An Historical Account ofJesus 19It was in this environment and in this political and social cli
mate that the birth of Jesus took place.
o e e e e
As we have already seen, there was among the Jews anexpecta
tion of the Messiah, a new leader who would be baptised and
anointed their king. The rumour circulating among the Jews of bis
imminentbirthled toHerod's decisionto kill all the babies bomin
Bethlehem where, according to tradition, the Messiah was to ap
pear. The powerful secret society of the Essenes was set in motion
by Zachariah, and Mary succeeded in escaping the clutches of the
Roman soldiers. She went with Jesus to Egypt where the Essenes
had another colony.
The sudden disappearance of Jesus and Mary and their safe
escape from the Roman authorities had, until the discovery of the
Dead Sea Scrolls, been a mystery and source of speculation. None of
the Gospels describe this episode in any detail. The existence of
the Essene community shows how it was possible for them to evade
their pursuers with such success despite the publicity which must
have surrounded the birth. Under other circumstances, a child who
spoke coherently and with authority from the cradle, and who was
visited by shepherds and Magi might not have been able to disap
pear so easily.
In 4 Be - using the official dating -when Jesus was three or
four years old, Herod died. And so the immediate danger to the
life of Jesus was removed andhecouldmove freely. Ilappearsthat
he was educated under the hard discipline of the Essene teachers
and, being an intelligent pupil, he learned the Torah very quickly.
When Jesus was twelve years old, he was sent to the Temple of
Solomon where it was found that instead of merely repeating bis
lessons, he was speaking with a certain confidence and authority.
There are several Muslim traditions which tell of the singular
gifts wbich Jesus was given so early on in his life. The following
accounts are taken from Ath-Tha'Iabi's Stones of theProphets:
As-Sadi said: When Jesus, peace be upon him, was in
the school, he used to tell the boys what their fathers
were doing, and he would say to a boy, 'Go home, for
your people have been eating such and such and have
prepared such and such for you and they are eating such