Jesus The Missing Years

Jesus

The Missing Years

By Walter Parks

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2011

UnKnownTruths

Publishing Company

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Other titles by Walter Parks at Smashwords.com:

Atlantis The Eyewitnesses

Immortal Again

Aging is a Treatable Disease

Satan Has Left the Earth

Paranormal Portal to a Parallel Universe

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Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Preface

Chapter 1 Introduction

The Birth of Jesus

Date of Jesus’ Birth

Jesus as a Baby

Jesus as a Boy

Story Telling Approach

Chapter 2 Jesus In The Temple

Chapter 3 Jewish Beliefs and Politics

The Jews Believed That They Owned The Land

Jewish Scriptures Prophesized the Coming of a Messiah

The Jews Had Become Divided Into Several Sects

The Pharisees

The Sadducees

The Zealots

The Essenes

Personal Beliefs versus Power Base

Chapter 4 School Selection for Jesus

Selection of Essene School

Jesus and the Elder Rabbi

Essenes in Nazareth of Jesus

God’s Reservoir of Earthly Religious Knowledge

Jesus’ Need for the Qumran School

Jewish School Structure

Jesus and John the Baptist Together

Secrecy of School Selection

Chapter 5 Qumran and Village Essenes

Essene Occupations

Praise of the Essenes

Chapter 6 Qumran Facility

Qumran-Essene History

Qumran Location

Qumran Structure

Chapter 7 Jesus and John At School

Basic Religious Teachings

The Community Rule

The First Church

Daily Routine

Chapter 8 The Essenes Teachings to Jesus and John

The Specific Teachings

Apocalyptic Prophets

Coming of the Prophet and Messiahs

Divinity of Scriptures and Oral Laws

Seek the Kingdom of God

Forsake all for Religion

Be Not Worldly but Humble

Elders and Church Structure

Immorality of Soul

Reward and Punishment

Resurrection and Future with God

Prayer

Repentance, Confession and Atonement

Baptism

Forgiveness

Mysteries

Miracles

Body is a Temple

Prophesy and Dreams

Personal Destines Preordained

Truth

Oaths

Do Unto Others

Love Your Enemies

Peacemakers

Commune: Sharing of Properties

All Humans Equal

Marriage

Help the Poor

Diet and Ritual Meals

White Robes

Singing of Psalms

Other Points of Commonality

Conclusions: Similarities Between Christianity and the Essenes

Chapter 9 The School Books of Jesus and John

Essenes Believed They were the House of Perfection and Truth.

Sole Interpreters of Knowledge of the Mysteries

Essene Purposes and Obedience to the Law

The Major Laws

Blessings

All People Are Equal

Do Unto Others

Love Your Enemies- Forgive All

Forgiveness

Predestination

Immorality of the Soul & Resurrection

Seek the Kingdom of God

Forsake all for Religion

Prayer

Confession and Repentance

Sacrifice and Atonement

Body is a Temple

Baptism

Be Not Worldly, But Humble

Bless the Poor; Help the Poor

Commune: Sharing of Properties

Apocalyptic Prophets

Church Structure

Chapter 10 Graduation Time

Chapter 11 John The Baptist

Prophesies of the Coming of John

Lineage and Birth of John

The Boyhood and School Years of John

Ministry of John The Baptist

Jesus Baptized by John

After the Baptism of Jesus

The Return of Jesus from the Wilderness

Imprisonment and Death of John

Chapter 12 Jesus The Messiah

Key Events in the Life of Jesus

The Ministry of Jesus

Preparation For The Passion of Jesus

The Trial Of Jesus

The Death Of Jesus

The Resurrection of Jesus

Epilog

About the Author

About UnknownTruths Publishing Company

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my niece Carol Ragsdale who encouraged me to study and write about Jesus. She pointed out that my accomplishments during my career in the aerospace industry were not centered on Jesus. She therefore felt that I should now center my retirement years on Jesus.

She was right and thus this book.

Thank you Carol.

Acknowledgements

"History is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon."

Napoleon Bonaparte

1769 – 1821

The Bible tells us about Jesus going to the temple at age 12 and then about him starting his ministry in his 30’s. There is no specific mention of Jesus during the intervening 20 years.

Many have speculated where he was and what he was doing during these missing years, but no one has presented any convincing evidence for any of the speculations.

I became very interested in not only where he was and what he was doing, but equally interested in why the Bible does not mention Jesus during this time.

In seeking the answers, I searched the Bible and many other ancient documents. I studied the works of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus, the Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria who lived in Egypt, the Roman writers, Pliny the Elder and Hippolytus, the Greek philosopher Dio Chrysostom, and many more. And I studies many great documents that were written by unknown authors – especially those that became parts of the Dead Sea Scrolls found in Israel between 1947 and the 1950’s, and those that were incorporated in the Nag Hammadi Codices found in upper Egypt in 1945.

I believe that I learned where Jesus was and what he was doing. And I learned that the activities of Jesus during these missing years had been wrapped in secrecy because of his isolation and because of the religious rivals of the time. His activities continued to be kept secret after his death because they were considered dangerous for his teachers and followers during those turbulent times.

I am deeply grateful to the unknown writers of old and the historical writers of the period for providing me the insight to better understand the early, formative years of Jesus and the reason that these years were not recorded in the Bible. I am also grateful to the great scholars of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and especially to Geza Vermes who so well translated and documented the findings from the Scrolls.

All of these great writings allow us to understand the previously unknown truths of the most mysterious part of the greatest event in the history of mankind: The Story of Jesus Christ.

Preface

Please don’t skip this.

Truth that is unknown by the reader – no matter how well written, or how poorly written - will be altered by the reader.

Truth will be altered because of the biases shaped by the reader’s background and experiences; by his or her education and ethics; and by his or her religious beliefs.

Great truthful documents of the past have been so altered. We need to understand this as we try to interpret such documents – and, of course – our interpretation will further alter the original.

Fiction, however, can be read with a willingness to suspend reality. The biases are then not nearly so dominating. The mind can be more open, more receptive.

Please read this book as a work of fiction, especially so in the parts derived from ancient suppositions. And some of the book is fiction in that I have enhanced the story in the places of transitions between available facts.

But I must warn you, buried within is the great truth, a largely unknown truth.

God prepared his son, the human Jesus, for his ministry by secluding him in a monastery-like school during the so-called missing years. This preparation in Jesus’ formative years resulted in the transformation of Jesus the boy to Jesus the Messiah – our Savior.

How well you suspend reality, and how dominating your biases may be, will determine how much of the great truth you see.

In any event:

Enjoy,

Walter Parks

Chapter 1

Introduction

And Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

John 8:32

Over 2000 years ago, in a land of historical turmoil, a baby boy was born. It was the beginning of the greatest story of all time.

He was the baby Jesus.

We are taught that he was the Son of God that took true human form here on earth.

He started his human life as a helpless baby.

He began to understand that he should be about his father’s business when he was 12 years old.

But he was not ready to start his ministry until he was in his 30’s.

How did he progress, in his human life, from the helpless baby to the world’s most worshipped God?

What was he thinking during this progression? How did he deal with his human emotions? His early childhood doubts?

He had to have emotions and doubts, or he would not have been human. And the Bible tells us that God sent Jesus to live among us as a human.

What preparations did Jesus need to get ready for his ministry?

Where did he make these preparations?

Why does the Bible not tell us where he was when he made these preparations?

Why does the Bible not address any of these questions? And why does the Bible not even mention him or his activities for the 20 years prior to his ministry?

Jesus is very important to us. We need to have the answers. We need to know the truth.

It is my belief that the truth is always out there. You just have to find it.

I searched the Bible, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Nag Hammadi Codices, and other ancient documents for clues to the truth. I studied the writings of the ancient historians and philosophers: Flavius Josephus of the Jews, Philo the Jew of Alexandria, Egypt, Pliny the Elder of Rome, Hippolytus of Rome, Dio Chrysostom of Greece, and others.

I could not find absolutely conclusive written answers to all of the questions. I continued looking. Then, using the evidence that I did find, I began to consider and analyze the likely actions of the people around the young Jesus; the actions that the Bible does tell us about. I even tried to imagine the evolving thoughts of the young human Jesus himself. Then it all began to come together.

I believe I found the fundamental truth.

Let us review the available evidence, my analytical suppositions, and my conclusions to see if you too arrive at similar conclusions. We will start with what we know of his birth.

The Birth of Jesus

The Bible tells us that Jesus was born in the small town of Bethlehem.

Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem. Matthew 2:1

Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star