Last Sunday's session showed us the sad state of life in peasant towns in 1st century Galilee, particularly Jesus' hometown of Nazareth. The average lifespan of peasants in this culture was 30 years of age - apparently the same age Jesus was when he started his ministry.
Why did Jesus wait until he was one of the oldest in his community to begin his ministry? What was "the straw that broke the camel's back?"
Why does it seem that Jesus' first place to go was to John the Baptizer? What was the draw? What in John's message seemed attractive to Jesus?
If something seemed to draw Jesus to John and his message, what made Jesus go do his own thing? Did he not agree with John's message once he learned more about it? What difference does it make to realize that the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, & Luke) imply that Jesus does not go out on his own until AFTER John is put in prison (Matthew 4:12; Mark 1:14; to a lesser extent, Luke 3:19-20)?
The Gospels seem to imply that John thought Jesus was the Messiah. If that is the case, why did John send his own disciples to Jesus to ask if he was REALLY the one (Matthew 11:1-6; Luke 17:17-23)? If John thought Jesus was the Messiah, why did he not tell his own disciples to follow Jesus rather than staying with John?
What was different between the two?
Why did Jesus wait until he was one of the oldest in his community to begin his ministry? What was "the straw that broke the camel's back?"
Why does it seem that Jesus' first place to go was to John the Baptizer? What was the draw? What in John's message seemed attractive to Jesus?
If something seemed to draw Jesus to John and his message, what made Jesus go do his own thing? Did he not agree with John's message once he learned more about it? What difference does it make to realize that the synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, & Luke) imply that Jesus does not go out on his own until AFTER John is put in prison (Matthew 4:12; Mark 1:14; to a lesser extent, Luke 3:19-20)?
The Gospels seem to imply that John thought Jesus was the Messiah. If that is the case, why did John send his own disciples to Jesus to ask if he was REALLY the one (Matthew 11:1-6; Luke 17:17-23)? If John thought Jesus was the Messiah, why did he not tell his own disciples to follow Jesus rather than staying with John?
What was different between the two?
According to Luke, Jesus and John are cousins so they knew each other, John was slightly older, grew up around the temple, and so would have more religious education than a peasant from Nazareth. So it makes sense for Jesus to follow John, and repentance and righteous living is changing the world by starting with yourself.
ReplyDeleteFrom something we've read about more recent studies of the dead sea scrols some one thinks John was the preacher of righteousness and Jesus the unrighteous. But I don't see a big difference in their messages. Purhaps if John had lived longer their messages would have diverged more. Could it be that being around the temple made John more concerned about personal righteousness and Jesus being among people who had lost their land to the oppressers, was more concerned about social justice?
It is important to ask, though: Was Jesus & John REALLY cousins? Did John REALLY grow up around the temple? NONE of the other Gospels even imply this. Could it be that Luke was only affirming John's ministry with a parable about his beginnings?
ReplyDeleteI still think that the two traditional back grounds of John and Jesus help me to understand why they had a different emphasis in their message.
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