VELCO - what did jesus do when he was 14 years old until he was 28 years old?
JOEL - Of course as far as the scriptures are concerned we don't know much more than
what is stated in Luke 2:52 concerning this period of his mortal life:
"And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in
favour with God and man."
The record then makes a big jump to His baptism 18
years later by John the Baptist after He has grown to
an adult.
A few other scriptures only confirms the small amount
of information in the Luke 2:52 verse:
"And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit,
filled with wisdom: and the grace of God was upon
him." (Luke 2:40)
"And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness
at the first, but received grace for grace;
And he received not of the fulness at first, but
continued from grace to grace, until he received a
fulness;
And thus he was called the Son of God, because he
received not of the fulness at the first." (D&C 93:
12-14)
In the Joseph Smith translation of the Bible, Matthew
tells us:
"And it came to pass that Jesus grew up with his
brethren, and waxed strong, and waited upon the Lord
for the time of his ministry to come.
And he served under his father, and he spake not as
other men, neither could he be taught; for he needed
not that any man should teach him.
And after many years, the hour of his ministry drew
nigh." (JST Matt 3: 24-26)
From these scriptures and others regarding His adult
life, we might speculate that, during those 18 years
of scriptural silence, he learned all he could about
life and the world around Him. He remained close to
His Heavenly Father and became a well respected person
in the community.
During His ministry He was able to draw on the
experiences and knowledge that he gained as a youth as
evidenced by the many parables he used to teach
eternal doctrines.
Having "served under his father" he no doubt worked in
the capacity of a carpenter and was therefore no
stranger to physical labor. Some have even concluded
that, since his family were deeply committed to the
Jewish faith and culture, there is the possiblitiy
that he became married at some point during these 18
years. But anything besides what the scriptures tell
us is can only be speculation.