What about The Jump Cuts in Jesus' Biopic

[MineralMan]

OK. The official New Testament canon describes Jesus' birth, and makes very brief mention of Egypt. But, it skips over the "Messiah's" childhood almost completely, until he shows up to surprise the priests with his wisdom around age 13.

Then, Jesus disappears from the Canon until he reappears at age 29 or 30, or something like that, and begins his journey toward his execution and resurrection, we are told.

So what happened in between? There are two major, multi-year jump cuts in this film. We just don't know. His childhood is unknown. His education is unknown. Where he was and what he did as a boy is a mystery. Odd, that.

And then, there's his adolescence and early adulthood to deal with. Presumption leads us to suppose that he made his Bar Mitzvah around the time he was awing the priests with his acumen. But then what?

Some claim he went to India and consorted with wise men, like those who are supposed to have shown up at his birth. No evidence, though, is presented. There are stories of him showing up in Britain, the Americas, and even Japan. But, again, nothing in the Canon about those peripatetic adventures.

Big jump cuts make for a confusing narrative. The chain of evidence is non-existent. Was the guy on the cross the same baby in the manger? How would we know? How did anyone know? Mom Mary didn't leave any writings. Joseph, who was his acting male parent, left no words behind. There are no writings from any siblings, if there were any siblings.

He just disappeared from history for a couple of long intervals of time.

There are some non-canonical writings regarding all this, but they're not officially part of the story. So, we don't know. Aren't we curious? Don't we wonder? I know I do. I mean, here's this guy from a couple of millennia ago who is the be-all and end-all of Christianity. But we have no idea what he was doing most of his life.

Did he get married as a young man? That would be normal for a young Jewish guy in that time. If so, did his wife bear children? That would also be typical, given that there was no effective contraception in those days. Did he attend shul as a youngster? If not, where did he get the knowledge that wowed the priestly types when he was 12 or 13?

So many questions. So few answers.