Tom Stuart put it to us squarely, and I have followed the discussion so far with interest. Now I have found some time to put in my own couple of bobs' worth, though remember this is not a reasoned essay so much as a conjunction of ideas:
First, the Jesus we read about in the Gospels is not the Jesus who walked the earth. It is the bits of Jesus that various people thought to write down about. We do not have a developed theology from Jesus (nor from Paul, who left behind only a collection of letters), nor a full biography. From the random things that people recorded, we have to fill in the gaps. This is in part, I believe, why we all have such trouble in agreeing on key features of our faith: we are all filling in the gaps in different ways. [Thus, for example, we are not quite sure what Jesus might have said about homosexuality: he was never asked that question. Or, rather, we have no record that he was ever asked that question.]
Second, the Jesus we read about did not say the same thing to everyone. The rich young ruler is frequently referred to, and some of us at times express guilt at not doing ourselves what he was asked to do. Yes, Jesus asked him to sell all to follow Him. But there is no evidence that he made the same suggestion to Lazarus, though he also was wealthy. Yes, there was a group of disciples: some were the inner group who seem to have accompanied Him at times, and gone off preaching at His behest. There was also a larger group of disciples or followers. These probably weren't all inscribed in some roll of members, or stewardship givers, etc.
Third, be they followers or not, Jesus seems to have sat down regularly to eat and/or talk with all levels of society: the outcast and poor, and the very rich. There is no sign that He required such people to complete a questionnaire or subscribe to a creed before He did so.
Fourth, the group of disciples clearly was added to at times, and some left. (Came a certain crisis, and everyone - even the most faithful - vanished for a bit: not for long though, remember.) I don't think we need be surprised at this, for we all do things like that even where our faith is deeply touched.
I don't think it is true to say that only the extremely poor hung on. The Bethany family were comfortably off, and it was to their place that everyone retired after the Crucixifion. The Galilee fishermen still had their boats to go back to, so they weren't exactly poor either.
I do agree that Jesus was largely misunderstood in His own time. I believe He is still largely misunderstood today. (After all, if we all understand Him so well, how come we find so much to disagree about?)
So what is it that brings us all together behind the figure of this itinerant rebel preacher? That is really the more curious question. My answer to that? That whatever it is that I see in Him, and that is probably different to what each one of you guys sees in Him, is something that I want to commit myself to. That commitment is emotional: the differences tend to occur in the intellectual bits.
Love to all,
Ray
We have been ploughing through some of the most difficult gospel passages in
the lectionary (or at least it seems like it) over past weeks, or even
months. The disciples never get it right. People leaving Jesus. Everyone
is saying it is too hard. The only one's who do any good are those who are
blind, stony cold broke, or in some other way totally marginalised (you
can't just put yourself there . not that I would want to).
So here is my dumb question: If no one understood Jesus, and when they did they realised they could not live the sort of life Jesus demanded, why did anyone keep following him?
When I've preached over past weeks, if I preach to a traditional group, at the end of the service they shake my hand and say, "Nice service!" and I know they have been thinking about lunch. When I preach to a more engaged group quite a few of them get defensive . and I'm trying to duck for cover behind the text itself (sort of, "I didn't write this stuff!")
Seriously, why did they keep following him?
Okay, dumb question but if someone has a view on this I'm all ears (well eyes maybe).
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