The Life and Mission of Jesus Christ: Episode 07

Rev. Sun Myung Moon: The Life and Mission of Jesus Christ
Chapter 1: Jesus’ Birth and Youth, The Boy Jesus, Page 16-20

The Boy Jesus

Every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When he was twelve years old, they went up to the Feast, according to the custom. After the Feast was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him.

After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 

Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

“Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” But they did not under- stand what he was saying to them. (Luke 2:41-51)

 

More children were born to Mary and Joseph, and they all knew that somehow Jesus was different. The Bible does not speak directly about this, but the fact is that when Jesus was a boy there was a great deal of tension, and even Mary was distant with him at times because she was a victim of the everyday situation. Jesus was lonely as a child and often left the house to be alone. Once his parents even left him behind in Jerusalem, only coming back to find him after three days. How could parents leave a young boy behind that way? There were not many happy days in his family.

I’m sure many of you have grown up with a stepparent, and even in an open society like America’s today there is tension between a stepparent and stepchildren, so imagine how much more difficult it was 2,000 years ago. In this sense Americans are in a position to be sympathetic with Jesus’ position; many young people are experiencing the same kind of suffering Jesus went through.

Day of the Victory of Heaven
October 4, 1979

Jesus grew up in the midst of a complicated relationship between Mary and Joseph. Even as a child, Jesus sensed that there was something tangled between them. Between Joseph and Jesus there was no blood relationship, so they were like strangers to each other. On Mary’s part, even though she may have wanted to do things for her son, like make clothes for him, she had to find out if on that day Joseph was in a good or bad mood. Jesus could sense clearly that his parents had an inner quarrel because of him … .

What about Jesus’ brothers? His brothers could sense that there was some untold, entangled story centered on Jesus. That’s why even they could not trust or believe in what Jesus was doing. Furthermore, not only Joseph but also all of Jesus’ relatives came to know that.

Jesus worked as an assistant to his carpenter father while inwardly preparing for his mission. He knew that he was going to do a great mission under God’s guidance. Sometimes Jesus felt like asking his mother, “Why, why am I treated like this? Who is my father? What is your problem and how does it fit in?” Mary could never answer Jesus. There was an emotional distance between Mary and the child.

As time went by, Jesus came to know what to do and what direction he was headed. God told him about his mission. To carry out his mission, he had to pass through a period of preparation and to prepare a good environment to help him. He could not expect people to receive him without that foundation. Jesus always wished that his own parents, brothers, and relatives could help him in the mission. If his parents would not help him, then who else would?

Jesus came as the master of love, the prince of love, and the center of love. He should have received more love—from his parents, from his brothers and sisters, and from his relatives and neighbors—than anyone else in the world. But we cannot say that he received such love from anyone … . How full of grief must Jesus’ heart have been! The kingdom of God is supposed to be the kingdom of love. Jesus, who came as the center of love, should have established that kind of family first of all. But it seemed hopeless to him, so he had to flee from his home. He was then 30 years old.

On Jesus’ Family
December 25, 1971

Jesus resolved during his 30 years of preparation to carry out a successful battle in the future through a life of practice. He determined that even if he would have to become a sacrifice due to the ostracism of the Jews, he would take this or that kind of path and establish such and such kinds of methods. He had many such ideas that no one else even imagined. He planned that, if the people believed in him, he would take such and such measures; if they did not believe, then he would do this and that. While no one else was concerned about heaven, Jesus was deep in prayer.

During the 30 years that he spent in the family of Joseph, he could not express joy when his brothers and sisters were joyful. When his relatives and the congregation in the synagogue rejoiced, he could not rejoice. Although Jesus had many things to say, he had to remain silent. We need to understand the sorrow that Jesus experienced during those 30 years of preparation. Even though he desperately wanted to witness to the truth by going from place to place throughout Israel, he had to help with his family affairs. Since Jesus was about to pioneer the kingdom of heaven, there was not a day when he in his heart did not visit the realm of God’s ideals at least several times. We need to understand that Jesus was this kind of person.

No one on earth recognized Jesus’ internal suffering, yet God was on his side. When Jesus was shaving wood with a plane or was cutting a piece of wood with an ax, he wanted to experience the heart and situation of God and build the kingdom of heaven that God desired. Even when he was taking a break after a meal, this desire of his heart did not fade away. There was not a moment when he did not have these thoughts.

Picture Jesus and his heart as he was making preparations. Even if the clothes that he wore were poor and the expression on his face pitiful, his gaze was unmatched by any conqueror or pioneer of the earth. His gaze could connect with the heart of God and see through the universe. Accordingly, as he looked at the world with this heart and perspective, he could not help feeling miserable and tortured. He could not avoid sorrow.

His gaze was for the sake of the Jewish people; his heart was for the sake of the nation of Israel and the entire world. This is why Jesus shed endless tears. When he heard the rumor that someone was about to pass away, he felt that it was he himself. If there was someone who was unjustly persecuted or wronged, he felt that it was he who was undergoing the privations. In his heart, Jesus looked at all the tragic affairs of his community as if they were unfolding in his life.

The Incarnation of Jesus, a Pioneer
February 1, 1959