In the spirit of dialogue, I am posting about Jesus immediately after Phyllis’s post about Christology. I wrote this post a few months ago and share it now as an addition to her terrific post.
Speaking of Jesus: A Decidedly Low Christology
But we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. -1 Corinthians 1:23
Jesus is the heart of God. -Marcus Borg
Marcus Borg’s third chapter in The Heart of Christianity is titled “God The Heart of Reality.”
The fourth chapter is titled “Jesus The Heart of God.”
Enough said! The perfect description.
If I were a wise man, it would be enough. As one wise man once said, “Fools rush in, where angels fear to tread.” This post is mostly from my inner angels, with a boost from Marcus Borg and Phyllis Witten.
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Jesus embodies the heart of God, embodies the Divine in human form, and embodies becoming human. Genesis states that humans were created in the image of God. The image in which we are created reaches its zenith in the life of Jesus.
Yahweh (the Hebrew word for God) was realized in Jesus.
To me, seeing Jesus as the heart of God is the equivalent of being the son or daughter of God.
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The Gospels present Jesus in several ways in four different books. Progressives enjoy having four very diverse tellings of the story of his ministry. (Actually, if you count Paul’s letters, there are five.) Each Gospel is written for a different audience, but several qualities seem to be common to them:
- First of all, Jesus was a faithful, observant Jew. The Gospels often record him going to the synagogue for teaching and worship. He was a person of his culture, deeply immersed in his time while simultaneously being a person for eternity.
- Second, he was a teacher of a small group of fellow Jews. As their Rabii, he rebelled against the tenor of the times and his religion, wishing to bring it into greater alignment with God’s universal love, mercy, and justice. Initially, this small group seemed to see their role mostly within Judaism.
- Third, his teaching was a radical vision of God’s love for all creation and all people regardless of ethnicity. The Kingdom of God would be ruled by love, which was its only currency. In the process, he broke every societal and religious custom of cleanliness in Isreal by touching leapers, raising the dead, associating with prostitutes, and having meals with the poor and oppressed. Today, he’d probably hang out with the panhandlers who populate so many intersections in Worcester. Teaching and, more importantly, living by his disruptive vision are what got him executed. After teaching for a while (depending on the Gospel, either one or three years), he went to the heart of the power structure, the Temple in Jerusalem, confronting those in power, knowing full well this would cause a huge reaction and his suffering on the cross. Whether or not he knew there would be a resurrection is a question for another time.
- Fourth, what we do know is that there was a resurrection in his followers, who transformed, rather remarkably, from a bedraggled clump of defeated, homeless people to leaders and proclaimers of the ‘way’ of Jesus. After the resurrection, they experienced his presence differently. St. Paul, who, along with the author of the Gospel of John, were the first champions of “High Christology.” Paul taught there is a ‘New Creation’ (II Corinthians 5:17). And John’s Gospel proclaimed, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God…. And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory of a Father’s only son” (John 1:1 & 14). As Phyllis said, Jesus was divine “from the get-go.” Jesus, for all his followers, became “The Way” to reach God. They resurrected into amazing witnesses. I take this to mean that he became ‘The Way’ for his followers, not a negation of other religions and wisdom traditions.
- Fifth, this was unique for the religions of the time. The Jews wanted a political messiah; the Greeks wanted Zeus, king of the gods, to throw lightning bolts toward whatever random targets he was angry with; Romans sought the protection of Mars, the god of war, who would assure victory in their conquests; and the mystery religions, which were very popular, wanted secret, ethereal wisdom from otherworldly Spiritual beings.
- Sixth, in contrast, in Christianity, we are directed toward a carpenter, a blue-collar worker in the tradition of his father and their village. Jesus, as an ordinary human, pointed out the extraordinary path to the Kingdom of God. And most problematic of all, he walked right into his execution. What kind of a wimpy power is in this God? This is what Paul, an early champion of high Christology, calls a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles. (I Corinthians 1:23).
- Seventh, he was a Jewish mystic or spirit person. This was his foundation. His concern was living in close, personal connection to Yahweh. Progressives are often a bit sensitive about mystic sensibilities. But Jesus experienced God face to face and constantly lived in this reality in the midst of his daily concrete life. This dimension of life was not an abstraction for him. This was not just thinking or memorizing the Torah but experiencing in the heart and soul. For me, this occurs most powerfully in church when we sing one of those lively, hand-clapping songs that go to my heart, and I feel a closeness to the Divine. He knew that the path of love for all of God’s children brings us closer to Yahweh. This closeness brings the comfort and peace we all crave.
Jesus is the way for me as a Christian. He is the one who plowed a path through divisions, hate, and violence. Sometimes, I can imagine him driving a giant, powerful snowplow in the worst possible New England blizzard, right through the darkness, delivering freedom to the captives, food to the hungry, and clothes to the unprotected. The disciples are in the back, spreading not sand or rock salt but food, clothing, and shelter.
The Pharisees and Sadducees of that day (and our day; read pious evangelicals) will count money and block the unclean from the temple and community life. The Romans will burn the temple. And the mystery religions will sit around mostly ‘blissing out.’
But those who seek to travel on his road find an experience of God through him and wish to share that with all of God’s creation.
Resources:
Genesis 1:27
Romans 8:39
I Corinthians 1:23
Marcus Borg, The Heart of Christianity: Recovering a Life of Faith.
Graham, I have really appreciated Phylllis’ article on high and low Christology with definitions and personal identies of Christology. And I really like that you have followed up with your ownunderstanding from the Five sources of the Bible and the addition of Marcus Borg’s understanding. For me, I would wonder not about Jesus coming to the homeless shelters and city streets, but what would Jesus say about coming to The First Baptist Church. What would Jesus say about our Worship service (our rules, our rituals, our spiritual meaning and understanding). What would happen if Brent invited Jesus to our Coordinating Council Meeting, or some of our team meetings. How would Jesus view the Cross, Communion, the music, or even our money. What would Jesus say to us about how we should address him or even look at him.
These two articles have left me with many questions and observations. I hope we can continue this conversation. Thank you!