Skip to main content

Rabbi, revolutionary, or redeemer

 Will the real Jesus please stand up.  The images of Jesus portrayed in Israel and are difficult to follow.  In Nazareth a Muslim banner, obstructing the view of a church, proclaims a quote from the Koran that "God does not beget, nor is he begotten.". While at the same time, the whole community seems to cater to and benefit economically from the pilgrimages.  As Christians, one of our essential claims is that Jesus is eternally begotten.  Human and God in one.  Jesus is still not accepted in his home town.

The Jewish guides I've overheard seem to focus on Jesus' role as a Rabbi.  Jesus would have had a prayer shawl.  Jesus taught the Torah.  Jesus' knowledge came from training, not divinity.  Capernaum was the perfect place for Jesus as it was too small for a full Rabbi.  In Capernaum, Jesus would have been a part-time teacher of the youth and able to spread radical ideas into the surrounding areas. Jesus' teaching are simply too consistent with 1st century rabbinical thought to make too much of a big deal about Jesus.

Or, every word of Jesus must been seen in its political context.  Jesus is a revolutionary who desired to overthrow the oppression of the Romans and lead a non-violent revolution of dissent.  Etc...

Although interesting, each of these theories seem to only contain part of the truth.  They also ignore the fact that Jesus claimed that he could forgive sin.  The forgiveness of sin can only be done by God!  As C.S. Lewis correctly points out in Mere Christianity, Jesus is either God or a mad-man there is not really an in between place left open to us by the gospels.  Jesus is fully human and fully divine.  So, although archeology and history can help more clearly illuminate the life and times in which Jesus lived, they are limited.  For, they alone will ever capture divinity.  It is through faith.  Faith in Jesus Christ that the truth of the creeds are understood in the life of the church.  It is through faith that we come to love and follow the redeemer who seeks to reconcile the world.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reading the Bible in Community

For people who are unfamiliar with the Bible, studying Holy Scripture can seem an intimidating experience.   There are so many things about the people, places, and situations described in the Bible that it can seem as though one has to be an expert in biblical studies to be able to grow through Bible study.   This is not so.   Let me encourage you in your study of Holy Scripture.  If you seek to learn about God through the study of scripture, God will meet you in that endeavor.  No matter how brilliant or simple you consider yourself, studying the word of God will vitally shape your daily walk in faith.  The word of God is accessible to you, at any level of reading comprehension, historical understanding, etc..  Because, when we read Holy Scripture, we do not read it alone.  As Christians, when we read the Bible we ask God to allow the Holy Spirit to inspire our reading so that the words from the text become real in our current lives and life situ...
1 comment
Read more

Walking where Jesus walks...

This morning as I wait to travel to Israel, I'm incredibly excited about being able to walk where Jesus walked.  I have been asked to lead a devotional for my group at the Mount of Beatitudes, the place where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount (read Matthew 5-8).  Every time I begin reading to prepare I become overwhelmed by the beauty and authority of Jesus' sermon.  To think of delivering a message in that spot where Jesus taught and spoke seems overwhelming.  But then, I remember that isn't that what we as Christians are called to do in every way, every day?  We walk where Jesus would walk.  We speak what Jesus would speak. In a world full of hurt and broken lives we are called to walk and speak int the situations that Jesus calls us through our baptism to care about.  As I journey on this pilgrimage, my prayer is that God will continue to lead me and challenge me to grow in my awareness of God.
1 comment
Read more

Grace lessons from the sidelines...

The game had gone horribly wrong.  For that matter, the whole season had been a struggle.  My nine year old daughter Kate’s soccer team were woefully bad.  They were so consistently out played by their opponents that the other teams would try to change up their formations and pass the ball so as to not run up the score (at least the classy ones would).  Her coaches were nice people doing the best they could and I appreciated their dedication to my daughter and our team, but they were not really soccer people.  Losing a soccer game is not the end of the world, but consistently watching girls you care about be beaten ten plus to zero because on goal kicks your team kicks the ball to the center and not the outside is heart wrenching to someone who is a soccer person. However, losing was not the most difficult thing.  Watching Kate become demoralized was the worst part.  In our family, we have a rule that you try and give your best... always.  It is o...
Post a Comment
Read more