Module 7 - Jesus the Boy

Good Shepherd Church Seminary

Module 7 --- Jesus the Boy (1)

Learning about Life

 Objectives;  by the end of this Module you should;

1.    Have an understanding of Jesus’ boyhood years
2.    Be able to read the Gospels to gain a deeper insight into Jesus’ boyhood as described    by the Gospels
3.    Have an appreciation of how early childhood experiences help to shape us as people, and how they helped to shape Jesus’ emotional life

Contents
7.1  Jesus in Nazareth
7.2. The Home Life of Jesus
7.3  Jesus' boyhood experiences
7.4  Conclusion

7.1  JESUS IN NAZARETH
As a young boy, Jesus spent much of his time learning about life. He learned carpentry from his father, and began developing a strong physique from wielding carpentry tools. Joseph and Mary took time to teach Jesus how to pray and  commune with God the Father. Jesus began to learn the Torah, the Hebrew Scriptures or sacred writings. He took His place with His father in synagogue, and watched as His mother and sisters were displaced in synagogue and society. It was clear from Jesus’ early years that, as a male, He was seen as a more privileged human due to His inherited male characteristics. This seemed unfair to Him, and He watched and bided His time, determined not to let societal mores influence His relationships with His mother, sisters and other women in later years.

7.2  THE HOME LIFE OF JESUS;
Jesus was raised in his boyhood years in Nazareth in Galilee, Israel (Matthew 2; 23 - 24). Due to these early years, Jesus was often called a 'Nazarene', as had been prophesied (Matthew 2; 23). Jesus' home was laid around a courtyard, around which a number of rooms were clustered. Nazarene homes had either one or two floors. Mary cooked at the clay oven, and Jesus often used to watch her at work. From these early experiences, Jesus gleaned knowledge of life and applied them to his famous parables in later years. He hung over the kitchen table as Mary added yeast to flour and water, and began to knead bread for her family. She often used to allow Him to help her, and Jesus gloried in the feel of the dough as it began to shape and change underneath the movement of his fingers.

Jesus marvelled at how the yeast caused the dough to double in size, and He used to come back and peek under the cloth at the dough rising in the bowl. Mary used to catch Him at it, and scold Him for not leaving the dough to settle and rise undisturbed in its own time. Then she would take Him on her lap, and explain to Him how the yeast - small as it was - was essential in order for the flour to take its true form and become life giving bread. Jesus used this knowledge to make the earthly conduit for heavenly grace and wisdom in the Eucharist. Yeast, flour, water and time together with the miracle of change by laws of Nature ordained by God causes great change in the dough leading to the creation of bread after baking. Jesus used bread in a creative way to help each of us commune with Him at the Eucharist He instituted at the Last Supper (Matthew 26; 26).

Mary, with the mother's intuitive practical theology, took time to explain the little everyday mysteries of life on earth. This helped Jesus' young mind to start its journey of growth into understanding and maturity. Her early lessons matured as he pondered and thought, and he drew on her early explanations in His lesson on the Kingdom of Heaven. 'The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman took and mixed into a large amount of flour until it worked all through the dough.' (Matthew 13; 33). He drew a parallel between the teachings of the religious teachers of his time with yeast (Matthew 16;12).

Mary would light the lamp on the lampstand which was standard household furniture in Nazareth at the time. Around the kitchen would stand the meal tub or basket, and in the sleeping areas the mats and mattresses lay ready for sleep. The young Jesus who adored his fun-loving mother would follow her around, and spend ages looking into the glow of the flame from the wick of the lamp. He would try to put the meal tub over the lamp to see what would happen, and Mary would chase him around the table getting it away from him. The risk of fire was an ever present one in Nazareth, and Mary explained to him that putting the tub over the flame would not only hide the light needed for the safety of the household in the dark, but also risk knocking the lamp to the ground and causing fire. In later years Jesus would preach about the lamp, 'Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don't you put it on its stand? For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.' (Mark 4;21 - 22).

Mary would measure flour, yeast, milk, herbs, salt, butter and water into her recipes with a measure. Jesus would help her, and in later years preached about the importance of measurement - his first understanding of basic mathematics which influences all of daily life; 'With the measure you use, it will be measured to you - and even more'. (Mark 4; 24.) Jesus used the parallel to explain that we need to have generosity of spirit - when we give, and give wholeheartedly, in service and assistance to others - the Heavenly Father God will also give to us, and even more than we have given.

Jesus drew a comparison with the humble measure and the great issue of human attitudes of unforgiveness, judgementalness and selfishness. He addressed these by encouraging us to forgive (and thus free ourselves from ongoing bitterness to softening of inner pain by greeting each new day in hope again without the shackles of ongoing resentment by the very real wrongs done to us by others). He also encouraged us not to be judgemental towards others, because often the very thing we dislike and criticise in another is an issue we personally also struggle with, either in ourselves or in those near to us. Jesus also realised that each of us struggle with a very real dominance of self-interest - our own needs to be put always ahead of others' needs, sometimes with tragic consequences.

Jesus firmly believed that it is better to tackle the root of the problem, the cause, rather than the symptoms. And the root of many problems in the human psyche cause untold sufferings to ourselves and others. The root of these problems lie in our attitudes flowing from our personal value systems at any given time. Our value systems change on an ongoing basis as we evaluate our lives, experiences and change our attitudes and beliefs as we mature and learn from past mistakes. So, if we change our fundamental attitudes, many of the issues in our lives which have been going wrong will swing back into synchronisation with the harmony of the universe, and peace and happiness in ourselves and with others in our lives will result. So Jesus, drawing on his boyhood experience with measures, preached, 'Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured over into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.' (Luke 6; 37 - 38).

Mary possibly used to take Jesus out into the herb and flower garden with her. She probably let him help her remove the non-useful plants from the garden in order to allow herbs to flourish which would be helpful in family healing remedies and good for flavouring her cooking, and for beautiful flowers to grow. It is possible Jesus had the common childhood experience of coming into the house waving some of her precious herbs one day, proudly thinking he had weeded her garden and been helpful. However Jesus came to the knowledge, He had a firm foundation of the importance of healthful plants and weeds which choked them. He used these experiences in later preaching, telling of an enemy who had sown weeds among the wheat, thus compromising the crop (Matthew 13; 24 - 29). The meaning was that satan, the evil opponent who constantly wishes to usurp God's sovereignty, has interfered with the good sowing of holiness and wholeness in humanity. Jesus also spoke of thorns interfering with the sown crop in the Parable of the Sower (Matthew 13; 7).

Jesus watched the unfolding of the four seasons, and loved them. He would run around Nazareth with village friends, watching all that was going on. He loved the small dramas and fun of everyday life, and drew many lessons from them. The farmers in the area sowed their seed, and he would watch them scattering the seed with firm arm movements from the leather bags hung around their torso. Jesus would then see the birds come screaming down, some of the seeds would be eaten and the sweating farmer would make plans to keep the bird-theft to a minimum.

As spring matured into slumbering summer, Jesus would hunker down in the fields and touch the burgeoning plants with a wondering finger. The wonder of new green life which would bring life to humanity with the wonder of the food they were growing from God's natural bounty never ceased to amaze Him. The pragmatic village boy within Him noted how not all of the little seedlings flourished to full maturity. And, in later years, Jesus would draw on his boyhood knowledge by preaching the Parable of the Sower, 'A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a good crop - a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.' (Matthew 13; 1 - 8). Jesus drew a parallel between the seed and the Word of God in our lives. The seed of the Word of God is sown in our lives - yet the Word of God may be snatched away, or never take root. God's Word may be choked by the very real daily worries we have with finances, rent, mortgages, raising a family, illness and the daily problems life faces us with. Our challenge is to find a way to allow God's Word to take root in our souls, and to grow and change us for the better. As priests, we do this by dedicating our lives to the growth of the Kingdom of God in our lives and in those around us by our lives of dedication to God and preaching.

There are many further instances in the Gospels of how Jesus learned from his boyhood experiences in Nazareth which will be discussed in further modules.


7.3  JESUS' BOYHOOD EXPERIENCES;

Jesus was a firm favourite of the women of his town, as he was a polite and helpful little boy. He was always getting into scrapes, and was thoroughly interested in the everyday lives of His family and His neighbours. He helped a young bride search for her dowry coin which had fallen and was lost in her house. Mary and Jesus came from their neighbouring house, and Mary helped the distraught woman light a lamp and sweep the house. Jesus scurried around looking in nooks and crannies, and eventually their careful search found the coin. Jesus drew on this experience in later years in his Parable of the Lost Coin, preaching, 'And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbours together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.' (Luke 15; 8 - 10).

At a young age, Jesus was unappreciative when He saw women being harassed. The first time Jesus witnessed a woman being stoned was probably as a small child in Nazareth, shortly after the family's return from Egypt. Possibly the event occurred as He was walking as a small child with Joseph and Mary. They would have tried to cover His eyes and hurry Him away from the scene, as the woman’s death initiated Jesus into the reality of societal execution. Joseph and Mary would have tried to protect Jesus from the full harshness of some aspects of society at this time. This brutal execution appalled the sensitive Jesus. He witnessed  women being stoned to death for adultery, while their male companions were not. Jesus, with His deep sense of justice and understanding, quietly noted this as one rule for some, and another rule for others.

As Jesus' boyhood progressed and He came to knowledge of the unusual circumstances surrounding His birth, He realised that His loving and gentle mother, with Him still unborn within her, could have been stoned to death but for the honour and discretion of Joseph. This violent form of bloody execution was a horror to Jesus. It was custom for each person to take a rock and throw it at the victim. Jesus as a young boy coming to manhood dropped the rock given to Him. This small boy at that time of His life was still too small and weak to defend the women He saw thus condemned to death for the act of love. However, the young Jesus came to a powerful determination to change this ruling, and this boyhood determination was made clear in His ministry years when He saved a woman from this same execution (John 8; 1 - 11).

 As Jesus grew, he determined to do what He could to found a movement with an outlook that would have respect for infants, children, women and men in equal measure. Emotional and physical violence would be unacceptable. Infants, girls and boys, men and women would all be worthy of equal respect. Women were the female image and likeness of God, as men were the male image and likeness of Him. God created men in His own Likeness; that is, like Him. God created women in His own likeness; that is, like Him. The Book of Genesis tells us this, 'Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness... So God created man in His own Image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.' (Genesis 1; 26 - 27).

This is truly incredible; we are made as God is. We have senses, intuition, intellect, sensory abilities and reasoning abilities. We also possess the ability to draw conclusions, and the ability to learn. We have differing moods, the ability to socialise and to feel. Each of us has the ability to move, to affect others' lives for better or worse, and the ability to love. We are able to create, and also to create new life. We are able to work and to change our surroundings and the lives of those around us. We are, each of us, a wondrous small universe within the great Universe made by God. Jesus Himself  as a boy became aware of the wondrous destiny of each human being; that of being a full daughter or son of God, being as God Himself - (in His image and likeness).

This would certainly account for the undying enmity satan and his followers (the evil one and his demonic fallen angels) have towards us. We are destined to live in heaven as full heirs to the royal house of God, and occupy the wonders which satan and his followers had attempted to usurp in their battle for supremacy in heaven before their eviction from heaven. Jesus told His followers that He had been witness to the great battle between God's supremacy and satan (also known as lucifer) and his followers. Satan's eviction had caused cosmic turmoil, described by Jesus; 'The seventy-two returned with joy and said, 'Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your Name.' He replied, 'I saw satan fall like lightning from heaven.'' (Luke 10; 17).


7.4 CONCLUSION;
Jesus' boyhood spanned years of learning and inner growth from His life stage as a young boy, through His teenage years until early adulthood. As in our own lives, Jesus' body, mind and spirit went through growth and maturation towards adulthood. We will continue to follow His wondrous growth in His human incarnation as Son of God in Module 9, Jesus the Boy (2). This growth of Jesus into the icon of humble Leader of all nations and hierarchies of archangels and angels is a wonder; and so, too, is the personal growth of each one of us as a son or daughter of God. We - each one of us - are so precious, unique and irreplaceable that Jesus came to earth as God's earthly incarnation in order to heal the breach between God and humanity which had come about in our early relationship years as described in Genesis Chapter 3. This He did so that we all may one day live together in love and harmony in the heavenly sphere according to the Divine Plan God set long ago, and which Jesus has so lovingly fostered ever since. Let each of us as priests help God in our own unique way to bring about this heavenly kingdom of justice, love and peace. May God's Divine Grace, Blessing and Wisdom bless each and every one of you who reads these words.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

Copyright 2011 by Rev. Catherine Whittle D.D. All rights reserved.


*Photograph taken by Rev. Catherine. Please feel free to use copyright free for any educational or spiritual purpose.