
Jesus was not a religious person. He was considered a heretic and degenerate by his own religious tradition. The real Jesus of history would be horrified in knowing that a religious system was created around his personality, life and teachings.
Jesus was not a Christian. He is not the founder of Christianity. Jesus never encouraged people to worship him. Christianity is a religion created in the name of Jesus, and is much different from the actual truth that Jesus taught and lived. Christianity does not own or have first rights to Jesus. You typically have to disentangle Jesus from what you heard at church to find the truth he said would set you free.
I see Jesus as one who lived a life of compassion, stood with the victims of this world against their oppressors, and tied his destiny to the marginalized and powerless against the the iron fist of the religious and political establishment.
I understand the central teaching of Jesus to be that there is nothing real that separates us from ultimate reality, our highest nature or from one another. I believe the significance of Jesus was his life, not his death.
Christianity is not the fault of Jesus. You can’t hardly find Jesus anywhere in it. We painted Jesus white and dressed him up in Christian theology, but the brown-skinned, Middle Eastern Jew who turned religion on its head, got lost some 2,000 years ago on the dusty roads of Nazareth.
Jesus pointed out the hypocrisy of claiming a close relationship with God while perpetuating discord and hostility in human relationships. He confronted the mentality of judging others, and instead told people to look in the mirror.
Jesus did not seek to convert people to any religion or belief-system. H e affirmed that every person has the responsibility and authority to build a world of peace and harmony that works for everyone.
It would be easy to be ALL divine, or to be ALL human. If you wereALL divine, there would be no challenge whatsoever. And being ALL human mostly takes care of itself. But the symbol of Jesus is that he was both divine AND human simultaneously without contradiction. This has been a guiding star on my life’s journey. A question that I often ask myself along the everyday paths of life is: What does it mean right now for me in this moment to be all that I am, divine and human?
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(Be sure to visit the sites of David Hayward & Jim Palmer for more great content!)