Enter John the Plunger (Original Jesus: Chapter 2)

"Jesus believed that in the end he, himself, would go down, alone, to the lowest point of human experience. Somehow, strangely, through that act God would would defeat evil."
(Original Jesus, 32)

The wilderness– just the place a first century Jew might expect things to happen. Here, the Jordan Valley (literally the lowest point on earth), was a place riddled with meaning and significance. It brought to mind the Exodus event, when God led them out of Egypt and into the land he had promised to their ancestor Abraham. The crossing of the Jordan river (described in Joshua 3-4) symbolized for Israel new starts, new beginnings. From the Hebrew prophets, they understood that it would be in the wilderness that “God and Israel get it together again” (p. 25; see also Hosea 2:14; Isaiah 40:3-5, 9).

Things weren’t the way they were supposed to be for Israel. They were living under the rule of pagan Romans who were contaminating their culture. They were over-taxed, and sliding deep into debt. Many groups led by would-be prophets and kings arose, all with vision for Israel’s God himself to set them free and bring in the time of peace and justice. These leaders and their movements usually didn’t last long. The Essenes at Qumran were similarly looking for God to act in history to defeat the Romans and to establish the true people of God.

Then came John into the wilderness, plunging people into the Jordan river. Here he was symbolically re-enacting what happened when the children of Israel came through the River Jordan and into the promised land. This was an exodus symbol, implying that God was coming back to Israel. John saw himself as preparing the way for that coming, as he pointed the movement to its new leader: Jesus.

Jesus came telling people that the kingdom of God was happening now, which meant justice, hope and the destruction of evil. But how? In Jesus' version of the story, this came in a way that no one expected. Yes, God's kingdom would overturn the power structures of the world (think: Rome), but it would also upset all the misleading expectancies of how this would take place.

Biblical Text: Luke 3:1-3, 15-16; Mark 1:9-15 (also check out Isaiah 40:3-9)

Embedded Questions:

• Why would John the Baptist spend his time in the desert?
• Why was this the lowest point of history (climactic point of history)?
• What was original about Jesus’ version of this message (God acting within time and space on behalf of Israel)?

Jesus: Failed Messiah? (Original Jesus: Chapter 1)

"We know for certain that Jesus of Nazareth was crucified. That is one of the most secure facts in the history of the world. But on the other hand, we know that literally thousands of other Jews were crucified within fifty years either side of Jesus. What made Jesus special? Why do people all over the world tell the story of his death, rather than any of the others?"
(Original Jesus, 18)

In Jesus' day, Jerusalem was a hot spot for violence and religious fanaticism. But for the Jewish people, it was also a city of hope and expectation. Here is where King David set up his capitol. Here the prophets tell us that God would reveal himself to save not only Israel but the whole world. Here Jesus came followed by scores of disciples, all hoping that he would bring the rule of God right then and there and liberate them from their oppressors. Here Jesus was arrested and crucified. Just like other failed messiahs.

But what made him different? Why are people still talking about Jesus today? Why is Jesus not just regarded as yet another well-intentioned (but failed) "messiah" crucified under the brutality of Rome?

Something made Jesus much more than another young protester casually liquidated by the occupying forces. Jesus’ followers kept following him, having witnessed something incredible: God raised him from the dead! They came to understand that Jesus’ death meant something– that God through this single action in history had dealt definitively with the problem of human guilt and shame. "This was where the one true God acted to save and heal the whole world." (p. 21)

Biblical Text: Mark 15:25-34

Embedded Questions:

• What made Jesus special?

• Why do people all over the world tell the story of his death rather than all the other martyrs?

• What caused the 12 disciples to give up everything and follow him?

• How can the death of a individual 2,000 years ago, in another culture and in another place, be relevant for me today?

Original Jesus: Intro

"Jesus is in the news as much now as ever before. An archaeologist digs up a new stone; an archivist redates a manuscript; a seminar comes up with a new analysis; and suddenly the newspapers get interested. Does this new view ‘mean’ that Jesus never did or said what the Gospels say he did or said? Or perhaps that, after all, he really did? The passion these questions arouse shows that a lot of people are still fascinated by Jesus - even if they sometimes hope to find a rather different Jesus from the one in the biblical Gospels."
(Original Jesus, 7)

In The Original Jesus, I discovered that the Jesus described in the Gospels... the real Jesus... doesn't quite fit with much of the popular theology out there. Much of what we are taught about Jesus is more or less non-tangible. That is, theologically sound but hard to relate to historically or experientially. We start out with the knowledge (which I as a Christian affirm) that Jesus is God / the second person of the Trinity. And then we read the Gospels in such a way that everything -- the miracles, the teachings, the death, the resurrection- everything is simply about proving the deity of Jesus. And so we miss out on meeting him as a person. My desire is that this process of study and conversation will give us a fresh vision of Jesus (which has everything to do with what it means to follow him today). So.... let the conversation begin!