Baby Jesus was born into a strict Jewish family in Bethlehem, the City of David. His father, Joseph, was a descendant from the of the House of David, (Matthew 1:1-16) a royal bloodline and highly respected family of Israel.

His mother, Mary, was also from a prominent royal blood line which made her a respectable choice for a bride. Both were strong believers in their Judaic background and practiced their traditions. Contrary to popular belief, Jesus was not a virgin birth.

The theory of the virgin birth did not evolve until approximately three hundred years later, when the New Testament was being transcribed. The main quote in the bible reads:

Luke 1:27 ~ To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgins name was Mary.

The key word in this quote is not virgin, that seems to be the current focus, but espoused. Meaning to be engaged or married to a particular man ~ in this case it clearly names her husband as being Joseph, of the House of David. Naturally, it was important for her to be pure, for her husband. She would in all likelihood have been a virgin before their marriage.

Baby Jesus was taken to the temple to be blessed and sanctified as was tradition, and once again, this temple was attended by the royal, prominent, elite class in the community. If Joseph was a poor carpenter, he would not have been admitted to such a holy place.

His father, Joseph, was not a poor carpenter, but a prosperous master craftsman of furniture building. He ran a very lucrative business, employed a staff and trained his sons in the art of their craft, preparing them to traditionally take over the business one day.

Jesus and his siblings had a healthy, privileged life of education and access to knowledge. Daily classes were spent being trained and schooled in reading, scribing, theology, logic, and the bible ~ Old Testament (as we now call it).

He was raised with all the traditions of a dedicated Jewish family, and Jesus practiced these traditions as a child just a he was taught to do. In his faith, a man may not be called Rabbi unless he is a married man. Yet Jesus was often called Rabbi through out the bible. There is an ongoing rumor that Jesus was married and there are many facts to back up these rumors. It would only make sense if he was, after all, he had a strong Judaic background too. And he was called Rabbi.

Somewhere along the way, Jesus grew apart from some of the traditions of his faith. He held strong to the parts he believed to be true, but he had conflicting views on their negative teachings. The main one being, that God is to be feared, when he is not. God should never be feared, for any reason.

Having access to the necessary finances to sponsor his journeys, Jesus set out on a spiritual quest of his own. Joseph had hoped he would have stayed home to take over the business for he was getting on in years and wished to retire. But he understood the desire and fire for knowledge that burned within his son and bade him farewell with and entourage of servants and family members.

These years are considered the “lost years” of Jesus, but evidence is abundant that these years are not lost at all. These were the years where Jesus visited other countries and cultures to absorb all that he could learn about the variety of people that decorate earth.

Bit by bit over the years, he let his entourage go home, continuing alone for several years. He learned the traditions and the faiths of the people he encountered and understood that there was pieces of truth and validity in every religion. His mission was to take the truths from each religion as he knew them to be, and combine them with the spiritual knowledge he was infused with by God.

Once he returned home, his experience had transformed him into the knowledgeable, charismatic prophet we have all come to know and love to this day. Problem was, in his day, his new views and strange ideas were not so readily accepted by all of mankind. And to this day, mankind remains virtually the same, blinded by a narrow mind.

Oddly, the ones who claimed him to be heretical and blasphemous were the ones in a position of power. Either through the church or through the government. They were both key players in the crucifixion event. These were people of greed. They were not interested in what was best for the people, they wanted only what was best for them and their continued wealth and status.

The common people, the pure of heart, knew the words he spoke were true. There is a particular feeling you get, deep inside when you know you are hearing the truth. When Jesus spoke, he mesmerized his audiences with the pearled jewels of wisdom that flowed from his lips. Their soul would react and crave to learn more. In a short period of time the number of followers of Jesus rose at a worrisome pace for the Jewish church.

Threatened by his sudden and rising popularity, the Pharisees’ (a member of the ancient Jewish sect, distinguished by strict observance of the traditional and written law) and the Sanhedrin (the highest court of justice and the supreme council in ancient Jerusalem) demanded the trial and execution of Jesus Christ. They threatened Pontius Pilate the emperor of the time with the downfall of the Roman empire if the church ceased to rule the people as they had for so long.

What were the beliefs that were so outrageous he could be labeled a rebel, a heretic and a blasphemous trouble maker, punishable by death? One of Jesus’ teachings was that all people were created equal ~ including women. That the concept and reality of Mother God was as real as Father God. That everyone has access to the kingdom of heaven. And the most blasphemous of all, that God was not to be feared. That God was all loving, all forgiving, and the light in our lives.

This was the teachings of a mad man. The Judaic religion had always been founded on a powerful masculine God, capable of great wrath and vengeance. He had to be strong and ominous to compete with the other Gods in other countries. He had to be the most powerful and fearsome of all to keep the people dependent on the church for continual guidance.

These new teachings were threatening the foundation of the Jewish faith, and for this reason, Jesus was condemned to death. But what about today? What if Jesus came back and tried once again to teach us the knowledge he tried to pass on 2000 years ago? Do you think we are ready and willing to listen? Have we become that open minded, or would the churches step up once again and denounce his divine wisdom as heretical and blasphemous?

Quite honestly, I think that history would repeat itself. There are many people of the Jewish and Christian persuasion that will condemn you on the spot for suggesting such a thing as Mother God or that God should not be feared. It is a sad commentary on the spiritual evolution of man. We really should try to work on that.