Jesus was about thirty years old when he began his public ministry. [Luke 3:23a (NLT)]
When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. [Romans 5:6 (NLT)]
We know little about Jesus’ childhood and young adulthood. Born in Bethlehem, He was circumcised and given His name eight days later. Forty days after His birth, Mary and Joseph took Him to the Temple in Jerusalem in accordance with the command to consecrate every firstborn male to God. Sometime after that, He received gifts from the Magi, His family fled to Egypt, and they returned to Nazareth after Herod died. That’s all we know of His childhood until He was twelve and the precocious youngster stayed behind in Jerusalem to discuss spiritual matters with the teachers there. After Mary and Joseph found Him in the Temple courts, He dutifully returned home to Nazareth with them. Although we know that Jesus learned Joseph’s construction trade and that he started his ministry around thirty, we know nothing of the years between twelve and thirty except that He was obedient to His parents and “grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and all the people.” [Luke 2:52]
Why did Jesus wait until he was thirty to begin His ministry? Wouldn’t He be in a rush to bring salvation to the world? Although we know Mary and at least six other siblings were alive during Jesus’ ministry, the last reference to Joseph is when Jesus was twelve. With no mention of Joseph at the wedding in Cana, scholars assume that he was dead by that time. It’s clear that Mary was a widow by the crucifixion because Jesus entrusted her care to the Apostle John. Mary’s widowhood might be one reason for the ministry delay. As the eldest son, Jesus had family duties and couldn’t leave the family until His brothers were old enough (and skilled enough) to support the large family.
Before the Messiah could arrive, a forerunner was necessary. Jesus couldn’t begin His ministry until John the Baptist had prophesied His arrival. About six months older than Jesus, John was in his mid-twenties when he became a prophet and time was needed for his message to become known. Thirty also was considered the age when men reached their full maturity. Moreover, the frankincense given to Jesus as a baby signified His priesthood and it was at thirty that scribes were admitted to office and men could become priests.
Perhaps the main reason for waiting until He was thirty is simply that Jesus needed to mature. Paul tells us that, “Even though He was God’s Son, He learned obedience from the things He suffered.” [Hebrews 5:8] We know Jesus suffered on Calvary but, in those thirty years spent growing up, He suffered the other things we mortals inevitably do: loss, injury, illness, rejection, and pain. Boys aren’t born with qualities like self-discipline, patience, perseverance, or courage; those qualities are developed. Jesus may have been God but the boy Jesus had to become a man.
Perhaps waiting until He was thirty was simply so that Jesus, like the rest of us, would learn to appreciate God’s timing. While God’s time schedule often is not the schedule we’d choose, He’s always right on time. Jesus may have been God but, like the rest of us, He had to wait patiently for God’s perfect timing.
As I offered prayers for a good biopsy report, it occurred to me that my prayer was too late. Already excised, the tissue had been sent to a pathologist; for all I knew, the report was written and waiting to be read by my physician. Was God going to rewrite the report? Any troublesome cells in my body had been there awhile. Most likely, the biopsy result was decided months ago so I probably should have been praying about it long before anyone knew a biopsy was needed. Since the pathologist’s report was determined long before my prayers, “Why bother to pray at all?” was the whisper of doubt in my mind.
The book of Daniel makes reference to the resurrection of both the wicked and righteous, with the destiny of the one being shame and disgrace and the other being everlasting life. By the time of Jesus, many Jews believed in some sort of eternal life and that it would come by obedience to the Law. Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell of the rich young man who asked Jesus what good deed he must do to have eternal life. He wanted Jesus to check his resume of good works and, if found lacking, to give him a task that would assure his immortality.
600 war chariots and at least 1,200 soldiers were fast approaching and the Israelites were trapped between the mountains and the Red Sea. Panicking, they immediately blamed Moses for their predicament. No longer regarding Moses as the man who freed them from years of suffering slavery, he was now the fool who’d led them to certain death in the wilderness. In despair, the Israelites second-guessed their decision to leave Egypt. Facing such a formidable army and sure they were to die, the miseries of slavery now appealed to them. Ungrateful, unarmed, on foot, and with no place to turn, they lost heart. Failing to recall God’s powerful hand in releasing them from Pharaoh’s tyranny just a few weeks earlier, they immediately conceded defeat.
Yesterday’s devotion about Mary made me wonder about Joseph. Other than having the right lineage, why did God chose this carpenter to raise His one and only Son? Mary and Joseph were betrothed and engagement in 1st century Palestine was a serious commitment. A legally binding relationship, betrothal usually lasted ten to twelve months. Although the bride continued to live at home and the couple did not have marital relations, their engagement ended only through death or a divorce-like proceeding.
Ignoring the fact that most of us in the room couldn’t qualify as virgins, are well-past child-bearing age, and our genealogies don’t link us to the tribe of Judah and the line of David, the pastor leading our women’s Bible study asked if we were the kind of women God would chose to give birth to His son.
