The Jesus we may not know.
Sometimes I wonder whether we have fully connected with the living, breathing man, Jesus. Jesus is more than "book, chapter and verse". To understand his revelation of the nature and character of God we much allow him to burst out of the pages and become "alive", greater than words, deeper than theology and far beyond our interpretations.
I have been thinking about the upbringing that God chose for his son. An upbringing that must reveal what it was like not only to "know" him as Nazareth knew him, but also to be confronted with the gossip and innuendos that must have continually shaped who he was seen to be.
To Nazareth, Mary was a pregnant teenager who, after having what must have been seen as a questionable encounter with an angel, ran away from home for three months. Seriously, would you have believed her?
Joseph was so upset that he also needed an angelic visitation to be convinced that his fiancée had not been unfaithful. However, it was clear that his family did not believe the story at all as, when they had all gathered in Bethlehem because of the census, Mary was abandoned to give birth alone. Did Joseph plead with his mother, grandmother, aunts, sisters, desperate for a midwife, desperate for advice, a clean room....anything. The door was slammed in his face and he and his young bride, he hadn't consummated the marriage, were left abandoned and rejected.
It gets worse. Mary, Joseph and this strange child of visitation and promise become enemies of the state as the King, Herod, desperately tries to destroy the child and the blood of all the infants in Israel of Jesus age are now indelibly etched into their narrative. Think about, Jesus must have grown up with no boys of his own age. A terrible weight to bear.
Joseph packs up his family, his wife barely recovering from her ordeal, and makes for Egypt, the army hot on their heels and the cries of the mothers in their ears. Israel to Egypt is not an afternoon stroll. It is a huge undertaking for two teenagers and a new born infant, an infant with the burden of prophecy and angelic choirs weighing heavily on their shoulders.
They are fugitives carrying huge wealth, courtesy of God's provision through the three wise men. They would have travelled for months, constantly looking over their shoulders, fearful for their lives. Eventually they arrive at the Nile and beg for a boat to transport them to asylum. They are strangers, refugees, attempting to convince the "immigration officials" of Egypt to have mercy.
After many years, they retrace their steps and return to what must have been a chilly welcome in Nazareth. At this point there is only one reference to Jesus' childhood as he is "accidentally" left behind in Jerusalem as a pubescent young man. Does Mary have second thoughts? Has she left him at the temple as Samuel the prophet was so many centuries earlier? Had the weight of prophecy, and the doubts and fears overcome her faith. Put yourself in her shoes. Whatever the circumstances, Mary and her relatives turn around and retake the dangerous journey through the wilderness between Jericho and Jerusalem and retrieve their son.
By the time we meet Jesus again, he is a grown man. Joseph, his father, has died and we are confronted with Mary, a single mother, raising a family alone.
What of Nazareth? Had they become accustomed to the Messiah living amongst them. No! Jesus reads from the book of Isaiah and his neighbours become so incensed by his prophetic mandate that they try to throw him of the cliffs surrounds the city.
Jesus was not a normal middle class church kid. To Nazareth, and throughout history, even to this day, he was Mary's illegitimate child, a child that Joseph raised as his own. He was an enemy of the State, he was the reason why the blood of his male peers were spilled at his birth, he was a refugee, seeking asylum on a boat across the Nile, he was raised by a single mother, rejected by his relatives and villagers, even his family tried to take him away by force, as they too finally became faithless and hopeless.
Finally, Jesus performs a miracle! Was it the raising of his father from his death bed? No! Was it the provision of wealth and prosperity to his village? No! Was it some extraordinary act of power, authority, holiness and purity? No! Jesus turns 180 gallons of water into wine to satisfy the inebriated thirst of a country wedding that had already exhausted the cellar.
Is this the Jesus you know, for this is how God wishes to be known. This is his story, written in the flesh of his son. This Man must define how we see God and how we live in community. If we accept that we live under the Fatherhood of God we are all now defined as a brotherhood of man.
Far more importantly, to be a disciple, to be a follower of Jesus, his life defines ours.
My prayer is that Jesus bursts out of the texts, the sermons, the services and the songs and challenges us to our core. Without this challenge our spirituality retreats into religious observances.
I have been thinking about the upbringing that God chose for his son. An upbringing that must reveal what it was like not only to "know" him as Nazareth knew him, but also to be confronted with the gossip and innuendos that must have continually shaped who he was seen to be.
To Nazareth, Mary was a pregnant teenager who, after having what must have been seen as a questionable encounter with an angel, ran away from home for three months. Seriously, would you have believed her?
Joseph was so upset that he also needed an angelic visitation to be convinced that his fiancée had not been unfaithful. However, it was clear that his family did not believe the story at all as, when they had all gathered in Bethlehem because of the census, Mary was abandoned to give birth alone. Did Joseph plead with his mother, grandmother, aunts, sisters, desperate for a midwife, desperate for advice, a clean room....anything. The door was slammed in his face and he and his young bride, he hadn't consummated the marriage, were left abandoned and rejected.
It gets worse. Mary, Joseph and this strange child of visitation and promise become enemies of the state as the King, Herod, desperately tries to destroy the child and the blood of all the infants in Israel of Jesus age are now indelibly etched into their narrative. Think about, Jesus must have grown up with no boys of his own age. A terrible weight to bear.
Joseph packs up his family, his wife barely recovering from her ordeal, and makes for Egypt, the army hot on their heels and the cries of the mothers in their ears. Israel to Egypt is not an afternoon stroll. It is a huge undertaking for two teenagers and a new born infant, an infant with the burden of prophecy and angelic choirs weighing heavily on their shoulders.
They are fugitives carrying huge wealth, courtesy of God's provision through the three wise men. They would have travelled for months, constantly looking over their shoulders, fearful for their lives. Eventually they arrive at the Nile and beg for a boat to transport them to asylum. They are strangers, refugees, attempting to convince the "immigration officials" of Egypt to have mercy.
After many years, they retrace their steps and return to what must have been a chilly welcome in Nazareth. At this point there is only one reference to Jesus' childhood as he is "accidentally" left behind in Jerusalem as a pubescent young man. Does Mary have second thoughts? Has she left him at the temple as Samuel the prophet was so many centuries earlier? Had the weight of prophecy, and the doubts and fears overcome her faith. Put yourself in her shoes. Whatever the circumstances, Mary and her relatives turn around and retake the dangerous journey through the wilderness between Jericho and Jerusalem and retrieve their son.
By the time we meet Jesus again, he is a grown man. Joseph, his father, has died and we are confronted with Mary, a single mother, raising a family alone.
What of Nazareth? Had they become accustomed to the Messiah living amongst them. No! Jesus reads from the book of Isaiah and his neighbours become so incensed by his prophetic mandate that they try to throw him of the cliffs surrounds the city.
Jesus was not a normal middle class church kid. To Nazareth, and throughout history, even to this day, he was Mary's illegitimate child, a child that Joseph raised as his own. He was an enemy of the State, he was the reason why the blood of his male peers were spilled at his birth, he was a refugee, seeking asylum on a boat across the Nile, he was raised by a single mother, rejected by his relatives and villagers, even his family tried to take him away by force, as they too finally became faithless and hopeless.
Finally, Jesus performs a miracle! Was it the raising of his father from his death bed? No! Was it the provision of wealth and prosperity to his village? No! Was it some extraordinary act of power, authority, holiness and purity? No! Jesus turns 180 gallons of water into wine to satisfy the inebriated thirst of a country wedding that had already exhausted the cellar.
Is this the Jesus you know, for this is how God wishes to be known. This is his story, written in the flesh of his son. This Man must define how we see God and how we live in community. If we accept that we live under the Fatherhood of God we are all now defined as a brotherhood of man.
Far more importantly, to be a disciple, to be a follower of Jesus, his life defines ours.
My prayer is that Jesus bursts out of the texts, the sermons, the services and the songs and challenges us to our core. Without this challenge our spirituality retreats into religious observances.
posted by Unknown at 7:41 pm
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