Introduction

INTRODUCTION

Please feel free to comment on these discussion questions below:

John Bell suggests there are three ways the portrayal of Jesus minimizes his humanity and his impact on us:

·         Jesus is seen as passive, where birth and cross are the main focus, not life stories, we tend to neglect his actions, choices and words;

·         The apostle Paul, the earliest Christian writer, understood and experienced the symbolism of Jesus – the witness of his resurrection - but did not have a sense of Jesus' life and teachings;

·         Modern scholarship tends to bring "a hermeneutic of suspicion" to the stories of the gospels, dividing up what is possibly historical, what is metaphor and myth.

In contrast, this book will look primarily at gospel stories that emphasize Jesus’ action and choices, taking all the gospel witnesses into account.

Bell describes his potential audience:  the general reader (I read everything, why not this?), the curious spectator (what are they saying about Jesus now?), the enthusiast (I read everything I can about Jesus!) – which one are you?

Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

John Bells draws attention to the “impure” genealogy of Jesus by emphasizing the 4 women whose names appear in Matthew 1, commonly known as the “begats”.  Have you heard these stories before? Does it surprise you to learn these aspects of Jesus’ family history?

Do you agree with Bell that, with a better understanding of Jesus’ real genealogy, we will be more forgiving of our own weaknesses and the weaknesses of others?

image:  Sallie Poet

Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Reviewing traditional Christmas pageants, John Bell describes them as Victorian reminiscence projects – suggesting the unreal quiet of a staged manger scene is no place for us to understand the subtle truths about his incarnation.

“It is the time when the Creator of heaven and earth decides, out of love for the world, to forgo the distance and safety of heaven in order to experience the risk and joy of life on earth in solidarity with humanity.”

Bell suggests the only silence in the Xmas story is God’s anonymity, that the holy one was hidden amongst the ordinary.  When we think of the “decline” of spiritual values in Western culture, both at Christmas and every other day, in what ways do you glimpse God at work in the world?

Image: William Kurelek

Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

Bell asserts that in order to be an incarnate Christ, Jesus was “necessarily normal”, physically and sexually. He also quotes sociologists who have studied the first century and found that 75% of the population died before the age of 30.   Yet we have always easily believed that Jesus was quietly single, though the pressure to produce children would have been enormous. 

How does this change your understanding of Jesus’ life before his years of active ministry? Was he an anomaly in his time? Might he have been married or been a father? Does it make him less “holy” in your eyes?

image: Jesus Christ Superstar

Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

John Bell describes 3 aspects of family as demonstrated in the Bible:

·         Ancestral: stories of the Hebrew scriptures patriarchs and matriarchs, family relationships

·         Jesus’ family of origin, relationships with his biological relatives

·         Jesus’ teaching about families and faithfulness

Instead of focusing on the nuclear family, the gospel is rich in examples of the surrogate family, or the very inclusive family of faith. Where do you see these Christian family values at work in the life of your faith community?

Image: Cuyler Black

Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Read Jesus’ use of “today” in Luke 4, the urge to action. Can you see how he might have been an offense to the religious establishment, who are better at putting real change off? Yet Jesus did not exempt himself from religious community or reject the synagogue.

In the story of turning tables at the Jerusalem temple, Bell says that Jesus demonstrates that neither economic status, age nor disability should exclude people from the house of prayer. It should be a place of healing, of laying our whole selves “open to God’s amendment”.    

How do we maintain that balance between being open to our differences and yet decisive on issues of justice?

Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

John Bell cites Jesus’ inclusion of women in both his community and his teaching as an indication that Jesus was ‘in tune with and unashamed of his feminine side.” How does this fit with your image of Jesus?

In Chapter 3 Bell discusses how Jesus’ sexuality is not covered by the gospel writers. Does our traditional image of Jesus as “gender neutral” make him a safer saviour for female disciples?

image: Eric Gill, Mary of Bethany

Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

Jesus readily engaged with people who did not share his “identity”, either as Jewish, Palestinian, male, able-bodied. In fact, this openness to diversity made people who shared his Jewish identity uneasy. 

John Bell suggests that Christianity is strengthened by a founder who believed in faith as a potential for good in all people. He also asserts that this does not dilute the uniqueness of Jesus for those who follow him.  Do you agree?

image:  He Qi, Jesus and the Samaritan

Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

John Bell writes that we need to take a second look at the traditional body image of Jesus as a skinny man, emaciated perhaps by poverty, a poor diet or an ascetic lifestyle. He cites instead all the positive references to food and eating found in the gospels. Jesus’ open table also reflects biblical social justice and God’s love for all.

Bell suggests a second symbol for the Christian community (after the cross) is the table – not the holy communion table, but the pot-luck table.  Do his thoughts about Jesus and food inspire you to improve our “table fellowship” in the church today?

image:  Jessica de Stefano, Jesus and pizza

Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

Historically, Jesus has been portrayed as passive or, even when active, meek and mild.  In contrast, Christians often refer to the “Old Testament God” as punishing and judgmental. 

Why would we deny anger in Jesus?  At the end of the gospels, in the garden of Gethsemane, is it possible Jesus is angry at God?

Bell writes: “Anger is not the opposite of love, just as doubt is not the opposite of faith. Indifference in both instances is the real enemy.”  Do you agree?

image: C. Malcolm Powers

Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

Just as Jesus is not often portrayed in anger, we are not used to him sharing a joke, either.  Yet there are glimpses of humour in metaphors and puns we may not detect because of a language barrier and centuries of cultural differences.

John Bell suggests one reason might be that laughter is fleeting and spontaneous.  It depends on context and common experience.  We tend to think of the stories of Jesus as eternal and timeless, and have difficulty appreciating that we may have lost this aspect forever.

However, Bell does end on a note of timeless wisdom:  Did Jesus come so that we should have cynicism and deep despair? No, but that God’s joy might be complete in us. In what ways can we use humour to fulfil the joy God intends?

image:  William Wheatley, United Church of Canada, 1973