(October 7, 2013 at 3:45 pm)Beta Ray Bill Wrote: I recently read an analysis of the New Testament that pointed out something I'd never really thought of before.
According to the Gospels, Jesus started spreading his word when he was 30, then walked around performing miracles for just a little while before he died.
My question is: Why did he wait until he was 30? Life expectancy back then was about 40. If he was God reborn in human form, wouldn't he have been prepared to spread the word at like 18 or 20? I know there's that one note about him as a child at the temple, but after that, what took him so long to get going again? Did it take the baptism by John to encourage him?
Maybe he needed some age to be respected, I don't know. It just seems weird that an omniscient being would wait so long.
33 is the traditional age of a well respected rabbi/teacher. In that culture, if one speaks and what he says is not like then it can simply be dismissed as being the ranting of a young person. If he speaks too wildly as a young person then by reputation could have been branded a fool. Once someone was labled a fool then everything the 'fool' said was ignored.
Christ simply followed the traditions and spoke to the people on the terms their society had laid out for Him.
