Jesus and his family

After the birth of Jesus, Joseph and Mary had other children, both boys and girls. The boys were James, Joseph, Simon and Judas. The names of Jesus’ sisters were not mentioned.

Evaluation:

• Mention the names of Jesus brothers.

 Jesus obeyed His parents LK 2: 41-52

Jesus grew up to become an obedient, disciplined and hardworking child. He obeyed all instructions given to him. He was very respectful to his parents and polite to all other people in the community. He helped his parents to do all the household work. He never told a lie and he was honest in all that he said and did. Everybody spoke well of him

  Jesus attended the synagogue school

Jesus attended the synagogue school in Nazareth. They were taught how to read and write, they were also taught everything about God’s dealing with their forefathers. They learnt about the important festivals of the Jews and the reasons for celebrating them. Some of these festivals were: The Passover, The Feast of Tabernacle and the feast of Pentecost. They were also taught about God’s Law.

At the age of twelve, Jesus graduated from the synagogue school, He was given the title: Ben Torah which means: “Son of Law”. This was the title given to all Jewish children who successfully completed their synagogue education.

Jesus Christ becomes a Carpenter: MK 6: 3                                                                         

Joseph was a carpenter and Jesus helped him with his work. He helped him to make tables, chairs, beds and toys for the people. When Joseph died, Jesus took over the carpentry work; As a result, he was able to earn enough money to feed Mary and other members of the household.

Evaluation:

1. What was Joseph’s occupation?
2. Jesus graduated from the synagogue at the age of——-
3. Why do you think obedience and discipline are necessary to achieve success in life?
4. Mention three important festival of the Jew.

                                                                 Jesus understanding of family: Matt; 12 46 -50

Jesus was in a house preaching. After some time he was told that his mother and brothers asked to speak to him. Jesus asked the man who his mother and brothers were. Pointing to his disciples he said that they were his mother, brothers and sisters. He added that whoever did what his father in heaven wanted him to do was his brother, his sister and his mother.

The true families of Jesus are those who do the will of God, they are obedient, respectful, humble, loving, kind and hardworking. Jesus was not trying to disown his earthly family. He was only laying emphasis on the true family of God.

Moral Lessons:

1. You must learn to call upon Jesus to help you to be obedient and disciplined so that you may be successful with your studies and with your future work as a professional.
2. You must learn to pray to Jesus to help you take care of your family.
3. You must learn to ask Jesus to help you to do the will of God so that you can become a member of his true family.