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August 09, 2004
Jesus, Revolutionary
I think Jesus was a populist. I think what was revolutionary about the nature of Jesus as a prophet as distinct from all other prophets was his populism. If Jesus was around today, I think he would be saying 'All Power to the People'. He was an enemy of the State.
I say this with the Gospel of Thomas in mind. Thomas says that Jesus would say that he was the Son of Man and that God exists in all mankind. Consider the following uttered in the time of the Roman Empire:
(03) Jesus says: (1) "If those who lead you say to you: ‘Look, the kingdom is in the sky!’ then the birds of the sky will precede you. (2) If they say to you: ‘It is in the sea,’ then the fishes will precede you. (3) Rather, the kingdom is inside of you, and outside of you." (4) "When you come to know yourselves, then you will be known, and you will realize that you are the children of the living Father. (5) But if you do not come to know yourselves, then you exist in poverty, and you are poverty."
This idea that the people are one with the Kingdom of God, that the Son of Man suggests where two or three gather together in prayer that they are in the presence of God flies in the face of hierarchical intervention.
Jesus was a democratizer of the Jewish faith. He took the role of intercession away from the priesthood. His parable of the Good Samaritan undermined their authority. That's radical.
I don't think there is a simple way to say whether Jesus was a 'liberal' or a 'conservative'. He was Jesus and that's all he had to be. We won't be the first or the last to claim him, but I think this essential nature of his politics cannot be ignored or denied. He defied the state and said he needn't be a king to do so. He opened the gates of ultimate redemption to the individual, independent of all the established churches, kingdoms and authorities of the day. In that, as Luther finally reminded us, was the whole point.
I think Thomas' take slams the point home, and it doesn't surprise me that any church establishment would strike such notions from an official Bible. Thomas' interpretation of Jesus' message destroys authoritarianism. It locates divinity within and around us and demonstrates Jesus knows this and spreads the good news to everyone. Not from the top down, but from within the people outwards. Why else would Jesus work through ordinary men as his disciples? Why else would he wear the same kinds of clothes? Why would the 12 have no hierarchy?
What these things mean to me transcend silly political labels. We all have something to learn. But then again what's the point of writing as an advocate if one doesn't advance a claim? Mine is simply this, something I think stands to reason. The message of Reformation by re-establishing the connection between the individual and the divine enabled democracy. The concept of the divine spark within us, that all legitimate authority arises from the cooperation of individuals sounds like Christianity to me. It also sounds like Bhuddism to me. From my perspective, Thomas is the link between the two and that Jesus and Bhudda were saying the same thing - both by wandering the countryside.
As soon as I solve the problem of ascetism, I think I will have achieved a higher plane.
Posted by mbowen at August 9, 2004 09:58 AM
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Comments
As soon as I solve the problem of ascetism, I think I will have achieved a higher plane.
It's only a problem if you try it.
Posted by: P6 at August 10, 2004 01:01 PM
I agree with P6. It is a problem for others to wrestle with.
Posted by: Cerberus at August 10, 2004 06:51 PM
The connection between Jesus's teachings and buddhist teachings to me are also striking. The connection has been *remarked* on by several biblical scholars I've read (Crossan in particular), but only in a "convergence" sort of way. However, it's now becoming very clear Nazareth was *not* a podunk village out in the sticks, but was instead a suburb of a vital nearby city (Ceaserea, I *think*). Buddhists were rare in the empire, but they were not unheard of. I sometimes wonder if it might not *just* be possible that Jesus was influenced by Buddhist traditions somehow, if nothing else maybe as a bank shot through cynicism, which most definitely influenced him.
Posted by: scott at August 11, 2004 08:57 AM