Jonathots Daily Blog
(2379)
He was called a bastard because his mother got pregnant before she was married.
He was born in poverty in a stable reeking with animal manure.
Even when his family tried to establish a life in the little town of Bethlehem, they were visited by astrologers from the East who brought gifts, but also brought down calamity on their lives because they accidentally passed on information to a jealous king who put out a contract of death on the little boy’s life. So they were forced to go into exile, into the land of Egypt, where they were strangers, and for about six years tried to subsist and carve out a life, as additional brothers and sisters were added.
His father, a man who believed in guiding his life by dreams, returned them to Judea, only to find out there was still danger, so they settled back into the community where the original gossip about his conception had brought them such pain.
He struggled to learn how to become a carpenter, even though deep in his heart, there was a strong calling toward other missions and goals.
He was made fun of by many of the local children because his customs seemed foreign, his demeanor was simple and he had not learned the letters of the Jewish law in their time-table.
He spent years in a small-town life without ever taking a wife of his own.
When he embraced the aching wishes of his heart and began to share a message of love and hope, which included not only Jew but Gentile, the local townsfolk pushed him to the edge of a cliff and threatened to murder him.
He escaped to a nearby fishing village, where he began to teach and discovered there was often healing, and miracles which followed when the people brought their faith to the situation.
His brothers and sisters thought he was crazy and came to retrieve him, so he was forced to alienate himself from them. He would not see them again for two years.
Even though his message did nothing to hinder the well-being of the Roman Empire, all the factions of the religion of his countrymen turned against him as one, plotting his demise.
Yet he persisted.
The advancements he presented in his teachings are still a stumbling block to many fundamentalists today:
- Women are as good as men.
- “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth” is foolish.
- It is what we do to the least of our fellow-humans that matters most.
- There is neither Jew nor Greek.
- We are not to judge.
- There are people who are born to be eunuchs and born by the will of God to be a certain way.
Eventually he was betrayed by one of his closest friends, accused on trumped-up charges and killed for a crime of sedition, which was the furthest thing from his doctrine–for he believed it was important to render unto Caesar the things that were Caesar’s and unto God the things that were God’s.
He was abandoned by his friends and tucked away quickly in a borrowed tomb so that the surrounding faithful could honor the traditions of their religiosity.
It was in that tiny enclosure that he was finally able to manifest the true essence of his power, by being allowed to rise from the dead.
But after nearly two thousand years, a name that was reviled, persecuted, rejected and cast aside from his brethren is now the central figure in the history of the world.
Because when war has finished tallying all of its victims, there will always be a need for the voice of peace. And the voice of peace was found in his throat and resounded through his message.
Do you know him?
How much do you know about him?
Because the more you know, the lighter your load.
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