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Christianity

One problem in determining who Jesus was, what he was all about as revealed in the Bible, is that the Bible was written after the fact and reflects later belief about him rather than objective, historical fact.

Were you aware that the familiar birth story appears in only two of the four Gospels? (Matthew and Luke); and that only Luke indicates that Jesus was born of a virgin? These birth stories, however, are not generally considered relevant to the historical Jesus (which is what we are concerned with here).

(as you follow along with this lecture, you are advised to read the Biblical passages cited. Links provided to an on-line version of the King James Bible will open in a new window.)

• Jesus the Jew:

• Redemption of the first born (LK 2:21-24)

• observation of Passover as child (LK 2:41-42) and adult (MT 26:17-19)

• Jesus in the synagogue (LK 4:15-22)

• The Greatest Commandment (MK 12:28-31): the Shema & Ve’haftah (two most common and important Jewish prayers, found in the Torah, even down to today)

• Who am I?: Prophet? Messiah? (MK 8:27-30)

• under demonic control? (MT 12:22-24)

• King of the Jews? (Does not admit to any accusations by Roman Pilate) (MT 27:11-12, MK 15:2-5, LK 23:3, JN 18:37) Not the kind of king the Romans would imagine, not a political king

• Jesus: the Jewish Messiah?: To claim Jesus as King of the Jews, as the awaited Savior/Messiah, he must be identified as a descendent of King David. Being born in Bethlehem is a sign that he was of David’s line. But there is little historical evidence that Jesus was actually born in Bethlehem rather than the Nazareth where he grew up. The faithful of later times who wrote the Gospels, wanting to emphasize such signs, might write it in even if it were not factual.

• Messiah, "Son of God", "Son of Man"? (Jesus clarifies meaning before the priests) (MT 26:63-64, MK 14:61-62, LK 22:67-70)

• How did this "King of the Jews" get to be the "Son of God"?: 
  In ancient times kings and emperors were considered to be descended from the gods. They were understood to be "sons" of the gods, divinity manifested in human society. If you claim someone to be a king, by implication in Roman times, you claim them to be a son of a god and divine. Jesus, as "King of the Jews" was thus naturally understood to be a "son" of the Jewish God perhaps not by the Jews in his day, but by the later Roman and Greek cultured early Christians.

• His mission: to turn (repent) people to God (MK 2:13-17)

• To the Jews: MT 10:5-6, MT 15:21-28 (Canaanites are "dogs" - transition?)

• To all the world?: MT 21:42-45 (transition - rejected by the Jewish authorities), MT 28:19 (after resurrection)

• Miracles: turning water into wine, walking on water, calming a storm, feeding thousands with little, a great haul of fish: demonstrations of faith and/or symbolic lessons

• Miracle healings:

• Jesus heals the blind and the lame by a laying on of hands and casts out "demons" at command (these people were likely, in today’s understanding, insane, psychotic, epileptic, etc.)

• Raising of the dead: Raising of Lazarus appears only in John (11:30-44) and thus may likely be symbolic rather than fact (certainly the other Gospels which read more like history, would report such an event if it had actually happened. The other gospels do report the healing of those who are near death: "the girl was not dead" (MT 9:23-25)

• "your faith has made you well": lessons concerning the power of faith:

• unintended, automatic healings (MK 5:25-34):

• automatic healing the daughter of a Canaanite woman (see above: MT: 15:28)

• Samaritan is healed and displays thanks: (LK 17:11-19)

• automatic healing at a distance of son of Roman soldier (JN 4:46-53)

• Disciples lack faith to heal ("faith as small as a mustard seed...": MT 17:19-20 & power of belief to move mountains: MT 21:21)

Jesus: the spiritual teacher ("rabbi")

• Method: story telling/use of parables: why?, how they work:

• inability of some to understand (parable of the sower: MT 13:1-23)

• Content/themes:

• The Kingdom of God: when God will rule men’s lives and thus God’s rule will be manifest in society as well as men’s hearts

• Eschatological: the "end times" are near (in the immediate, imminent future) but the dawning of those times are here and now in individual lives and hearts (starts small and gets bigger like a mustard seed and yeast: MT 13:31-33, LK 13:18-21; "Kingdom of God is within you" - LK 17:20-21, "You are not far from the Kingdom of God: MK 12:32-34)

• Salvation at the end-times: (weeds in the field: MT 13:24-30 & explained: MT 36-43, fishermen reject worthless fish: MT 13:47-50)

• The Kingdom of God is worth more than anything else (MT 13:44-46)

• The nature of God: God is near, answers prayer (mustard seed, "ask and it shall be given"), is gracious and merciful - like a loving parent ("abba") but also an absolute authority

• forgiving: God loves all equally, does not judge as men do (Laborers in the vineyard receive same pay no matter when they started work, MT 20:1-16)

• loves even sinners, welcoming them "home" (into the Kingdom - the presence - of God) (Prodigal son: LK 15:11-32)

• Imagery of these stories (farming, fishing, shepherding) is familiar to those he is speaking to and are used symbolically

Jesus: the religious and social reformer: anti-establishment, against religious legalism:

• Jesus ethics goes beyond the justice of the Judaism of his day: "go the extra mile, love your enemies" (MT 5:38-45)

• God’s love extends to encompass man’s love for fellow man - unconditional love. One is to emulate God, as God so loves unconditionally, so too must man: "love enemies... be merciful as your father is merciful" (LK 6:32-36)

• The Great Commandment: Love God, love self, love others (noted above: MK 12:28-34)

• Love over law: Plucking wheat on the Sabbath, eating offering to God because men were hungry (MK 2:23-28); healing on the Sabbath to help and save life (MK 3:1-6, LK 13:10-17); not concern about dietary laws (what comes out of the heart more important than what goes into the belly: MK 7:14-23)

• Political confrontations with Romans: insurrections, threatening crowds, direct verbal attacks regarding Herod’s immorality scares and angers rulers; talk of this new "king of the Jews" usurps the position of the Roman Emperor

• At whose hands? The Jewish authorities were only too pleased to cooperate with Roman authorities, encourage them to find him guilty and crucify him but it was the Romans who had the power to carry out the sentence. Jewish punishment for blasphemy is stoning to death; Roman punishment is crucifixion - a common criminal sentence in those days (his crime against Rome: the claim to kingship).

• Did Jesus predict his own death? It would not be hard to anticipate it, given what he was doing to incite both Jewish and Roman authorities. Did he have foreknowledge (from the beginning or only toward the end) of his destiny? At the very end, he seems all too human: "let this cup pass from me" (MT 26:39), "why hast thou forsaken me?" (MK 15:34)

• Was it destined by God? Was Judas really a turncoat? Since Christian belief holds that Jesus had to die to fulfill his mission then no one should be blamed as all involved were playing their destined part in the working out of God’s plan for human salvation.

• Was Jesus resurrected? Was he really dead or just unconscious? Even if he did come back from the dead was it perhaps a rare but natural phenomena? the power of his own faith?

• The meaning of his death and resurrection came later and has been debated by Christian and non-Christian alike.

Did Jesus intend to found a new religion?