matrix theology

We all bring certain biases to Jesus. In the Roman period, Jesus was shaved, with a Roman nose. In Byzantine times, he wore a Greek beard with Hellenic figures. In the Middle Ages, he looked like a high born lord. In the modern world, we have many perceptions of him. Although diverse, all these views have one thing in common – they are WRONG!

One of the most controversial movements of the late 20th century was the Jesus Seminar – a group of scholars who attempted to find the “historical” Jesus. Convinced of certain assumptions about Jesus (most of which were WRONG!) they spent a decade trying to reduce Jesus to some kind of Mediterranean peasant sage. Curiously, they made a complete distinction from the “historical” Jesus and the “living Jesus.” While saying that Jesus was important to them, they stripped him of his divinity and his resurrection. In fact, they believed that while Jesus was not physically resurrected, his memory was resurrected in his believers – and somehow that worked for them. Makes no sense to me, but it works for them.

You know what? We are no better than them sometimes. We bring our opinions to the Bible and make Jesus say what we want him to say. He becomes a puppet-name for our own beliefs. The God of the universe is transmuted into an empty image mouthing words of our own invention.

We must never bring our own being to Jesus. Who he is should mold me, rather than who I am molding him.