Paper 129 Overview: The Later Adult Life of Jesus

Jesus had fully and definitively separated himself from the direct management of the Nazareth family's affairs, while maintaining financial contributions and profound interest in the spiritual development of each family member. This separation represented the culmination of years of deliberate preparation for his divine mission, a transition made more difficult by the profound familial bonds he had developed—bonds that had intensified through his extraordinary dedication and service to his brothers and sisters. The process of detachment had been methodically executed over four years, allowing his family to gradually acclimate to the reality of his impending permanent departure, mitigating somewhat the emotional impact of this significant transition.

The subsequent three years of Jesus' pre-public ministry life were characterized by extensive travel, diverse employment, and intensive interaction with numerous cultural and social strata throughout the Mediterranean world. This period was instrumental in completing his experiential knowledge of human nature and societal structures, providing him with comprehensive insights into the challenges, aspirations, and spiritual capacities of his fellow mortals. His Mediterranean journey in particular represented the final phase of his human educational development, allowing him to understand through direct personal experience the diverse manifestations of human existence. By the conclusion of his twenty-ninth year, Jesus had effectively completed the experiential requirements of his mortal incarnation, having mastered the full spectrum of human experience and prepared himself for the commencement of his public revelation of the Father's love to the world.

Jesus had completely and permanently disengaged from the management of domestic affairs in the Nazareth household, while continuing to provide financial support and maintain profound interest in the spiritual welfare of each family member. He had methodically prepared for this permanent separation from his childhood home, a process rendered challenging by the depth of his natural affection for his family members. This natural familial love had been significantly intensified through his extraordinary devotion to them over many years of dedicated service and guidance. The revelator observes that the more completely we bestow ourselves upon our fellows, the more profoundly we come to love them; Jesus, having given himself so completely to his family's welfare, had developed bonds of exceptional strength and depth with them.

The family had gradually awakened to the realization that Jesus was systematically preparing to leave them permanently. This awareness had developed progressively over more than four years, as Jesus implemented a graduated method of preparing them for his eventual departure. This methodical approach tempered somewhat the emotional impact of the anticipated separation, allowing family members to adjust incrementally rather than facing an abrupt disruption. Nevertheless, an underlying sadness permeated the household as they collectively recognized the inevitable conclusion of Jesus' direct presence in their daily lives, even as they acknowledged the necessity of his broader mission.

In January of A.D. 21, on a rainy Sunday morning, Jesus took unceremonious leave of his family, explaining only that he was traveling to Tiberias and other cities surrounding the Sea of Galilee. This marked his definitive departure from regular residence in the Nazareth home, transitioning him into the next phase of his life journey. After spending a week in Tiberias and finding little of interest there, he journeyed through Magdala and Bethsaida to Capernaum, where he visited Zebedee, a boatbuilder who had been a friend of his father. Jesus, possessing expertise in both design and woodworking, readily accepted Zebedee's invitation to join his boatbuilding enterprise when presented with the opportunity to collaborate on developing improved watercraft designs.

Jesus worked with Zebedee for slightly more than a year, during which time he created an innovative boat design and established revolutionary methods for steaming the boards, significantly enhancing the safety and performance of vessels used on the lake. Through his superior technique and substantially improved methodology, Jesus and Zebedee began constructing boats of markedly superior quality, vessels considerably safer for navigating the sometimes treacherous waters of the lake. The impact of these innovations proved so significant that within five years, nearly all watercraft on the lake had been constructed in Zebedee's shop at Capernaum, establishing Jesus' reputation among Galilean fishermen as an exceptional boat designer. During this period, Jesus lived in Zebedee's home, participated in family life, provided monthly financial support to his Nazareth family, and regularly taught in the Capernaum synagogue, becoming known as a resident of that city for tax purposes.

Jesus encountered at Zebedee's home a particularly rich environment for personal interaction and philosophical discourse. The Zebedee family developed profound admiration for him, and Jesus conducted nightly question-and-answer sessions after supper, providing advanced instruction on diverse topics including politics, sociology, science, and philosophy. He spoke with remarkable freedom on these subjects while maintaining a respectful reservation when discussing religion, always framing theological matters in terms of the relationship between humans and God. He held weekly meetings for the entire household and workforce, and it was among these laborers that he was first addressed as "the Master," reflecting the respect and authority he had cultivated through his exceptional character and wisdom.

In March of A.D. 22, Jesus departed from Zebedee and Capernaum, requesting a modest sum of money to finance his journey to Jerusalem. Throughout his tenure with Zebedee, he had drawn minimal compensation, consistently remitting the majority of his earnings to support his family in Nazareth, with either Joseph or Jude making monthly journeys to Capernaum to collect these funds. Before his departure, Jesus engaged in a significant conversation with John Zebedee, informing him of his intention to travel extensively until "his hour should come" and requesting John's assistance in the continued financial support of his Nazareth family. John earnestly pledged his commitment, promising to watch over Jesus' family with the same devotion he would show to his own mother and siblings, and to disburse funds as directed, supplementing from his personal earnings if necessary.

Upon Jesus' departure, John consulted with his father regarding Jesus' financial affairs and, discovering the considerable sum remaining, they determined that the most prudent course would be to invest these funds in property. They subsequently purchased a small house in Capernaum carrying a mortgage and held the title in trust for Jesus, applying the rental income toward the mortgage payments for two years. This arrangement, supplemented by additional funds Jesus later sent and contributions from Zebedee, enabled John to completely satisfy the mortgage when it matured, thereby securing clear title to the property for Jesus—though he remained unaware of this development. During his time in Jerusalem, Jesus stayed primarily at the home of Annas, the former high priest, studying in the temple and visiting various rabbinical schools. During Passover, he was joined by the Zebedee family, and it was at this time that he encountered a wealthy Indian merchant named Gonod and his son Ganid, who engaged Jesus as an interpreter and tutor for an extensive journey around the Mediterranean world that would occupy nearly two years.

The financial arrangements for Jesus' Mediterranean journey proved particularly providential. When Gonod proposed to engage Jesus as an interpreter and tutor, Jesus expressed hesitation due to concern for his family's potential financial needs during his extended absence. The merchant from the Orient proposed an immediate advance payment equivalent to one year's wages, which Jesus entrusted to John Zebedee for safeguarding his family against want. This substantial sum contributed to John's ability to liquidate the mortgage on the Capernaum property. Jesus departed with Gonod and Ganid with Zebedee's full knowledge of his plans, though Zebedee was instructed to tell no one, not even his own family, of Jesus' whereabouts. During Jesus' absence, his family in Nazareth nearly gave up hope, believing him possibly dead, with only Zebedee's occasional visits providing Mary reassurance that Jesus was alive and well.

Jesus' entire twenty-ninth year was devoted to completing the comprehensive tour of the Mediterranean world with Gonod and Ganid. Throughout this extensive journey, Jesus was frequently identified as the Damascus scribe, though during the return journey he was more commonly known as the Jewish tutor. This period constituted a profoundly significant phase in Jesus' life development, during which he established countless valuable contacts with his fellow humans across diverse cultural contexts. The remarkable experiences of this journey, however, remained undisclosed to his family and later to his apostles; Jesus lived out his entire earthly life without anyone except Zebedee of Bethsaida knowing of this extensive travel experience.

Upon returning to Palestine, Jesus made no effort to correct his family's assumption that he had spent his time in Alexandria, allowing them to maintain this belief. His deliberate compartmentalization of different phases of his life reflected a consistent strategy to prevent the development of an overly dramatic or sensationalized personal narrative that might distract from his essential spiritual mission. The revelator emphasizes that in all attempts to comprehend Jesus' life and mission, one must remain cognizant of the dual purpose of his incarnation: the completion of his experiential sovereignty acquisition and the revelation of the Universal Father to mortal inhabitants of the worlds of time and space. Through this Mediterranean journey, Jesus essentially completed his educational contact-training with the diverse peoples of his day and generation, gaining comprehensive firsthand knowledge of how humans lived and conducted their affairs throughout the civilized world of his time.

Jesus came into exceptionally close contact with hundreds of human beings during this journey, meeting and loving all manner of individuals across the socioeconomic spectrum—rich and poor, high and low, educated and uneducated, cultured and uncultured, spiritual and animalistic, religious and irreligious, moral and immoral. This extensive interaction with diverse human personalities provided Jesus with unparalleled insights into the human condition, completing his preparation for the commencement of his public ministry. Throughout this period, Jesus also made tremendous progress in the mastery of his material mind and the spiritual conquest of his human intellect, approaching ever closer to the complete integration of his human nature with his divine purpose.

To the observing celestial intelligences of the local universe, Jesus' Mediterranean journey represented the most captivating period of his earthly existence prior to his crucifixion and mortal death. This fascinating phase of personal ministry, in contrast to his subsequent public work, held particular interest precisely because Jesus remained identified as the carpenter of Nazareth, the boatbuilder of Capernaum, or the scribe of Damascus. During this period, he had not yet achieved complete mastery of his human mind, nor had his indwelling divine spirit fully integrated with his mortal identity; he remained, in significant ways, a man among men, navigating the challenges and discoveries of human existence while progressively integrating his divine nature with his human experience.

The purely human religious experience of Jesus—his personal spiritual growth—approached its culmination during his twenty-ninth year. This spiritual development had proceeded as a consistently graduated progression from the moment of the arrival of his Thought Adjuster until the day of the completion and confirmation of his natural and normal human relationship between the material mind and its spiritual endowment. This transformation reached its finality at his baptism in the Jordan, which marked the beginning of his public ministry. By the conclusion of this year, Jesus had effectively completed the living of life required of mortals as sojourners in the flesh. He had progressed from the divine fullness manifest to man to the human perfection poised to be manifest to God, having mastered through direct experience what it meant to live as a mortal, thereby earning the right to become sovereign of his universe and becoming the perfect revelation of the eternal God to humankind.

During these years of personal preparation, though Jesus did not engage in supernatural demonstrations or superhuman performances, he perfected increasingly effective methods of personal communion with the indwelling spirit presence of the Paradise Father. He lived an authentic life, experiencing the full range of human emotions from profound joy to deep sorrow. His experience encompassed the comprehensive spectrum of human existence, allowing him to understand the thoughts, feelings, urges, and impulses of evolving mortals from birth to death. Through this complete immersion in human experience, Jesus achieved the full reconciliation of his human and divine natures, presenting to the Universal Father a perfected human personality that received the Father's unqualified acceptance.