What Was Jesus Doing Before He Began His Ministry?
He was around thirty years old when he began his public ministry, according to the Bible.The Bible, in Luke 3:23, provides us a clue as to what Jesus’ life was like.Afterwards, Jesus’ three-year ministry is described in detail in the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).As a result, we know that Jesus died, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven about the age of 33.What exactly was Jesus up during all those years before he reached the age of thirty?
- Aside from the accounts of Jesus’ birth and early childhood, there is just one story in the Bible that describes his boyhood and adolescence.
- That was the period when the twelve-year-old Jesus was in the temple courts of Jerusalem, astounded by his instructors’ grasp of the Scriptures and demonstrating his leadership abilities.
- Luke 2:41-52 contains the details of this event.
The narrative comes to a surprising conclusion.God tells us that the boy Jesus did not stay in Jerusalem to serve in the temple for a long period of time.The alternative was that he obeyed his earthly parents and returned home, this time to Nazareth, where he was born.
″Jesus grew in wisdom and stature at Nazareth, as well as in favor with God and men″ throughout his time there from the ages of 12 to 30.That’s all there is to it.That’s all we have in the Bible to go on as far as what Jesus was up to throughout all of those years.We could wish we had more of something.It’s during times like these that it’s important to remember that the Bible wasn’t given to us so that we could learn every detail of Jesus’ existence on this planet.
As Paul once wrote to Timothy, it was given to us so that we would be ″wise unto salvation,″ as Paul put it.That’s a slang term for asserting that the Bible has all of the information we need to know about Jesus in order to trust him and be saved.Consider, while we’re on the subject of being ″saved,″ that one small phrase that encompasses the last 18 years of Jesus’ life and what it has to say about being saved.″Jesus’ favor with God and with humanity grew stronger.″ This indicates that for all of those years, Jesus was perfectly loving God and flawlessly loving his neighbor as he loved himself.
- The commands of God’s holy will were being obeyed to the letter by him.
- According to the Bible, Jesus was just like you and me, with the exception that he did not sin.
- Jesus, the genuine God from all eternity, came to earth and took on the characteristics of a perfect human person.
- Was there any connection between it and being saved?
- It indicates that you have found the ideal Substitute.
- Jesus takes away your sin and replaces it with his perfection so that you can stand before God guilt-free.
- The fact that Jesus himself said he had come ″to complete all righteousness″ during his baptism was a confirmation of this (Matthew 3:15).
- In fact, when the apostle Paul stated that Jesus ″was born under law, to rescue those who were under law, so we could gain the complete rights of sons,″ he was emphasizing this reality (Galatians 4:4-5).
Where was Jesus between the ages of 12 and 30?
The so-called ″lost years″ of Jesus’ life are not extensively discussed in the New Testament.We know very little about Jesus’ childhood, adolescence, and early twenties, save from a brief reference of him being 12 years old and chatting with many Jews in the temple and astonishing them all (Luke 2:39-52), and much less about his adolescent and twenties.Other late apocryphal gospels, such as the Infancy Gospel of Thomas, and others, attempt to fill in the gaps in our knowledge, but these apocryphal writings were produced fairly late and are generally not recognized as providing an authentic image of Jesus by even the most critical academics.For the time being, the most we can say about Jesus’ childhood years is that it was not the intention of the first-century Gospel authors to go into great detail about them, thus we actually don’t have much to say about them.I believe that rather than focusing on what we do not know about Jesus, we should concentrate on what we do know.
- According to ancient historical sources, we know a great deal of information regarding Jesus’ birth, life, death, and resurrection.
- Because the resurrection is the basis upon which Christianity is founded, it is there that we should concentrate our efforts (1 Corinthians 15:17; cf.
- John 2:19-21; Matthew 12:39-40).
What was Jesus doing between the age of 12 and 30?
Some Bible historians believe that between the ages of 12 and 30 years, Jesus spent his time in Galilee working as a carpenter and learning to fish in order to provide for his mother.Matt says that Jesus had at least four brothers and a number of unidentified sisters.As a result, what did Jesus do when he was twelve years old?As a child of twelve years old, Jesus travels to Jerusalem with his mother and father, as well as a large number of their relatives and friends, on a trip ″according to the custom″ – that is, for Passover.Despite the fact that Jesus ″lingered″ at the Temple on the day of their return, Mary and Joseph mistook him for one of their party.
- As a result, the question is, what did Jesus do when he was 30 years old?
- He was being prepared for the beginning of His ministry by all of his experiences.
- Jesus was scheduled to begin His ministry at the age of thirty, according to God’s plan, and not any earlier.
In order to begin His mission, Jesus waited until the Father gave Him the go-ahead.His ministry officially began when He was baptized by His cousin, John.How many years have been omitted from Jesus’ life?
It has been revealed via ancient records that Jesus spent 17 years in the Orient.They claim that between the ages of 13 and 29, Jesus journeyed to India, Nepal, Ladakh, and Tibet, serving as both a student and a teacher in these countries.What did Jesus do for the next 30 years?Accord to this literature, which Notovitch had translated into French, Jesus had spent his ″missing years″ – the years between his infancy and the beginning of his ministry – studying Buddhism in India, according to the Gospel of Matthew.He had returned to the Middle East and the life that we are familiar with from the New Testament when he was around 30 years old.
Related
What was Jesus doing before 30?
Christians have traditionally interpreted the remark in Mark 6:3 referring to Jesus as ″Is not this the carpenter?″ as an evidence that Jesus had worked as a carpenter before the age of 30.
At what age did Jesus die?
Based on these approaches, the majority of experts believe that Jesus was born between 6 and 4 BC, and that his teaching began about AD 27–29 and lasted between one and three years. They estimate that Jesus’ death took place between AD 30 and AD 36, depending on the source.
What does Buddha say about Jesus?
In 2001, the Dalai Lama stated that ″Jesus Christ also lived previous lives,″ and went on to say, ″So, you see, he reached a high state, either as a Bodhisattva, or an enlightened person, through Buddhist practice or something like that.″ Other high-level Buddhists have drawn parallels between Jesus and Buddhism.
Why was the book of Enoch removed from the Bible?
When Barnabas wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews (16:4), he was referring to the Book of Enoch as scripture. Many early Church Fathers, including Athenagoras, Clement of Alexandria, Irenaeus, and Tertullian, wrote around 200 that the Book of Enoch had been rejected by the Jews because it contained prophecies about the coming of Christ.
What school did Jesus go to?
While growing up, His Mother Mary would have taught Him many things, and His Father Joseph would have taught Him about becoming a carpenter, just as he had been taught. He would have attended Bet Sefer, the local synagogue school, when he was about six years old, just like every other six-year-old Jewish child in his neighborhood.
Where did Jesus die in India?
Tourists throng to Kashmir’s ‘Jesus’ tomb,’ which has become a popular tourist destination.According to popular belief, Jesus survived the crucifixion and spent the rest of his life in Kashmir, which has resulted in a dilapidated shrine in Srinagar being firmly established on the must-see-in-India tourism circuit.The Rozabal shrine, a historic structure located in the backstreets of downtown Srinagar, is a must-see.
Where did Jesus go after he was born?
It is agreed upon by both gospels that Jesus was born in Bethlehem and afterwards migrated with his family to Nazareth, where he lived for the rest of his life. The Gospel of Matthew relates how Joseph, Mary, and Jesus fled to Egypt in order to avoid Herod the Great’s massacre of the infant boys in Bethlehem, which was described in the Old Testament.
What was the message of Jesus?
According to general principles, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, also known as the message of redemption, justification, and sanctification, is taught by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans, particularly in chapters 3 to 8.
What Did Jesus Do Between Age 12 and 30?
What Did Jesus Do Between the Ages of Twelve and Thirty?The topic of this week’s inquiry is the life of Jesus Christ.The only difficulty is that it deals with a period of Christ’s life about which we are completely ignorant.″Can you tell me what Jesus accomplished between the ages of 12 (when he was a youngster in the temple) and ‘around 30’ when he began his public ministry?″ asks the inquiry.The answer: The best response to the question is as follows: We don’t know what to say.
- The Bible is deafeningly silent regarding this era of Jesus’ life, and there are no outside sources to turn to for guidance.
- However, a lack of information in scripture has never deterred academics from theorizing, especially when there is internal evidence, that is, data that can be deduced from the book itself, to support a favorite hypothesis.
- So, here are three hypotheses that I have come across during my research.
By and large, orthodox Christians believe that the first theory is the most likely to be correct.According to this idea, Jesus stayed at his father’s (Joseph’s) house and learnt the family business.This was the most typical course taken by Jewish males growing up in the community.
In Jesus’ case, this would imply that he worked as an apprentice in his father’s business until he had gained sufficient knowledge of the trade.It is usually assumed that this trade was carpentry; however, it was more likely stone cutting and construction (the Greek text supports this point).In any case, according to this hypothesis, Jesus would have worked in the family business until he was around 30 years old (Luke 3.23), at which point he would have begun his public ministry.″However, according to experts, if he had remained in Nazareth, his educational opportunities would have been severely limited.Certainty, he received his education from a different source, and it must have been from a radical one, given his extreme reading of scripture.″ As a result, we have ideas number two and three.
The second hypothesis proposes that Jesus became a monk or separatist among the Essenes in the Dead Sea region.This view is consistent with the commonly believed belief that John the Baptizer was a member of the Essenes and that Jesus traveled to the Dead Sea caves to study with his cousin, John the Baptist.What exactly were the Essenes?They were, in all practicality, the Pharisee’s Pharisee, as the saying goes.
- Their belief was that in order to be holy, they had to be kept apart from the unholy.
- The orthodox Pharisees, they believed, did not go far enough in their holiness, so they abandoned Jerusalem and civilization in order to study the scriptures and live a separatist lifestyle in the wilderness.
- We have the Dead Sea Scrolls because this firm was a prolific copyist, and they were responsible for their creation.
- Some believe that Jesus’ affiliation with this group was the source of his dislike for the actions of the Pharisees who remained in society after his death.
- It’s possible that he and John the Baptizer got the idea for the baptismal ceremony from them as well.
- The third and final theory is as follows: Despite the fact that this idea does not receive much backing from the establishment, it has a large number of adherents.
- These individuals assert that Jesus traveled to India or another country in the Near East to study Buddhism.
- What in the world is the evidence for this theory?
- Many of Jesus’ radical teachings and proverbs, as well as those found in the Gospel of Thomas, a non-canonical collection of sayings attributed to Jesus, can be found in Buddhist writings that predate Jesus and his ministry, which is why Buddhism is considered to be the most authentic religion on the planet.
As a matter of fact, proponents of this view note that the core concept behind Jesus’ teachings is similar to that of Buddhist thought.These comparable problems include the kingdom of God being a current reality and oneness with God, both of which are addressed in the Bible.In any event, according to the belief, after his study with the Buddhists, Jesus returned to Israel to share his radical philosophy of self-giving life, which he learned from the Buddhists.In order to better understand what Jesus was up to during the roughly 18 years between his temple visit as a kid and the beginning of his public ministry, below are three contemporary hypotheses.In which of these scenarios is the historical reality?
Most likely, we will never know since those closest to Jesus didn’t think it was significant enough to write in their journals.Perhaps we, too, must be content with what we have.
Where was Jesus Christ between the ages of 13 and 30?
Nobody is aware of it.Many countries claim that he traveled and visited their country; however, the most likely explanation that has been advanced is that he was just growing up and learning his father’s trade; as a result, he would frequently sit on the steps of religious buildings and listen to people argue about their religious beliefs.However, no one is certain of what he did, and there is no evidence of what he did.
Another (and even more fantastical!) explanation is the narrative that, on at least one occasion, the Christ child traveled to the United Kingdom (then known as ‘Albion’ or ‘Britannia’) with Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy trader.According to legend, they sailed up to what is now Glastonbury in the southwest of the United Kingdom (which at that time was surrounded by water, although the marshes are now drained).There is no actual substance to this narrative, despite the fact that certain elements are appropriate.Because both the United Kingdom and Judea were components of the Roman Empire, there was a significant lot of trade between the two countries, and the Romans need lead mined in the Mendip Hills near Glastonbury (remains of their workings can still be seen).In Glastonbury, Joseph is claimed to have planted his hawthorn walking stick on Wearyall Hill, where it took root and grew into a large tree.
- It is said that descendants of this ‘Holy Thorn’ may still be found in the Glastonbury area, and that this is the only other location where this specific species of thorn can be found in the Holy Land.
- It is supposed that after the crucifixion and resurrection, Joseph returned to Glastonbury and concealed the Holy Grail (the cup used at the last supper) in an area of Glastonbury presently known as the ‘Chalice Gardens’, which is a popular tourist destination.
- ‘Jerusalem’, a poem by William Blake, was written to commemorate the event (see below).
The story is very imaginative and circumstantial, making it highly unlikely to be factual.Nonetheless, it’s an intriguing narrative to read.Even King Arthur was enthralled by the story, which led him to search for the Holy Grail in Glastonbury.
But that’s an other story (or a different fantasy?).
There are several, even more improbable accounts of his being in India, and even ‘buried’ in India, all based on alleged evidence known as the St Issa scroll, which was discovered in India.However, the notion of Jesus in India did not emerge until the 1800s, during a period in which many ridiculous beliefs about Christianity were floated and several cults (such as Mormonism and the Watchtower organization) were established.Aside from journalist Nicolas Notovitch, sect leader Levi Dowling, and professional skeptic Matilda Ludendorff, the only people who support the Issa issue are skeptics and journalists.These individuals lacked historical training and were not Bible experts.The historical, archaeological, and Biblical intelligensia do not give any credence to any of these theories simply because their foundations for creative speculations are so implausible.
- The scroll of St Issa
The facts are straightforward.For this reason, the gospel writers did not include information about Jesus’ early life in their accounts of his life.Following his prologue, John, the apostle who was closest to Jesus of all the apostles, simply describes his last three years of work – what he believed to be the most significant.Mark follows in the same footsteps.Matthew performs the same thing, with the exception that he records his birth tales entirely for the goal of demonstrating the fulfillment of the prophecies that foretold the coming of the Messiah.
- Luke narrates the birth tales and the account of Jesus in the Temple only for the aim of establishing Jesus’ divinity, and he does not provide any other information.
- A biography of Adolf Hitler, for example, would not include any information about his childhood or adolescent years unless it was relevant to what made him such an evil tyrant during World War II, and any biography of Hitler would naturally concentrate almost entirely on his rise to power and his leadership of Nazi Germany during that time period.
- Given that the Gospels are primarily concerned with the divine nature and mission of Christ, they concentrate only on this time period – after all, this is the time period in which Christ’s disciples were most engaged.
Despite this, we may infer some facts from the gospels and other sources.As a start, there is virtually no indication that Jesus left Galilee between the years of thirteen and thirty.We know he had brothers and sisters – James, Jesus’ brother, went on to be a major Church leader and author of much (including the letter attributed to him in the New Testament) – but we haven’t been given any indication of who they were.
His mother, his disciples, and even Paul didn’t give him a hint about what he should do.Not from any of the other authors of the New Testament, either.Neither from the plethora of Early Church authors who either knew Jesus personally or whose instructors were acquainted with him.Second, we are told that the people of Nazareth were completely unaware of whence Jesus had gained such understanding into the Law.If he had been absent for the most of his life, they would have had some inkling of what was going on.
After hearing him speak, they all exclaimed, ‘Isn’t this the carpenter’s son?’ or, on another occasion, ‘Isn’t this the carpenter?’, implying that he had been well known to them all long before the beginning of his mission.An additional basic truth to remember is that Jesus was rejected in his hometown of Nazareth because he was so well-known, and many people could not comprehend how a local carpenter could suddenly become someone as significant as he was.If Jesus had been a foreigner who had returned from a period of time in India, this would not be the attitude of the people.Many other pieces of evidence are available from the four gospels if one is familiar with them, all of which cast doubt on any theory that Jesus left that area, even if it were possible – given that travel to and from Jerusalem was not only physically difficult, but it was almost impossible to travel outside the empire due to the regime in which they found themselves.
- It is unfortunate that there are those who have commented on this blog who are unfamiliar with the life of Jesus and who, as a result of their lack of knowledge about these matters, are quick to jump on any bandwagon that attempts to either pin fantastic stories to this man that have no basis in truth or to discredit the man-God whom billions of Christians have worshipped for the last two millennia.
- As fantastical (and nasty) as the notion that Hitler was actually a good person who was misunderstood, their views are a slap in the face to those who disagree with them.
- The fact is that only Jesus himself could provide an answer to this question, which has been raised by many individuals throughout the years.
- Even though there appears to be a time gap between those ages in the Bible, many people believe that Jesus spent those 18 years of his life spending time with his father and preparing for the things he knew he would have to perform in the future at that period.
- Remember, no one decides to live a great life and suffer a dreadful death on a cross on the spur of the moment; it takes around 18 years of planning and preparation.
- The contemporary Christian Bible does not make any reference of this problem. The medieval period saw the publication of various semi-Bible books, some of which were of doubtful provenance, that recounted the exploits of young people. These include the notion that ″Jesus″ was a Jew called Yeshua Ben Yosef who spent his formative years in India between the ages of 18 and 30. A second book, known as the St. Issa Scroll, is considered to confirm the notion that Jesus was buried in Kashmir following his crucifixion. He questioned the guru’s old methods of a Caste System and was expelled, then returned to accomplish all those marvels with his new discovered knowledge from the east
- According to historians such as Nicholas Notorich, the scroll was discovered in a Buddhist monastery in Hemis, and it records the journey of a Jewish boy to the East. This fact, according to some historians, may explain why there is no documentation of Jesus’ life recorded in the Gospels between the ages of 12 and 30. It is also pointed out by proponents of this thesis that several parables attributed to Jesus in the Gospels, such as ″The Story of the Sower,″ were originally assigned to Yus Asaph
- and that the parable of the Sower was originally attributed to Yus Asaph.
Answer2:Jesus was between the ages of 13 and 24 while he was in Alexandria, Egypt. In his twenties, Jesus returned to Israel, where he established himself as the Teacher of Righteousness and leader of the resistance to the Pharisees.
The Missing Years – Where Was Jesus Between 12 And 30?
The fact that there are several parallels between the teachings of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Bible has led many academics to conclude that both John the Baptist and Jesus were in fact Essenes is one of the reasons for this belief.They assert that both men’s teachings were influenced by Essene ideas and that the two men really resided within the Essene group during their formative years.They use the lives of both John the Baptist and Jesus as examples of what they mean.They claim that this explains the so-called ″missing years″ of Jesus’ life, during which there was no information about him at all between the ages of twelve and the time he began his ministry.John the Baptist, as we know him, was nurtured in the vicinity of the Essene monastery throughout his boyhood.
- There are more reasons why some academics believe that John the Baptist was an Essene, in addition to the ones listed above.
- It was the Essenes’ belief that they were a part of a ″covenant of repentance″ that distinguished them from other religious groups.
- Likewise, the preaching of repentance was carried out by John the Baptist: ″Repent,″ he exhorted, ″because the kingdom of heaven is at hand.″ Similarly to John the Baptist, nothing is known about Jesus’ life between the ages of twelve and thirty.
Because Jewish custom stipulated that a student must be thirty years old before qualifying as a rabbi, it is thought that both John the Baptist and Jesus, who was just a few months younger than his cousin, were forced to spend time in the desert until they qualified.It was John who was the first to begin preaching.Jesus arrived on the scene shortly after.
This also explains why the gospels are deafeningly silent on Jesus between the ages of twelve and thirty-one years.From the time he was a child until the day of his public appearance in Jerusalem, John the Baptist lived in the desert.In accordance with the gospels, John the Baptist lived in the wilderness from the time he was a child until the day of his public appearance in Jerusalem.From the ages of twelve to thirty, the gospels are likewise deafeningly silent concerning Jesus’ life.Both Jesus and his cousin John were around the same age when they died.
The first preacher was John, who was only a few months older than Jesus.Jesus arrived on the scene shortly after.It is recorded in the Gospels of Mark and Matthew (Matthew 3:4 and Mark 1:6) that John the Baptist lived on a diet of ‘locusts and wild honey’.He most likely followed the instructions in the Dead Sea Scrolls on how to prepare locusts, which said that the insects must be baptized with either fire or water before being eaten.
- In accordance with Genesis, this is the normal diet of a vegetarian who took seriously the commandment that God had originally created plants for man’s nourishment and had only grudgingly authorized him later to slaughter animals for meat.
- (Genesis 1:29; Genesis 9:3) In John 1:35-51 and Acts 1:21-22, Jesus’ initial disciples are identified as ″John the Baptist’s disciples.″ John the Baptist resided in the desert, near to the Jordan River, and not far from where the Essenes lived, thus he was surrounded by nature.
- According to tradition, John the Baptist commonly used the following phrase: ″I baptize you with water…
- but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire!″ It’s possible that his acquaintance with the Dead Sea Scroll instructions was the driving force behind this.
- He was a vegetarian, which is likely due to the Essenes’ vegetarian lifestyle.
- The Zadokite Document, which was one of their earliest biblical scriptures, declares: ″Let no man make himself odious with any living creature or creeping thing by consuming them.″ Some experts have come to the opinion that Jesus was the chosen one of the Essenes after conducting substantial research in this area.
- They claim that the Dead Sea Scrolls even include a description of Jesus (1).
- The Essenes abstained from offering sacrifices to animals.
- When it came to this matter, Jesus held a similar point of view.
He is supposed to have spoken the following in The Gospel of the Ebionites, also known as The Gospel of the Hebrews: ″If you do not cease sacrificing, God’s wrath toward you will never abate.″ Interestingly, his brother James expressed a similar attitude.And, like John the Baptist and Jesus before him, James took to the desert for a period of time, a practice that was typical among the Essenes at the time.It was accepted as Scripture by both Jesus and the Essences, as well as by Enoch and the Jubilees It was recognized as scripture by the Essenes that Enoch and the Jubilees existed.Because of his Essene ties, some scholars believe that Jesus likewise considered Enoch and the Jubilees as authoritative scripture.It is also reasonable to speculate on whether or not Jesus was an Essene based on his condemnation of two Jewish groups, the Sadducees and the Pharisees, in the Gospel of Matthew.
But he never said anything negative about the Essenes.Another indication that Jesus was an Essene is the fact that he opted to be baptized by someone who was widely believed to be an Essene: his cousin John the Baptist, who was also an Essene.As an additional point of reference, the Resurrection Scroll, which is a section of the Dead Scroll, declares that an ascended master will ″liberate prisoners, let the blind see, make the crippled stand straight…cure the maimed, raise up the dead, and spread good news to the impoverished.″ This is akin to the expectations of Jesus regarding his messianic mission.Consider the occurrence in which men from the household of John the Baptist approached Jesus and inquired, ″Are you the one who is to come, or should we search for someone else?″.
- As a response, Jesus said, ″Go tell John what you see and hear: the blind see, the lame walk.
- The lepers are cleansed.
- The deaf hear.
- The dead are raised.
- And the poor are told good news.″ By using a passage from the Dead Sea Scrolls as an example When Jesus spoke about the Essene texts, it was clear that he was familiar with them.
- Another proof of Jesus’ acquaintance with the Dead Sea Scrolls is the resemblance between the War Scroll of the Dead Sea Scrolls and his prophesies about the end of the world.
- ″The gods’ congress and the armies of mortals shall engage in combat,″ according to the War Scroll.
- They will create a tremendous deal of devastation…
and there will be a period of intense affliction for those who are saved by God.″ ″Then they will bring you over to be persecuted, and they will murder you,″ says Jesus in his prophesy about the end of the world.And when you see Jerusalem encircled by troops, you will know that tremendous tribulation has come upon you.″ The Essenes were looking forward to the last struggle between Good and Evil, which would bring them to their knees.The evidence suggests that they waged such a war every single day before they moved to the desert, and that they desired that all those who pursued selfish pleasures would be punished in the ultimate Armageddon.The War Scrolls warned that something like this would happen.
- Even while some academics think that both Jesus and John the Baptist were rivals for the title of Righteous Teacher, the similarities between the two and the attributes of the Righteous Teacher mentioned in the Dead Sea Scrolls are eclipsed by the disparities between the two figures (2).
- If the Dead Sea Scrolls provide any evidence that the ″community of Jewish Christians″ that gathered around James was descended from the community that had previously established at Qumran, it will not be unreasonable to assert that this is true.
- Further support for this belief comes from the writings of Hegesippus, an early Christian writer, who claims that because of James’ exceptional virtue, ″he was named the Righteous,″ and that when the scribes wanted him to address the group of people who would gather for the Passover, they addressed him as ‘Thou Righteous One, to whom we are all bound to listen″ (3).
- Eisenman has assembled evidence indicating the Dead Sea Scrolls were created by the community of James, according to Eisenman.
- He demonstrated minute similarities between the Pesher’s portrayal of the demise of its hero – The Righteous Teacher – and the murder of James as portrayed by Josephus in his James the Just in the Habakkuk Pesher, which was published 25 years ago and is still relevant today (4).
- Several scholars believe that it was because of Jesus’ association with the Essenes that his brother James came to be affiliated with the society, and that it was as a result of this that the earliest Christians were descended from this group.
- One more item in the evidence that connects James, the brother of Jesus, to the Essenes can be found at the conclusion of the apocryphal nativity gospel known as the Protevangelion – also known as the apocryphal nativity gospel – which tells us that James the brother of Jesus secluded himself in the desert, a behavior that has been all too frequently associated with the Essenes.
- Despite the fact that the Essene movement originated during pre-Hasmonean times, there was a great deal in common between James the brother of Jesus and his early Christian followers, the majority of whom were from the community.
- The disciples of James were quick to accept Jesus’ thesis of the end of the world, as well as the prospect of a completely new Utopian society emerging in its place.
- The apostle James was a prominent figure throughout the early phases of Christianity, and his prominence was not overshadowed by that of Jesus Christ.
- This was the point of view held by Hegesippus and other early authors.
Given the evidence, it is plausible to assume that both Jesus and James were Essenes, or at the very least were inspired by the Essene movement.The Essenes, like Jesus and James, were adamant in their opposition to the Sadducees.There is also a great deal of overlap between the teachings of Jesus and James and the teachings of the Essenes.A number of factors indicate that James was the Righteous Teacher of the group, and that the early Christians were descended from this sect as well.They were without a doubt in the forefront of the early Christian movement and the revolt that followed the murder of James, to the point that the Romans executed virtually all of them in 69 CE, which was a turning point in the history of the world.
It is not unreasonable to conclude that Jesus and James were the leaders of the Qumran sect based on what we have learned so far.As a result, it is quite likely that they were participating in the burial of Jesus as well as James’ brother.References: (1) Baigent, Michael.
- (2) Baigent, Michael (2000.).
- And then there are the Essenes and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
- (3) Gaster, Theodor H., retrieved in 2011, from(3) (1976).
- The Scriptures of the Dead Sea.
- ″Doubleday,″ New York, ″Doubleday,″ ″Doubleday,″ ″Doubleday,″ ″Doubleday,″ ″Doubleday,″ ″Doubleday,″ ″Doubleday″ (4) Robert Eisenman’s book, ″The American Way of Life,″ is a classic (n.d.).
- ″New Testament Code″ was retrieved in 2011 from the Internet.
- Credits for the image: (Fig.
- 1) The Baptist, John the Baptist (Fig.
- 2) The Scrolls of the War
What was God Jesus doing between the ages of 9 and 33?
What was Goddoing between the ages of nine and thirty-three years?
Bible Answer:
The life of Jesus Christ is eerily similar to many of our own. There are official documents of our births, as well as many photographs of us taken around the time of our births, but the number of photographs of us decreases as we get older.
Jesus’ Birth
The same may be said about Jesus.In the Bible, we learn that Jesus’ father was Joseph and his mother was Mary.This information comes from the gospels of Matthew and Luke (Matt.1:18-25).His mother was a virgin, which made his birth all the more rare.
- ″Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit,″ an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ″Do not be frightened to take Mary as your wife, because that which has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.″ As a result, she will get pregnant and give birth to a son, whom you will name Jesus, because it is He who will redeem His people from their sins.″ (NASB) Matthew 1:18-21 We are told that on the day of His birth, angels proclaimed His birth to a group of shepherds, and that approximately two years later, certain magi from the east came to honor Him by bestowing presents on Him.
- There is much to be learned from the Christmas Story – Biblical Accounts.
Circumcision and Dedication
Because He was a Jew, He was circumcised according to the Law of Moses when he was about eight days old (Luke 2:21), when he was about eight days old.After a few months, His parents traveled to Jerusalem to have Jesus consecrated at the Temple there (Luke 2:22-35).″For mine eyes have seen Thy salvation, which Thou hast prepared in the midst of all peoples; A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, AND THE GLORY OF THY PEOPLE ISRAEL,″ remarked a righteous man called Simeon as he held the newborn Jesus in his arms.Luke 2:30-32 (New American Standard Bible) In addition, a prophetess named Anna expressed gratitude to God for Him (Luke 2:36-38).Jesus was a great child as a baby!
- And the Child continued to grow and mature, becoming stronger and wiser as time went on, and the blessings of God were upon Him.
- Luke 2:40 (New American Standard Bible)
Dedication-to-Twelve Years
The next time we see Jesus Christ is when He is twelve years old, which is when He is born.Every year for the Passover, Jesus’ parents would take him to Jerusalem with them.This was more than simply a vacation for me.It was similar to a festival.This year, however, was unusual because Jesus remained in the temple after the Passover had ended, asking questions of and listening to the instructors who were present.
- Every year during the Passover holiday, his parents used to go to Jerusalem to be with him.
- And when He reached the age of twelve, they traveled up to the Feast in accordance with tradition…
- Then, after three days, they discovered Him at the temple, sitting among the professors, both listening to them and asking them questions about their teachings.
And everyone who heard Him was taken aback by His ability to comprehend and respond.Luke 2:41-42, 46-47 (New American Standard Bible) Jesus was an out-of-the-ordinary youngster.And Jesus continued to grow in wisdom and height, as well as in favor with both God and humanity.
Luke 2:52 (New American Standard Bible) We know that Jesus had a number of brothers and sisters, according to tradition.Isn’t this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, Joses, Judas, and Simon, and the son of Joses and Simon?″Do His sisters not happen to be here with us?″ They were offended by Him, as a result.Mark 6:3 (New American Standard Bible) Whether His sisters and brothers disliked, mocked, or adored Him is unknown to us at this time.
Twelve-to-Thirty Three Years
We don’t know anything about Jesus’ adolescence or twenties, either.Because He worked as a carpenter, we think that he did not have a formal education (Mark 6:3).When Jesus was around thirty years old, He began preaching in the local community.This was the minimum age at which a man might become a Jewish priest in the Jewish faith.And during the time of His public ministry, Jesus was around thirty years old..
- (NASB) Luke 3:23 (NIV) Because He cared about us, Jesus preached, taught, healed, and performed miracles for us.
- He was concerned about the physical well-being of others.
- That, however, was not the reason He came to this planet.
He came to die for us in order that we can be forgiven of our sins.
Conclusion:
As a result, the Bible does not provide us with much information about Jesus’ early life, because the most essential truth about Jesus is that He was sent to die.In order for you and I to be forgiven of our sins, he died on the cross.He died on the cross for all of us.The sins of everyone who believes that Jesus is God and asks Him to forgive him or her will be removed from their record.What was Jesus up to between the ages of nine and thirty-three?
- He was preparing to teach us the truth and then die in our place for our sins.
- As a result of their faith in Jesus, millions upon millions of men and women have come to know him.
- They have discovered that their lives have been altered and that their misdeeds have been forgiven.
They are on their way to paradise.Are you ready?Visit the page Searching for God to discover out.
Suggested Links:
The Biblical Accounts of the Christmas Story
Jesus’ Lost Years May Finally Have Been Found
Long before tech support was outsourced to India, Christianity’s founder may have visited the country for the first time.As Easter approaches, readers of the Huffington Post should be aware of the growing body of evidence that Jesus spent part of his life in India – which parts, for how long, and whether or not this occurred are all hotly debated by many scholars and religious leaders.However, after four years of work on the film Jesus in India (Sundance Channel / US – Showtime / Australia), which took me to three continents and to experts from all major religions, my position is that, while a final verdict on Jesus in India as a concept, theory, and new direction in religious thought has not yet been reached, where there is smoke, there is often fire – and I’ve been wading through the smoke for years now.Alternatively, as the New York Times put it about my film, I’ve been ″sifting through tales, myths, and historical data in an attempt to uncover the riddles of Jesus of Nazareth’s life from the ages of 12 to 30,″ as well as his probable trips in India, according to the newspaper.Each and every person has the right to skepticism, but if you refuse to embrace the task of taking this into consideration, you will be denying yourself of the opportunity to learn about an outstanding riddle.
- That this remarkable puzzle, which involves eighteen lost years or ″Hidden Years″ in the life of Jesus, may very well turn out to be the key to unlocking numerous mysteries about Christianity – much like the long-ignored but somehow obvious clue in a mystery that remains unsolved – is an open question for the time being.
- Alternatively, it is possible that irrefutable dating of documents, DNA testing, and other scientific tests and instruments may finally demonstrate that it is a dead end.
- We will all be better for the truly incredible journey to inquire and discover what can be surmised about Jesus’ Lost Years by taking the questions right to an ancient Hindu temple in Puri, India, where some believe Jesus spent several years (the ″some″ include the current spiritual leader of the Hindu religion, the Shankaracharya), and a Buddhist monastery high in the Himalayas in Ladakh, India, where an ancient scroll has long been kept.
You weren’t aware that Jesus was absent, were you?The New Testament has a Black Hole that spans Jesus’ life from the ages of 12 to 30.In the realm of film, this type of omission is referred to as a ″jump cut.″ When it comes to Fundamentalism, it is referred to as a portion of Jesus’ life that God does not believe you should be aware of, else God would have made certain that it was included in the Bible.
When Jesus is 12 years old, he is at the Temple in Jerusalem, according to one page of the Gospel of Luke, and then.Nothing.There is nothing for 18 years until Jesus appears at the Jordan River to be baptized by John the Baptist, after which there is nothing.One opponent accuses me of Biblical revisionism since I have looked into the discrepancy.But I’m not going to revise.
What can you do to revise something that isn’t there?Currently, I’m looking at whether historical documents and long-standing traditions of various types can assist in rectifying the oversight.During the benediction of President Barack Obama’s inauguration, Reverend Rick Warren alluded to Jesus by the name Issa at one point in the service.(If you don’t believe me, look it up and see for yourself.) Have you ever heard Jesus referred to as Saint Issa?
- Even Buddhist monks in the Himalayas are supposed to be hiding a very ancient text titled ″The Life of Saint Issa, the Best of the Sons of Men″ in one of their monasteries, which is said to be hidden in a monastery high in the Himalayas.
- Despite widespread belief in the existence of that manuscript, which fills in the missing years of Christ’s life and describes his travels as a young man in India – and even has Jesus exhorting the Hindus to stop worshiping idols and abandon the caste system – the story of its existence has been thoroughly debunked in much of the Christian world for nearly a century.
- It’s long past time for the debunking to come to an end.
- Taking the trail of individuals who have seen and translated the text numerous times, we have built a very strong case that the manuscript exists, and that it fits in perfectly with a lengthy list of other types of evidence that places Jesus in India during that period of his life.
- If this is accurate, it appears that Jesus’ voyage to the East was neatly left out of the New Testament.
- You don’t believe that Jesus could have traveled to India during his early years as a teenager?
- Surely, he’d have been married off at the age of thirteen, when all Jewish boys are considered to have reached adulthood, if he’d stayed in Judea.
- The silk route from China to India and beyond had been extensively traversed.
- There were caravans of merchants passing by.
Isn’t it true that the presence of three Wise Men (the Magi) from the East at the time of Jesus’ birth implies that an Orient-pulling force was involved in Jesus’ life from the beginning, as the Indian guru Paramahansa Yogananda claimed?Then why wouldn’t the Lord pay another visit to you?Particularly noteworthy is the fact that India is home to some of the world’s oldest temples, which belong to some of the world’s oldest religions.And why did Jesus send Saint Thomas to India to preach the Gospel there after the crucifixion, if he had no prior knowledge of the country’s significance at the time of his death?Doubting Thomas spent twenty years preaching in India before passing away there.
It’s a reality that has a lot of backing.Take a look at Jesus in India and you’ll begin to understand what may have happened during those years of Jesus’ life that have been excluded (either intentionally or accidentally?) from the tale you’ve been taught over and over since infancy.The documentary Jesus in India is described as ″fascinating and profound, a very spiritual trip″ by noted critic Pete Hammond, while the website of Paramahansa Yogananda hails the video as ″groundbreaking.″ However, reviewer Jeff Wilser predicted that it ″would cause Bill O’Reilly of FOX news to choke on his eggnog″ before the holiday season.And Nancy Dewolf Smith writes in the Wall Street Journal that the film is a ″cavalcade of crackpots″ and ″pseudo-history,″ completely ignoring the fact that the film features luminaries such as the Dalai Lama, Princeton Professor Elaine Pagels, two Georgetown University professors, an apostolic nuncio of Pope John Paul II, and, of course, the historic interview with the ″Pope″ of Hinduism (the Shankaracharya), As a Vatican spokesperson, the late Apostolic Nuncio Corrado Balducci is quoted in my film as denying such a claim.If it turns out to be a ″Cavalcade of Crackpots,″ it will fit in well with my previous films, which typically seem to be about ″crackpots,″ who are amazing thinkers, artists, geniuses, and noble individuals who have lived throughout history and who were all regarded misfits in their own time.
- Vaslav Nijinsky (She Dances Alone), Vincent van Gogh (Starry Night), Timothy Leary (Timothy Leary’s Dead), the shaman known as Rahelio of Sedona, Arizona who was recently featured in a Sunset magazine feature (The Artist & The Shaman), and the recently-deceased Forrest J.
- Ackerman, who was one of the ″deluded″ souls who believed that mankind would reach the moon in his lifetime way back in (The Sci-Fi Boys).
- It was decades before Major Jesse Marcel, who investigated the 1947 UFO event that came to be known as the Roswell Incident, became a laughingstock.
- He was the main character in my film Roswell, which starred Martin Sheen, Kyle MacLachlan, and Dwight Yoakam and was produced for Showtime and nominated to win a Golden Globe Award as Best Motion Picture for Television.
- Jesse Marcel’s charge was that he claimed that the government is purposely withholding information concerning extraterrestrials and unidentified flying objects (UFOs).
- What are your thoughts on that particular one?
- That, however, is a topic for another blog post.
- However, if you’re interested in learning more about the Jesus dispute in India, visit and you’ll discover what’s causing both misery and delight.
You may come to see why writer Len Kasten said in the March / April 2009 edition of Atlantis Rising that ″this video, some believe, has the potential to transform Christian thought.″
Did Jesus spend his missing years studying Buddhism in India? Marcel Theroux visits Ladakh to find out
- My voyage to Ladakh began on a lazy summer afternoon in the dusty stacks of the London Library, where I found myself surrounded by books. In the theology department, I came across a book from the nineteenth century with an intriguing title: The Unknown Life of Jesus Christ. I decided to read it and ended up buying it. This particular book was a weathered brown quarto, written in French by a man with a Russian surname, Nicolas Notovitch, and published in the early twentieth century. The story presented in Notovitch’s book was incredible. According to him, he had uncovered an old manuscript in the holy Pali language that disclosed previously unknown details of Jesus’ life, which he claimed to have discovered. Accord to this literature, which Notovitch had translated into French, Jesus had spent his ″missing years″ – the years between his infancy and the beginning of his ministry – studying Buddhism in India, according to the Gospel of Matthew. He had returned to the Middle East and the life that we are familiar with from the New Testament when he was around 30 years old. It is undeniably an incredible assertion. Even though I was startled to discover how little I knew about this book or its enigmatic author, Notovitch himself proved to be a fascinating character to learn more about. Apparently, according to his Wikipedia entry, he was the son of a Russian nobility. (I am positive that this is inaccurate, and the page has subsequently been changed.) Upon publication in 1894, Notovitch’s book about Jesus momentarily became a best-seller in Europe before being challenged by orthodox theologians, which resulted in Notovitch’s eventual disappearance from public awareness. He’d spent a jail sentence in Siberia in 1901 for writings he’d written critical of the Russian government, which was the last thing I learned about him before he died. There were certain works, however, such Holger Kersten’s rather bizarre Jesus Lived in India, that showed there could have been substance to his account after all. Notovitch said that he was shown the mystery document while recuperating from a broken leg at a monastery named Hemis in the area of Ladakh, according to Notovitch. Despite the fact that this region has strong religious and cultural ties to Tibet, it is actually a part of India. The high altitude and steep mountain routes that characterize Ladakh have kept it isolated since the beginning of the twentieth century. It was out of reach for the majority of people — a faraway country that few people had ever imagined visiting. To our benefit or disbenefit, the internet and the rise of plane travel have provided us all with seven-league shoes. I was able to plan a direct flight from Delhi to Leh, as well as a hotel in the town center, using the internet. The Hemis monastery, where Notovitch was recuperating from a broken leg, is perched on a steep slope in a crevice in the Zanskar range of the Himalayas, overlooking a spectacular valley. After a two-hour journey from New Delhi to Leh, I arrived in the early hours of a January morning. During Notovitch’s time, the long horse-drawn trek into the Himalayas would provide tourists with ample opportunity to become acclimated to the thin air. Nowadays, the precipitous descent from practically sea level is a source of distress. My hotel featured an oxygen tank in the foyer for guests who were having difficulty dealing with the altitude. As I walked away from the airport carousel with my luggage, I got the distinct impression that I had aged 20 years in the course of the journey. I’d been reading a guide to Ladakh written by the academic Janet Rizvi in preparation for the trip. In her book, she included a brief overview of each monastery in the surrounding region. Notovitch was not even mentioned in her chapters on Hemis, despite the fact that she was the author of the book. I wrote to Dr Rizvi to inquire about him and she responded positively. She answered briefly, stating that she was aware of the story of Notovitch and his lost gospel, but that she thought it was implausible and had never bothered to look into it further. There had been little snowfall when I arrived despite the fact that it was winter. There was a dusty khaki hue to the terrain, with a dusting of white on the higher elevations. The sky was a sapphire blue since there were no clouds in it. I’d prepared as if I’d be traveling to Siberia in the winter, but the weather was so pleasant that I didn’t need my thick gear. The peaks of the Zanskar range loomed over the valley’s brown walls, creating a dramatic backdrop. It was the off-season, and my driver, Geltsen, appeared delighted to have found a foreign visitor. After passing through communities of Tibetan exiles who had escaped Chinese domination of their country, we continued our journey down the Indus River. It was a thin ribbon of blue in the bottom of a valley filled with willow, poplar, and apricot trees, and we traveled through the Indus Valley. As Hemis is nestled among the mountains, the snow had managed to cling to the ground and close the road completely. As we drove up to the monastery, Geltsen and I had to dig the car’s tyres out of the mud on more than one occasion. Because of the altitude, I was gasping and suffering from a splitting headache. The view, though, was wide and majestic, with jagged snowy peaks around a broad river valley, and I had a peculiar sensation of thrill as well. Despite the fact that the outside of Hemis monastery is austere and blocky, reminiscent of a 1960s housing building, its interior courtyards are made of brightly painted wood, which satisfied my need for exoticism. Even in the twenty-first century, I felt like I was a long way away from home. Nawang Otsab, the deputy lama, was a large, burly guy in his 40s who wore an orange knitted beanie cap and a gleaming windcheater to keep the chill off. He escorted us into an upper room with a low-roofed ceiling and a wood-burning fire for warmth. As we sat cross-legged around a modest table, eating dried apricots and cashew nuts, Geltsen served as my translator for the evening. A Russian visitor had visited the monastery and claimed to have discovered a text concerning Jesus studying in India, which I described to the monks as the reason for my visit. Did he have any information about it? Nawang Otsab nodded, acknowledging that he was familiar with the story. In his mind – and in the minds of others in Ladakh who were aware of the allegations – the tale was that Jesus had studied in the Hemis monastery. Notovitch’s gospel, on the other hand, does not tell that narrative. Is this desolate part of India the best spot on the planet to gaze at the night sky?
- This guide will provide you with all you need to know about visiting the Himalayas
The probability that such a text existed in the monastery library was something I wanted to know, so I inquired.Nawang Otsab shook his shoulders and stated he had no idea.It appeared to be the most improbable of all possible answers.I thought he was being too honest when he said the book did not exist, but he was also too conscious of the significance of the narrative to the monastery’s fortunes to entirely reject it.When I returned to my empty hotel room, I felt a sensation of depression.
- I reflected about my conversation with Dr Rizvi and realized that she had made the correct decision.
- The clincher, as far as I was concerned, was Nawang Otsab’s statement that there were no Pali manuscripts in the library; instead, everything was written in Tibetan.
- As a result, it appeared to rule out the last option that Notovitch was speaking the truth about his past.
Dinner at my hotel that night had only me and one other guest, who happened to be a US military contractor who was working at the nearby air force installation.I was relieved to have someone to talk to, and because my father is an American, I thought we had something in common.His demeanor was a little reserved.
I received the distinct impression that he found something strange in the mismatch between my English accent and my claim to be a citizen of the United States.He had made it clear that he did not want to discuss about his duties at the base.When you look at Ladakh on a map, I believe his icy disposition becomes more understandable.A critical fault line running across the region connects China with India, the contentious border with Pakistan, and former Soviet countries in Central Asia.It is located at the crossroads of Asian civilization.
When I told them I was a freelance journalist who had followed a hunch to one of the area’s monasteries, they said it sounded like what spies refer to as a ″legend″: a credible cover narrative that gives the property owner permission to dig and ask questions.His suspicions prompted me to reconsider Notovitch’s character.Was a Russian journalist doing mooching around in the frontier territories of British India at a time when both Russia and Britain were attempting to strengthen their respective levels of influence at the expense of the other, after all?A single possibility seemed to be ruled out by my travel to Ladakh: that Notovitch had in fact uncovered a long-lost gospel.
- However, it paved the way for another.
- Notovitch was a Jewish youngster from an obscure part of the Russian Empire, as I would learn over the next several months.
- He was far from being a Russian nobleman, as I had assumed.
- And I believe his claim to have uncovered a forgotten gospel was a quirky but fruitless attempt to stem the tide of anti-Semitism gaining steam across Europe at the close of the 19th century.
- The Secret Books by Marcel Theroux is based on the biography of Nicolas Notovitch and is published by Faber (£12.99).
- To order your copy for £10.99 plus p&p call 0844 871 1514 or visit books.telegraph.co.uk
Finding in the Temple – Wikipedia
The Finding in the Temple, also known as Christ among the Doctors or the Disputation (the common titles in art), was an occurrence in Jesus’ early life that is portrayed in chapter 2 of the Gospel of Luke. It was a pivotal moment in Jesus’ life that was reproduced in art. It is the only occurrence from Jesus’ later boyhood that has been recorded in the gospels.
Gospel account
Luke 2:41–52 provides a detailed account of the incident.As a child of twelve years old, Jesus travels to Jerusalem with his mother and father, as well as a large number of their relatives and friends, on a trip ″according to the custom″ – that is, for Passover.Although Jesus ″lingered″ / remained in the Temple on their return day, Mary and Joseph were under the impression that he was with them when he wasn’t in fact with them.As Mary and Joseph went home, they realized that Jesus had gone missing after a day of travel, so they returned to Jerusalem, where they discovered Jesus three days later.He was discovered in the Temple, where he was having a debate with the elders.
- They were astounded by his ability to study, especially considering his early age.
- When Jesus was scolded by Mary, he responded as follows: ″What brought you to me, and how can I help you?
- Did you not realize that I was required to be at my Father’s residence?″ Later literature, such as the apocryphal 2nd-century Infancy Gospel of Thomas (19:1–12), added a few details to the original account to make it more complete.
The loosing of Jesus is the third of Mary’s Seven Sorrows, and the finding of Jesus in the Temple is the fifth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary, which takes place on the Feast of the Annunciation.
In art
Throughout art history, this incident has been shown several times, and it was a typical component of cycles depicting the lives of both the Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ.Early Christian images typically place Jesus in the middle, seated on a high dais surrounded by the elders, who are commonly shown on stepped benches.If Jesus is generally shown pointing to his upraised thumb (as shown in the figure), it is possible that he is using a customary rhetorical gesture to symbolize his act of expounding the text.These representations are derived from ancient works depicting professors of philosophy or rhetoric with their pupils, and they are similar to medieval representations of modern university lectures in a variety of disciplines.This composition may be seen in the works of Ingres (Montauban, Musée Ingres) and other artists far into the nineteenth century.
- In paintings from the Early Medieval era onward, the moment shown is frequently equated to the discovery itself, with the presence of Mary at first, and then Joseph as well, who is usually located to the left of the tableau.
- Typically, Jesus and the physicians are preoccupied with their conversations and are not aware of their presence.
- Since the 12th century