Jesus Mortal |
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John the washer Early in the first century, John the baptist (roughly, “washer”) was an ascetic, messianic prophet who proclaimed a coming fiery judgment. John baptized Jews in the Jordan river, symbolizing repentance in the face of imminent trials. He declared that a mighty one was due to arrive soon, he who would usher in the cataclysmic renewal of Israel. His campaign was widely popular, to the point at which little Herod feared him and had him killed. Before he died, however, John worked up messianic expectations among the Jews, attracted a body of disciples, and baptized someone who would pick up where he left off — Jesus. After John was executed, Jesus launched his own ministry, and some of John’s followers took to following him. They brought with them the sacrament of baptism, which would prove central to Christian identity. The gospels portray John as Christ’s forerunner, identify him as Elijah, and identify Jesus as the one whom John foretold.
Baptism as washing This term “baptist” doesn’t mean to modern ears what it might have meant to Jesus. Baptism today is a very different rite from what John was doing. For Jesus, the term “John the baptist” sounded more like “John the washer.” The term baptize comes from a Greek word meaning to dip, plunge, or immerse. One would “baptize” cloth in dye. The term was also meant for ritual washing (ablution), such as baptizing ones hands before eating. For his baptism, John had the repentant stand in Jordan, and he poured water over him. The prevailing theme, from the act to the term, is cleansing or washing. “John the immerser” would be a direct translation, but we think of immersing as submerging, and the penitents were only partly submerged. Baptists, take “baptism” literally and make a pretty big deal out of submerging baptism candidates totally underwater. The size of the early Christian baptismal fonts, however, indicate that the baptizand wasn’t submerged. “John the cleanser” doesn’t work because it sounds like a specialist assassin, or maybe a bathroom product. In addition, “baptist” refers to the physical act of getting soaked head to toe, not to the abstract idea of getting clean. “John the rinser” is more precise than “John the washer,” as there was no soap involved, but “rinse” just doesn’t have the same implication of ablution that wash has.
John’s fiery apocalypse Jesus bought into John's apocalyptic message and was baptized into his movement. John was Jesus' mentor or spiritual leader. At least in a broad sense, Jesus was John's disciple. But then little Herod killed John, and still no restoration of Israel. So Jesus set out on his own ministry, carrying forward John's message of repentance but in a new form. His ministry was urban instead of rural, liberal instead of ascetic, and dispersed rather than charismatic. John had led his movement personally, but Jesus sent his disciples out as missionaries, witnessing to the kingdom of God and recruiting more missionaries. When John was executed, his movement faltered. When Jesus was executed, his movement prevailed, absorbing members from John's movement. A current fault line in scholarship is whether Jesus preached apocalypse, or whether that imagery is from John via his followers that joined the early movement.
Herod the pussy The gospels have it that little Herod killed John because he chastised him for marrying his dead brother’s widow. This story has the advantage that it makes little Herod out to he a punk. His step-daughter, the dancing girl Salome, tricks him into promising to kill John. Herod kills John because he’s weak. Historically, the more likely story is that Herod killed John because John was a threat. The Jews adored John and considered him a holy man. Like Josephus said, John was so popular that he could have led a popular uprising, and Herod took care of him. The king was strong and John was weak. But the story of Salome asking for John’s head on a platter turns the tables. Herod ’s wife and her daughter trick him. The story portrays Herod as a pussy. The idea that one’s enemies are weaker than they are is popular. It occurs again with the Jews’ overall rejection of Jesus. When Paul tried to get gentiles to accept Jesus as the Son of God, his detractors could point out that the Jews themselves didn’t accept Jesus as the son of God. Why should they? Mark’s answer is that those bad Jews were secretly tricked by Jesus himself, who hid is message in parables so that they would fail to repent and thus face destruction. Mark is willing to portray Jesus as cruel in order to avoid portraying him as unconvincing. Paul sounds the same theme in Romans with his talk of base vessels. According to this idea, people who reject Christ are part of God’s plan, too, put there as a sort of counter-example. He further explains that it’s the creator’s prerogative to make his creations for any purpose, so those who are fated to reject Christ and be destroyed shouldn’t complain about any so-called injustice. Paul is willing to portray God as cruel in order to avoid portraying him as unconvincing.
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contents table of contents you're already looking at it introduction for the inquisitive reader biographical overview who he was and wasn't
afterlife not Jesus' concern animal sacrifice bloodless religion apocalypse did Jesus preach hellfire? baptism sin wash for Jesus and others beatitudes Jesus' words and others' words beloved disciple witness for the un-gospel bible scripture old and new bishop the unjesus body focus on the physical Buddha Jesus' close kin charity key Christian virtue and legacy of Jesus The Da Vinci Code secret (and false) messages divorce women's status dreams convenient literary device Elijah Jewish prophet with his own second coming equality ancient source of modern egalitarianism exorcist Jesus and demons failure reinterpreting Jesus as a failure faith from trust to blind belief father Jesus on titles of honor Francis of Assisi the most Christlike Christian Gandhi the 20th century's most Christly holy man Galilee Jesus' inauspicious homeland gentiles Jesus' inadvertent audience god how Jesus became god golden rule key to Jesus' success gospels competing accounts heaven from sky to spiritual home hell revenge fantasy humanism Jesus' legacy inerrant Christian treatment of scripture Thomas Jefferson ethics of Jesus Jewish guilt Christian libel John's gospel the un-gospel John the baptist, see John the washer John the washer Jesus' apocalyptic mentor Judaism libeled religion of Jesus kingdom of god what Jesus promised Lao Tzu poet of the cosmic way logos jesus as the word of god C. S. Lewis famous, flawed trilemma little drummer boy Luke beats Matthew logos Jesus as the divine word LORD Yahweh transitioning to the one god of all Luke's gospel the all-around best gospel Mark's gospel the gospel that lost its point Mary of Magdala women, visions, and sex massacre of the innocents bloodshed starts early Matthew's gospel best gospel for church reading Mormon, see Joseph Smith Moses Jewish lawgiver Muhammad a prophet who got it right mystery Orpheus and transubstantiation oppression origin of Jesus' compassion The Passion of the Christ Luke as buzzkill Paul revealer of the revealer private and public public Jesus and secret Christ relativism the secret power of the golden rule sacrifice Jesus' death and Christian sacrament Albert Schweitzer Jesus as a failure sheol dark pit of death show Jesus' deeds as put-ons slavery abolished by Jesus' efforts Joseph Smith flesh-and-blood Jesus Socrates secular Jesus son of god on close terms with the man upstairs soul, see body synoptics three gospels that agree temple center of Jewish religion trinity unifying and divisive doctrinre vision, see dreams Yahweh, see LORD Zoroaster Persian dualistic holy man
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