mustardprecum:

roah:

drawmeafteryou:

markntony:

vikingqueen:

shadowstep-of-bast:

carpeumbra:

No you don’t understand how frustrated I am that we always depicted the Apostles as old men, especially when it comes to during-Jesus-alive stuff.

They were probably late teens to early 20s, given the time and the description and some Biblical passages.

They were not ancient old men with long beards and wrinkles at the Last Supper.

They were young adult rebels with a cause.

where my punk-rock apostles at

I can’t remember where, but the bible says that Jesus was the only one who was old enough to pay the temple tax required by Jewish law, none of the disciples had hit that age. A quick google tells me that Jewish men pay it from the age of 20 – all of the disciples were teenagers.

Why this is possible:

• Probaly they were all underage except for Peter. In Exodus 30:14-15, Jewish law states that every male over the age of 20 is to pay a half-shekel as census offering when they visit the temple of God. In Matthew 17:24-27, Jesus instructs Peter to “fish up” this tax. Peter finds a shekel in the mouth of the fish he catches; enough to pay the tax for two men, himself and Jesus. You could conclude that the others were underage and did not need to pay.
• In Matthew 11:25, Luke 10:21, and John 13:33, Jesus calls his disciples little children .
• We learn that Peter had a wife when Jesus healed his mother-in-law. In those ancient times, a Jewish man receives a wife after the age of 18. Again, no other disciples’ wives are mentioned, so they are unmarried and probably under 18.
• Jewish children began intensive study at young ages, but education for most concluded by age 15. For those bright (or wealthy) enough, higher education consisted of studying under a local rabbi. If they didn’t find a rabbi that accepted them as a student then they entered the workforce by their mid teens.
  The disciples, already working-men, must have been rejected  by other rabbis when Jesus hand-picked them for further education as his disciples.
  In light of this, a younger age is more probable than older. A youth would be in the mindset of continuing his education. A man over 30 leaving his trade to follow a rabbi would be counter-cultural , although not impossible.
• The behavior of the disciples, as detailed in the gospels, fits well with the zealous nature and foolishness of adolescence. Picture a gang of teens instead of work-hardened men in the boat when the storm hit, fear-stricken and waking up Jesus for help. The forgetful and distracted nature of youth helps me understand how they could hear Jesus say he would die and come back to life, yet act as they did when these things happened.
  When we age them under twenty, we can understand Jesus’ patience with them, his low expectations of their behavior, and his teaching style.

so punk rock

This changed my life.

sorry but i’m laughing as i imagine them dabbing over some simple joke while jesus looks just tired and deadpan questions some of his life choices

on the one hand, I love that. On the other hand, Jesus wrecking his disciples with nonstop dad jokes