The Challenge of Jesus, An Introduction.

Dear non-Life of Christ readers:
In addition to reading the gospels, I have also been reading from a book by N.T. Wright entitled The Challenge of Jesus. This entry is the beginning of my emersion into understanding its purpose. If you like what I explain the purpose to be, then pick up the book and read chapter 1!

Ahem.

N.T. Wright seems to really have the right idea about the interplay of history and faith. That’s what really stuck out to me the most in Chapter 1 of The Challenge of Jesus.

Since this blog is about the way the message of Jesus relates to my life, let’s take a look back at what I’ve said about myself so far.

1) I’m into facts, and truth.

Sometimes I just need evidence in order to want to believe in something. And I don’t like accepting a new fact about something without proof of its validity.

2) I’m very practical.

I like to know how something is going to relate to my life. If I come across a high-level theological idea that makes sense, it won’t mean very much to me until I also can find its implications.

3) I believe that love and relationship surpasses these needs.

And that’s why I love what Wright has to say about this dichotomy. He says that both historical knowledge of the person of Jesus and faithful understanding of his passion for us are equally important in knowing his character.

This is sort of tough for me to come to terms with, however. Consider my history of wrestling with the validity of God. I understand that I can never fully comprehend the nature of God, because he surpasses our understanding. However, relinquishing control of fully understanding God is very different from accepting to never understand more about him. These two get muddled in my head sometimes, and I find myself not caring about the details of Jesus’ life because following him WORKS.

Wright suggests that this is a mistake.

In order to understand God’s intention for us we need to examine the life of Jesus.

And not just in any way. It is particularly important for us to understand why he came in the first place. It isn’t enough to just know we are redeemed and live like it seems we should. What does it mean to be redeemed? And what does Jesus REALLY want for my life?

I’ve struggled a lot recently with what it means to be a Christian. How is this different from just following the teaching of Jesus? And why is it worth labeling myself as such?
Now, as I’ve discovered, it is seldom ever worth labeling myself as a Christian. The only thing it tends to do in conversation is dredge up connotations.

But what I really mean is: Why is it worth it to be a member of a church, beyond the community? That is, what can we learn about Christ through religion that we cannot through faith alone?

And I’m excited to submerge myself further into these questions as we read through The Challenge of Jesus. It seems that Wright has the same intentions when it comes to a historical examination of Jesus, as I believe anybody ought to.

Understanding the works that God has for us through understanding the significance of the life of Christ is what I believe Christianity to be all about. It’s what makes it worth being a member of the church. And it’s what I pray can be my focus through the rest of my walk with Christ and Christianity.

John.

Through studying the gospels in this new way, reading them front to back and looking for a purpose or theme to present itself, I’ve found a lot of intention in the three synoptic gospels that had never really occurred to me. Their differences are subtle but important.

I noticed the disbelief of the apostles and the perfect faith of God portrayed in Mark. In Matthew God renews his covenants and fulfills his promises through Jesus. And in Luke, Jesus’ love permeates through to everyone in the world and the details of his ministry are revealed.

But John is entirely different.

In each of the synoptic gospels, we see something new about the person of Jesus and the nature of God. And each week I’ve pointed out some way to relate the ministry of Jesus on Earth to my own life.

But John just doesn’t seem quite as concerned with letting us know what Jesus was like when he was here. I don’t get a very clear picture of what kind of a guy he was or what he taught people from reading this gospel. There are hardly any of his parables represented here. But in what is represented, there’s a whole lot of meaning.

In fact, I want to focus on a set of stories in John that seem to hold a particular amount of meaning: his miracles.
Personally, I have always struggled with the meaning of Jesus’ miracles. I’ve questioned why they’re significant, whom they affected, and even how they’re possible. For a while I never even considered accounts of Jesus’ miracles to be literal or possible even accurate.

In the other three gospels in particular, they’re represented in groups that make it difficult for the reader to understand the answers to these questions. It seems like Jesus just goes around healing people when they ask him to, and he heals a lot of people but not everyone. It’s always made me ask questions.

Like, “What’s the point?”

If Jesus really did have the ability to heal anyone he wants to, then why didn’t he heal everybody?
Why would God have allowed disease into the world if he were just going to come down and rid us of it as much as he can?

What’s the point of allowing us to have free will if Jesus is going to heal all with ailments?

And, most prevalently: How is it possible for a human being to be literally healed from blindness in a matter of seconds? Why hasn’t this happened since then? How can a basket of fish feed 5000? Jesus’ miracles make no sense.

And in the three synoptic gospels, I don’t feel like these questions are answered to the extent that they are in John’s gospel. John isn’t concerned with what kind of a person Jesus was, he’s concerned with what kind of a Christ he is. What does it mean to be messiah? What does it mean for a human being to be fully divine? These are questions John would have been interested in exploring through his gospel.

And in the context of John’s recollection of miracles, I think he is a lot more intentional about portraying them. There are far fewer, and an additional story accompanies each one.

I’m not going to go all the way into each explanation and all the significances John presents through miracles, but I will say that it’s helped me to understand more fully why and how Jesus would perform these amazing acts. John comprehends that being the Christ means being fully human and fully divine. It means that he heals broken people when they profess their brokenness. He understood the ways of this world and his ministry reflects that.

And the image of Jesus as Christ and Messiah is humbling.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

Luke.

Dear readers:
This week I read Luke.
It's no secret that this gospel has particularly special meaning to me. Go back and read my first post about my background, and I think you'll probably pick up on why.
In fact, I've really been looking forward to this week. I've always wanted to read straight through Luke, and now that I have I think it's safe to say that it's my favorite gospel.
The thing is, the more I learn about Luke’s presentation, the more I appreciate about it. And every time I examine this gospel, I try and imagine what Luke’s story might have been like. And I like to think that Luke’s story isn’t all too different from mine, cultural differences aside.
Hear me out now.
One of the things I always point out as an important difference in the gospels is the difference in their genealogies. I know you probably just skip over that part every time you read one. But it’s a pretty important part of the setup for each gospel.
Okay, well. First, I want to point out something I never technically noticed about Luke before. In the very beginning he says, “Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us… since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you… so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.” Right off the bat, he’s setting the tone for a historical, eyewitness account. And he upholds this promise throughout the whole narrative. There are many details of Jesus’ healing stories, his actions, and the way that he relates to people.
Now, before I get too carried away, remember what I said about myself in the first post here? I used to be a total nonbeliever. I used to be so skeptical that I was positive there was no possibility for God to be real. And now, here’s Luke, telling me he’s drawn up an “orderly account” of “everything from the beginning”, so that I may “know the certainty of the things” I have been taught. And like I said, he upholds this promise. For example, Luke really focuses on Jesus’ passage to Jerusalem, and the events that took place during it. It highlights his interactions with his disciples, including some pretty incredible parables (But that’s an entirely different blog entry in itself). Luke seems to be the gospel with the most detail, and the most faithful retelling of Jesus’ narrative. And the moral of this realization is that Jesus’ story speaks for itself. In particular, the story of his flight to Jerusalem, persecution, and passion truly throw a lot at the reader’s emotions all at once. It’s so easy to connect with Jesus the way that Luke presents these events, especially for somebody like me who needs more than just that mental connection of “knowing” his story in order to want to pursue a relationship with Christ.
Anyway, the genealogy. I always loved how Luke is the only gospel author to trace Jesus’ heritage all the way back to Adam. It’s been tough for me to feel accepted into the kingdom of God that’s set up in this life. And that’s not because of anything God has done in my life, obviously. I think it’s just because people seem to love to feel like they’re an exclusive part of something. Christianity can sometimes feel less like a religion and more like a class of people – or a club, even – to somebody looking in longingly. And it took me a long time to feel accepted even though I didn’t read C.S. Lewis and go to church every Sunday while growing up.
Now, in hindsight, this is a pretty silly concern. My relationship with God is just as strong and probably stronger than it would be if I had grown up the son of a pastor. I know that it’s just my nature to need to be drawn into something, and I’m so grateful that I was able to first experience God in the way that I did. So I’m not saying I blame my parents or anything, and in fact I love them and I’m extraordinarily blessed to have grown up in their household. What I am saying is that Luke explicitly traces his genealogy all the way back to Adam. And what I noticed this time through is that there aren’t all this big Jewish names included like there are in Matthew.
Like I mentioned last week, Matthew creates a gateway for Jesus’ new covenant to mesh with the way the Jews already knew to live. But what’s even more incredible (for me, at least) is that Luke opens it up to everyone, Jew or Gentile.
“Christian club” or not.
Whether we grew up in the church or came to God later in life.
Remember when I said I like to imagine the story of Luke? Well, it seems to me that he was very concerned for the gentiles (and I even like to think he was one).
He’s very historical, methodical, and relational with his retelling of Jesus’ story, which means a lot to me having come from a background where I made it hard for myself to believe.
Most importantly, he lets the narrative speak for itself. And I find it easier and easier to connect with Christ the more I read from it.

Matthew, Part 2.

For those of you who didn’t know, this is my second entry about the book of Matthew. I read the whole thing front to back and I’m reflecting on the things I noticed about Matthew’s style and composition, as well as the events of Jesus’ life portrayed in his gospel.

Anyhow.

I love all the things that Jesus had to say from the top of the mountain he preaches from.

I’m sure a lot of you do too, obviously.

But seriously.

The last entry I wrote is about how Jesus is truly the interpreter of the law, not its destroyer.

Another thing that I think Matthew paid close attention to about Jesus is the poetry and beauty of his message that he had to share.

Yes, his whole life was perfect, he was powerful, and he performed miracles and healed the broken and sacrificed himself for our sins… These are all true, and they’re all important things about the nature of Christ, but I think that what Matthew must have been truly bewildered by about Jesus, as is especially evident in chapters 5, 6, and 7, is the perfect and beautiful nature of what he has to share with us.

Usually when I think about Jesus’ teaching, I admit, I think of RULES. I think of things Jesus wants us to do because we’re Christians and he expects it out of us. Listen to your parents. Respect other people. Smile when you go to church and give your money to the homeless and volunteer at your local Goodwill. But go ahead and read Matthew chapters 5-7. That’s what Jesus really did come here to say. That’s what he continues to say to us. And that’s how he lived.

“If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?” – 5:46

“If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you” – 6:14

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” – 7:3

Jesus didn’t present his message like a list of rules. He didn’t present a threatening message. He’s presenting a divine and beautiful way of life, the true way to prosper. No more live sacrifices, no more making your own path to heaven. This is not only a window into how we should live; it’s the very walk of the holy and blameless Son of Man.

And even later in his ministry, Jesus continues the same approach.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean.”
Jesus’ message is a divine challenge. The reward for cooperating isn’t that he’ll love you, it isn’t that he’ll forgive your sins, and it isn’t even that you’ll get into heaven.

When Jesus confronts people, he challenges them. He doesn’t command them. And I don’t know about you, but I feel like I want to respond to the challenge. Not for the reward on the other end, but because I know his message is blameless.

Matthew, Part 1.

Hello again.

As you may know, I’m sitting down to read each of the gospels front to back. Last week, it was Mark, and this week, it’s Matthew. Why would I do this, you might ask? Well, the main reason is because it’s a class assignment. But you probably already knew that, because you’re probably in my class if you’re reading this. But for those of you who aren’t, I would actually really recommend doing the same. After my reading this week and last, I feel like I really do have a clearer portrait of who Jesus was and is, as well as just of the portrait that the writers of the gospels were trying to convey in their style.

Anyway.

I’m going to talk about the first thing I noticed about Matthew’s style and the story of Jesus found in his book now.
Then later I’ll think of something else I noticed to write another entry about.

The very first thing that stuck out to me when I sat down to read the gospel of Matthew yesterday was all the prophesies that were being fulfilled in, like, the first two pages.

Does anybody else get that impression?

Try reading through the first few chapters of Matthew. There are tons of footnotes with references to the Old Testament! From the naming of Jesus to the city where he’s born to the place where Mary and Joseph run to escape Herod, it seems like Jesus just can’t do anything without fulfilling some prophecy somewhere in Hosea or Jeremiah or Isaiah or something. And it doesn’t just stop in chapter 3. Jesus himself seems to quote the OT a lot more in this gospel than any other. Here he is giving his sermon on the mount: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth’. But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person”. “You have heard that it was said, you have heard that it was said…” It’s all over.

Now, I’ve always known that Jesus was a kind of counter-cultural guy. He didn’t like to do what people expected him to, but rather he showed people what they should be expected to do. But what I didn’t really realize until this reading is that he didn’t just come to the earth, wipe away everything that everybody was doing, yell at a bunch of people and create a new way to live. Jesus doesn’t quote the OT to point out what people are doing wrong. He does it to INCORPORATE the things people already know about God into what he preaches. It’s kind of a wild concept, but Jesus was in fact sent here to FULFILL prophecies, to REALIZE God’s covenant with his people, and in the end to ESTABLISH a new covenant. A new covenant that we don’t have to work our way towards, we just have to accept him. That would have been pretty tough for the God-fearing Jews at the time to hear, and it’s still really tough for us to hear today. So I don’t think that Jesus gets up on top of that mountain and yells at people for how they’re living, telling them that they’re wrong to follow the law of God set out in the torah. I think he’s conveying a very loving message: “I know you’re afraid to follow me, but I promise my teaching is compatible with your way of life. Everyone has the same chance to turn their life around and enter the kingdom.”

This is Jesus’ new covenant.

“You are welcome into the kingdom.”

“I am not a stranger.”

“I come from the Father God who you worship and I am here to accept you.”

And so I think that’s the heart of Matthew’s gospel, and that’s what I’ve been reflecting on this week. I know I’m not a Jew, but Jesus comes the same way nonetheless. To tell me that I am welcome, and that his teachings may be a rigorous way of life but they aren’t incompatible with my heart. And leaving all you own to follow him doesn’t mean leaving all you are.
Jesus came to realize a covenant and to fulfill prophecies. He’s here for us, not to destroy who we are but to love and accept.

Mark.

It’s a well-known fact that the gospel according to Mark isn’t the most exciting gospel to read. The author leaves out plenty of popular stories of Jesus’ life, including the Christmas story and many of Jesus’ parables.

However, two things stuck out to me while reading through it. It’s amazing how well you can get the tone of the author of a bible story by reading all the way through the book like a narrative, instead of reading and comparing tiny passages.
The first is the tone of urgency. Throughout the text, the author constantly describes the kingdom of God as imminent, Jesus’ return as near, and our work on this earth as urgent and vital. Now, I find it difficult to believe that Mark would have put such an emphasis on the practical just because he was afraid Jesus would come soon and we’d run out of time. I think what’s more important to note is that our time to be servants of Christ is now, and that while our gift awaits us in heaven, that doesn’t mean we should await it without action.

An important detail to note about Mark’s authorship is that while he describes the day of the Lord as imminent, he also calls us to prepare ourselves for it at all times. I think that this proves that the author wasn’t concerned about the actual date of Jesus’ return, that it doesn’t matter whether it happens in our lifetime or the next, but that we should LIVE like that time is coming tomorrow. Wouldn’t you like to appear blameless before the Lord? Wouldn’t you like him to be pleased by your humble servitude? Well, what if I told you he was returning to the earth next week? I know I would get my act together. But the beauty of Mark’s urgent message is that we don’t know which week he will return. We always need to have our act together.

The second thing that stuck out to me about the tone of this gospel (and, indeed, simply the events of Jesus’ life represented in it) is the failing faith of his disciples. Jesus hand-selects each of them, he sticks by them, he is faithful to them and he provides for them throughout his life. Yet we see image after image in this gospel of their imperfect faith returned. Just one such story comes from Mark 4:38-40: “…The disciples woke [Jesus] and said to him, ‘Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?’ He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, ‘Quiet! Be still!’ Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, ‘Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?’” But there are countless more, from a relentless group of teachers of the law testing Jesus again and again, to the betrayal of Judas. And in the last chapter, Mark recalls Jesus’ feeling of disappointment: “Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen.”

I am humbled and amazed that, though I am like the 12 disciples and I doubt and I’m skeptical and sometimes I fail to believe, Jesus is faithful. From the start of his ministry until after his death, Jesus was with the same group and was more faithful to them than they ever were to him.

The same goes for us, we are loved past our disobedience.
But the tone of this gospel comes full circle.
Look past the fact that we are forgiven and explore how we can respond to God’s love. This gospel presents us with a great response. Live your life urgently.

Some Background About Me.

My name is Austin.
I'm a student at George Fox University, although I almost wasn't. I love it here, and I'm glad I went. I love the people, the academics, and I love seeing God's works in my life and those of others. I think it's such a blessing to be in a community where I can observe praise flowing back to God for those things he does.
I grew up a nonbeliever, surrounded mostly by nonbelievers. In fact, I was a self-proclaimed science-centered skeptic and stark atheist. Around the summer before my senior year of high school, nothing in particular convinced me that God must exist and that I ought to believe in him. However, I'm proud to say that since then I've been trying to faithfully live my life for him. I'm still clearing my way through the 16 years of misconceptions about Christianity and strong arguments against theology, but those concerns fade into the background in the face of my newly formed conceptions of grace, peace, mercy, faith, and love.
In fact, that draws me to a quick note about the name of this blog. I don't think it's more important to know how God made us, how long it took him, what he looked like, or any of the other things people concern themselves about. God’s love is what brings people to him, it’s what makes people seek him, and it’s what holds people to him.
I love to learn about Jesus because I consider myself a follower of his teachings far higher than I consider myself a "Pentecostal", a "Quaker", a "pacifist", a "liberal", or any other label that people seem to identify me with when I say I love Jesus. (In fact, I would be far quicker to label myself a Christ follower than a Christian, but perhaps I'll talk more about that in a later entry.) There’s no way you can honestly be doing what Jesus instructs us to do and be doing the wrong thing. Even if your friends or your society tell you so, the teachings of Jesus and the will of God break those boundaries and cross into perfection.
I have a few political ideals that I hold to. I don’t believe in the concept of a just war. I don’t think extreme poverty is an economic necessity, I think it’s a preventable tragedy. I think marriage was intended for man and woman, but I don’t think homosexuality is a “greater” sin than any of the bad things I do. Above all, I think that hate, opposition, conflict, corruption, and brokenness can all be overcome in surprising ways by the power of love. As such, I don’t think Christ calls us to flaunt our political ideals in the faces of those who challenge them. I don’t think we’re supposed to conform to an agenda and fight for our party whether we agree with it or not. I’m not an anarchist, but I believe that loving and accepting is the ultimate “greater good”. In the words of Greg Boyd, “Jesus is pro-everybody. He’s not pro-everything. But he never lets the things he’s against get in the way of the people that he loves.”

So if there’s one thing I know about Jesus, it’s that he loves above all. And if I had to pick a story from the gospels to demonstrate it, I would choose the story from Matthew 22:37-38: “Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.”
And so I feel challenged to go out and do the same, to try to love all others above all else. It can be difficult sometimes, especially coming from a nonbeliever family with a very different agenda than mine, to look past the politics and focus on the people. But it's what Jesus did when he walked on the earth, and it's what he continues to do. For this reason, I'm very excited to learn more about Jesus' ministry and how I can show people love in more of everything I do.