A prophet was born who was to turn the hearts of Israel to their God. He came in the spirit and power of Elias, preaching repentance. His life was one of loneliness and poverty. His time was spent away from the cities and multitudes; for Jerusalem, the appointed leader of nations, no longer offered an education fitted for her own prophets. And so God trained John. Of those born of women there is none greater than John the Baptist.
Jesus of Nazareth
Once more heaven and earth were linked. How small the chain! Only, as it were, the size of a thread, and the connecting link was the heart of a woman! But in the town of Nazareth, the lowly and the despised, lived a young woman, betrothed to Joseph, a carpenter of Galilee. Looking into the future, little more than dreaming of life and its hopes, she lifted her eyes, and beheld an angel. The soul longing to be in tune with God, brings angelic hosts to earth. If that yearning be but a mother’s longing, heaven bows a listening ear; the throb is felt throughout creation. So close is God to man! The words, “Hail, highly favored, the Lord is with thee,” startled Mary, for she had not expected such a quick response. She was troubled, but the angel said, “Fear not, Mary.” “The power of the Highest shall overshadow thee; therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.” “The fullness of time had come.” God, having waited years for Israel to return to Him, now accomplished the master stroke of the Godhead. Creation wondered.
The Spirit overshadowed Mary; it thrilled her nerves, and touched to life the germ of a new being. To humanity was given the power to form a body for the indwelling of the God of heaven. “A body hast Thou prepared Me.” The treasure was in an earthen vessel, that the more glory might abound to God. “Christ set up His tabernacle in the midst of our human encampment. He pitched His tent by the side of the tents of men, that He might dwell among us, and make us familiar with His divine character and life.”[46]
Early Education of Christ
The early years of the Christ child found Him sitting at His mother’s knee. From her lips and from the scrolls of the prophets, He learned of heavenly things! Nature was His unwearied teacher; from her He gathered stores of scientific knowledge. He studied the life of plants and animals, and the life of man. “The parables by which, during His ministry, He loved to teach His lessons of truth, show how open His spirit was to the influences of nature, and how He had gathered the spiritual teaching from the surroundings of His daily life.” “As the hart panteth after the waterbrooks,” so panted His soul for spiritual intercourse with the Father; and that longing which led Him to listen attentively for the voice of God in nature, developed the highest powers of His mind.
The spiritual first in Christ’s education
His was not a sudden growth, but gradual, as with other children; and while developing a strong physical body, “the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom.” The secret of the difference between Jesus and His companions is revealed in this verse. Most children develop mentally and physically, especially during their first twelve years; but the spiritual nature of Christ was the leading one and in His threefold nature the mental and physical were always well balanced by the spiritual. As Hinsdale says: “The divine mind, the human heart, and nature are closely united” in Him. He did not seek instruction in the rabbinical schools, for they had lost the spirit which to him was life.
Christ recognized his life work
At an early age, probably not later than twelve, He recognized His life work, and henceforth every energy was bent in one direction. His lot was to reveal the divinity of God, to show the possibilities of the God-man, to prove to the world that it is possible for God and man to unite and for the spiritual nature to rule; and proving this, to show that the heavenly instituted system of education was not a failure, although at that time it was in disrepute.