Who is This Jesus Fellow?

I was raised in a fundamentalist Christian family, but fortunately one that promoted an educated approach to the study of the Bible. I can no longer consider the Bible to be "the inerrant Word of God" that some make it out to be, but I find it to be an indespensible window into history (and the present condition of the human equation) that we would otherwise never understand.

Unfortunately, there is just too much reverence placed in the person of Jesus of Nazereth causing polarization of the reverent and irreverent. The most outstanding characteristics of this individual go completely unnoticed, even by his most devout followers.

Jesus was a Humorist.

More specifically, Jesus of Nazereth had a delightful Sense of Irony that remains his most outstanding characteristic of the words and deeds that are irrefutably hisown. Every lesson he gave was spoken in irony, usually in a tone to contrast the way things ought to be with the contrary way his fellow Jews were thinking. Again, this is missed entirely by many who are caught up in the polarity of reverence.

Take for example any metaphore he draws that would seem rather 'cryptic.' "Faith the size of a mustard seed can move entire mountains." (I should point out that 'Faith' had meant 'commitment,' and only later was believed to be equated with 'belief,' as it has the apparent prerequisite of Trust.) "The Meek shall inherit the Earth" "The Poor in Spirit shall be comforted." "Why do you try to remove the splinter from your brother's eye when you have a BIG OL' LOG in your own eye?"

Jesus was a Healer

Whether or not you believe that Jesus was a 'therapute' like the Essenes of his day, there is little question that he was a Healer. Even the very word from which we get 'Savior' (sozo) means 'to heal' every bit as much as it means 'to save.' The idea is that Jesus' actions centered around his desire to see people spared from perishing.

When asked if he was the promised one, do you remember his response? "Tell them that the blind now see, the lame now walk..."

Last Updated on July 26, 1996 by Joel 'Twisty' Nye