Posted on 01/30/2016 8:51:32 AM PST by Salvation
Christ's hidden years
Question: One of my great frustrations with Scripture as an historical source is that it leaves so much out. Almost 30 years of Jesus’ life receive no mention at all. How can this be that the life of the most pivotal figure in history receives such vague biographical treatment?— Name, location withheld,
Answer: Part of the answer to this is to understand that the Gospels do not propose to be chronological histories of the Lord’s life. The Gospels do record the things that Jesus actually said and did, but they do so in a selective way. St. John says why near the end of his Gospel: “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through this belief you may have life in his name” (Jn 20:30-31).
And, thus, the material was selected to focus on those things most necessary for us to understand that Jesus is the longed-for Messiah and the true Son of God. As such, the Gospel writers selected a lot of their material based on its indication of the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies and on events that show forth the divinity of Christ.
Another reason the Gospels do not seek to cover every aspect of Jesus’ life may be more practical. Modern methods of setting forth history comprehensively presuppose the possibility of lengthy books that can be cheaply reproduced.
But in the centuries prior to the invention of the printing press, books were copied out by hand. Further, papers and parchments were expensive. Brevity, therefore, was far more necessary. And since books and scrolls were expensive and hard to come by, most early preachers had to rely more on memory than today. Therefore, short, memorable stories focused on the essentials of Christ’s life and message were of greater use.
As to the hidden years of Christ, there is great mystery to be sure. But the silence, while explained above as theological and practical, does have a possible advantage. Most of us live lives that are hidden, but this hiddenness of our lives to the sweep of history does not diminish our dignity. That Jesus lived in obscurity for 30 years is testimony to the dignity of every human person, even the most hidden and forgotten.
The Lord of all creation himself chose to spend the majority of his walk among us in a hidden, humble and ordinary life. It is a silent testimony to the dignity of the ordinary.
Amen!
Ping to Monsignor Pope’s OSV column.
This has been one of my questions for many years.
Thanks for posting.
O-Pope writes a solid post - even appropriately using Scripture.
Much better than A-Pope!
The dignity, certainly, that God invests in every human being. The measure is that of heaven, which DOES record all of this material meticulously in its books, not that of the world, which requires certain fickle criteria to be met.
Celebrity is a worldly concept. God can use it to focus the world’s attention, but it quickly can turn into a caricature of honor. In fact, celebrity is conducive to lies. The bible doesn’t leave these years of the Son of God unmentioned, but speaks about them only broadly. Growing in “favor” (the divine favor which is better known as grace, not the world’s fickle favor) with men and God. Jews would have known Him as quite a mensch, in that terminology.
Even some of the reasons given here, are reasons that assuming the post of a pope is a dangerous thing. Getting a spotlight for a longer time than Christ lived in some cases, let alone the time that He flourished, isn’t “natural” to the theme of Christian faith.
I’m one of those rascally evangelicals, but everything that actually honors the Lord means something to me.
Typically, A-Pope misuses Scripture to promote an idea he has... or ignores Scripture altogether. I point this out.
In this instance, O-Pope threw a horseshoe so close to the stake that I think it counts!
I cherish joy in the knowledge that Christ is the Lord of my life. He lives continuously with me as He has done for eternity. The story of His life is the history of life redeemed. It has no beginning and no end. It is chronicled by the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Well, anything that concentrates on a genuine aspect of the honor of the Lord comports with the bible message just because it’s TRUE. The bible backs up what is spiritually true. We don’t have to worry about two truths being mutually exclusive.
But, one of the other disciples made a comment regarding all the events surrounding Jesus walk on the earth .. to say that if they had all been written down, there would be monumental volumes of information.
So, I also believe that the MOST IMPORTANT things GOD wanted us to know .. were written in the Bible as we know it today.
All the other miracles were important; but they did not increase the amount of knowledge that GOD planned for us to know.
It’s quite a trip. But nobody sane, knowing the facts, would want any different kind of fate.
And I know enough about it to very much recognize that I’m a sinner, with a misshapen soul. The world says celebrate the weirdness, to the point that it gets taken as utterly “normal.” The promise of the Lord is to put this back together into wholeness. This is the best part of all. Not only going to heaven, but made able to appreciate it with all my being.
It would be 30 years of boring history to read. A boy that never dipped a pigtail of the girl sitting in front of him into the inkwell.
John (21:25) made this comment with an awe like that of a child, all “adult” measures that he could conceive of having been exhausted. Being God incarnate, He never failed in some manner to display it.
Well, we’re wrong to apply our own norms to it. This would, I believe, be a boy who was so helpful, he wasn’t just the teacher’s pet, he was everybody’s pet. No inkwell maneuvers, unless it was to brush her pigtail aside when it was in danger of falling in the inkwell. He picked up the girl’s books when she dropped them. He constantly resolved playground fights and everyone loved each other.
Is your question answered?
Those who understood the need of sinful mankind would be moved to tears at the account. Ah, this had to be the boy Savior. Those who only saw things through worldly eyes would be oh, what an impossible goody two-shoes kid this was, why can’t he even dust it up once with the playground bully, with the way he can melt through a crowd and get away after he does it?
And that would show a worldly point of view. People attempted to project what having such power would do, and COMPLETELY MISSED THE POINT.
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