Most folks believe Jesus entered his ministry days around age thirty and was crucified around age 33. I (regretfully) turned 33 in September. Other than the normal depressing thoughts associated with getting older, I have been thinking lately about how young Jesus was. He was a very young man. We live in a society where someone can make an impact in their thirties but most folks don’t consider you “seasoned” until your forties. Executive level jobs are normally held for those in their forties and fifties.
Churches in particular value age as a factor in determining wisdom. Elder boards are full of people in their forties and fifties. Why do we value age in that way? Well, for one, people in their forties and above have had plenty of time to “calm down.” Their children have worn them out and they’ve stayed put in a job for at least a decade. If they have stayed married to one person, they’ve put in around twenty years. They make major decisions a little slower and are prone to weigh all the consequences of their actions. They have had time to “sift” through life and see what really matters. They’ve also had the chance to “prove” themselves to others as worthy of responsibility.
Jesus did none of that. He didn’t wait on anyone for anything. He launched into aggressive ministry without the consent of or regard for his rabbinical peers. And by today’s standards, Jesus’s ministry of healing and demonic deliverance would’ve been seen as a that of a crackpot revivalist, praying on the weak minds of the underclasses and undereducated. He would’ve been considered way too young to wield that type of spiritual authority. What’s more, Jesus’s ministry was supported by contributions, a large amount of which came from women: a gender class with its own issues of persecution and representation at that time.
Though that may be shocking to think about, what really makes me wonder most is: what was Jesus’s mindset? Not what he said, but what he thought that no one ever heard. Granted, he’s the Son of God. Sure, that’s obvious. But his thought patterns (if he was fully divine and fully human) must have at least somewhat reflected that of every 33 year old man. And though Hebrew culture at that time was very different than ours today, Jesus was still a guy.
I started thinking about this in light of my own behavior at age 33. Though I have moments of maturity…I honestly try not to have too many of those. 
I think there’s still a lot of “my twenties” in me at 33. I still act immature. I still have a lot of energy. I still don’t like people telling me what to do all the time. I still shout at the TV when my favorite football team scores a touchdown. In other words, I’m spunky. And I imagine Jesus was, too. I’ve calmed down a lot from previous years. I’m working on getting to a decade of marriage. That’ll calm you down. My kids wear me out – I occasionally find myself begging them to go to sleep. And what energy I have left, I have the illustrious distinction of allowing church work to take the last of it.
Jesus didn’t have a wife. Jesus didn’t have kids. He was a carpenter – and most scholars see that as more than woodworking. Jesus worked a brawny, scrappy construction job and probably walked up the road five miles to Sepphoris everyday to do it. Jesus was wiry and energetic – he’d stay up at night to pray while everyone else went to sleep. He said highly inappropriate things - stuff about eating flesh and drinking blood. He called religious people older than him rude and critical names, made fun of local lawyers, dismissed the rhetoric of the local politicians, and told incredibly outlandish stories. And then he’d pray for everyone that needed physical healing. He was young, fiery, intense, and, to some, intimidating.
But I think that’s part of the reason he could make it all the way to the cross. Beth and I were talking the other day about your twenties and early thirties. It’s like God “hardwires” you to be crazy enough at that time in life to push forward with having multiple children, finishing education, marrying someone, and working your way up the corporate ladder. And in your thirties, you still think it’d be cool to be in a rock band in your spare time! At no other time in life do you have that level of energy to simultaneously sustain that much activity at once. It’s insane. Yet, I think that’s part of the reason Jesus ministered on earth at such a young, unacceptable age. It took a certain level of youth and intensity to be the Son of God.
I guess I’m saying that I find solace in that. Older people thought Jesus was an “upstart.” If he can wrestle with his youthfulness and meet the needs of his followers, then God can use me too. In many ways, Jesus lived the life of every person in their early thirties. Hopefully, 33 will be better to me than it was to him…
Sam,
Great insight into age and ministry! Your post really got my mind thinking about age, maturity, capacity for work, adventure, and a little recklessness in ministry. I often think about the road my wife and I traveled to arrive where we are today: degrees, full-time ministry, three kids, and twelve years of marriage. It makes me tired to think about how we made that happen! Only by the grace of God.
These days I find myself trying to scale back to the essentials of what I feel God leading me to do. There are many things I let go because I want to be really good at a few things rather than mediocre at many things. As a pastor this isn’t easy and some don’t understand! Just trying to find balance.
Greg –
Glad you enjoyed it! You sound like you’re dealing with what every pastor, husband, father, and “family man” deals with. I don’t know if we can find the balance…but keeping that goal in front of us may be enough to keep us focused on what really matters in life.
Thanks for commenting!
Sam
I guess the Jews of Jesus’ day had similar views of age and qualification for ministry as we too – why else would they tell Jesus in John 8:58-59 “you are not yet 50 years old and you have seen Abraham?” Is it possible 50 was a bench mark for maturity? Some hold that view today even (can’t be a Pastor until your kids get through the supposed rebellious years and are still saved, if you can manage your own household how can you manage a church, etc?).
Hey Brian –
Without delving too deeply into this topic, yeah, the Jews had particular ages of importance. Thirty was required for rabbinical titles. But marriage supposedly was a well, which lends credibility to Crossan’s “Jewish Peasant” view and Vermes’s “wandering cynic” view of Jesus. His lack of marraige would have disqualified him in some circles. Every decade meant something different from the previous. And they used to term “cut off” to describe someone who died in their prime, hence the uses concerning Jesus and his specific role in OT prophecy. The “seeing Abraham” part probably has more to do with the mystical side of Pharisaic study (supposedly passed down through Moses) that was only available to more mature members of their sect. In other words they were saying “Look, though you may have rabbinical status, you are 17 seventeen years away from the revelations we have concerning Abraham.” They missed the point of true revelation and vision vs. academic understanding. Unfortuantely, the majority of that mystical strain was available only in oral tradition, though Cabalist usually claim to be its descent.
The truth is, much like today, people deemed some qualified and others not qualified based on personal preference as much as anything else. Credibility is such a subjective area and rises and falls on the opining of people who think they are important enough to speak for others. So, Jesus really didn’t seem to care about proper “credentialing” anyway. The people didn’t care either – they followed him without the consent of religious authority.
As far as benchmarks of maturity today, if thirty was good enough to be in a position of leadership for Jesus, then like most things in his life, I’m sure he meant for us to follow his example.