In my personal Bible studies, I have been going through the Gospels. I’m using a harmony of the Gospels approach to go through the four books. Needless to say, going through just the first portions of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John has been delightfully enlightening.
Sometimes we can learn a lot from one verse in the scriptures. One most enlightening verse is John 2:12. The verse says, “After this He went down to Capernaum, He, His mother, His brothers, and His disciples; and they did not stay there many days.”
What can we learn from this verse?
First of all, there is no mention of his step-father Joseph. The last mention of Joseph was at the Passover (Luke 2) when Jesus was twelve. When John 2:12 unfolds, eighteen years have passed and Jesus now has a mother, brothers, sisters (Matthew 13:56), and disciples. There is no mention of His father. In all likelihood, Joseph had died in the intervening years.
With the death of Joseph, a full weight of responsibility fell on Jesus. He was now the head of the family as a result of being the oldest son. He now had the responsibility of overseeing and providing for the household. Jesus was thrust into a new situation where He learned things He would not otherwise have learned.
We might think of Jesus’ situation in light of His service to humanity as our High Priest. Hebrews 4:15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
We know that we have an elder brother and High Priest who is able to help us in every circumstance because He’s been there. He knows what it’s like. He’s gone through it Himself. How did Jesus learn a lot of the basic things we go through in life every day?
With Joseph dying while Jesus is a young man, this is how, though not married, Jesus learned family responsibilities. He became the family breadwinner. He learned what it’s like to be responsible for keeping a family clothed and fed—for seeing that the younger brothers and sisters made it off to school on time—to see that they were all dressed and ready for Sabbath services—to see that there was food in the pantry—to set and stick to a family budget—to see that the bills were paid on time—to be sure that all of the many details of overseeing a family and household were carried out correctly and responsibly.
Jesus Christ needed to learn all the kinds of experiences and problems we go through in this life so we could have a High Priest who, as it says here, is able to sympathize with all that we go through in this life. Without a wife and children of His own, He became not just an older brother, but a kind of surrogate father to His younger half-brothers and half-sisters. And so, although He was never physically married, in this way He was able to experience all these kinds of things that we go through in this life.
In the same way, He also would’ve learned much about another major aspect of life other than family—that being the work world. He would’ve learned what our work and employment experiences are like by assuming management of the family business and being responsible for providing for a large family, dealing with customers, training other employees, making and living up to contracts, dealing with quality control, working with debtors and collecting on bills, focusing on management and planning and all the other many details that go with owning and operating a business.
He had to learn to deal with all these things and to experience firsthand these things that the rest of us have to learn and go through on our jobs. There’s a great deal to learn here about basic human relationships and interaction that He wouldn’t have learned any other way. This is how I think He spent those 18 missing years from age 12 to age 30—I think He most likely spent much of that time essentially raising up a family, bringing up His younger brothers and sisters and learning important lessons in life that He wouldn’t have learned otherwise. He had to go through this to be our high priest and intercessor. He wouldn’t have learned them any other way.
It is encouraging that we have in Jesus Christ a High Priest who understands the human condition we all deal with through His own personal experience.
Have a great Sabbath day,
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