The system I'm referring to is the one I detailed on Monday, and, yes, I do believe that He did. I believe this is a great source of encouragement for students and disciples everywhere.

Consider this. In the 2nd century A.D., the oral traditions of the rabbis were collected in the Mishnah. Scholars believe these would have been the same oral traditions from the time of Jesus' earthly ministry. According to the Mishnah,

At five years old [one is fit] for the Scripture, at ten years the Mishnah (oral Torah, interpretations) at thirteen for the fulfilling of the commandments, at fifteen the Talmud (making Rabbinic interpretations), at eighteen the bride-chamber, at twenty pursuing a vocation, at thirty for authority (able to teach others)...

Now compare what we know about Jesus during these ages:. (I am quoting from the Jewish New Testmant).

Jesus as a boy:

And Yeshua [Jesus] grew both in wisdom and in stature, gaining favor both with other people and with God.

Luke 2:52

His first Passover at age 12:

Every year Yeshua's parents went to Yerushalayim [Jerusalem] for the festival of Pesach [Passover]. When he was twelve years old, they went up for the festival, as custom required. But after the festival was over, when his parents returned, Yeshua remained in Yerushalayim. They didn't realize this; supposing that he was somewhere in the caravan, they spent a whole day on the road before they began searching for him among their relatives and friends. Failing to find him, they returned to Yerushalayim to look for him. On the third day they found him -- he was sitting in the Temple court among the rabbis, not only listening to them but questioning what they said; and everyone who heard him was astonished at his insight and his responses.

Luke 2:41-47

Jesus learned a trade:

Then Yeshua left and went to his home town, and his talmidim [disciples] followed him. On Shabbat [Sabbath] he started to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They asked, "Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom he has been given? What are these miracles worked through him? Isn't he just the carpenter? the son of Miryam [Mary]? the brother of Ya`akov [James] and Yosi [Joses] and Y'hudah [Judas] and Shim`on [Simon]? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.

Mark 6:1-3

Jesus spent time with John the Baptist:

While all the people were being immersed, Yeshua too was immersed.

Luke 3:21

After this, Yeshua and his talmidim went out into the countryside of Y'hudah [Judea], where he stayed awhile with them and immersed people. Yochanan [John] too was immersing at Einayim [Aenon], near Shalem [Salim], because there was plenty of water there; and people kept coming to be immersed. (This was before Yochanan's imprisonment.)

A discussion arose between some of Yochanan's talmidim and a Judean about ceremonial washing; and they came to Yochanan and said to him, "Rabbi, you know the man who was with you on the other side of the Yarden [Jordan], the one you spoke about? Well, here he is, immersing; and everyone is going to him!"

John 3:22-26

Jesus began His ministry at 30:

Yeshua was about thirty years old when he began his public ministry.

Luke 3:23

That's a pretty close parallel to the account in the Mishnah. So how does that encourage us?

Luke 2 says that He grew in wisdom. How does the Omniscient grow in wisdom? I think we find the answer in Philippians 2:

Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. (NASB)

There's much debate as to what it means that Jesus "emptied Himself." Let me state very clearly that I believe that Jesus is 100% God and 100% human. Jesus is omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, etc. My friend Ben and I tried to come up with an illustration for this, and he came up with vacation. When you go on vacation, you are still employed, you still have your job and all of its benefits, but you are no longer sitting at your desk doing work. In His earthly ministry, Jesus was still omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, etc., but He chose not to take advantage of those, so that, in the words of the author of Hebrews, He could be "tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin."

So, I do believe that as a boy, Jesus entered school. Jesus studied. In His humanity, He did the work to read, copy, and memorize the Torah. When He sat at the feet of the rabbis in the Temple when He was twelve, he astonished them because He had studied and learned the Torah so well.

He continued to apply Himself diligently to study and memorize the remainder of the Tanakh, so that He could become a rabbi s'mikeh. And, as I've been reading through the Gospels, I have seen over and over again the great periods of time He spent in prayer with His Father and how He relied on the Holy Spirit's power.

So, He can sympathize with our weaknesses. He has been tempted in all things as we are. And, yet, He has never sinned.

We can take great encouragement from our Lord's example. We, too, can spend great time in prayer with our Father. We too can rely on the power of the Holy Spirit. We too can diligently apply ourselves to study and memorize God's Word.

So, let us go and do likewise.