Did Jesus have a normal childhood?
score:6
There are simply no extant records on the life of Jesus that are recognized by scholars as having any validity.
There are fictional accounts of the life of Jesus, such as the Gnostic Infancy Gospel of Thomas which relate stories such as:
Jesus making sparrows out of clay on Sunday
Jesus blinding Pharisees
Jesus resurrecting one of his playmates.
The problem is that this fictional account is just that - it was never recognized as anything other than a story by any of the respected church fathers. These stories are inconsistent with the character of the Jesus recorded in the Gospel.
Upvote:0
Exactly how normal of a childhood Jesus had is unclear. The Bible is mostly silent on the matter: we never hear even hear what happened to Joseph after the incident in the temple.
That said, I find the passages already quoted in this question and the answers to it to be telling in their own way. Consider Matthew 13:55-56, quoted in @Joshua's answer: the people who knew Jesus and his family while he was growing up still don't seem to have had any clue as to his origins. It's surprising what can happen in normal-seeming families, but there are limits: there may well have been extraordinary elements to the childhood of Jesus, but at the same time, it must have been normal enough to pass for mundane in the regular society of the time.
Upvote:8
James: Why don't you ever punish Jesus? Is He your favorite?
Joseph: He never does anything wrong.
James: Jesus always knows the right answer, its not like He is God or something.
Mary: Actually He is, so go back and try again.
Humor aside, this is illustrative.
We know that He had siblings according to Mat 13:55-56
“Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”
So He had at least 4 brothers and 3 sisters based on the grammer.
We also know that had emotions. He often greeted His friends/disciples with "Rejoice". "Rejoice and be exceeding glad" (Matthew 5:12). Also consider that The One enthroned in heaven laughs (Psa 2:4). He also cried, see Jhn 11:35-36
Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
Jesus is fully human and fully God according to many passages; like Hbr 2:9
But we do see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
Based on all this we can surmise that Jesus did normal childhood things, except he always obeyed and never got in trouble. There is no recorded history of Him running and playing or having a dirty diaper or scraping His knee but I am reasonable sure He did all of those things and more. It is important, according to the Bible, that we be able to identify with Him.
More post
- 📝 What's the difference between "knowledge" and "full knowledge" when it comes to sin?
- 📝 What is the biblical basis for elder disqualification?
- 📝 Is Knuth's 3:16 project unique?
- 📝 If one divorces is it considered adultery to marry again no matter what the circumstances were for this decision?
- 📝 Why does God punish us when He gives us free-will?
- 📝 What is the difference between justification and sanctification?
- 📝 What's the essence of Jesus's teachings?
- 📝 Where were Satan and his angels when God devastated the Earth during Noah's Flood?
- 📝 How do you equate Christian teachings with certain worldly(non Christian) achievements/attitudes?
- 📝 What was Jesus' soul?
- 📝 Is there a Christian response to dying in dignity or assisted suicide?
- 📝 According to LDS (Mormon) teaching, who was the first God who began the eternal progression?
- 📝 Which is hell: punishment, or revenge?
- 📝 "Kingdom Of God is at Hand" - Which Kingdom was Jesus and John the Baptist talking about?
- 📝 Is salvation in the name "Jesus", or in the person Jesus
- 📝 Why does a clever Satan fight with God even though he knows he will lose?
- 📝 Did the Early Church believe in the perpetual virginity of Mary?
- 📝 What do the Nicene, Apostles, Chalcedonian, Creeds add to the concept of God, Jesus, and the Holy Ghost that is not found directly in the Bible?
- 📝 Is calling the church the "body of Christ" merely a metaphor or is there a deeper significance?
- 📝 Did any church fathers after Chrysostom believe that Mary committed sin?
- 📝 What is the Book of Mormon story of Christmas?
- 📝 Do Protestants have a biblical basis for not smashing statues of Jesus?
- 📝 Why are many protestants hesitant of the reappropriation of symbols?
- 📝 How do the 3 Protestant traditions deal with the two types of sin mentioned in 1 John 5:16-17?
- 📝 The Mormon Church teaches that Jesus Christ created under the direction of Heavenly Father and He did not create the world "out of nothing."
- 📝 What was written on the two stone tablets of Moses?
- 📝 What is the opposite of Total Depravity?
- 📝 How can a non-physical God create a physical universe?
- 📝 What was Adolf von Harnack's case that Priscilla wrote Hebrews?
- 📝 Why is the The Nativity called "Christmas"?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Did Jesus have a normal childhood?
- 📝 Why did Jesus have to leave for the Holy Spirit to come?
- 📝 Where does the Catholic tradition that Mary did not have pain giving birth to Jesus come from?
- 📝 Did Jesus need to die, or would mere shedding of blood have been sufficient?
- 📝 What did Jesus quote Psalm 22: "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?"
- 📝 Did Jesus have Free Will? (Arianism)
- 📝 Did Justin Martyr have a personal interaction with Jesus Christ?
- 📝 According to the Catholic Church, did Jesus have faith or hope?
- 📝 Did Jesus have a divine biological Father?
- 📝 For those who deny the Immaculate Conception, why did Jesus not have original sin?
- 📝 How can apologists argue that if Jesus did not rise again then Christianity and the Church would not have lasted, when other religions have?
- 📝 How did the early Christians and Apostles Get into the temple? Shouldn't they have been stoned by the Jews for preaching Jesus as God?
- 📝 If Joseph was Jesus's adoptive father then did Jesus really have David's blood?
- 📝 Did Jesus have a physical body before his incarnation?
- 📝 Why did Jesus raise people from the dead, when they would have been in heaven?
- 📝 Did Jesus have a different Will in Lk 22:42 ? What was it like?
- 📝 Why is it declared that Jesus was fully God while on earth when he did not have all attributes of God?
- 📝 Did Angels sent to earth before Jesus have literal human bodies?
- 📝 Did Jesus have His Last Supper standing?
- 📝 Did Jesus have a choice?
- 📝 Did Jesus have the tradition of preserving of leavening agent in mind, while speaking of the Pharisees' Yeast?
- 📝 What is the basis for the argument that Jesus DID have the ability to give in to temptation?
- 📝 Did the coins at the time of Jesus have distinct images and inscriptions?
- 📝 According to Catholicism, did Jesus have a Guardian Angel?
- 📝 Did Jesus and his disciples have an occasional “hiding place”?
- 📝 What is the basis for the argument that Jesus DID NOT have the ability to sin or give in to temptation?
- 📝 According to Catholic doctrine, why did Jesus Christ have to die to save mankind if only the physical body is involved in death?
- 📝 Did Jesus have wealth and mansion's?
- 📝 Did Jesus have a cover on the head?
- 📝 Did Jesus have suicidal thoughts?