Hobbies and Interests Jesus Enjoyed 

For a baby, every day is a new adventure. A child is full of wonder and wants to know about his environment. Jesus was the same. Up to the age of ten, he was one continuous question mark. He asked his parents challenging questions, and they did their best to answer, although he was not always satisfied with their explanations. He would ponder deeply, always interested in so many things.

As a child, he loved to play in sandboxes that his parents made for him on the flat roof of their house. Being imaginative, Jesus would draw maps, practice his writing in three languages, and build structures out of wood blocks from his dad’s carpenter shop. Later, with his brother and friends, he would play in the carpenter shop with shavings and scraps of wood. Jesus and the neighbor lad, Jacob, would watch in awe as a potter would form jars with his deft fingers. The potter would give the boys clay pieces to mold their creations.

Jesus loved nature. He was amazed at the seasons and how the flora would appear so different. He enjoyed Sunday walks with his father, noting flowers blooming and new leaves filling out. Besides learning from his parents at home, his greatest lessons were observing nature, which he viewed with a reverent and sympathetic eye. His mother taught him how to care for fruit vines and vegetables in their garden. Jesus spent time each day teaching his brothers and sisters how to cultivate plants, and he would frequently take them on nature hikes. Jesus enjoyed staying at his uncle’s farm, and he helped with the harvest. Even during school days, he continued his diligent study of nature.

The love of nature never left him, and he would often go off by himself in a natural setting to pray to his Father. In his ministry, Jesus would frequently use nature parables that were well suited for the illustration of one central truth he hoped to convey. Jesus emphasized the value of employing analogies that exist between the natural and the spiritual worlds. One could realize spiritual realities when viewing nature, akin to seeing a shadow on the wall and knowing its source.

Jesus loved animals. He tenderly cared for the family’s animals and taught his brothers and sisters how to feed, milk, and care for them. The family owned three cows, four sheep, a flock of chickens, a donkey, a flock of doves, and a dog. When Jesus toured the Mediterranean, he and Ganid spent an afternoon on the beach playing with a very intelligent shepherd dog. On Jesus’ first trip to Jerusalem for the Passover, seeing the slaughter of animals so repulsed him. He experienced terrible dreams of slaughter and suffering on his trip and he decided that whenever he hosted a Passover meal, it would not include the traditional slaughtered lamb.

Jesus enjoyed sports and competitive games, particularly the athletic contests he witnessed at the Greek Scythopolis amphitheater when he was 11. Enthused by the events, he suggested to his father that they should consider building an amphitheater in Nazareth. Joseph, however, strongly disapproved of the idea, considering such activities vain and evil, a view commonly held by the Jews. This led to a rare moment of anger from Joseph towards Jesus, despite Jesus's belief in the potential benefits for Nazareth's youth. As an adult, Jesus would work around this imposition by setting aside a day for fun activities with his apostles.

Jesus appreciated art, a passion often viewed with suspicion by the Jews, who saw it as a gateway to unseemliness. As a child, he enjoyed sketching and once faced reprimand after a peer reported him for drawing, which led to a confrontation with the chazan about the belief that creating artwork was idolatrous. Jesus found joy in depicting landscapes, often inspired by the stunning vistas from a hill near his home. He made a point to visit museums during his travels, spending several days with Ganid at the renowned museum in Alexandria, Egypt, which housed extensive collections of art, science, and literature. In Athens, he, Ganid, and Gonod explored the rich art scene, visiting numerous cultural sites. During Passover in Jerusalem, Jesus visited the home of a Greek Jew, Flavius, admiring the exquisite art and sculptures collected from around the world, which sparked a lively discussion. Flavius was both surprised and delighted by Jesus's deep appreciation of his collection.

Jesus also loved music and storytelling. During his eighth year, he made arrangements to exchange dairy products for harp lessons. He also made efforts to instill a love of vocal music in his young companions. At the age of eleven, Jesus had already honed his skills as a harpist and enjoyed entertaining his family and friends with his remarkable interpretations and skilled improvisations. By the age of fourteen, it had become customary for the neighbors to pay Jesus a visit during the winter months to listen to him play the harp, as well as to enjoy his captivating storytelling abilities and readings from the Greek scriptures. As a young adult, children would gather around his woodshop and plead, "Please Uncle Joshua, please tell us a story!" They especially fancied hearing of his trips to Jerusalem and those about animals and nature. When Ganid fell ill, Jesus cheered him with stories about nature to keep his spirits uplifted.

Jesus engaged in the study of mathematics, science, philosophy, religion, languages, and other subjects. In his late twenties, Jesus spent at least five evenings a week in intense study at the Capernaum synagogue when he was working full time in Zebedee’s boat building shop. When Jesus trained his first six apostles, he recommended that they spend three hours every evening in study of the scriptures and preparing for their future work.

Jesus never tired of learning and improving himself. He retained the wonder of a child his whole life and was a perpetual learner. This sustained curiosity, a trait often lost from childhood, highlights the importance of nurturing an environment where one can freely explore personal interests. Jesus exemplified this approach to lifelong learning, always seeking to expand his understanding and maintain the wonder of discovery. Jesus exemplified this lifelong curiosity and wonder.

Jesus was able to speak with leading intellectuals on almost every subject, and they all walked away with a clearer understanding of their subject of expertise. Several universities offered Jesus a faculty position, and a group from Alexandria presented Jesus with a prominent position as a religious teacher in their main synagogue. Jesus, the human, may have become a Renaissance man, like Leonardo da Vinci, who explored and advanced multiple disciplines. He may have taught numerous subjects at a university. As Jesus managed to find out something about practically every way men and women make a living, including the trades, he may have been a contractor like his father. But Jesus was also divine, and he came to learn about humans and to teach us about God.

Jesus’ main interests were humanity and God. He sought to understand everything about humans, their livelihoods, thoughts, and lifestyles on earth; and to offer them a new and better comprehension of God that would liberate them from the entanglements of evolving religion. Jesus traveled to meet people from different cultures. His interest in people went beyond mere curiosity; he sincerely loved them. In all his studies, he focused on what was most important. The full appreciation of art is only complete when recognizing the artist. Jesus loved humanity and God, and this passion fueled all his hobbies and interests.