Luke 2:51

with them We may infer from the subsequent omission of Joseph's name, and from the traditional belief of his age, that he died shortly after this event, as the Apocryphal Gospels assert.

to Nazareth In many respects there was a divine fitness in this spot for the human growth of Jesus "as a tender plant and a root out of the dry ground." Apart from the obscurity and evil fame of Nazareth which were meant to teach lessons similar to those of which we have just spoken, we may notice (i) its seclusion. It lies in a narrow cleft in the limestone hills which form the boundary of Zabulon entirely out of the ordinary roads of commerce, so that none could say that our Lord had learnt either from Gentiles or from Rabbis. (ii) Its beauty and peacefulness. The flowers of Nazareth are famous, and the appearance of its inhabitants shews its healthiness. It was a home of humble peace and plenty. The fields of its green valley are fruitful, and the view from the hill which overshadows it is one of the loveliest and most historically striking in all Palestine.

was subject unto them "He made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant," Philippians 2:7; Isaiah 53:2. With the exception of these two verses, the Gospels preserve but one single word to throw light on the Life of our Lord, between His infancy and His baptism. That word is "the carpenter" in Mark 6:3, altered in some MSS. out of irreverent and mistaken reverence into "the son of thecarpenter." They shew that (i) our Lord's life was spent in povertybut not in pauperism; (ii) that He sanctified labour as a pure and noble thing; (iii) that God looks on the heart, and that the dignity or humility, the fame or obscurity, of the outer lot is of no moment in His eyes. Romans 14:17-18.