L106
WORLDWIDE CHURCH OF GOD
PASADENA CALIFORNIA 91123

JOSEPH W. TKACH
PASTOR GENERAL

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

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