How much to you know about Jesus Christ? I know he is probably the most famous human being in the history of mankind. I know he was a gifted and unique prophet, sent as they say, by God. I know he is the founder of the Christian faith, and according to the Bible, his life begins and ends in Israel.
These things that I know about Jesus, I first learned in the church. But my interest in him was peaked and I was so fascinated by this man ~ the messiah ~ that I wanted to learn more. I wanted to learn everything about this charismatic and influential man and his life in its entirety. For it is the life journey that makes the child what he becomes in adulthood. It is that information, a good thirty years of his life that is missing from the Christian faith, and I have to wonder why? Why has the story of the greatest human being that ever walked this earth been so censored and what is the Christian faith trying to hide from us?
Thankfully the "common" people of today are far wiser due to education then they were 2000 years ago. We have learned to question and challenge information that does not sound reasonable or make sense to us. Organized religion would prefer us to believe that the so called "lost years" of Jesus Christ have completely vanished and there is no further documentation then what the Bible tells us. I for one, do not believe that the lost years of Jesus Christ are missing at all. In fact, I know they aren't. The missing years of mankind's most famous spiritual hero and prophet have been buried and hidden for centuries ~ not lost ~ but preserved. Fortunately for us the old sayings about the truth seem to be valid; the truth always comes out in the end, and; the truth shall set you free.
During the past hundred years in particular, more new information on Jesus Christ has been discovered and truths unearthed then ever before in history. Scientists, archeologists, historians and explorers are just a few of the types of people we have to thank for this advancement in spiritual knowledge. Not only are these wonderful people looking for answers to some of our worlds greatest mysteries, they are finding them and evidence is coming at us from all corners of the earth. Which means that finally, those of us who wish to learn more about the life and times of Jesus Christ ~ including his lost years, the information is out there in many forms and available to anyone who wishes to learn more.
I know I did. For if I was going to model my life in the ways of one man, I wanted to know as much as I could about him first before making a decision. Like the story of Buddha which reveals the journey of the young man to the old prophet, the process he used, and the paths he took, to find his answers, I wanted to know the same transformation story of Jesus. When I first began my extended search I could not believe all of the new relevant information available to me. And I have to say that what I have discovered so far has only managed to endear Jesus Christ ~ the man ~ to me more then ever. Far more than the tidbits of information the church offered up. And he suddenly became real rather than untouchable. Something I could relate too on an equal basis ~ as we are all suppose to be created equal according to Jesus' original words.
The first amazing fact I uncovered was that Jesus was actually born into a family of wealth and privilege ~ not into a poor carpenters family. I also learned that the Bible, in its own obscure way, confirms this fact by admitting he was born into the House of David ~ King David. He was of a royal bloodline, a fact the church does not pursue. Jesus had brothers and sisters as well as a large extended family that was very close. One brother eventually became the head of the Jewish church and another one headed the Christian faith after the crucifixion event. His cousin John of similar age, also became known as John the Baptist. Jesus Christ was educated and literate ~ a luxury reserved for the powerful and wealthy of his era.
Jesus was born into a devout Jewish family and was raised in their traditions. Including, as is custom, a marriage. The Bible also obscurely admits to this as well but tries to disguise the event as his first public miracle rather than his wedding. The miracle of Cana, known as the time Jesus turned water into wine and saved the day with the best wine the celebrators had ever tasted. As is custom at a Jewish wedding, the groom is person responsible for the wine at the reception. This was the only reason Jesus was approached with the problem of no wine for the feast, he was the groom responsible for supplying it, which of course, he did.
