Apart from his family’s middle-of-the-night, harried escape from Herod into Egypt, when he was too little to remember, Jesus’ rural Galilean upbringing was mostly uneventful. At the very least it was unrecorded. He would have spent part of his boyhood playing with his siblings and the other village children. As he got older, more time would have been spent learning the carpentry skills of his father, Joseph. I picture his parents making a mental scrapbook of hundreds of special moments, the endearing qualities in him that they cherished, especially his expressions of love for them. These intimate times, however, would not have been without a foreboding shadow, given the nature of his birth and the angelic words spoken about him.
At the age of thirty, when he heard that his cousin, John, was doing baptisms down in Judea, maybe he was simply intrigued. But, on arrival, the Spirit led him to get into the water and ask to be baptized, too. John was certainly surprised at the request! The opening heavens, the descending dove, and the loud voice, were defining confirmations to both cousins. Were the crowds on the riverbanks similarly awestruck at this display?
I can’t help but wonder if, following his baptism, Jesus planned to return home, but was, instead, further led by the Spirit to go off into the wilderness to fast and pray. I suspect the uninterrupted communion with his Father would have been sweet and nourishing and affirming! It was only at the end of forty days, when physically depleted (but spiritually strengthened), that the temptations took place. (The Tempter didn’t stand a chance!)
Only Luke’s gospel account speaks of Jesus’ subsequent return to Galilee following the wilderness experience. He records that Jesus returned, ‘filled with the Holy Spirit’s power.’ And that power seems to have surged out of him in such a way that he was enthusiastically invited to speak in local synagogues where he was praised by everyone! The public portion of his ministry had begun in his ‘Jerusalem.’
Here’s the pattern I see in Jesus’ life: he led a quiet life of obedience up and into his adulthood. He seemed to naturally (could I say ‘organically?’) allow himself to be led by the Spirit. He sought for times of communion with his Father (was the wilderness time one accepted with gratitude, to have the ‘luxury’ of that extended time with his Father without having to explain his absence?) Still submitting himself to the leadership of the Spirit, he went as directed to the various speaking engagements arranged for him. What peace he must have known to obey so completely, with no agenda, no anticipation of specific results! Is this our invitation from the Spirit, too? PD
