What was He Doing For 30 Years?
Except for a few isolated scripture passages in the Bible, there is very little written about the first 30 years of Jesus’ life. His earliest years are shrouded in mystery. What was He doing? Why didn’t Jesus become more active in miracles much sooner than he did, and why didn’t He help more people? What was the purpose of this quiet time, and why did He wait so long?
Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Jesus was being human! This fact has been totally overlooked throughout church history. I once asked Jesus this question in my quiet time and this was His answer; “I was being you!”
Think of that. Jesus spent 30 years of His 33-year ministry just being human. There were no miracles, nothing supernatural. The God of this universe spent the majority of His time on Earth experiencing what it was to be human. He was not a casual observer. Jesus was not sitting far away looking down through a microscope. He was experiencing being human as a real person would, just like you and I do on a daily basis.
Jesus knows what it is like to be a child making friends in school. He experienced playing ball on the playground falling down and skinning His knees. He knows what it is like to grow up in a poor small town in Israel feeling all the joys and pains of life. Jesus watched His baby brothers and sisters being born and He also felt the hurt of seeing people pass away, just like His own father: Joseph. Jesus also watched His school friends grew up, fall in love with each other and get married to start families.
Jesus also experienced everyday life with all its pressures, it’s boredom and it’s excitement. He has also experienced the evil of this life, watching a Roman army take control of Israel and all the cruelty that comes with an invasion of His country. Jesus watched and experienced, as we all do, the cruel and evil things we do to each other.
Today, I want you to think of this: The second greatest ministry Jesus had, short of dying on the cross and paying for humanities sins, was the time Jesus spent just being human. Thirty years being human with all its wonders and all its pain.
So today, having your sins washed away, we can boldly enter into His presence and speak to Him about anything we face in life because He already experienced it. Jesus and God the Father knows the pain and heartache we face. He is not only our God and Savior, He is our Brother and High Priest who can sympathize with all our weakness and pains. There is nothing we face today that Jesus does not understand. Jesus knows the temptation of everything we face and experience.
