There can be no doubt that from a child Jesus understood something of what his mission in life was to be. That this constantly unfolded to him in fuller measure may be readily seen from the Biblical accounts of his life. That his education was on the basis of Old Testament teaching also seems plain, since he so frequently referred to the prophecies in regard to himself, and sometimes stood up in the synagogues expounding the Scriptures to his hearers. His most effective rebuke to temptation was often the positive, "It is written."
Mrs. Eddy has indicated that it was wisdom in the chroniclers of his human history which made them refrain from giving much that was definite in regard to his life before he became a public teacher. At the time the gospels were written, mankind was not in the mental state which could have understood the history of his growth. Christian Science in its explanation of the truth, however, convinces the earnest student that all the way from boyhood to manhood Jesus must have been learning that his work was to prove that man is the Son of God,—not material, but spiritual. There must have been many revelations, many struggles, many victories, from the day when he talked so well with the doctors in the temple and told his parents that he must be about his Father's business, to that day when, just before he was to take up his public ministry, he came to John for baptism.
This was a step Jesus apparently felt was necessary in his experience; and through his humble obedience in taking it he was to receive God's first public acknowledgment of him as the one chosen to do the mightiest work of the ages; for, as we read, "Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him: and lo a voice from heaven, saying. This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." This was God's encouraging assurance that he was indeed His spiritual child; that they were to walk together through all the experiences which were to follow.
