Jesus only made it to his 32nd year. Here is a question I have often mused over,
what if Jesus made it to his 62, 72 or even 92 year of age. How would his brain have developed given that
increase in time? He certainly is
considered one of the greatest Sages of all time, but how would Jesus think at
92 versus 32 years of age?
Not long ago bracelets with WWJD (What
would Jesus do?) were popularized. In this article I want to muse about WWJT
(What would Jesus think?)
Neuroscience has learned a lot about how we
think, and how the brain develops. Dr. Dan Seigel has found that the teenage
brain rewires itself at the fastest rate during this time of our life (3,000
times faster than any other time of life).
His book Brain Storm likens the fast brain changes in the 12th
to 24th year of age to be like a brain storm. Jesus went through this fast paced brain acceleration
during His life. In fact, He thought and taught on a level beyond the teaching
of His time.
Neuroscientists used to think the gel
around the neurons was just used to hold things together. They now know that this gel is like
fertilizer called PRND. It helps develop
new neurons when emotionally charged thoughts takes place. When we learn new things (at any age) we
actually are creating new pathways in our brain (example: worry pathways, or
thanksgiving pathways). Rehearsing is
the term used to describes these new pathways being reinforced. If we do not continue to rehearse PRND pro
will snip off those neural connections we are not using. I guess that is what happened to the French I
used to know in High School – SNIP! SNIP!
Harvard teacher Dr. Tan has discovered
there is a type of pre-Alzheimer’s disease that occurs 5 years before the onset
of this disease. Plaque attacks the
neural flow in the brain and takes away short term memory. Dr. Tan has found this pre-Alzheimer period
can be staved off by 5 years. Rehearsing
is a big part of slowing down this process.
Learning a new language, rehearsing a new musical instrument, keeping
challenge and the spark of variety in our lives is so important in keeping the
brain functioning at its maximum.
Stress and depression also affect the area
where short term memory takes place (hippocampus). Stress literally shrinks the hippocampus of
the brain. Spiritual formation guru and teacher at Dallas Theological Seminary
Dallas Willard talked about the one character trait that he felt most described
Jesus was RELAXED! Jesus knew how to
pace his life with strategic retreats before and after each major ministry
event in his life. Perhaps this relaxation and prayer in life had a preserving
component for his hippocampus.
Penn State neuroscientist Andrew Newburg in
his book God can change your Brain documents brain scans he conducted on
various people during religious practice.
He found that thinking about God lights up your brain like a Christmas
tree. He believes he has found wiring in our DNA that is preset to discover
God. Jesus would do nothing without the direction of the Father. His mind was always on the Father. Does this means Jesus brain was constantly
lite up as he spent time with the Father of Lights.
Dr. Newburg also looked for a people group
that did not tend to get Alzheimer’s. He
found Nuns did not tend to get the disease because of their religious
practices. These are some of the reasons
he gives for his reasoning:
1. They have no financial stress – their
oath of poverty allows for the church /God to take care of them.
2. Caring for others and altruism lows
stress levels.
3. They have common community and support.
4. They pray daily and this lowers stress
levels.
5. Plus they do not have to deal with
husbands – ha! (My wife’s point)
Newburg also discovered that prayer and
meditation light up the parietal lobe (the crinkly upper layer of the brain
behind our ears) and that this part of the brain has direct neural connections
to the amygdala of the brain (fear and anger center of the brain). PET scans
showed that prayer would calm the entire brain and put it in a condition of
calm. Or was it the relaxation that
Dallas Willard described about Jesus.
The God-man who certainly practiced a life of prayer.
Jesus had the exact balance of everything
that current neuroscience documents our brain thrives on. I have no doubt that he would not have
suffered Alzheimer’s had he made it to a ripe old age.
The more we use a particular area of the
brain we lay down Myelin sheath (like fiber optic vs digital pathways in our
brain). This “rehearsing” speeds up the
brain’s efficiency. Jesus was said to
teach at a level beyond the teachers of his day. He also taught with authority, and
interpreted scripture from the Old Testament.
Jewish tradition dictated that only a Shema priest had the authority to
interpret scripture. All children of
Jesus’ day memorized the Torah (the first 5 books of the Old Testament). Exceptional students would be chosen to
continue deeper study. A Shema priest
had to memorize the entire Old Testament.
During our contemporary times, few teens would be able to memorize even
the first 5 books of the Bible. Most
teens today just want to google it – not remember it. Our memories have become underdeveloped today
as we rely on modern technology.
It must have been amazing to sit at the
feet of Jesus as scripture flowed forth from his memory. I will just continue
to muse …. What Would Jesus Think?
Rev. Murray Kingwell is the 50 Plus
director of the Western Ontario District of the PAOC. He is also operators counselling offices in
Mississauga, Milton, Hamilton and Brantford Ontario and is a Registered
Psychotherapist with the province of Ontario.
