What was the early life of Jesus like?

A:There is nothing about the early life of Jesus from non-biblical contemporary sources, but two of the gospels have accounts from which we can piece together what it would have been like.

In Matthew's Gospel, Mary and Joseph fled with Jesus from Bethlehem to Egypt while Jesus was still a baby, out of fear of King Herod who wished to have him killed. At this stage they must have been quite wealthy because of the gifts of gold frankincence and myrrh that the magi had brought, and would have been able to live quite comfortably in Egypt for several years, until King Herod died and they could return to their home in Bethlehem. On the return journey, Joseph was warned in a dream about Herod's son and heir in Judah, so turned aside from Bethlehem and travelled to the Roman province of Galilee, where they settled in a city called Nazareth. They would have been unable to return to Judah with Jesus for the Passover or other religious observances until Archelaus was sent into exile by the Romans.

In Luke's Gospel, Mary and Joseph travelled to Jerusalem with Jesus soon after his birth, in order to present him at the Temple. They then returned peacefully to their home, which in this gospel was Nazareth in Galilee. The family was extremely poor, as can be seen by the Temple sacrifice they made, two pigeons, a concession for the very poorest of Jews. Joseph worked as a village carpenter and Jesus would have worked with him in that craft. Like many other Jews, they travelled freely and openly to Jerusalem in Judah each year for the Passover festival.