Jesus' Seventeenth Year 

In 11 CE, Jesus was seventeen years old and acting as father to his seven brothers and sisters. He was very busy at this task and took it very seriously.

In Nazareth, where Jesus lived with his family, an extremely difficult situation arose. The Zealots, a nationalist political party, had formed and invited Jesus to join their cause, which was to incite a rebellion against the payment of taxes to Rome. This movement had captured the attention of many of the young men of the town, including some of Jesus’ own family. Even Mary wanted Jesus to join the cause, but he did not want to do it. As a result of his refusal to join, many of the other youth of the town also refused to join. Instead, they formed a more moderate group and enlisted Jesus as the leader. Again, he refused to get involved.

At a meeting of the citizens’ committee, Jesus gave his reason for refusing to join. He told those gathered that he could not take the time required for such a cause; he was far too busy with his family obligations. But in his heart, there were deeper reasons for not getting involved as he had come to understand who he really was; he was preparing himself for a religious mission to the world. But he could not disclose this publicly. So, he was being torn between his loyalty to the Jewish nation and his commitment to his own religious ideals and aspirations.

At the last minute, Jesus’ brother James came to the rescue, making a speech that seemed to satisfy those who were clamoring for Jesus’ participation. But, the people of Nazareth never forgot the incident and Jesus was put in an unfavorable light from then on. He returned to his carpentry work, but moved to Capernaum some years later as a result of this incident.

When Jesus was seventeen years old, a crisis developed that proved very challenging to him. He was at this time living a busy life, devoted to raising his brothers and sisters in the absence of his father Joseph, who had died an untimely death in 8 CE.

But in the larger world, political agitation was growing because of the oppression that the Jews felt at having to pay taxes to Rome. A movement that began in Jerusalem sparked the formation of a nationalist party called the Zealots. Unlike the Pharisees, the Zealots had no intention of waiting for the Messiah to make things right for the Jews. They intended to take matters into their own hands and create a political revolt.

This group organized and sent representatives into Galilee to enlarge their numbers. But when they reached Nazareth, they ran into problems. Jesus was one of the foremost and most influential young men in town and when they came to him to elicit his support, he refused to join their cause. He would not say why, but when he refused, many of the young men in town followed his lead and also refused to join.

Even Jesus’ mother, Mary, tried to get him to join the Zealots. She tried to make him feel guilty for not joining, insinuating that he was being “insubordinate.” But Jesus refused to be manipulated and mildly chastised his mother for suggesting it. Jesus’ uncle Simon was already in the group and when Jesus refused to join, it created an estrangement between him and his uncle that lasted several years.

When Jesus refused to join the movement, it created a division among the other young Jewish teenagers in Nazareth. Half of them had joined up with the Zealots, but the other half had formed an opposing group that was more moderate. They thought that Jesus would surely join them as their leader, but he would not join their group either. He cited his heavy responsibilities at home as his excuse, which they respected. But then a wealthy Jew named Isaac, a moneylender, offered to financially support Jesus’ family if he would quit his job of carpentry and take the role of leadership in this more moderate group of patriots.

Jesus now had to figure out a way to extricate himself from this delicate situation. As a spiritual leader, he was not truly able to relate himself to political and patriotic issues. This issue was complicated by the presence of a foreign government demanding payment of taxes and the involvement of the Jewish religion against these Roman forces.

The situation was all the more complicated because of the involvement of his mother and his uncle; even his brother James encouraged him to join the nationalistic cause. If he would only agree, all of the young men who had removed themselves would change their minds – but only if Jesus did.

The citizens’ committee of Nazareth planned to ask Jesus to make a formal reply to the public appeal for his involvement in the movement. And so Jesus sought counsel from his old teacher and chazan, who helped him formulate a response.

At age seventeen, Jesus had become more conscious of who he really was. He knew of his pre-existence and he was beginning to more fully realize why he was present on earth – to reveal the Paradise Father to mankind. As such, becoming embroiled in political issues was out of the question.

He had always depended on simply stating the truth when pressed, but he could not reveal these truths. He was being challenged to declare his national loyalty; his family was upset and confused; all of his friends were divided; and all the Jews in town were in a state of commotion. He felt that he was to blame for all of it, when this trouble was the last thing he wanted. Something had to be done.

At the meeting of the committee, he reiterated his original position, that his first duty was to his family and what they needed could not be supplied by money. They needed the watchcare and guidance of a father and he added that his conscience would not allow him to shirk the responsibilities that had fallen on his shoulders when his father was so cruelly taken from the family. He thanked his mother and his brother for being willing to release him from these responsibilities, but his loyalty to his dead father made doing so an impossibility, no matter how much money might be promised, telling the committee that “money cannot love.”

Jesus hinted at his "life mission" several times, but he explained that he had given up everything, including the military idea, so that he could meet the obligation to his family. Many in town were satisfied by this position; everyone in Nazareth knew he was a good father and this was very important to every noble Jew in town. However, not everyone was satisfied until Jesus’ brother James made an impromptu speech to the committee. It was not on the agenda, but James stepped up to deliver this speech that had been secretly rehearsed with the chazan.

James told the committee that he knew Jesus would certainly agree to join the cause if only he (James) had been old enough to take over the responsibilities for the family. He told the committee that if Jesus could just be allowed to stay with them to be their father and teacher, then they would have five loyal nationalists from Joseph’s family, rather than one, as there were five boys who would grow up and come forth to serve the nation” (Baby Amos was still alive at this point).

The very tense situation was defused and ended up with a fairly happy ending. Although the crisis was averted for the time being, the situation was never forgotten in Nazareth. The political turmoil continued and the division of feelings about Jesus was never really overcome. In later years, Jesus decided to move to Capernaum, in part, because of this incident.

Jesus went back to his carpentry shop and James joined him as a skilled full-time worker, making yokes and plows while Jesus worked more on house finishing and expert cabinetry.

Jesus continued making great progress in organizing his mind and intellect in this year. Over time, he had been able to reconcile his human and divine natures, bringing them together through the strength of his own personal decisions. He possessed and utilized the aid and guidance of his indwelling spirit – the same spirit assistance that is available to all normal-minded human beings. No supernatural influence was brought to bear in his life to this point, other than the celestial messenger that visited him when he was 13 years old.