The Early Years of Jesus

In his book: The Gospel According to Jesus, Stephen Mitchell has some interesting observations about Jesus early
life.
Mat 1:18 This is how Jesus Christ was born. A young woman named Mary was engaged to Joseph
from King David's family. But before they were married, she learned that she was going to have a
baby by God's Holy Spirit. Joseph was a good man and did not want to embarrass Mary in front of
everyone. So he decided to quietly call off the wedding. While Joseph was thinking about this, an
angel from the Lord came to him in a dream. The angel said, "Joseph, the baby that Mary will have
is from the Holy Spirit. Go ahead and marry her. Then after her baby is born, name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins."
If we withdraw the mythic elements, then this passage is simply an acknowledgement that Mary had committed
adultery. The so-called virgin birth is never mentioned anywhere else apart from Lukes genealogy, and plays no part
in Jesus preaching. There are no discussions amongst the scribes or Pharisees. Jesus doesnt mention it as a fact
that would enable him to claim divine status.

Mat 1:1 Jesus Christ came from the family of King David and also from the family of Abraham. And
this is a list of his ancestors. From Abraham to King David, his ancestors were: Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, Judah and his brothers (Judah's sons were Perez and Zerah, and their mother was Tamar),
Hezron; Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon, Salmon, Boaz (his mother was Rahab), Obed (his mother
was Ruth), Jesse, and King David.
From David to the time of the exile in Babylonia, the ancestors of Jesus were: David, Solomon (his
mother had been Uriah's wife), Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram; Uzziah, Jotham,
Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, Josiah, and Jehoiachin and his brothers.
From the exile to the birth of Jesus, his ancestors were: Jehoiachin, Shealtiel, Zerubbabel, Abiud,
Eliakim, Azor, Zadok, Achim; Eliud, Eleazar, Matthan, Jacob, and Joseph, the husband of Mary,
the mother of Jesus, who is called the Messiah.
There were fourteen generations from Abraham to David. There were also fourteen from David to
the exile in Babylonia and fourteen more to the birth of the Messiah.
Four women are mentioned, all of dubious character. Was Matthew trying to use this as a way of excusing Marys
dubious behaviour?

Mar 6:1 Jesus left and returned to his hometown with his disciples. The next Sabbath he taught in
the Jewish meeting place. Many of the people who heard him were amazed and asked, "How can he
do all this? Where did he get such wisdom and the power to work these miracles? Isnt he the
carpenter, the son of Mary? Aren't James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon his brothers? Don't his sisters
still live here in our town?" The people were very unhappy because of what he was doing. But
Jesus said, "Prophets are honoured by everyone, except the people of their hometown and their
relatives and their own family." Jesus could not work any miracles there, except to heal a few sick
people by placing his hands on them. He was surprised that the people did not have any faith.
Jesus taught in all the neighbouring villages.
Although both Matthew and Luke change the text to avoid any hint of illegitimacy, Marks text is most certainly more
original. The crucial point here is that son of Mary is a euphemism that translates into a son with no known father
i.e. illegitimate. The lack of miracles is because the villagers remember Jesus from his youth as the local bastard and
are unable to see him in a new light. In Jesus time illegitimacy was despised, shunned and hated. He had grown up
with these people and they had not forgotten nor forgiven.

Joh 8:40 Instead, you want to kill me for telling you the truth that God gave me. Abraham never
did anything like that. But you are doing exactly what your father does." "Don't accuse us of
having someone else as our father!" they said. "We just have one father, and he is God."
This debate in Johns gospel seems to have a barbed reference to Jesus having a different paternity. Other bibles
translate the relevant passage as: We were not born of fornication.

Deu 23:2 No one born outside of a legal marriage, or any of their descendants for ten generations,
can fully belong to the LORD's people.
So Jesus was a mamzer- a bastard or child of an adulterous union. His early childhood, adolescence and manhood
would have been a constant source of ostracism, insults and humiliations.

It would seem that the epithet of suffering servant readily applies to Jesus early years. Always the outsider and
never accepted like his younger brothers and sisters. The picture of a happy family life with Jesus being trained in
Josephs craft is mistaken. An adulterous mother and a step father are heavy burdens to bear. Stephen Mitchell
suggests that his coldness towards his mother was because he hadnt yet forgiven her. (Were his words to her from
the cross an indication of reconciliation?)
Further exploration:
The usual assumption made about Mary and Joseph, often reinforced by sacred art, is that Mary is a young woman
perhaps in her twenties and Joseph is a bearded old man. Both of these impressions are incorrect. In A Dictionary
of Judaism and Christianity by Dan Cohn-Sherbok, he gives the earliest age that people can marry as 13 years and 1
day for boys. 12 years and 1 day for girls. Men were expected to marry before the age of twenty.
A C Bouquet in Everyday Life in New Testament Times says that marriage could be at a very early age, 11 or 12 and
sometimes even nine.
And, of course, marriages were arranged and money changed hands.
So if we strip away the mythic elements from the story, we are left with two young people being betrothed and then
at a later stage actually having a wedding ceremony. Mary becomes unexpectedly pregnant, and after a great deal
of soul searching, Joseph sees fit not to divorce her. We have no reliable information about these circumstances.
In the Jewish text, Toledoth Yeshu, it is a man called Joseph Pandera who seduces Mary against her better
judgement. This might be a remnant of the original facts, but hardly conclusive.
One could also postulate other scenarios. Give the prevalence of paedophilia in contemporary society and the
cover-ups by figures in the establishment, such a situation might have occurred in Marys life. A young girl overawed
by a respectable official or relative is not beyond possibility. Given the low status of women, if she had said anything
it would have carried little weight.
Marys visit to see Elizabeth and later going to Bethlehem seems quite likely under these circumstances. Not an
invented census, nor to fulfil OT prophecies. Rather to escape the derision of neighbours in the village. Similarly the
journey to Egypt, if true, would also be a way of avoiding criticism and ridicule.
The only angel in all of this is Joseph. Given that he shares the same values as his family and neighbours, he shows
amazing compassion in accepting Mary and her child. He was entitled to divorce her. This is confirmed by his having
many other children with her, suggesting a good family life.

However, as I suggested earlier, Jesus seems to have suffered from his illegitimacy. Joseph may have done his best
to accept him but there are limits to how much acceptance Joseph could offer. Jesus wasnt his child, but all the
others were. In contemporary society step-fathers do indeed face difficulties in bonding with their partners
children, and I suspect the same applied to Joseph. Jesus wouldnt resolve his father issue until he experienced
Gods overwhelming love. He describes this intimacy in the parable of the Prodigal Son.
However one needs to ask where does this early information come from? Did Mary or Joseph recount their early
lives together to some chronicler? Did Jesus reveal his early life to his disciples? If all of this was false, or at least
serving a Christological purpose, it wouldnt affect how we view Jesus and his mission, after all Mark starts with Jesus
being filled with Gods spirit at his baptism and neglects any prior history.
So you pays your money and make your choice.