I
suppose many who followed Jesus did so because of the miracles. Some of the more perceptive were attracted to his teaching. For myself, although I too, thrilled at the miracles and was thoroughly enlightened with his teachings, I loved him because, being who he was and all, he was also so incredibly human. Here is a man who has clearly demonstrated his Divinity for all to see. He is not just a god, like the ephemeral Roman and Greek gods, but truly one with the one true God of all that exists. One cannot be the same as God without also being God, and he was that. And if possible, even more. The Father could not express himself any better than in his Son, this Jesus of Nazareth. Yet this, this God is confined in a human body. What an anomaly! What an impossible contradiction!
For all of this, he was not too different from me. He was cold, he was warm, he was hungry, he was full, he was tired, he was energetic, he could get irritable, he was uncommonly sensitive to the needs of others. I’m not too good with this last, but all the rest is very much a part of normal human life. My life. I like that. Him being God, the very fact that he is also so human is my point of contact with him. In him is built a bridge between the Infinite and the finite. What a magnificent, loving anomaly!
Another thing that makes me love him is his almost comical aversion to religious pretense. It would be truly comical if the devotion to law weren’t so serious or it’s cause so sinister. I remember when some law teachers came from Jerusalem and asked, “Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!” Jesus almost couldn’t suppress his mirth.
These people do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, which is of course, the ‘tradition of the elders.’ When they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. They seem to enjoy making great ceremony of washing of cups, pitchers and kettles. These things had become ‘God’s standards’ for them. What pristine rubbish! In all my time with Jesus, from the time we all flocked around John the Baptist, to this very day, I have never once seen him participate in this kind of mindless ceremony.
The Jews could hardly be blamed for this nonsense. Was not Moses and Aaron instructed in Tabernacle ceremony? Weren’t these things an expression of Holy Law? Precisely. Those things were intended to teach the Hebrews, to teach everyone, that adherence to such ceremony and Law was a hopeless dead end. Jesus helped us see that in the things he said, and in the things he did. Only in love do we reflect the true character of Jehovah God.
His response to these men expressed that very thing: “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? Hasn’t God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’” What an answer! Using their own command and obedience language, the Lord taught them about love! He continued, “You people shamefully say to your father or mother, ‘Whatever financial help you might have received from me I have reserved for God instead.’ You do not ‘honor’ your parents with that, nor do you honor God. You nullify the word of God for the sake of your absurd tradition! Your hearts are utterly void of compassion toward those who need you most — and you do it all in the name of the Father. Let me tell you that in doing these things you alienate God. You do not draw close to him. The Father has no interest at all in your vacuous traditions.”
“You impossible hypocrites! Isaiah was speaking of you when he said,
‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’
The old prophet was right about you!
Turning to the crowd standing by, Jesus said, “Listen and understand: That which goes into a man’s mouth does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean.’” I wonder if he realized that in saying this he had just declared all foods ‘clean.’ He must have known it.
Then Peter said, “Well you’ve done it again, Lord.”
“Done what?”
“Don’t you know that these legalists were offended?”
Dear Peter. He could be such a monumental ass at times. I suppose Peter considered Jesus reckless. But Jesus was accustomed to this. People questioning the consequence of his words didn’t seem to bother him too much. He was relentless, giving no quarter, no apology, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots,” he said. “Leave them to themselves. They are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit. That is where they are headed.”
Peter would not give in easily either, “Explain this teaching to us,” he demanded. I winced. Here it comes . . .
“Are you still so witless?” said Jesus, irritably. He was not above offending those closest to him as well as the Jewish leadership. Wherever idiocy raised its ugly head, he addressed it plainly and often, bluntly. He was not always gentle.
He explained to Peter, “Don’t you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out the other end? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, Peter. Such things are evidence of internal ‘uncleanness.’ From the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, vulgarity, theft, lying and slander. These are the things that make a man ‘unclean,’ but eating with unwashed hands does not make him ‘unclean.’”
Can you not see why I love him?
