Click for audio: The Truth About Jesus
Note: Technical issues with video. Our apologies.
Discerning the truth about Jesus is not as straight-forward a process as we might hope. Our natural tendency is to study the four Gospels and draw conclusions from the information we glean from these. The challenge we encounter here is that the Gospels were not written from an historical, biographical perspective. They were produced by evangelists who portrayed Jesus in a manner fitting to their own theological narratives.
Unfortunately, we do not have a Gospel according to Jesus himself. If ever we were fortunate enough to find such a document, I believe it would rattle the very foundations of both the traditional and the New Thought understanding of who and what this man was.
Was Jesus God, or was he a man? This is the question countless theologians have grappled with over the ages. If he is to have any value to us, we must start with the understanding that Jesus was a man. Was he a man with extraordinary powers? Again, if he is to have any value to us, we must concur with him that the things he did we can do as well, and greater things.
But what are these things? Do we aspire to walk on water, to heal the sick, to raise the dead, or to magically produce abundance in the face of lack? We refer to him as Master, as Wayshower, as Savior. But what did he master? What way did he show? From what type of bondage does he offer salvation?
We find keys to these questions throughout the Gospels, but they are like a treasure hidden in a field. We find a man confronted with all the familiar challenges of having a body, yet who spoke of a truth that would make us free. I believe Jesus would redirect our attention away from himself, to this truth of which he spoke. I believe he would invite us all to join him in the understanding that I am in the Father, and the Father is in me, that the very door to freedom that we seek stands open, fully accessible, and awaiting our recognition.
J Douglas Bottorff 