Sherman, Since it�s unlikely that anyone will ever know the truth, I can only give you my opinion. Firstly, he wasn�t a priest in the strict sense of the word. He was a Jewish rabbi, or teacher. I suspect that during the 18 or so years when the gospels tell us nothing about him, he may well have travelled and studied the eastern religions, in particular Buddhism, and I think it possible that the �Wise Men� who supposedly visited at his birth were influential in his education. There is a line of thought that suggests that as a descendant of the House of David through Joseph, he was, in fact, the rightful King of Israel. If he was, then it could explain King Herod�s slaughter of the innocents, and it could also explain the sign the Romans nailed to the cross - King of the Jews. This is possibly why he, like John the Baptist, has been linked to the Zealots, a group of freedom fighters dedicated to liberating the land from Roman occupation, and perhaps to restoring the rightful king to the throne. The fact that he once commanded his disciples to sell their cloaks to buy swords would suggest that he clearly wasn�t the �gentle, meek and mild� person we�re led to believe he was.
As Jake says there were many people around in those times who claimed to be able to heal the sick - and people believed it then, just as some do today. By its very nature, religion relies upon superstition. Contrary to popular opinion, there were women among Jesus� followers, but since the society of the day was male dominated, their role, I believe, has been deliberately understated by the writers of the Gospels.
Continued