Detective
Imagine you are a detective. An unusual case presents itself. You open a yellowed folder. The case is not so much about a mistaken identity or a missing person. It's about a missing background - a few missing years. And records are scarce.
Date of birth unknown. Exact year of birth also unknown; somewhere between 8 and 4 BC.
Disagreement over birthplace. One thinks Bethlehem.
Father: Joseph, a carpenter. Descended from a noble and renowned lineage beginning with Abraham and running through Isaac and Jacob to King David - and then through Solomon to Jacob, father of Joseph, husband of Mary. Physical lineage thus established along paternal lines, although paternity of the father is vehemently denied by some in favor of the doctrine of virgin birth. One account of him says, "a son, it was believed, of Joseph," but then traces his royal lineage through the lineage of Mary, his mother.2
Adventurous childhood. Fled to Egypt with his parents after the father had a dream. Returned to Nazareth or its environs after an unspecified number of years. This is where you realize what you are heading. However, it doesn't seem to make sense. Why a dossier on Jesus? You read on.
Mission
Began a mission around age 30. Was baptized by a cousin, John. Traveled extensively with a group of twelve disciples for about three years. Preached, healed the sick, raised the dead. Was falsely accused by the Jewish high priest Caiaphas and the Sanhedrin. Condemned by Roman administrator Pontius Pilate, against his better judgment. Crucified by four soldiers. Taken from the cross and laid in a tomb by Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus.
Orthodox view: rose from the dead on the third day.3 Taught his disciples for forty days. Then disappeared from their sight in "a cloud. Entered into heaven and sat at the right hand of God.
Contradicted by second-century lore that says he spent many years on earth after his resurrection.
Church Father Irenaeus claims that he lived for at least another 10 to 20 years after the crucifixion.
Source: The Unknown Years of Jesus. Available at AmethystPress with Christmas discount
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