RBWords

     Both gospel passages assigned for reflection today deal with the beginning of Jesus' ministry!  However, Luke gives us one of the rare personal details of Jesus - his estimated age at the beginning of his public ministry!  We are told that Jesus was about thirty years old!  The last episode, the incident of Jesus being lost and found, estimated his age at twelve then.  So, what happened to him between birth and twelve and between twelve and thirty?  We don't know.  Those years have been traditionally called, "the Hidden Life!"  In fact, we know very little at all about him physically.  Scholars can use archaeological data to figure out the average height, weight, life expectancy, diet, cultural behavior, etc. of a first century Palestinian Jewish male and apply these to a theoretical "snapshot" of Jesus. (I rather doubt he looked like most of the pious pictures that are commonly displayed.)   An example would be the assumption that Jesus was a carpenter because the custom was for the oldest son to follow the trade of the father and the only child.  There is the cultural question about the obligation of the child to take care of the parents in their old age.  Theoretically, Mary would have been in her mid-forties (life expectancy was much lower than now!) when Jesus began his public ministry.  Who was taking care of her?  All these kinds of questions are fascinating, but the gospel writers were not intent on writing precise biography.  They were intent on preaching about Jesus' ministry, death and resurrection.

     If it is spiritually helpful to put together a physical "snapshot" of the person of Jesus, then I recommend the effort.  The important thing to remember is that the effort may reflect priorities that are not in the New Testament.  The statues of the Sacred Heart or the pictures that show glowing rays from Jesus represent our own spiritual needs and thoughts.  It has been wisely noted that meeting a much admired hero in person can be dangerous to our faith in that hero!  The nearest we can come to Jesus' actual appearance would be to watch the latest news from the Middle East!  

     God has given us imagination and powerful stories and events to engage that imagination.  The gospels give us much "raw material" for our faith and imagination.  I rather like the idea that Jesus was a mature person of middle age when he began his ministry.  Many of us would rather forget our "teen" years anyhow!   AMEN