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A Series of Lessons in Mystic Christianity960
The traditions relate that Jesus began His study of the Hebrew Law when
He was but five years of age. It is related that He displayed an unusual ability
and talent in the direction of mastering not only the text, but also the spirit
of the Hebrew Scripture, and far outstripped His fellow students. It is also
related that He displayed an early impatience at the dreary formalism of
His Hebrew teachers, and a disposition to go right to the heart of the text
before Him, that He might discern the spirit animating it. So much was this
the case that He frequently brought down upon His head the censure of His
instructors who overlooked the spirit of the teachings in their devotion to
the forms and words.
Nazareth was an old-fashioned place and it and its inhabitants were
made the target for the jests and witticisms of the people of Judea. The
word “Nazarene” was synonymous with “lout”; “boor”; “peasant”; etc., to
the residents of the more fashionable regions. The very remoteness of the
town served to separate it in spirit from the rest of the country. But this
very remoteness played an important part in the early life of Jesus. Nazareth,
by reason of its peculiar location, was on the line of several caravan routes.
Travelers from many lands traveled through the town, and rested there
overnight, or sometimes for several days. Travelers from Samaria, Jerusalem,
Damascus, Greece, Rome, Arabia, Syria, Persia, Phoenicia, and other lands
mingled with the Nazarenes. And the traditions relate that Jesus, the child,
would steal away and talk with such of these travelers as were versed in
occult and mystic lore, and would imbibe from their varied founts of
learning, until He was as thoroughly informed on these subjects as many a
mystic of middle age. The traditions have it that the boy would often delight
and astonish these traveling occultists with His wonderful insight into their
secret doctrines and knowledge. And it is also told that some of the wisest
of these, seeing the nature of the child, would overstay their allotted time of
sojourn, that they might add here and there to the various parts of general
occult lore possessed by the child. It is also taught that the Magi informed