PAPER 124: Section 4.
The Twelfth Year (A.D. 6)
P1371:4, 124:4.1 This was an eventful year in Jesus' life. He continued to make progress at school and was indefatigable in his study of nature, while increasingly he prosecuted his study of the methods whereby men make a living. He began doing regular work in the home carpenter shop and was permitted to manage his own earnings, a very unusual arrangement to obtain in a Jewish family. This year he also learned the wisdom of keeping such matters a secret in the family. He was becoming conscious of the way in which he had caused trouble in the village, and henceforth he became increasingly discreet in concealing everything which might cause him to be regarded as different from his fellows.
P1371:5, 124:4.2 Throughout this year he experienced many seasons of uncertainty, if not actual doubt, regarding the nature of his mission. His naturally developing human mind did not yet fully grasp the reality of his dual nature. The fact that he had a single personality rendered it difficult for his consciousness to recognize the double origin of those factors which composed the nature associated with that selfsame personality.
P1371:6, 124:4.3 From this time on he became more successful in getting along with his brothers and sisters. He was increasingly tactful, always compassionate and considerate of their welfare and happiness, and enjoyed good relations with them up to the beginning of his public ministry. To be more explicit: He got along with James, Miriam, and the two younger (as yet unborn) children, Amos and Ruth, most excellently. He always got along with Martha fairly well. What trouble he had at home largely arose out of friction with Joseph and Jude, particularly the latter.
P1372:1, 124:4.4
It was a trying experience for Joseph and Mary to undertake the rearing of
this unprecedented combination of divinity and humanity, and they deserve
great credit for so faithfully and successfully discharging their parental
responsibilities. Increasingly Jesus' parents realized that there was something
superhuman resident within this eldest son, but they never even faintly dreamed
that this son of promise was indeed and in truth the actual creator of this
local universe of things and beings. Joseph and Mary lived and died without
ever learning that their son Jesus really was the Universe Creator incarnate
in mortal flesh.
P1372:2, 124:4.5
This year Jesus paid more attention than ever to music, and he continued to
teach the home school for his brothers and sisters. It was at about this time
that the lad became keenly conscious of the difference between the viewpoints
of Joseph and Mary regarding the nature of his mission. He pondered much over
his parents' differing opinions, often hearing their discussions when they
thought he was sound asleep. More and more he inclined to the view of his
father, so that his mother was destined to be hurt by the realization that
her son was gradually rejecting her guidance in matters having to do with
his life career. And, as the years passed, this
breach of understanding widened.
Less and less did Mary comprehend the significance of Jesus' mission, and
increasingly was this good mother hurt by the failure of her favorite son
to fulfill her fond expectations.
P1372:3, 124:4.6
Joseph entertained a growing belief in the spiritual nature of Jesus' mission.
And but for other and more important reasons it does seem unfortunate that
he could not have lived to see the fulfillment of his concept of Jesus' bestowal
on earth.
P1372:4, 124:4.7
During his last year at school, when he was twelve years old, Jesus remonstrated
with his father about the Jewish custom of touching the bit of parchment nailed
upon the doorpost each time on going into, or coming out of, the house and
then kissing the finger that touched the parchment. As a part of this ritual
it was customary to say, "The Lord shall preserve our going out and our coming
in, from this time forth and even forevermore." Joseph and Mary had repeatedly
instructed Jesus as to the reasons for not making images or drawing pictures,
explaining that such creations might be used for idolatrous purposes. Though
Jesus failed fully to grasp their
proscriptions against images and pictures,
he possessed a high concept of consistency and therefore pointed out to his
father the essentially idolatrous nature of this habitual obeisance to the
doorpost parchment. And Joseph removed the parchment after Jesus had thus
remonstrated with him.
P1372:5, 124:4.8
As time passed, Jesus did much to modify their practice of religious forms,
such as the family prayers and other customs. And it was possible to do many
such things at Nazareth, for its synagogue was under the influence of a liberal
school of rabbis, exemplified by the renowned Nazareth teacher, Jose.
P1372:6, 124:4.9
Throughout this and the two following years Jesus suffered great mental distress
as the result of his constant effort to adjust his personal views of religious
practices and social
amenities to the established beliefs of his parents.
He was distraught by the conflict between the urge to be loyal to his own
convictions and the conscientious admonition of dutiful submission to his
parents; his supreme conflict was between two great commands which were uppermost
in his youthful mind. The one was: "Be loyal to the dictates of your highest
convictions of truth and righteousness." The other was: "Honor your father
and mother, for they have given you life and the nurture thereof." However,
he never
shirked the responsibility of making the necessary daily adjustments
between these realms of loyalty to one's personal convictions and duty toward
one's family, and he achieved the satisfaction of effecting an increasingly
harmonious blending of personal convictions and family obligations into a
masterful concept of group solidarity based upon loyalty, fairness, tolerance,
and love.