Resolve to Evolve: Get to Know Jesus, Again

This week, I’m continuing to share tips for people of faith who are resolved to evolve in 2014.  Tip #1 was  Get Authentic.
 
Tip #2 is Get to know Jesus, again.

When Jesus first came to me in a vision, over 20 years ago, it was a shock.  Not only that he was in the business of appearing to Jews like me, but that he didn’t look anything like the pictures I had ever seen of him!  He wasn’t blond haired and blue-eyed.  He wasn’t white.  He didn’t have straight hair.  He wasn’t tall.  He wasn’t somber.  He was curly-haired, olive-skinned, short and handsome!  And most definitely Jewish.  Just like a close reading of the New Testament would later reveal to me.

What’s your picture or image of Jesus?  Maybe it’s time to be open to a change!

A recent Christian Century article, Jewish and Pacifist, made the case that  “The separation of Jesus from his Jewishness is what led to the accommodation and eventual support of racism by traditional theology.”  Not to mention centuries of church sponsored anti-Semitism!
It led to a “generic” or universalist Jesus that turned out to be white, European, and Christian!
Having a new experience of Jesus can refresh your faith.  And shake the cobwebs out of your assumptions.  It sure did mine.
I like the idea that getting the particulars of Jesus right–ethnicity, culture, religion–actually combats racism and anti-Semitism.  Maybe all the isms!
This year, as you resolve to evolve, resolve to get to know Jesus, again.  To help you…

  1. Read and discus The Jew Named Jesus.  Pub theology groups, Bible studies, book clubs, others are reading and discussing this in a variety of settings.
  2. Host a wonderful Passover Seder, replete with Matzah, Hebrew blessings, and the cup of Elijah.
  3. Dig into whether the day of Jesus’ death was a Good Friday or Bad Friday.

To help you get into Jesus’ world, I’ve got another quiz for you with 3 questions:
What is the name of the calendar the year 2014 is based on?  What calendar did Jesus follow?  What is one of the main differences between the two calendars?  The first one to answer all 3 questions correctly gets a free autographed copy of “The Jew Named Jesus.” Send us your answer, along with your name and address to claim your prize.

Not Even a Text Message?

Just as Christians celebrate Easter and Christmas every year, so Jesus and his family—along with their relatives and friends—celebrated Passover every year.
It was a big to-do.
Each spring in the Hebrew month of Nisan they trekked from their home in Nazareth up to Jerusalem for the seven-day festival of Passover.
One year, as Jesus was approaching manhood by traditional Jewish calculation, “when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival.”  They may have gone up as usual but they didn’t come back as usual. The rest of the family headed home but unbeknownst to them Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, without even a word.
What Mary and Joseph would’ve given for a cell phone and a text message!
Without any digital advantage however, his parents were worried sick. They turned around mid-journey and finally located Jesus in the Temple. They weren’t that happy about it either. Mary scolds Jesus who was “sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.” Apparently, they were also asking Jesus questions because the teachers “were amazed at his understanding and answers.” Jesus, unfazed, wonders why his parents were searching for him. “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” His parents were as baffled by his actions and his response as Jesus was by their anxiety.
If this story is any indication, Mary and Joseph definitely trained up their child in the way he should go.  He loved God, loved Torah, and loved learning—all pluses in the Jewish world view. As the years went by, “Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.”  Mary and Joseph did a good job raising Jesus as a faithful Jew. But as parents know all too well, not every kid keeps the faith. What about Jesus? Did he take it on as his own as he grew up? Or did he leave it behind and become a Christian?
(Excerpt from The Jew Named Jesus, p 27-28, Rebekah Simon-Peter, Abingdon Press, 2013)