“Pizzaonia Emerging” Courtesy of the Pizzaonian Art Institute, Abe Straction, Curator
From a Pizzaonian Perspective - Jesus, the last three years ………..
When did Jesus first realize fully who he was and what his mission was?
It is impossible not to be fascinated by the historical Jesus*, regardless of your point of view. We know that so much of what we believe Jesus to be is shaped by the religion that followed him. We know that other than what is found in the various gospels very little historical knowledge is known about him. And yet, he remains one of the best known figures in recorded history.
Everyone seems to want to label him – and regardless of how many try the historical Jesus eludes labels and descriptions. We can only speculate as to who he was personally. Like everyone else I often wonder what he was like as a man during the last three years of his life.
I prefer to believe he grew into the realization of what his mission was. I suspect it started with the strong intuitive belief that he had a profound relationship to the God of the bible.
While this was a gradual realization, when did he first get his first complete sense of what he was being asked do to? I believe even as a child, he knew something was different about him. This feeling probably inspired his forty days of fasting in the wilderness. This may have been the place where he began to see what was being asked of his life.
The complete awareness of who he was and what he would have to do was more than likely finalized after his baptism by John the Baptist. This seems to be the point when he begins his messianic mission. The fullness of his relationship with his heavenly father starts here.
Again, I think an area that often is not explored enough is the question, did Jesus have any choice in the matter. As I stated previously his acceptance of who he was and what was expected of him could have been rejected. He could have said, “No.” What makes him who he is – is that he did not say no, but yes. The yes wasn’t easy. It relied completely on his acceptance of his Father’s love for him.
If we want to get an idea of how difficult this was for him, imagine your father coming to you and asking you to sacrifice your life for the well-being of your family. Add to this the knowledge that your sacrifice would not be seen as an act of a hero, but the necessary demise of a person seen as common criminal, and you begin to get the idea.
What was his relationship to the Apostles?
You have to wonder what attracted Jesus to the people he selected to be part of his immediate group. The one common denominator that seems to fit everyone, including Jesus is that they were all very ordinary common people with nothing to set them apart from everyone else. There has to be a message here for all of us.
You get the impression that Jesus was often frustrated with the Apostles. How many times did he have to answer variations of the same questions when explaining what they were doing. Surely, he had moments when he questioned whether this group would ever get it or get anything done. What is so amazing about the “Jesus Story” is what this group of men and women became after the death of Jesus.
Did Jesus have free time and how did he spend it?
I have often felt that the stern aesthetic Jesus of the Gospels may not have been his real disposition. I can understand why the Gospel writers wanted to portray him the way they did. However, we have no inkling of how he spent his free time. How did he relax? Did he spend time talking and sharing ideas with his friends? If he is like us, he probably did. We can each fill in the blanks on this one.
For me this would be the fully human Jesus – a Jesus like us having to work out what his Father was calling him to be.
To be continued:
Brother Giovanni
*The Historical Jesus, PPS http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/jesus/tikkun.html
An excerpt from the above reference: Other apocalyptic leaders have arisen throughout the course of Jewish history. Bar Kochba and Sabbatai Sevi, for example, drew significant numbers of loyal followers. But their apparent failures to bring their transformative vision to reality led to the end of their movements. When Jesus' followers, probably in hiding somewhere, heard he was dead, it did not spell the end of his group. Somehow, hope persisted and was transmuted into a force that changed history. Anyone who looks at maps of established churches in the late first, second, and third centuries cannot help but marvel at the rapid spread of Christianity. The persistence and extraordinary growth of Jesus' following after his death is the miracle on which to focus, claims Crossan, not the resurrection. Indeed, the transformation of some disappointed messianists into a dynamic movement is one of the fascinating stories of history.
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