Recently, a
Facebook friend of mine posted the following question:
"Can someone tell me why there is no record of the Greatest Man ever Born Jesus from the age past 12 until around the age of 30. what went on in that time span?"
The question is one that has been pondered on through the ages and of course as mere mortals with human minds, we often wonder about such things. I didn't want to rush in an give my opinion quickly so I gave it careful consideration and sought God's guidance in what I would reply with. In between the time the question was posted there were a couple of well meaning folks that commented with their opinions; both which were not Biblically founded (which is what I was afraid would happen.) One pointed to the
Infancy Gospel of Thomas, which is not included in the Cannon of Scriptures that we use because it is not a true Gospel, it is a false Gospel. It is a Gnostic writing to appease people's curiosity's concerning the early life of Jesus. The disturbing thing about this writing is that it casts Jesus in a light of acting in the flesh by killing at least 3 different people during his child/teen years and also striking people blind out of vengeance. This is obviously not the Jesus of the Bible. I would call the Infancy Gospel of Thomas for what it is, heresy.
Another commenter provided a link to Lee Strobel's book,
A Case For Christ. A book written by a former atheist who conducted interviews with so-called "Biblical scholars" to prove that Jesus was really the Son of God. I have not read this book and cannot give an authoritative opinion, however, I base my beliefs on Faith, which is what every believer must do, and not some man's opinion.
So, after seeking the Lord's help, I answered the question with the following:
"No one on this earth can tell you why. Only the Lord would have the answer to that. One thing is for certain, we have all that we need because Scripture tells us in 2 Timothy 3:16,17 "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works." Those words "throughly furnished" mean fully equipped, in other words nothing else is needed. The last account that the Gospels give us between his childhood and adult years, is that Jesus "increased in wisdom and stature," therefore, we must believe that His time was spent being obedient and about His Father's business. John 21:25 says: "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen." I think the important thing is to consider what is written about Him and to trust him as our Lord and Savior and not be worried about what isn't written."
Now, I'm not saying that I know everything there is to know concerning the Bible, far from it, but I do know that the Bible I use, the Authorized King James Version, is the perfect, infallible, inerrant Word of God, and it is complete and everything we need. There's nothing wrong with having questions about the Bible but all too often we worry about things that are NOT in the Bible instead of worrying about the things that ARE in the Bible. We need to concentrate on what we do have and leave the rest for the Lord to reveal to us in Heaven.
So, I end this post with one of my favorite quotes from Pastor Clarence Sexton:
"The best commentary on the Bible, is the Bible." - Amen!
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