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
Bottom line: the gospel is not meaningful unless we encounter a Jesus that is fully human in it. How else could we be expected to follow? There is much we don't know about the life of Jesus; the 4 gospels focused mostly on the remarkable, the extraordinary, and the unique teachings. Over the years, the church has constructed a mythical, superhuman Jesus. But I think his ordinary humanity is vital for us.
ReplyDeleteOne of the Jesus films I was planning to show in our series is the Last Temptation of Christ, made in the 1980's by Martin Scorcese and based on the novel by Nikos Kazantzakis. It is a good portrayal of Jesus in all his humanity, quite controversial in its time. But almost 3 hours long, so we decided to go with others instead.
ReplyDeleteRemember the popularity of the DaVinci Code and how people thrilled to the idea of a Jesus who got married and lived happily ever after? Clearly a lot of people are more attracted to his "fully human" than his "fully divine" possibilities.
This chapter is wonderful - looking at Jesus from the times in which he lived. He indeed becomes more human, more like us as he gets blown by the winds of the times. Our times are different; our winds are different, but the challenge is the same. Touch God in our moments. Take up life as God leads us. Lesson 72 of A Course in Miracles suggests meditating with these words:
ReplyDeleteWhat would You have me do?
Where would You have me go?
What would You have me say, and to whom?
I suspect that, in the randomness of daily life, that's what Jesus did. And we can do the same.
Jesus could have been married and had a family. It is in the moments of our lives that we transcend the temporal and reach the holy. It doesn't affect my faith; however, this attitude comes after many years of soul searching and study. Altering the story may indeed cause suffering as people's paradigms begin to shift.
I've never seen the Last Temptation of Christ - didn't think I could watch man's inhumanity to a person who I love so much. Kudos to you, Elizabeth for watching it.
I also want to mention that it is not often that a book surprises me, but this book by John Bell has managed to do that in every chapter so far. Good choice for a study. I also want to mention that there are talks by John Bell on Youtube and I have been really enjoying them.
That should be Lesson 71 not 72.
DeleteThe Last Temptation of Christ is not Mel Gibson's The Passion of Christ, in fact there is very little violence, but a lot of wild symbolism. One of my favourite twists is that Jesus the carpenter was the one who made the crosses for the Romans. I have a copy of the film in my office if anyone has three hours to watch it.
DeleteThanks, Elizabeth. I've been wanting to attend the film nights but Scott has another Lenten study he attends on Wednesday evenings...I may borrow it!
DeleteIf it were common knowledge and written about in gospels and letters that Jesus had been married and had children – the ramifications are huge. For one thing, I suspect that the church would have been very different – how many of the rules, structure, power etc were based on the fact that Jesus was not married. Perhaps priests/nuns would not have been celibate; perhaps people would not have left their families to become closer to God; perhaps the role of women would have been different in the church. Our ideas that the end times were coming might have been different. We might have included different gospels or letters in our scripture. But there is also the risk and damage which might have been experienced by his wife and children – they would have been left destitute after his death. I often struggle with how much time I want to spend on church activities vs my family responsibilities – scripture has Jesus clearly saying that we should choose God first (that passage about mother against daughter…) It is interesting that scripture only has Jesus protecting his mother from the cross.
ReplyDeleteI've been in ministry as both a single person and a partnered one, with and without children. Of course having a family takes time from total devotion to mission and ministry. At the same time it can make for a healthier person and a good connection with the people with whom we interact. Yes, the "mother against daughter" conflicts are real and painful - all the better to have them graced by faith that God is somehow there too.
ReplyDelete