Different faiths believe different things of Jesus. Spiritual prophet, enlightened teacher, Jewish messiah, son of God. People today continue a disagreement which existed even before his crucifixion. But, who is this Jesus?
This is going to be a three-part series on some of the things that I find fascinating about the person Jesus of Nazareth. His identity remains hotly contested, but his historicity is widely accepted, even among skeptics.
Who is This Man Jesus
To begin with, I must acknowledge that much remains unknown. We don’t even know what he looked like. John even goes so far as to point out the omission at the very end of his gospel. So, who is this man Jesus?
Nearly all of the historical information about Jesus is contained in the gospel accounts. As a Jewish rabbi, he broke with the mainstream practices of Jewish schools of thought in some interesting ways.
His Students
Jesus’s students were not discriminatingly recruited from among the best and brightest. Wielding influence as a rabbi was a challenge in Jesus’ day. Even today, rabbis vie for influence with competing interpretations of the law.
The record is clear, Jesus sought to influence as many people as possible with his teaching. Establishing and growing a school of thought should have made the selection of his closest students a top priority. They would be the ones called upon to carry forward the teacher’s message.
Promising boys were groomed for the role. Interested candidates applied with the rabbi they wanted to follow. Rabbis were exceptionally selective.
Yet, we see Jesus call the apostles with absolutely no regard for their station or background. We later see this play out beautifully in Acts 4:13–the council was astonished by Peter and John because they were unschooled and ordinary men.
Jesus and the Unclean
He associated himself with the unclean. I cannot stress how bizarre this behavior is to read. In most belief systems, there is a general sense of precaution against spending too much time with “the wrong people”–for various reasons.
But the mosaic law explicitly teaches that you can quite literally catch the sins of others. Touch someone who is unclean, even inadvertently or unwittingly, and you become unclean (Leviticus 5:2-6). Jewish religious leaders took great pains to avoid that possibility.
Yet, Jesus walked among unrepentant sinners and touched the unclean. He literally drew attention to the fact that he had been touched by an unclean woman in Mark 5:25-34!
Jesus and Women
In at least two key places within the gospels, we see Jesus use women to give evidence as witnesses to what they saw or experienced. This is beyond unreal. Who is this man Jesus who uses women?
Mosaic law established that in legal matters, two men had to witness a thing for it to stand as evidence. This artifact which made women inherently less credible than men in Jewish law, played out across the wider culture.
A woman whose husband died alone with her became an agunah. With no male witnesses, the evidence of his death did not satisfy legal requirements. She could not remarry. It was absurd.
Yet, Jesus consistently spent time with the unclean and with women. He sent his message forth in vessels which most other rabbis would not deign to use.
It’s worth adding that Jesus spent time with all kinds of people, not just the poor and downtrodden outcasts. But, the fact that he spent any time at all with the less respectable elements of humanity in the story is a noteworthy contrast.
Teaching with Authority
He taught from the mosaic law with authority. His own authority. Jewish thought leaders of Jesus’ day carried forward the interpretations of their teachers. This was the “authority” on which they taught.
But, even when a point was considered well understood, it was not taught with authority. Humans, even the best intentioned humans, could get it wrong.
Rabbis and scholars of the law spent their lives studying the scriptures and the writings of those who came before. They genuinely wanted to “get it right”.
But, the audacity to proclaim that YOU knew what the law meant put you in the unfortunate position of having to defend that interpretation. So tended toward nuance, even in arguments. They used questions to try to trip up those who challenged them.
Jesus spoke with authority on the Hebrew scriptures. And, this amazed the teachers of his day. I love that their response to his teaching was to try to challenge him. Because, of course it was.
They tried to get him to answer impossible questions. They tried to put him in situations where they thought the law contradicted itself. He never shied away from a challenge, and his responses are worthy of a mic drop.
Jesus the Teacher
You may have noticed something in reading this post. At no point, did I mention any of the miracles which the gospels record. I did not bring up his claim to divinity. Nor did I mention the backdrop of prophecy which he claimed to fulfill.
I did that on purpose. Because I believe that even without those elements, Jesus was a rabbi whose teachings would have splintered Judaism. He attacked their concept of righteousness, and he used their own scriptures to do it.
It’s not about your status under the law. It’s about the state of your heart.
The message of love he preached as the fulfillment of the law was unsettling. When we see the power he is described as having–the signs and wonders which he performed–it becomes clear why they conspired to kill him.
My next post in the series will cover what I find to be some of the most interesting displays of power which are ascribed to him. The last post will address what I believe to be his claims of divinity.
Prayer for Today
My prayer for today is that God would refine my understanding of Jesus. I pray that he will use my words and actions to further his message and example to others who, like me, need to receive it.
I am resolved to continue studying and learning about him. Never to attain a complete knowledge, but what joy it is to pursue.
Verses about Him Breaking The Mold
“Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ‘Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him.” Mark 1:16-18 (ESV)
“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13 (ESV)
“Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, ‘What do you seek?’ or, ‘Why are you talking with her?’ So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?’ They went out of the town and were coming to him.” John 4:27-29 (ESV)
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