My Boyhood Friend, Jesus

Mark 3

I knew Jesus as a boy. In fact, we were, by all accounts, best friends. Growing up together in the small village of Nazareth, we did almost everything together. We played, did chores, roamed the hillsides, shared secrets and together, we learned the traditions of our Jewish faith. And also, the stories of our long Jewish heritage, the history of Israel.

Jesus was a fast learner. He seemed especially hungry to learn anything and everything about our YHWH God, the god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And his knowledge of scripture went far beyond mine and of anyone else’s of similar age.

I remember hearing the stories about him, especially the story of his visit to the temple in Jerusalem at age twelve (Luke 2), how he astounded the rabbis and elders with his knowledge.

Jesus Among the Doctors

Jusepe de Ribera 1521

I heard other stories, too. Whispers, actually. Was Joseph his true father? It was whispered that he was not. Had it been necessary for his family to flee to Egypt when Jesus was a baby? For what reason? Had there been prophecies made about Jesus long before his birth? I heard all of these rumors and wondered what Jesus knew. And I also wondered: were they really just rumors?

If my boyhood best friend knew that he had been conceived by the Holy Spirit and born to a virgin mother, he never let on. You might imagine that such news would not be playground talk. And though in some ways, Jesus seemed so very normal, in many other ways he was exceptional. All I knew is that he was a good friend to me.

And then, of course, like all young boys, we grew up. Jesus, now the provider for his family, took his responsibilities very seriously. With Joseph gone, he served as the breadwinner for his mother and younger siblings. That was our way, the oldest sons providing for widowed mothers and younger brothers and sisters. Jesus worked very hard and I have to say, he was respected in our community.

And what about me? Well, I married and started my own family. Jesus and I remained friends but I wondered why he didn’t marry and settle down, as I had. More whispers circulated about him. Perhaps he was planning to become a rabbi and would need years of study to prepare. But if he did, how could he provide for his family? He never talked about future plans, at least not with me.

And then, almost in a heartbeat, everything about Jesus changed. Here is how it all began:

Stories were coming to us about an itinerant preacher, John the Baptizer. John was preaching and baptizing at the Jordan River, near Jerusalem in Judea, miles away from our home in Nazareth. He was a wild man, dressed for the wilderness and talking about preparing the way for the long-awaited Messiah.

But while we all heard about John, not one of my friends was interested enough to make the long trek to the Jordan to see for himself. None that is, except Jesus.

“Why are you going to hear John?” I asked Jesus. “It’s such a long way. And I’ve heard that he is not in the tradition of our rabbis, and that he’s frightening folks with his talk about a coming Messiah who will judge sinners who don’t repent.”

Jesus didn’t give me a direct answer but simply said that he must go, for his “time” was approaching. That made no sense to me, nor did I understand why he was handing over the backlog of his work to his younger brothers. Surely, he was going to come back to Nazareth. Wasn’t he?

But as you no doubt know, it was a long time before Jesus came back to Nazareth. And when he did, it was not to resume his old life. He never again lived in Nazareth, not after that puzzling day when he left for the Jordan.

When he did return to Nazareth, Jesus was a very different man. He didn’t return to work and live there, and to raise a family, as we all expected, but instead, he came to preach in our synagogue. Clearly, he was not the same man who’d departed from us months before.

All of this left me with unanswered questions. What actually happened at the Jordan? Did he encounter John the Baptizer? Why was he gone so long? And why did he so suddenly leave his former life?

I never had the opportunity to ask Jesus these questions. But I have investigated a bit, and have some theories. Would you like to hear them?

First of all, John the Baptizer. His baptism was to wash away sins, so that those he baptized could repent and be forgiven. Many from Jerusalem and across Judea came to him at the Jordan.

His message was popular with some, but there was opposition to John as well. Leaders of our faith came, not to listen, but instead, to find fault. John offered no kind words for their hypocrisy. He was, according to some, in the mold of old Elijah, a prophet voicing God’s truths in the most plain-spoken way, sparing no one’s feelings.

Jesus sought out John. He seemed to be oddly drawn to him. And somehow, John knew that Jesus was special and he at first refused to baptize him, claiming that it should be the other way around. But Jesus insisted and John complied.

The experience with John seems to have been a deeply meaningful one for Jesus. In fact, his baptism almost seems to have been a starting point for a whole new life. I heard stories of a voice from heaven speaking as Jesus emerged from the water. And it seemed as if from that point on, his life was being guided in a totally new direction, by an unseen hand.

Overall, I believe that Jesus was led by this unseen hand to the Jordan, and led to submit himself to John for baptism. And then, following that experience, he seems to have been led into the wilderness, fasting for quite a long time.

And after his wilderness experience? It would have been expected for Jesus to return to his old life in Nazareth, to resume his work and start a family. But as I have said, Jesus never returned to live there. Instead, he seemed guided to Capernaum, where he began a ministry of sorts, preaching and healing. And in addition, he began to recruit disciples.

Of course, in Nazareth, Jesus would have found it extremely difficult to recruit disciples. He was too well known as a product of the village, Joseph and Mary’s son. I confess that I was a little hurt that he didn’t ask me, or any other of our childhood friends. But honestly, I’m not sure how I would have responded to his invitation. I was beginning to wonder if I knew Jesus at all.

And I have to say that he was criticized by some who believed he’d abandoned Mary, his mother, and his siblings. In fact, when he later did return to teach in our synagogue, he was not received well:

He left that place and came to his hometown, and his disciples followed him. On the Sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, “Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. (Mark 6)

His family was understandably confused. Surely, they wanted him back, to come home. After all, he had responsibilities in Nazareth. But for reasons that were unclear at the time, Jesus did not return. The family even followed Jesus to Capernaum, where he was now living. Here is what happened:

Then his mother and his brothers came, and standing outside they sent to him and called him. A crowd was sitting around him, and they said to him, “Your mother and your brothers are outside asking for you.”  And he replied, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” And looking at those who sat around him, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers!  Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” (Mark 3)

He began to use new terms to identify himself. Mostly, he now called himself the “Son of Man.” And he began to refer to our YHWH God as his “Father.” This was all new and quite disturbing to those of us who’d known Jesus from childhood.

Some who had known Jesus thought he had lost his mind. I mean the change in his life was so dramatic and so sudden. No one, not one person I’m aware of, could have predicted this new direction of his life.

You know the rest of the story. Jesus never returned to Nazareth, though he did travel all over Galilee and even outside, to Gentile territory. And of course, you know what happened to him in Jerusalem, how he was arrested and crucified by the Romans.

His disciples claim that he was raised from the dead, and that he lives. And more: they claim that Jesus was the Son of God, the long-awaited Messiah.

I will leave those claims to you, the reader, to judge for yourself.

But I will say this: Something extraordinary happened to Jesus, I am sure of that. When John the Baptizer began to call folks to repentance, and when he began to baptize in the Jordan, it was almost as if an alarm went off in Jesus. Perhaps something long buried in him seemed to awaken. It was sudden and it was dramatic, and he was never the same.

Perhaps something got inside of him, a spirit of sorts. Many thought he had a demon, but I never thought that. What got inside of Jesus was something good, not evil. In fact, it was something very good, almost holy, I would say. And it guided him to do amazing things, and even to sacrifice himself on a cross in Jerusalem.

I can’t say what this guiding hand was, or where it came from. But I know without a doubt that it guided Jesus in paths of love.

Maybe baptism has that kind of power. People went to John so he could baptize them with water, washing away their sins. I don’t believe Jesus needed that. But perhaps for him, the water washed away his former life, freeing him for his new life of service and sacrifice.

And what about me? What about you? For me, I can look at the life of Jesus in two parts: the part before and the part after he went to the Jordan. He was given a new life, a life unlike any I’ve ever known. His old life had passed away and he could not return to it.

He was led to literally give himself in love and service to anyone who would listen. And the love that awakened in him led him to literally sacrifice himself to show us how much God loves us.

Now, a hunger for such a life has awakened in me. I want what Jesus had, to experience a baptism of sorts, to wash away my old life and be born again, as Jesus said, into a new life, one in which I too, can call God my Father.

What about you?