The last we heard about Jesus in the Bible was when he was twelve years old. He was found by Mary and Joseph in the temple confounding the leaders there. Last mentioned was that he submitted himself to Mary and Joseph in those early years of his life. The next time we hear about Jesus was when he was thirty years old and began his ministry. But what happened in the eighteen years? We can surmise by comparing Scriptures and circumstances of his day.
During those eighteen years Mary and Joseph gave birth to a number of sons and daughters. None of them came to accept him as the promised Messiah until after his resurrection. Imagine what it would be like for their older brother to announce to the family that he was going on a preaching circuit as the Son of God. The Bible does say that several of his family members including his mother came to track him down thinking that he had either gone insane or was in a state of exhaustion.
Joseph taught Jesus the carpentry trade to make furniture. Later, after Joseph died, Jesus continued on his wood making career as the head of the family. He became known as Jesus of Nazareth, the carpenter. After Joseph died, Jesus bore the responsibility as the head of the family to provide income for them.
We know that Joseph died during those eighteen years because nothing is said of him after Jesus entered into the ministry. While hanging on the cross, Jesus asked John to take Mary under his wing and into his household because at one point he laid his woodworking tools down on the bench to begin his itinerant preaching.
As would be customary of the Jewish family, they traveled to Jerusalem at least once a year to observe the Passover. They maintained their devotion to God and the scriptures as well as regular worship experiences.
As time passed, Jesus witnessed the growing of his half siblings into adults. It was his responsibility to oversee the well-being of the family and nurture them in the ways of the Lord. All during this time and afterwards Jesus maintained a perfect life without sin. He did not just have the singular temptation experience after his baptism that drove him into the wilderness. Surely, like any of the rest of us he was tempted in many ways.
During those eighteen years Jesus observed his community, their culture, and how wayward his own Jewish religion had become. His heart must have broken knowing that man perverted what his Heavenly Father intended things to be.
He had a cousin named John whose mother was Elizabeth, and his father was Zacharias. They were very elderly and only had John is their one child. Likely, Jesus knew about John as his cousin but had little interaction with him. The reason is that after John’s parents died, he went into the wilderness and lived with a group of religious retreats that today we would call monks. While Jesus was growing into manhood towards his thirtieth birthday, John was also growing into adulthood to become a prophet of God and the forerunner of Jesus.
Jesus was aware of the Roman form of capital punishment by using the cross as a horrific means of a painful death. Several times in talking to his disciples Jesus mentioned the cross. On one occasion he said that a follower must be willing to take up his own cross and follow him. By this awareness, Jesus knew that the ultimate end of his earthly life would occur in the same way.
We can now say that even though the Scriptures does not give much detail about the eighteen years of Jesus before going into the ministry, the times were not so silent after all. Much had occurred. Jesus was very responsible setting a good example for his own family and the community. As with his birth, those eighteen years before entering the ministry was for you and me for the single purpose that he would die on the cross for our sin. Let us remind ourselves that he died on the cross as payment for our sin. He rose from the dead providing victory over death and the promise of eternal life for all who would believe him.
Christian Writer 