The missing years of the messiah
Colin Leicht
Issue date: 1/20/05 Section: Entertainment
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If you have been alive in the last couple of hundred years in the Western world, there is a good chance that you have heard about the story of Jesus. More likely than not, you have probably heard a detailed account of one year or so of the life of this person, born in an ancient time, among a people who constantly asked, "Who is this man?"
According to the Gospels, this man fit into every role, and yet none. There are four different accounts that tell his story, each one revealing a different angle on his character. A biography based on these accounts would say that he was born in a manger, and he began his ministry in his thirties, before he was crucified.
So what happened to the missing years between infancy and death? What happens in a man's life that brings him to the point where he believes that he is the Messiah? Many theories thrive on the Internet, claiming that Jesus' youth was spent in Egypt, Europe, America, Tibet, or even in Nazareth during those years, but no one theory has ever been canonically agreed upon.
Christopher Moore, bestselling author, decided to write his own version of the adolescence of Jesus, entitled Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. As can be seen from the title, this is the story of the "gaps" in the gospels, told from the view of Jesus' best bud, Levi Bar Alphaeus, otherwise known as "Biff."
The book begins with a quote from Voltaire, stating that "God is a comedian playing to audience that is afraid to laugh"; some readers might even draw a similarity between the adventures of Lamb and Voltaire's Candide, as the characters journey from one place to another, in order to quench their thirst for enlightenment. From Nazareth to Kabul, and Tibet to Calcutta, Biff and Joshua (the Hebrew version of Jesus' name is Yeshua, and spelled Joshua in English) find many ways to disturb the peace: Joshua causes supernatural acts of mercy, and Biff causes mischief. Of course, one can't forget the best part: kung fu!
According to the Gospels, this man fit into every role, and yet none. There are four different accounts that tell his story, each one revealing a different angle on his character. A biography based on these accounts would say that he was born in a manger, and he began his ministry in his thirties, before he was crucified.
So what happened to the missing years between infancy and death? What happens in a man's life that brings him to the point where he believes that he is the Messiah? Many theories thrive on the Internet, claiming that Jesus' youth was spent in Egypt, Europe, America, Tibet, or even in Nazareth during those years, but no one theory has ever been canonically agreed upon.
Christopher Moore, bestselling author, decided to write his own version of the adolescence of Jesus, entitled Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal. As can be seen from the title, this is the story of the "gaps" in the gospels, told from the view of Jesus' best bud, Levi Bar Alphaeus, otherwise known as "Biff."
The book begins with a quote from Voltaire, stating that "God is a comedian playing to audience that is afraid to laugh"; some readers might even draw a similarity between the adventures of Lamb and Voltaire's Candide, as the characters journey from one place to another, in order to quench their thirst for enlightenment. From Nazareth to Kabul, and Tibet to Calcutta, Biff and Joshua (the Hebrew version of Jesus' name is Yeshua, and spelled Joshua in English) find many ways to disturb the peace: Joshua causes supernatural acts of mercy, and Biff causes mischief. Of course, one can't forget the best part: kung fu!