Childhood of Jesus

Mr. M

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Jesus was born as a baby, and he grew up as every normal child.
1-10,
11-20,
21-30.

Why no detailed account of his childhood, teenager, young man story?
The Gospel is not the biography of a man. It is the Son of God come to do His Father's Will,
and fulfill all the prophecies concerning Him. This began with His baptism by John the Baptist.


Mark 1:
1
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God;
2 As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall
prepare thy way before thee.
3 The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths
straight.

Two of the Gospels include birth narratives, because they fulfill prophecy.
Luke 24:44 Then He said to them, These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still
with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses
and Prophets and Psalms concerning Me.
 
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Rene Loup

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There is an account in the Gospel of Luke describing the Lord Jesus Christ as a child prodigy.

The Boy Jesus at the Temple
41 Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. 42 When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. 43 After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. 44 Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?" 50 But they did not understand what he was saying to them.

51 Then he went down to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. But his mother treasured all these things in her heart. 52 And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.
~Luke 2:41-52 (NIV)

Bible Gateway passage: Luke 2 - King James Version
Bible Gateway passage: Luke 2 - New King James Version
Bible Gateway passage: Luke 2 - New International Version
Bible Gateway passage: Luke 2 - International Children’s Bible
 
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ewq1938

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Jesus was born as a baby, and he grew up as every normal child.
1-10,
11-20,
21-30.

Why no detailed account of his childhood, teenager, young man story?

There is some but it is not as important as his life during his ministry and death.

Luk 2:41 Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover.
Luk 2:42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast.
Luk 2:43 And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it.
Luk 2:44 But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance.
Luk 2:45 And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him.
Luk 2:46 And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors, both hearing them, and asking them questions.
Luk 2:47 And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers.
Luk 2:48 And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.
Luk 2:49 And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business?
Luk 2:50 And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them.
Luk 2:51 And he went down with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto them: but his mother kept all these sayings in her heart.
 
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ViaCrucis

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Jesus was born as a baby, and he grew up as every normal child.
1-10,
11-20,
21-30.

Why no detailed account of his childhood, teenager, young man story?

The Gospels are interested in His ministry, His Passion, and His resurrection. The reasons why Matthew and Luke offer us any information about His nativity is because it is important to the overall points they are writing about--about the Jesus who came preaching the kingdom, was crucified under Pilate, dead, buried, and who rose on the third day as victor over sin, death, hell, and the devil.

In this sense the Gospels aren't biographies as we usually understand biographies. They are Gospels, which are their own kind of literary genre; proclamations of the good news of what God has done for the world through Jesus Christ.

Late on we do see Christian romances about the childhood of Jesus, but these stories are apocryphal and shouldn't be taken as anything more than as ancient works of pious fiction. Basically, these were the ancient equivalent of religious fanfiction.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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ViaCrucis

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Perhaps Jesus remained hidden as a child to protect Him until the appointed time. The evil one had already tried to kill him through King Herod soon after His birth.

I suspect that even if we could somehow find out what our Lord was doing, it probably wouldn't necessarily be all that interesting. When Jesus spoke at the synagogue in Nazareth, the shock of the people is palpable, "Isn't this Joseph the carpenter's kid?" That seems to imply--or at least I think it does--the possibility that Jesus' life up until His public ministry was probably pretty quiet and mundane.

-CryptoLutheran
 
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Mr. M

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I was seeking a possible explanation for why the Lord's ministry did not begin
until age 30, especially since he was a "boy wonder" at 12, when Jewish youth
are attaining their bar/bat Mitzvah. I saw this as a point of interest:

Numbers 4:
46
All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moses, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel
numbered, by their families and by their fathers’ houses,
47 from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, everyone who came to do the
work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the tabernacle of meeting.

The priests and Levites did not begin to serve until age 30. This does not prove anything,
but suggests that age is appropriate to serve "His Father's House".
Perhaps this was something that He honored.
 
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