifteenthyear came when Jesus went over toSepphoris to receive the decision ofHerod regarding the appeal taken to himin the dispute about the amount of moneydue Joseph at the time of his accidentaldeath. Jesus and Mary had hoped for thereceipt of a considerable sum of moneywhen the treasurer at Sepphoris hadoffered them a paltry amount. Joseph’sbrothers had taken an appeal to Herodhimself, and now Jesus stood in thepalace and heard Herod decree that hisfather had nothing due him at the time ofhis death. And for such an unjust decisionJesus never again trusted Herod Antipas.
It is not surprising that he once alluded toHerod as
[And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell thatfox ... (Lk 13:32).] [See 171:4.6.]
“that fox.”
126:5.8 The close work at the carpent-er’s bench during this and subsequentyears deprived Jesus of the opportunity ofmingling with the caravan passengers.The family supply shop had already beentaken over by his uncle, and Jesus workedaltogether in the home shop, where hewas near to help Mary with the family.About this time he began sending Jamesup to the camel lot to gather informationabout world events, and thus he sought tokeep in touch with the news of the day.
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126:5.9 As he grew up to manhood, hepassed through all those conflicts andconfusions which the average youngpersons of previous and subsequent ageshave undergone. And the rigorousexperience of supporting his family wasa sure safeguard against his havingovermuch time for idle meditation or theindulgence of mystic tendencies.
126:5.10 This was the year that Jesusrented a considerable piece of land just tothe north of their home, which wasdivided up as
It is altogether probable that thefamily of Mary also cultivated a garden ora small farm. Most dwellers in Palestiniantowns had small holdings of land outsidethe village, and those who did not haveland of their own could easily lease asmall plot (B 104).
a family garden plot.
Each of the older children had anindividual garden, and they entered intokeen competition in their agriculturalefforts.
It is not improbable that he who laterbecame the sower of that seed which hedefined as the word of God (see Mark4:14) had often himself sown wheat,barley, and millet on some hillside nearNazareth (B 105).
Their eldest brother spent some time withthem in the garden each day during theseason of vegetable cultivation.
As Jesus worked with his youngerbrothers and sisters in the garden, hemany times entertained the wish that theywere all located on a farm out in thecountry where they could enjoy theliberty and freedom of an unhamperedlife.
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But they did not find themselves growingup in the country; and Jesus, being athoroughly practical youth as well as anidealist, intelligently and vigorouslyattacked his problem just as he found it,and did everything within his power toadjust himself and his family to therealities of their situation and to adapttheir condition to the highest possiblesatisfaction of their individual andcollective longings.
126:5.11 At one time Jesus’ faintlyhoped that he might be able to gather upsufficient means, provided they couldcollect the considerable sum of moneydue his father for work on Herod’spalace, to warrant undertaking thepurchase of a small farm. He had reallygiven serious thought to this plan ofmoving his family out into the country.But when Herod refused to pay them anyof the funds due Joseph, they gave up theambition of owning a home in thecountry. As it was, they contrived toenjoy much of the experience of farm lifeas they now had three cows, four sheep,a flock of chickens, a donkey, and a dog,in addition to the doves. Even the littletots had their regular duties to perform inthe well-regulated scheme of manage-ment which characterized the home lifeof this Nazareth family.
126:5.12 With the close of this fifteenthyear Jesus completed the traversal of thatdangerous and difficult period in humanexistence, that time of transition betweenthe more complacent years of childhoodand the consciousness of approachingmanhood with its increased respons-ibilities and opportunities for theacquirement of advanced experience inthe development of a noble character.
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1. The father wore a worried expression, introducing the consultation with these words: “Doctor, I have come
to see you about my boy. There must be something wrong with him; he is acting strangely. Frankly, his mother and I
don't understand him, and we are not getting along well...” (William S. Sadler, M.D., Piloting Modern Youth [1931],
p. 1).
2. Bowie (p. 64) quotes these passages (46:[1]-4, 51:5b-5d) from the Book of Enoch:
“A being whose countenance had the appearance of a man,
And his face was full of graciousness, like one of the holy angels.
And I asked the angel who went with me and showed me all the hidden things, concerning that Son of Man, who he
was, and whence he was . . . And he answered and said unto me:
This is the Son of Man who hath righteousness,
With whom dwelleth righteousness,
And who revealeth all the treasures of that which is hidden,
Because the Lord of Spirits hath chosen him,
And whose lot hath the pre-eminence before the Lord of Spirits in uprightness forever.
And this Son of Man whom thou has seen
Shall raise up the kings and the mighty from their seats,
And shall loosen the reins of the strong,
And break the teeth of the sinners . . .
And the earth shall rejoice,
And the righteous shall dwell upon it,
And the elect shall walk thereon.”
The growth period for mind and body hadended, and now began the real career ofthis young man of Nazareth.
