Luke 2:42 (KJV): "And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast."
Luke 3:23 (NIV): "Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. He was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph,..."
From Christianity.com:
"While the Bible does not specifically mention Jesus’ age when he died — what we know according to Luke 3:23 is is that Jesus was 30 years old when he began his ministry and that it lasted about three and-a-half years.
"Jesus' ministry is based upon the estimated year that John the Baptist began his ministry (in the fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar’s reign, as revealed in Luke 3:1) and the number of the Jewish festivals (i.e., Passover feasts) that Jesus attended.
"Most scholars believe Jesus was 33 to 34 years old when he died, though some think he might have been as old as 39."
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So there are some mentions of his age in scripture and a lot of commentaries about it.
I think it's agreed that there is not an exact date known but there are some clues that lead to a general agreement of at least an age range at certain events.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/06/2025 04:38PM by Nightingale.
Good post. And, thanks for the corrections (I had forgotten about the Luke passage listing Jesus as being 30 years old at the beginning of his ministry).
Given Nightingale's post about the Biblical origination of Jesus' age and the likelihood that his original apostles were (mostly) teenagers at the time of their calling, the question has to be asked: Did/Does any of this matter then or now.
I'll tackle the second part of that question first. With few exceptions, the answer is no. Missionary work in both the Roman Catholic and Protestant faiths is handled by adults/young adults trained in their church's theology, and the values they intone, though Biblically based, are geared towards the modern world. As far as I know, even the majority of the white evangelical faiths use this model.
The biggest exception to this rule that I know of is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints which sends older teenagers (18 and up) out into the missionary field with a lot of sales training (especially on how to reach vulnerable people during vulnerable times) and little education in actual LDS practices and beliefs (though a good case can be made that there is really no LDS church theology--it is just whatever the whims of the current prophet are at the moment). Some fringe religions and cults also send untrained individuals out into the missionary field, but I have heard of very few utilizing teenagers for this practice.
The primary reason this matters now is that most churches recognize the advancements made by the sciences that have crept into former religious belief, such as how old the earth is, how long humans have been on it, how far away the planets and stars are really from us, whether or not the sun revolves around the earth, and the development of vaccines and other treatments that have assisted in prolonging human life. It is also now recognized, especially among developed countries, that the teenage years are an emotional roller coaster with many still trying to figure out where they fit into their cultures.
None of these things were true at the time that Jesus walked the earth. Most humans didn't live much over 30 years of age and the concept of teenager was not a speck in anybody's mind. The sciences were just philosophies promoted mainly by Greek intellectuals (Roger Bacon wouldn't prove that the sciences needed repeated experiments with the same results to be certain for another 1200-1300 years).
Ultimately, what I'm saying is that during the time that Jesus Christ (supposedly) was alive, the (suggested) fact that most of his apostles were still teenagers wouldn't have mattered to anybody. It has only been with time and education that many of us have come to see using untrained teenage missionaries as being unreliable and possibly dangerous for all involved.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2025 12:21PM by blindguy.
I was no exception to the idea that teenagers are mentally and emotionally bouncing around like ping pong balls all while being sure they have it all figured out and know more than anyone.
You can hold me accountable for many things after but I want a pass on all I did as a teen. Worse, I figured everything out way later than everyone else. Oddly the mission was what opened my eyes more than anything.
Everything Jesus makes more sense if the apostles were teens. I just read a long book "written by John the Beloved" on Jesus and though no ages are mentioned, the book is written the way that suits that idea of youthful apostles. And John seems emotionally and mentally to be that age as he writes. One thing that made the book so good.
And though he writes of Jesus as being a god, he also writes him as a someone stuck with the workings of a human body with all the messiness that entails chemically, physiologically, and having your emotions subject to more than your own will. Like Ted Nealy screaming "LEAVE ME ALONE!"
Even as an atheist this myth that has the world entrapped fascinates. Images can be powerful which makes me wonder if all the paintings of the apostles had been of teenagers rather than wise old experienced men, would it have made a difference in any way?