You Were Made to Give Hope (JTC)
If you like what you read you can purchase the entire book here: Made for so much more!
YOU WERE MADE TO GIVE HOPE (Christianity)
Lesson:
How Christianity became the largest and most powerful religion in the world is not a mystery. If you want the details, investigate the triple-threat of the Apostle Paul, the Emperor Constantine, and the Holy Catholic Church and you will get all the answers you need.
Christianity has over 2-billion converts, representing one-third of the total population of the planet. That’s power! You may be wondering why I didn’t mention Jesus as part of the triple-play package. Well, in fact, I think Jesus is the most misunderstood person ever written about! I left traditional Christianity a long time ago—it was too “traditional” (did you get that?). But I have been enamored about who Jesus was and what he represents for a very long time. It wasn’t until I recently saw the movie “Killing Jesus”, an adaptation of a surprisingly good Bill O’ Reilly book made for TV, by National Geographic, that I saw the first representation and narrative of Jesus that I could believe. In fact, I remember saying aloud, “I can follow this guy!” In the movie the first thing I noticed is that Jesus was not European (check). Jesus was Semitic spending much of his time in the heat so his complexion would be brown to very-dark. Second, Jesus’ facial features would be more like someone from the Middle East (check). And third, Jesus was not a Christian—he was a Jew; (check) this was clearly shown. You’d be surprised how many people push-back when I say Jesus studied Judaism, not Christianity.
Now that that’s out of the way, it makes sense to also know that Jesus has been mythologized over the centuries as have been all the great thinkers from Socrates to The Buddha. In Jesus’ case, much of his life is truly unknown. There are the biblical synoptic gospels and several non-canonical stories not included in the Bible like the Coptic Gospels. In the Bible, all we basically have is his birth, then the story skips to his baptism and ministry.
The movie (and the book) “Killing Jesus” attempts to fill in some of these holes but mostly we are stuck with a very brief history of the man. The Jesus in the movie was very human. I liked that. He was reluctant, apprehensive and grew into understanding who he was. The gaze on his face when he made the fish multiply was priceless! He looked like, “I did that?” Then, over-joyed and with thanksgiving, he praised God. I liked that. He was sometimes afraid, not sure if he had special gifts but pressed forward anyhow, becoming what the people needed and who he was destined to be. In a few short years he became great, not just for what he said, but more so for what he did. He brought spiritual freedom to the people through his love in action with a radical form of Judaism that was simple (“Love God and neighbor…God is love”), bringing the altar of worship out of the temple and to the people. He spoke truth to power, got angry, and understood the law of karma when he gave the “Sermon on the Mount.” The Jesus in the film laughed, cried, was passionate and was filled with empathy and compassion. I loved that! He gave hope where there was none. It was inevitable that this great force would meet Newton’s third law of physics:“When one body exerts a force on a second body, the second body simultaneously exerts a force equal in magnitude and opposite in direction on the first body.” Simplified: “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Jesus gave the ultimate sacrifice, his life—publicly humiliated and tortured to death because of his great love. As a threat to Jewish and Roman rule he had to be silenced—made an example of what happens when you go against the grain. But some of his last words were the best ever written, “Forgive them. They know not what they do.” He died. Three days later he was gone and, as if reincarnated, came back to tell them that death was not the end but the beginning of something much more wonderful.
In the years that followed, the cult of Christianity grew a little while the myths grew a lot. Even still, this new faith in the world did not expand much until a few stragglers from the movement converted a Jewish teacher and scribe questioning his faith. His name was Saul (who became Paul), who took his version of the narrative into a world needing one true savior—Rome. Eventually, Christianity was adopted by Emperor Constantine and the rest is history. The Jesus story is an amazing story—told over and over again every Sunday. Ultimately it is a story of passion, conviction and hope. What I’ve laid out is why the story lives on. It has all the elements of a great story. Most of our epic books and movies are loosely based on the Jesus (as the hero) story. If you watch any “hero” adventure movie you will see baptism (person in water or rain during a tough transition) and crucifixion (hero carried away with arms out like the sign of the cross), and rebirth (hero prevails in the end and is different—more wise).
It is true that much of the account has been mythologized. In the book The Jesus Mysterieswe learn that the miracles and story of Jesus have been largely based on ancient Greek, Roman, Persian, and Egyptian myths (look up Dionysius, Mithras, and Osiris). This is no secret to most liberal theologians and scholars. Here’s some of what the authors of TheJesus Mysteries, Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy, say regarding this:
“The stories told about Osiris-Dionysus (O-D is their condensed name of all the myths) will no doubt sound familiar. He is the Son of God who is born to a virgin on the 25th of December before three shepherds. He is a prophet who offers his followers the chance to be born again through the rites of baptism. He is a wonderworker who raises the dead and miraculously turns water into wine at a marriage ceremony. He is God incarnate who dies at Easter, sometimes through crucifixion, but who resurrects on the third day. He is a saviour who offers his followers redemption through partaking in a meal of bread and wine, symbolic of his body and blood. The Jesus story is a synthesis of the Jewish myth of the Messiah Joshua (in Greek – Jesus) with these Pagan myths of the dying and resurrecting Godman.”
In Christian apologetics, the answer given the most regarding the question ‘was the story made up’ is that Jesus really lived; we must believe this with faith; and he was the fulfillment or culmination of the ancient myths. As stated, scholars do not deny that other myths existed. They say Jesus was the myths made real by his life, death and resurrection. I don’t know. I don’t care to know. But I do know this…. Billions follow the precepts of Christianity, many great people were Christians, the story is relevant and compelling, even in the 21st century, and there are things we can learn from this great faith, especially the life and times of Jesus of Nazareth—and that’s enough for me.
Message:
YOU WERE MADE TO GIVE HOPE (Christianity)
“Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted.” –Matthew 4
I am Black (African American) and have never understood how people of color in the world could worship a European representation of Jesus. It still bothers me today because ultimately if Jesus was White and the son of God, then God is White. That doesn’t give me a lot of hope for most of this planet that is filled with mostly non-white people. I believe if you create an image of the “Christ” at least make it in your own. But I prefer we not use any human images to depict God or Jesus… (purchase my book to read the rest)
Peace and love,
Rev. John
