Part three
When did Jesus first realize 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, the man, 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 were 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 understand or get anything done. What is so amazing about the “Jesus Story” is what these men and women became and accomplished 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 or spend his time talking and sharing ideas with his friends? If he is like us, he probably did the ordinary things of his time. We know he spent time at social events like weddings. What else did he do? We can each fill in the blanks on this one.
For me, when we begin to understand this, we begin to comprehend the fully human Jesus – a Jesus like us, having to work out what he believed his Father was calling him to be.
Brother Giovanni
We also recommend: "Giovanniandfranco.com
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