Jesus was a mere mortal, easily influenced by the people around him and the events of his
time. He didn’t become Son of God until he was baptized. He may have been an important
figure in his day, but he was the Christ only in the minds of his followers. He was like everyone
else—in need of purification.
This is the Jesus of the National Geographic Channel. Some time ago this cable channel
presented “Science of the Bible: The Lost Years of Jesus”, a documentary which sought to
investigate what the years between his birth and the beginning of his public ministry were like,
years about which the Bible is basically silent.
As might be expected from a TV show associated with a secular and pro-evolution magazine,
the Jesus the National Geographic Channel presents is not the Jesus Bible-believing
Christians can recognize. The theologians and scientists interviewed during the 60-minute
production all seem to be of the religious liberal persuasion. Still, there were a few points made
in the program with which we might agree, and a certain amount of respect is given to the
Scriptures regarding geographical and historical matters. Other than verses from the Bible
(quoted here from the NIV), mostly all the quotations that follow are verbatim from the show.
Introduction
Jesus’ young life is a total mystery, we are told, but he became “the most famous man of his
age.” Most famous man of his age? That surely is a gross understatement.
“Now we go beyond the Gospels...to paint a shocking new portrait of a boy who had brothers
and sisters, of a man who was not a carpenter, and we uncover new archaeological evidence of
a ritual that lets us see into the mind of Jesus.” See into the mind of Jesus?
The narrator says Jesus was “born in a manger.” Actually, Jesus was born in a stable and laid
in a manger. “He died on a cross. He created a new religion but most of his life remains
shrouded in mystery.” In the sense that Christianity is a fulfillment of the Old Testament, it is not
a new religion. And everything we need to know about the life of Jesus is plainly stated in the
Bible.
The Baptism of Jesus
John the Baptist is given almost as much attention in this production as is Jesus. He was a
“radical preacher” whose name would have been long forgotten were it not for his baptism of
Jesus. But John’s baptism of Jesus was important because it “was the spiritual turning point in
Jesus’ life.”
“(John’s baptism of Jesus) is the moment when Christians believe Jesus became Christ, the
Anointed One,” claims Prof Carolyn Osiek of the Brite Divinity School. “It was the beginning of
Jesus’ relationship to God as son, as Son of God.”
This is the only time in the program in which Jesus is called Christ and it is, of course, qualified
by the phrase “Christians believe.” And this is the only time Jesus is referred to as God or Son
of God, but it appears that Prof. Osiek hardly means the divine Son of God.
As for the baptism being the beginning of Jesus’ relationship to God as Son of God, Prof. Osiek
probably gets this idea from Matthew 3:17 in which the Father called Jesus “my Son, whom I
love.” However, while Jesus may have begun his public ministry when he was baptized, John 1:1
tells us, “In the beginning was the Word (Son of God), and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God.” Jesus is and always has been the One and Only Son of God (John 3:16).
It is interesting that the National Geographic program mentions the Spirit descending on Jesus
at his baptism in the form of a dove. However, neither Osiek nor the narrator quotes or refers to
Matthew 3:17, John 3:16 or any of the many other verses which establish Jesus’ divinity.
Why did Jesus come to John the Baptist to be baptized? The narrator says, “The Bible gives us
no clue.”
For some reason, John’s “draw must have been strong enough to pull Jesus from a distant
village in Galilee,” says Prof. Jonathan L. Reed of the University of La Verne.
“If we can understand what John was preaching, perhaps we can discover why Jesus came to
his pivotal decision to be baptized.” So states Prof. Stephen Patterson of Eden Theological
Seminary.
However, the Bible does give the reason why Jesus came to John to be baptized. When John
out of humility tried to discourage Jesus from being baptized by John, Jesus said, “Let it be so
now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:15)
Albrecht and Albrecht (The People’s Bible: Matthew) explain Jesus’ answer: “Jesus was simply
saying that this was what the Father wanted them to do, and that was enough explanation for
John.”
John’s Relationship to Jesus
The documentary has no problem accepting the Bible’s description of John the Baptist as a
rugged individual living in the wilderness, dressed in camel’s hair, and eating locusts and wild
honey.
But it pictures John as very much a revolutionary man, the creator of a radical new sect of
Judaism, and someone who may have had a lot to do with forming Jesus’ philosophy.
However, can we accept the suggestion that Jesus sent by His heavenly Father to become our
Savior would base his ideas and teaching on anything that John was preaching?
The book of John says about the Baptist, “He came as a witness to testify concerning that light,
so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a
witness to the light.” (John 1:7-8)
Still, Osiek thinks that Jesus prior to beginning his own ministry may have sought out John the
Baptist and become his disciple.
Patterson contends it is most certainly a “Christian invention” to think that John saw himself as
a precursor to Jesus although he offers no evidence for thinking as he does.
However, the Bible plainly says in referring to John, “A voice of one calling in the desert,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” (Matthew 3:3, Isaiah 40:3) And in
Matthew 3:11 John says to the Pharisees, “But after me will come one who is more powerful
than I.”
John recognized he was nowhere near the equal of Jesus. Besides feeling that he needed to
be baptized by Jesus more so than the other way around, John also said about Jesus, “He who
comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.” (John 1:15)
The Boy Jesus
Admittedly the Bible says little about the boyhood of Jesus, other than his presentation in the
Temple on the 8th day and his trip to Jerusalem when he was 12. (Luke 2)
We could agree it’s likely that Joseph’s family was low on the social scale. Joseph is called a
tekton in Greek which is usually translated as “carpenter.”
However, Reed says that a tekton is simply a person who works with his hands. While Joseph
and Jesus may at times have worked with wood, they more likely, he claims, to have shaped
stone, repaired houses, or even worked in the fields.
Patterson says that being a tekton means Joseph owned no land and was a step below that of
a normal peasant.
We do know Jesus was born in a very humble abode and lived in poverty as an adult, at least
after starting his ministry. “The Son of Man has no place to lay his head,” Jesus says in
Matthew 8:20.
Jesus grew up in a fairly sizeable family. He had brothers and sisters. (Mark 6:3, Galatians 1:
19, Matthew 12:46, Mark 3:31, John 2:12) The fact that he had brothers and sisters is not a
problem for Lutherans and Protestants, but, as the program indicates, it is a problem for
Catholics. The Catholic Church, which believes Mary never lost her virginity, argues that
“brother” and “sister” do not necessarily imply blood relations.
Having large families was necessary, according to Prof. Marcus J. Borg of Oregon State
University, because of the high death rate. He says roughly 40% of peasant children died by
the age of 5. LSI
Part 2—Nazareth, the Zealots, the mikvah, and more.
time. He didn’t become Son of God until he was baptized. He may have been an important
figure in his day, but he was the Christ only in the minds of his followers. He was like everyone
else—in need of purification.
This is the Jesus of the National Geographic Channel. Some time ago this cable channel
presented “Science of the Bible: The Lost Years of Jesus”, a documentary which sought to
investigate what the years between his birth and the beginning of his public ministry were like,
years about which the Bible is basically silent.
As might be expected from a TV show associated with a secular and pro-evolution magazine,
the Jesus the National Geographic Channel presents is not the Jesus Bible-believing
Christians can recognize. The theologians and scientists interviewed during the 60-minute
production all seem to be of the religious liberal persuasion. Still, there were a few points made
in the program with which we might agree, and a certain amount of respect is given to the
Scriptures regarding geographical and historical matters. Other than verses from the Bible
(quoted here from the NIV), mostly all the quotations that follow are verbatim from the show.
Introduction
Jesus’ young life is a total mystery, we are told, but he became “the most famous man of his
age.” Most famous man of his age? That surely is a gross understatement.
“Now we go beyond the Gospels...to paint a shocking new portrait of a boy who had brothers
and sisters, of a man who was not a carpenter, and we uncover new archaeological evidence of
a ritual that lets us see into the mind of Jesus.” See into the mind of Jesus?
The narrator says Jesus was “born in a manger.” Actually, Jesus was born in a stable and laid
in a manger. “He died on a cross. He created a new religion but most of his life remains
shrouded in mystery.” In the sense that Christianity is a fulfillment of the Old Testament, it is not
a new religion. And everything we need to know about the life of Jesus is plainly stated in the
Bible.
The Baptism of Jesus
John the Baptist is given almost as much attention in this production as is Jesus. He was a
“radical preacher” whose name would have been long forgotten were it not for his baptism of
Jesus. But John’s baptism of Jesus was important because it “was the spiritual turning point in
Jesus’ life.”
“(John’s baptism of Jesus) is the moment when Christians believe Jesus became Christ, the
Anointed One,” claims Prof Carolyn Osiek of the Brite Divinity School. “It was the beginning of
Jesus’ relationship to God as son, as Son of God.”
This is the only time in the program in which Jesus is called Christ and it is, of course, qualified
by the phrase “Christians believe.” And this is the only time Jesus is referred to as God or Son
of God, but it appears that Prof. Osiek hardly means the divine Son of God.
As for the baptism being the beginning of Jesus’ relationship to God as Son of God, Prof. Osiek
probably gets this idea from Matthew 3:17 in which the Father called Jesus “my Son, whom I
love.” However, while Jesus may have begun his public ministry when he was baptized, John 1:1
tells us, “In the beginning was the Word (Son of God), and the Word was with God, and the
Word was God.” Jesus is and always has been the One and Only Son of God (John 3:16).
It is interesting that the National Geographic program mentions the Spirit descending on Jesus
at his baptism in the form of a dove. However, neither Osiek nor the narrator quotes or refers to
Matthew 3:17, John 3:16 or any of the many other verses which establish Jesus’ divinity.
Why did Jesus come to John the Baptist to be baptized? The narrator says, “The Bible gives us
no clue.”
For some reason, John’s “draw must have been strong enough to pull Jesus from a distant
village in Galilee,” says Prof. Jonathan L. Reed of the University of La Verne.
“If we can understand what John was preaching, perhaps we can discover why Jesus came to
his pivotal decision to be baptized.” So states Prof. Stephen Patterson of Eden Theological
Seminary.
However, the Bible does give the reason why Jesus came to John to be baptized. When John
out of humility tried to discourage Jesus from being baptized by John, Jesus said, “Let it be so
now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.” (Matthew 3:15)
Albrecht and Albrecht (The People’s Bible: Matthew) explain Jesus’ answer: “Jesus was simply
saying that this was what the Father wanted them to do, and that was enough explanation for
John.”
John’s Relationship to Jesus
The documentary has no problem accepting the Bible’s description of John the Baptist as a
rugged individual living in the wilderness, dressed in camel’s hair, and eating locusts and wild
honey.
But it pictures John as very much a revolutionary man, the creator of a radical new sect of
Judaism, and someone who may have had a lot to do with forming Jesus’ philosophy.
However, can we accept the suggestion that Jesus sent by His heavenly Father to become our
Savior would base his ideas and teaching on anything that John was preaching?
The book of John says about the Baptist, “He came as a witness to testify concerning that light,
so that through him all men might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a
witness to the light.” (John 1:7-8)
Still, Osiek thinks that Jesus prior to beginning his own ministry may have sought out John the
Baptist and become his disciple.
Patterson contends it is most certainly a “Christian invention” to think that John saw himself as
a precursor to Jesus although he offers no evidence for thinking as he does.
However, the Bible plainly says in referring to John, “A voice of one calling in the desert,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” (Matthew 3:3, Isaiah 40:3) And in
Matthew 3:11 John says to the Pharisees, “But after me will come one who is more powerful
than I.”
John recognized he was nowhere near the equal of Jesus. Besides feeling that he needed to
be baptized by Jesus more so than the other way around, John also said about Jesus, “He who
comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.” (John 1:15)
The Boy Jesus
Admittedly the Bible says little about the boyhood of Jesus, other than his presentation in the
Temple on the 8th day and his trip to Jerusalem when he was 12. (Luke 2)
We could agree it’s likely that Joseph’s family was low on the social scale. Joseph is called a
tekton in Greek which is usually translated as “carpenter.”
However, Reed says that a tekton is simply a person who works with his hands. While Joseph
and Jesus may at times have worked with wood, they more likely, he claims, to have shaped
stone, repaired houses, or even worked in the fields.
Patterson says that being a tekton means Joseph owned no land and was a step below that of
a normal peasant.
We do know Jesus was born in a very humble abode and lived in poverty as an adult, at least
after starting his ministry. “The Son of Man has no place to lay his head,” Jesus says in
Matthew 8:20.
Jesus grew up in a fairly sizeable family. He had brothers and sisters. (Mark 6:3, Galatians 1:
19, Matthew 12:46, Mark 3:31, John 2:12) The fact that he had brothers and sisters is not a
problem for Lutherans and Protestants, but, as the program indicates, it is a problem for
Catholics. The Catholic Church, which believes Mary never lost her virginity, argues that
“brother” and “sister” do not necessarily imply blood relations.
Having large families was necessary, according to Prof. Marcus J. Borg of Oregon State
University, because of the high death rate. He says roughly 40% of peasant children died by
the age of 5. LSI
Part 2—Nazareth, the Zealots, the mikvah, and more.
By Warren Krug
| Published 2008 |
PART 1