Dear Doves,
 
   The Jesus We Missed is the title of a fine book by Patrick Henry Reardon. Chapters 1-2 concern "the hidden years" of Messiah/Christ until His public ministry began at the age of thirty. There were foundational elements during this extended period of spiritual formation, character building, personality unfolding, development, and maturation. What were some necessary elements? There were Joseph and Mary as parents and guides, training as "tekton" (a bit different than carpenter), being a caring and responsible first born son to younger siblings, and the experiences at the synagogue at Nazareth each Shabbat. Of particular value are insights about the weekly experiences at the synagogue at Nazareth on every day seven Sabbath. It was extremely rare for individuals or families to own Torah scrolls or scrolls of any of the books of the Hebraic Scriptures from Genesis to Malachi. Where was someone to find them for personal and/or group study? They would be at a local synagogue or the Temple at Jerusalem. The Sabbath, the Shabbat, was a tremendously significant day each week for Yahushua (Yeshua/Jesus Christ) all His life. After Sabbath morning public worship was an afternoon devoted to reading, study, and discussion of Hebraic Scriptures at the local synagogue with the rabbi, the elder(s), and fellow students. These were necessary, vital, and invaluable for the spiritual maturation and wisdom, ever increasing, for the future Redeemer of humankind. Each Sabbath prepared Him for His eventual public ministry.
   He entered and learned a weekly special set apart day of communion, of union with Abba Father within those Shabbat experiences. Other days of the week, days one through six, He was honoring and obeying His parents, working as a "tekton" and tending to the care of younger siblings. This blessedness, our salvation, is linked to each and all those Shabbat afternoons, when He learned and memorized The Words Of Life, the Scriptural basis for wisdom for this life and the one to come.
   By the age of twelve, the final preparatory year before the bar mitzvah, He was steeped in study and discussions about The Words Of Life. More and more, in wisdom and in truth, He was The Word Made Flesh and Dwelt with Humankind! We read in Luke 2:46 about how this knowledge and wisdom was shared with men at the Temple at Jerusalem. They were amazed at the breadth, depth, and scope of the sheer spiritual maturity of this particular young man from the Galilee. Think of what 50 annual Shabbat afternoons,  multiplied by only the early years of "the hidden years" accomplished over the course of His childhood! Luke 2:46. "And all who heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers." What was said to His mother?  Luke 2:49. "Did you not know I must be about the things of my Father?" The experiences at Jerusalem at age twelve and the last visit were at Passover. We see the early and the later Lamb of Abba Father. From age twelve to thirty, the understanding and wisdom became more impressive with each added year of belief, faith, trust in Abba and in increasingly well known and relied upon Scriptures.
   Our salvation depended upon His total obedience to those commandments (mitzvoh) given to Him to know and obey of the 613. He obeyed beautifully and perfectly the commandment to Honor The Sabbath and Keep It Kodesh, every Shabbat of His life. What do we think about the day seven of each week? Messiah/Christ engaged in a pedagorical and rhetorical method in questions and answers. Often, He employed the counter questions. Here is an example He could ask in response to a meaningful question. Rabbi, what day is the Sabbath? He would answer the question with more questions. What day is the Sabbath for you? Which is the set apart day, day seven or day one? Who do you say I am?
 
With Love and Shalom,
Jean