Let me begin by saying that I don’t profess to have the only true answer to who Jesus was. I will share who he IS to ME TODAY. The historical Jesus is most of all the spiritual Christos in the affairs of man: the incarnation of God that we all are. The fact that there are thousands of Christian denominations world-wide testifies to the different thoughts and interpretations of who this person was. And, there are many who do not see Jesus as an historical person at all, but a mythological character that we’re all to be like.
Let me say up front that this historical character (fact or just mythology) is whom I want to be most like. Jesus is my model! I do not deny you of your models, nor a differing view than I have because obviously as the title of this commentary says- there are many views!
I do not believe that Jesus was God in any sense that is not open to each and every one of us: we just didn’t do as Jesus did. I do believe that he lived the most perfect life that I know of any man, and that his life took away the greatest sin of mankind- thinking that we’re separate from the Creator. He was totally open and filled with the Spirit as no human being I know. That he was a man gives me the hope that I can do what he did and more (John 14:12).
When I once saw Jesus as the “only begotten Son”, divine in the fullest since, there was no hope that I could follow him as he told me. His humanity gave me HOPE, and endless encouragement. Was he both divine and human as the founding fathers said? Yes, and so are we! God WITHIN us, the hope of glory!
I see God in the words and in the life of Jesus as I’ve never seen in any other man. I am open to the fact that there may be more; however, the society and culture within which I live (Western-Christian) has been my major area of study so there are many other religions to which time on this planet have not allowed me to be so in-depth in my study: though I have studied all of them somewhat.
The first chapter of Romans tells us that we don’t need a savior, nor a religion, to KNOW God! God is everywhere in nature, and everywhere in everyone! Treat the world as sacred- it is!
Jesus didn’t teach a creed: he simply lived life LARGE! He offered radical forgiveness, unseen mercy, and he preached the Kingdom- not religion in a CACOPHANY and hate filled environment among religions. He lived such a short time, and taught in an even smaller condensed time frame that we only know but a fraction of what we could have know had he lived to 50, 70, or 90 years as many other religious leaders. He even told us there was much more to know (John 16:12).
Jesus discovered his true nature as a child of God. I’m getting there. I hope you are on that journey and I pray that you will be tolerant of every living being (human, animals, and plants) regardless of the culture from which they come, and the ways in which they worship the ONE TRUE GOD!
I like your view of him. I think this is the most complete view of him I, personally, have heard from you. I have wished to sit down with you on this subject. Peace, my brother. Hope to see you again soon.
Don: Any view of Jesus is like any view of God- it’s all approximations (from the finite, biased, and mentally challenged) of incomplete data, which is why LOVE must be the glue for all humanhood.