Several
times throughout the year, most commonly around Christmas and Easter, stories of “new”
discoveries in the Holy Land surface on the internet, claiming to debunk some
aspect of the life of Christ or another key tenet of Christianity. With this in mind, and after reading some of
John’s Gospel today [John 10:22-30], I thought it might be fun to write an
imaginary letter that might have been sent from one of the apostles to a
respected rabbi around the year 30 in
Jerusalem (if in fact it had been written):
Dear Rabbi
I have heard you are a man of great learning, well-versed
in the Torah and wise beyond telling. My
name is Thomas. I’m part of a group of
like-minded people who follow and listen to Jesus of Nazareth. We’ve seen him perform wondrous things—healing
the sick, curing long-time afflictions, changing water to wine, even raising
the dead—all in the name of God. We
believe him to be a great man, one who is clearly blessed by and sent from God.
But many of us still aren’t sure who
this Jesus is exactly. Is He the
Messiah? A great prophet? Some say He is divine, but that seems so
blasphemous as to be beyond belief.
Today in the temple, some of the priests pressed Jesus
with this question. Practical men, they
asked Jesus to simply say if He is in fact the Messiah. I’ve been with Him for a while, and I
sometimes wonder the same thing. He
doesn't always speak clearly, but teaches us in parables and examples, and
doesn't always tell us what the lesson is. So we argue and try to put our thoughts
together, but we still don't always agree. And many times, what He says He came to do
doesn't sound a lot like what we think the Messiah is supposed to do. Many of us want the Romans out of our land and
for a resurgence of Israel, but He doesn't even talk of raising armies or
seizing political power.
His answer today was more direct than normal. He said He has told us in the past, and that
His works testify to who He is. I don't
recall Him saying specifically in the past that He is the Messiah (although He
has said things that imply He is the Chosen One), but then not all of us are
with Him at all times. I can testify
that the people who come to hear Him and be touched by Him are in awe of His
power to soothe their suffering, no matter what form it takes. His works truly do make a difference in the
lives of so many of the people in our land, Jew and gentile alike. He’s the
best man I’ve ever known or heard of.
I understand what He means when He speaks of being a
shepherd and that we are His sheep who follow Him. But I need to understand more what He means
when He says, "The Father and I are one." So I’m still not sure who this Jesus is, but I
know that I must keep following Him to learn more. Perhaps you can help me in my doubts—who do
you think He is?
Sincerely,
Thomas (Didymus)
No comments:
Post a Comment