“There is little to tell. Our father’s profession was that of naggara, a builder of many things with wood and stone, and both Jesus and I served as his apprentices. When we were not in school we were with our father, in his shop or elsewhere in the village or countryside, repairing a roof or a plow or even, on occasions, building a house. The days were long and hard, especially in the heat of summer, yet while we were poor in material things there was always enough to eat, a soft bed at night, and faith in our God to sustain us. In truth, as our mother often said, we were wealthier and happier than Herod.”

“Your family did not move to Nazareth until after Jesus was born. Why did they go there?”

“I do not know why Nazareth, except that my father had no love for the land or the people here in the south. Often we heard him say that it was easier to raise a whole forest of olive trees in Galilee than one child in Judaea.”

I decided to tease him a little, hoping to relax him further. “But James, is it not true that the people of Jerusalem refer to all Galileans as fools?”

James laughed for the first time. “Worse than that, Matthias. They have even been known to inquire as to whether anything good could ever come from our village of Nazareth.”

Regarding the formal education of Jesus, James explained that school in the synagogue was compulsory for all children beginning at the age of six. There they were taught the scrolls of the Law and the history of their people until the age of ten, after which they studied the Mishnah, or traditional law, for five years.

“After the age of fifteen, what teaching did Jesus receive?”

“None, except that which he imparted to himself by studying the holy scriptures whenever he was not occupied with an awl or a saw or a mallet and chisel. Jesus did the work of two, since my father’s health was not good, and for him to attend the advanced rabbinical schools would have worked a great hardship on our family. Then my father died and Jesus, as the firstborn son, became the head of the family, feeding us, clothing us, and warming us with his labor, from sunrise to sundown.”

I probed a little. “During those early years, what was your brother’s behavior when he was near anyone with infirmities or disease in your village? Did he go out of his way to provide relief or comfort to those who were handicapped with afflictions of the mind or body?”

“No more than any of us. Nazareth is a small place. We are all our brothers’ keepers. No one went hungry, no one suffered bodily curses without care and attention, and no one died unattended.”