on with
His Father, thus increasing in favor with God and men. As shown by His
public utterances after He had become a man, these years of seclusion
were spent in active effort, both physical and mental. Jesus was a close
observer of nature and men. He was able to draw illustrations with which
to point His teachings from the varied occupations, trades and
professions; the ways of the lawyer and the physician, the manners of
the scribe, the Pharisee and the rabbi, the habits of the poor, the
customs of the rich, the life of the shepherd, the farmer, the
vinedresser and the fisherman--were all known to Him. He considered the
lilies of the field, and the grass in meadow and upland, the birds which
sowed not nor gathered into barns but lived on the bounty of their
Maker, the foxes in their holes, the petted house dog and the vagrant
cur, the hen sheltering her brood beneath protecting wings--all these
had contributed to the wisdom in which He grew, as had also the moods of
the weather, the recurrence of the seasons, and all the phenomena of
natural change and order.

Nazareth was the abode of Jesus until He was about thirty years of age;
and, in accordance with the custom of designating individuals by the
names of their home towns as additions to their personal names,[269] our
Lord came to be generally known as Jesus of Nazareth.[270] He is also
referred to as a Nazarene, or a native of Nazareth, and this fact is
cited by Matthew as a fulfilment of earlier prediction, though our
current compilation of scriptures constituting the Old Testament
contains no record of such prophecy. It is practically certain that this
prediction was contained in some one of the many scriptures extant in
earlier days but since lost.[271] That Nazareth was an obscure village,
of little honor or renown, is evidenced by the almost contemptuous
question of Nathanael, who, on being informed that the Messiah had been
found in Jesus of Nazareth, asked: "Can there any good thing come out of
Nazareth?"[272] The incredulous query has passed into a proverb current
even today as expressive of any unpopular or unpromising source of good.
Nathanael lived in Cana, but a few miles from Nazareth, and his surprize
at the tidings brought by Philip concerning the Messiah incidentally
affords evidence of the seclusion in which Jesus had lived.

So passed the boyhood, youth, and early manhood of the Savior of
mankind.

NOTES TO CHAPTER 9.

1. Archelaus Reigned