JOSEPH W. TKACH
May 1987
Dear Friend:
Thank you for your inquiry concerning Christ's life between
the ages of 12 and 30.
At the time Herod ordered all the young boys in Bethlehem to
be slain, Joseph took Mary and Jesus and fled into Egypt. When
the danger was past, they returned to their own country and
settled in a town in Galilee: "And he [Joseph and his family]
came and dwelt in a city called NAZARETH: that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a
Nazarene [one who comes from Nazareth]" (Matt. 2:23).
From Nazareth they would all travel to Jerusalem each year
for the Passover. On one of those occasions, when He was 12,
Jesus stayed behind in the Temple. Afterward, "he went down with
them (His family), and came to Nazareth, and was subject unto
them" (Luke 2:51).
So, Jesus evidently spent most of those years in Nazareth.
Otherwise, He would not have been known as a Nazarene.
After He was 30, Jesus preached in the synagogue in His home
town: "And he came to Nazareth, WHERE HE HAD BEEN BROUGHT UP"
(Luke 4:16). Notice the reaction of the townspeople: "And all ...
wondered at the gracious words which proceeded out of his mouth.
And they said, Is not this Joseph's son?" (verse 22). The people
knew Him! This is confirmed when, on a similar occasion, in
astonishment they said, "Whence hath this man this wisdom, and
these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his
mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and
Simon, and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us?"
(Matt. 13:54-56). The people knew His whole family. This was
Jesus' own country (verse 54; Luke 4:24).
Obviously, Jesus spent most of those 18 years between ages
12 and 30 in Nazareth. That was where He was trained and where He
studied. Whether or not He traveled to any foreign nation is not
revealed.
Suggestions that Jesus traveled the world or studied with
the Essenes have no biblical foundation. While He may have
traveled, we know He did not study theology with the Essenes,
because they did not agree with His teachings.
We appreciate your interest in understanding God's Word.
PERSONAL CORRESPONDENCE DEPARTMENT
PASTOR GENERAL