“A Different Understanding of Jesus”

(Part 2 of 2)

Presenter: Dick Stetler – August 2021

 

    One of the most interesting aspects of Christianity is how Jesus grew in stature following his death.  The early teachers of the faith had a stake in making Jesus larger than humanly possible. What got and captured the attention of people was that God wanted to experience what it was like to incarnate as a limited being who equally developed immediate amnesia of his identity as being the Creator of the universe.

    The first writer who wrote about the message Jesus gave to humanity mentions this.  Paul wrote: “Jesus always had the nature of God.  Of his own free will, he gave up his identity and appeared in human form as a man.” (Philippians 2:6-7) This concept of God appearing in a human form may have ignited the blaze of material that followed.

    How do people today decide which words authentically come from Jesus and which words were added to what Jesus said by aggressive scribes?  Having the freedom to believe what works for us and what can easily be set aside was blocked by the decision of an early Council of the Roman Church.  That Council pronounced that the manuscripts it had collected were henceforth to be known as The Word of God.  Such a decision was made in order to stop the proliferation of manuscripts that were being created and circulated by writers in the numerous branches of Christianity. 

    Some of these manuscripts were given very recognizable names:  The Gospel of Thomas, The book ofEnoch, The Gospel of Mary, The Acts of Paul, etc.  Most of Jesus’ early disciples were illiterate, yet many of the manuscripts bore the names of people who were known to be part of Jesus’ ministry and played an active role in his inner circle of friends. There were literally hundreds of such manuscripts in circulation.

          A litmus test for Jesus’ teachings is to decide which ones were instructive on how to live and which ones described Jesus’ superhuman abilities.  These abilities gave him divine power and authority over what became impossible for his followers to duplicate. For example, Jesus allegedly walked on water.  He paid his temple-tax by sending Peter to go fishing.  He told him, “In the mouth of the first fish you catch, you will find a coin.  Use that coin to pay my temple tax.”  He had the ability to control the weather patterns simply by telling a severe storm to be still.  He turned well water into a vintage wine.  He brought Lazarus back to life after his friend had been dead four days.  

    An intriguing aspect of Jesus’ life is that we have a record, primitive as it is, of what it is like to live in Heaven on earth.  Hence, Paul, who was a brilliant writer about Jesus, has given validity to what Dr. Carl Sagan wrote:

Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people, citizens of distant epochs, who never knew one another.  Books break the shackles of time ― proof that humans can work magic.

    The New Testament, regardless of its flaws and exaggerated labeling, was once a body of ancient scrolls that became the only record that people in the future would have of this profound teacher. Everything we know about Jesus is secondhand information of what others remember hearing him say. Paul set the tone for the Gospel writers.  We have learned that Jesus wrote nothing.  He had one mission and purpose in this life and that was to teach people the truth about how to live. (John 18:37)

    Today, we can decide which teachings are relevant for our living and which ones put Jesus on a pedestal as a god to be worshipped. Today it is no longer heresy, that once was punishable by death, to differ with the teachings of the Church. Everyone who follows the trail of bread crumbs left by Jesus’ teachings and embodies them, will understand what it is like to live in the next level of reality while still being in their physical forms.

    As Christianity spread so did the character of the man Jesus.  The growth inspired by the bold testimonies that Jesus appeared to them after his death on a cross.  Eager to gain followers, the Church began to teach that a former carpenter was God incarnate, eventually making him part of the Trinity of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

    Soon after, the Church elected Bishops as it concentrated on institutionalizing itself.  The character of Jesus became untouchable and almost unapproachable.  Who could follow in the footsteps of God?  The Trinity confused believers.  Was Jesus a mere man or was he actually our Creator incarnate?  Debate raged within the ranks of the clergy and hierarchy. They could not agree.  They eventually settled on the teaching that Jesus was fully a man who God used for a divine purpose.

    As usual, every truth had its points and counterpoints because every person is different and understands life vastly different.  No one has captured this understanding better than Benjamin Franklin who wrote:

When you assemble a number of people in order to have the advantage of their joint wisdom, you inevitably assemble with those people all their prejudices, their passions, their errors of opinion, their provincial interests, and their selfish points of view.

    The early leaders of Christianity could not remain content with simply living what Jesus taught; they had to get their theology to be consistent among all believers.  Various creeds were developed that systematized beliefs.  The Church began to be splintered for the rest of its existence. As time wore on, people began to think for themselves and realized that they did not need to park their brains at the door before they entered their churches.

    Disillusionment followed so that more and more churches began to close as people found other experiences more fulfilling than to be in church.  The Church could no longer hold Salvation over the heads of people thus gaining their attention by fear.  There have been so many sightings and out-of-the body experiences by a diverse number of people that the knowledge has spread that no one dies; and, indeed, Jesus was teaching the truth when he said, “In my father’s house there are many levels of awareness. I would not tell you this if it were not true.”  (John 14:2)   

    Judgement is up to everyone who chooses to incarnate into their solid forms. This, the final decision of how to live, has nothing to do with organized religion.  According to Jesus, the quality of our lives here on earth depends on how well we follow the Golden Rule that comes packed with countless skills of spirit.  Paul also captured many of these in Galatians 5:27 and also in I Corinthians 13.

    The miracle of life is the knowledge that we are not in charge of our eternal destination. We never again have to listen to our fears when we look back on life and rehearse all the errors of judgment and the numerous detours we have traveled. Again, as loving as our Creator is, God would never allow us to be in charge of our destiny.

    There is no belief system that ushers us into the next life.  There is no path to salvation.  There is no Devil and a place like Hell.  These were beliefs that the Jews incorporated into their religious heritage when they were taken into Babylon and exposed to Zoroastrianism.  These beliefs still live in the hearts of even the most faithful Christians.  Such beliefs teach that our salvation is up to us.  Really?

    Think about this. . . God created a limited life form who lives for only one hundred years in a setting where each person has an opportunity to use what limitedpowers they have to make decisions in a world that does not exist when we die. We are not here to earn our way to eternal life. 

    We all graduate from this life when we die, grateful that the fears we had do not exist.   Religions are in error to preach such fear.  Thank God we have a Creator that is forgiving everyone all the time.  You can rest well when you listen only to Jesus and not to the zealous evangelists to preach fear. We are what our thoughts have made of us. 

    Keep wholesome thoughts, and, above all, remain kind to one another. We simply have to trust God for the outcome of our lives. Paul did after referring to himself as being the worst of sinners of all.  (1st Timothy 1:15).  We have to remember that God sends only angels to earth and none of them have ever been in any real danger. We also have to remember that human beliefs cannot override God’s creativity.