Teenage John?

About a year ago, my Mom went to a homeschooling conference and was introduced to the concept that perhaps Jesus’ disciples weren’t the seasoned, scholarly men that are depicted so often in church artwork. Maybe they were...teenagers? Now don’t cough quite yet. There is logic to the idea. Matthew 17:

When they came to Capernaum, the collectors of the two-drachma tax went up to Peter and said, “Does your teacher not pay the tax?” He said, “Yes.” And when he came into the house, Jesus spoke to him first, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do kings of the earth take toll or tax? From their sons or from others?” And when he said, “From others,” Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. However, not to give offense to them, go to the sea and cast a hook and take the first fish that comes up, and when you open its mouth you will find a shekel. Take that and give it to them for me and for yourself.”

Since he only ensures Peter’s tax, aside from his own, you might conclude that the others had already paid. Which is not illogical – the collectors were wondering whether Jesus paid the tax, so perhaps most of the disciples had already paid and only Peter and Jesus were left. But maybe they hadn’t already paid their taxes. Because they didn’t have to pay them. Only men over age 20 had to pay the half-shekel tax, as census offering when they visited the temple of God. So, if they weren’t men over age 20, then they would have to be teenagers.

Of course, this passage does not directly state that the others did not pay the temple tax. They may very well have. But there are other evidences supportive of teenage disciples.

• Only Peter is known to have been married; back then Jewish men only received wives after age 18. That is, if you got married. Jesus wasn’t, and he was thirty.

• The disciples often acted like adolescents: Fighting over who would be the greatest in the Kingdom; asking Jesus if he wanted them to call down fire on an unfriendly village; annoying their older brothers (How many times do I have to forgive him?); so terrified by a storm that they woke up Jesus.

• He did call them ‘little ones.’ I wouldn’t mind him calling me that at age forty, but, still, it’s something that could be taken into account.

• I won’t blame this entirely on youth, but they do sometimes appear to be slightly dense.

• Revelations is believed to have been written in 95 or 96 A.D. How old would that make John?

I suppose it doesn’t really matter whether they were young or old. Since the Bible doesn’t tell us, I guess it isn’t vital for us to know. Still, being very interested in the particulars in Jesus and his time on earth, I'm looking forward to asking him how old they were.

For now, I think I’ll hope they were teenagers. I guess I have to – since, after all, that is how old they are in my series Someone To Love Me. Johnny, exuberant and endearing, is only fifteen when Jesus calls him and his old brother, James.