People have often wondered what Jesus was doing in the “missing years”. In the New Testament, there is a gap in his CV between the age of twelve, when he briefly chats with rabbis in the Temple, and the age of thirty, when he suddenly appears out of nowhere as a preacher. Why would anyone leave it till the age of thirty to start his teaching career? And apparently have nothing to show for it by that time? To anyone familiar with modern academic life, surely the answer is obvious. It is the same reason that is usual for smart…