A2 The Bible tells us very little about the
eariy childhood of Jesus. Joseph was a carpen-
ter, and his shop must have looked much like
this. Carpenters sat on the floor and held a
board with their toes. (The bow on the floor
is for drilling holes; the "arrow" is an auger.)
Mary is preparing a meal over a charcoal fire.

A3 When Jesus was 12, his parents took him
to Jerusalem for the annual Passover feast.
On their way home, they discovered he was
missing. They returned to the city and found
him in the Temple, sitting with the Jewish relig-
ious experts and asking questions. Everyone
was amazed at the wisdom of Jesus.

Mary scolded him for causing anxiety, but he
replied: "Why did you dearch for me? Did you
not know I must be in my Father's house?"

A4 Eighteen years passed. A prophet named
John the Baptist was preaching to crowds in the
desert: "Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is
at hand!" He baptized them in the Jordan River.

One day Jesus, now 30 years of age, came to
John to be baptized- John protested: "I need to
be baptized by you, and do you come to me?"

"Let it be so now," Jesus replied, "for it is
proper for us to fulfill all righteousness."

A5 The Holy Spirit led Jesus into the desert,
where he went without food for 40 days. He
became very hungry- The devil came to him and
began to tempt him. "If you are the Son of
God," said the devil, "command these stones
to become loaves of bread."

Jesus replied: "It is written in the Scriptures,
Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every
word that proceeds from the mouth of God."

The devil took Jesus to Jerusalem. He tempted
Jesus to throw himself down from the highest
point of the Temple to see whether God would
send angels to lift Jesus up and keep him from
being dashed against the stones below.

Jesus replied: "It is written, You shall not
put the Lord, your God, to a foolish test. "