Will the Real Jesus Please Stand Up?
Truth be told, there are as many Jesuses as there are disciples of this remarkable first-century figure. Regardless of how faithful one is to the portrayals of Jesus by any particular denomination or tradition, no two people understand or relate to Jesus in exactly the same way. This is one of the reasons the Bible includes four different versions of the story of Jesus’ life and why 2nd and 3rd Baptist churches have spun off from the 1st Baptist Church.
From apocalyptic firebrand to mystical faith healer to political insurrectionist, the various images of Jesus are celebrated and defended by true believers of every theological and political stripe. Walk into the narthex of any number of Protestant churches and you’re likely to find the sentimental blue-eyed, pink-skinned Jesus of artist Warner Sallman gazing beatifically upon your comings and goings. Enter the neighboring Catholic church and you’ll probably find the image of a beaten, bleeding, emaciated man suffering on a cross.
From the Gospels to illustrated Bible storybooks to portrayals in film, Jesus has been the subject of considerable “spin” over the ages. Each tradition and each individual puts their own emphasis on this remarkable figure. For many middle-class Americans, the ideal Jesus is the gentle, upstanding, right-thinking (and often somewhat androgynous) suburbanite with good posture. The notion that Jesus might have been a short, dark, Middle-Eastern peasant rabble-rouser is so far from many people’s capacity to comprehend, that all reason is rejected in favor of the gauzy Aryan visions of early childhood. A blond-haired, blue-eyed
Jesus, meek and mild, is such a stalwart icon of Western culture, that to suggest anything contrary or corrective to that image is tantamount to heresy.
A Discovery Channel special utilizing the latest in forensic technology reconstructed what Jesus might have looked like, based on mosaic representations and the actual skull of a first-century Jew. The result fomented an outcry from commentators far and wide with accusations of “revisionism” and “political-correctness” run amok. Columnist Kathleen Parker was so distraught that she fretted that the Jesus she knew as a child was being replaced by “the kind of guy who wouldn't make it through airport security.” She goes on to say,
“Given the tendency of academic research to steer conclusions away fromApril 1, 2001 Orlando Sentinel
anything that might be construed as Aryan or, heaven forbid, Falwellian,
it's easy to imagine that biblical revisionists won't be satisfied until they
discover that Jesus was really a bisexual, cross-dressing, whale-saving,
tobacco-hating vegetarian African Queen who actually went to the temple
to lobby for women's rights.”
Non-Caucasian Christians have long been dissatisfied with the Aryan Jesus. Be it Asian, African, South American, or Native American, cultures all over the world have represented Jesus metaphorically as “one-of-them.” Douglas Andelin’s rendering of Jesus on the cover of Bishop John Shelby Spong’s “Liberating the Gospels” appears as a disheveled Jewish peasant. The National Catholic Reporter awarded Janet MacKenzie’s Jesus of the People, an image of Jesus modeled on an African American woman the winner of the "Jesus 2000" international art competition.
The portrayal of Jesus as some sort of sweet guy-next-door is a sentimental misreading of the Bible. Jesus didn’t attract everyone far-and-near. He was a peasant who likely attracted peasants. As represented in the gospels, he was radical enough to make even many of the liberals of his day, the Pharisees, uncomfortable.
Dom Crossan explains that there’s really only one Gospel in the Bible and four “according to’s,” – this because the life of Jesus has too much meaning to be limited to only one telling that followers would be tempted to literalize and venerate. The four “according to’s” give us a glimpse of four very different understandings of who Jesus was; despite efforts to the contrary, they defy synthesis and harmonizing."
To receive a complete copy of the text used for the session, please contact Pastor Marj at daytonfirstcong@gmail.com. It will be sent as an email attachment for your perusal as opposed to printing multiple pages, a stewardship practice. Because of copyright law, we are not able to make the materials available here. Another option would be to purchase a copy of Felten and Procter-Murphy's newly-released book, Living the Questions: The Wisdom of Progressive Christianity from your local bookseller.
Questions to be considered in light of the video and readings:
Levine describes some of the likely characteristics of Jesus. Make a list.
Borg suggests several generalizations about Jesus that have a “fairly high degree of probability.” List them.
What are some of the subversive & marginal characteristics of Jesus’ life and ministry described by Flunder, Scott, & Prejean?
What borders did Jesus cross in the gospel of Mark? To what purpose?
What are some of the characteristics of the “Kingdom of God?”
Why would the alternative vision of Jesus’ Kingdom be so treasonous or threatening?
Describe the differences between the pre-Easter and post-Easter Jesus and their implications for Christian belief.
Why does Borg consider the empty tomb a “distraction” from a relationship with Jesus as a figure in the present?
Nakashima-Brock suggests that the early church was much more preoccupied with Jesus’ Divine-Human nature than it was with the “atonement.” Why?
Describe some of the layers Flunder bemoans as obscuring the real Jesus.
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