In our attempt to study the message of Jesus, we have to access not just linguistic knowledge of the most ancient manuscript, but also turn to anthropology and cultural studies. We are now able to recognize the political issues, the gender issues, and the historical context in which Jesus was teaching. If we do not appreciate this, we miss His message—not just part of it, but the whole message. If we omit looking at this, we put everything inside of our cultural context—the way we perhaps would understand Jesus or would like to understand Jesus. And in the end we misunderstand Jesus.
We made Jesus a Christian. Jesus was not a Christian. I know that might sound shocking to a lot of us, but Jesus was a Jew. He died a Jew. And if we have grown up in the context of centuries of anti-Semitism, how can we possibly give Jesus a fair shake when we are biased against His religion, Judaism?
Jesus never heard of the Roman Catholic Church. Yes, I know this seems scandalous, but until we can frame Him honestly and let Him speak honestly, we don’t hear the real message. We make Jesus a founder of our religion and one who oversaw the whole development as it happened. Brothers and sisters, we have got to start being honest. Do we really want to meet the true Jesus?
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